Progress Report

I went to the doctor on Tuesday and got my stitches out. The doc said I can resume all activities and let pain be my guide. I should expect the swelling to decreased over the next 2-3 weeks and my range of motion should be back to normal shortly. There is still a little tightness below the knee cap, but everywhere feels fine.

So, armed with those words of encouragment I decided to give my trainer a short 5-10 minute spin after dinner and see what would come of it. To my surprise my knee felt great. I had good flexibility and no pain. I rode my fixie in tennis shoes, with no resistance and at a slow pace. No heart rate monitor and no agenda except to just see if I could do it. The trainer felt so good that afterward I decided to do a little resistance work just to get my leg muscles working again. My thigh and calf have shrunk a little and that makes my wrinkly skin look that much wrinklier (is that a word?). That went well too and after applying ice for 30 minutes afterwards, I was good to go and happy to be back at it again.

That was before I went to bed. Ouch!!! At 2:45am I was awakened by a very sharp intense pain in my knee. Damn! I hobbled out of bed and couldn't straighten my knee or put weight on that leg. Fortunately, after a few minutes the pain became tolerable and I hopped back in bed, albeit I was a little discouraged. I guess my wife was right - I was a big dumb ass for doing what I did. She actually said that while I was riding. How unthoughtful of her. I should check to see if she has a voodoo doll hidden somewhere.

Well, 12 hours have passed and my knee feels fine. Although there is a little discomfort, I'm on the mend and all is well. By tomorrow it should be back to "post-op normal" and I will give the trainer a go again, but, I'm staying away from the resistance stuff for awhile.

So, a lesson was learned and I'm going to get back at it very gradually. That means going to Moab on Dec 19th with the Mad Dog guys/gals is out and Camp Lynda most likely will be my first significant ride of the year. I'm sure looking forward to that.