Recovering From Microfracture Surgery

K+31 Days

1 hour on the spin bike and another hour of rehab exercises throughout the day.

Already seeing more progress than I expected, especially with range of motion. We will see what it measures tomorrow but I think it will be really good. Now I just need to get some muscle back in the leg. This is a long progress but I need to stay focused on small victories and right now range of motion success is a small victory I can focus on.

K+32 days

Did 1:45 of spin bike and 2 hours of Physical Therapy and then headed down to Cedar City for a conference.

Physical therapy went well and my range of motion continues to improve. I was close to 140 degrees so not as good as I wanted but PT says I am doing great.

K+33 days

In Cedar City so no spin bike today. Did do a lot of physical therapy exercises. I was very pleased as my leg strength is improving very quickly. I was able to do 60 leg lifts today and less than a week ago doing 10 was a very difficult task. I asked the PT if I could do more than the assigned 30 reps if I could and he said as long as the only pain I have is muscular then it was ok. So I have been putting extra sets as much as I can. It is nice to see improvement so quickly.

K+34 Days

Tomorrow will be 5 weeks post surgery!

Drove back from Cedar City today. Did 2 hours of physical therapy when I got back. PT measured range of motion and I am at 140 degrees today. This was the first goal he gave me and wanted me to get it within two weeks if possible. I made it in 5 days so goal accomplished and time to move on the next goal of 145 degrees within the next two weeks. PT added some additional exercise machines today that made things a little tougher. I am up to 7 different machine exercises now. I have made it a goal when he gives me a set of 30 reps to do 40 if I can. He said this is ok so it gives me motivation to put in the extra effort. My legs are a bit tired tonight but that is a good thing.

1 hour on spin bike as well.

So hopefully only 1 more week of full time crutch use. I have been gradually putting more weight on the left leg as I walk with the crutches. So far not much pain so hopefully walking will go well next week. I am a bit nervous about how those first steps will go but at the same time very much ready to get rid of the crutches.

K+35 days

5 weeks post microfracture surgery and counting

2 hours on spin bike again plus about 2 hours of other physical therapy exercises

I go back to the PT tomorrow and hope to have continued to make progress

I did figure out that the two hours of spin bike per day is actually up to about 20 miles of biking now so that means I am doing about 120 miles on the bike a week. Not hard but better than nothing.

More reports tomorrow

K+36 days

Today was a good day at physical therapy. My range of motion measured at 143 degrees which was another improvement. I am almost at my second goal of 145 degrees. The goal was to get to 145 in less than two weeks from Wednesday when I measured 140 degrees. So it looks like I might make that much faster as well. After that it is on to 150 degrees an hopefully eventually equal my right leg of 155 degrees. The PT is still very surprised at how fast I am making progress with the range of motion. Strength wise things are improving and the goal is to be walking short distances by the end of next week. This will be a more difficult task but I will do what I can to make this happen.

So what does my day look like as far as training and rehab right now? Below is what my day looked like today.

5:30am wake up

6:00-7:00am spin bike for about 10 miles of spinning

7:00-8:00am leg strengthening and range of motion exercises

8:30-10:30am Physical Therapy Session consists of:

15-20 minutes of heat pad muscle warm-up

15 minutes of wall heel slides then measure knee range of motion

15 minutes of straight leg lifts and side leg lifts

10 minutes of quad flex and prone extension stretch

15 minutes of spin bike covering 2-3 miles

30-40 minutes on weight machines and slide machine for a total of 7 sets of 30-40 reps each

15 minutes of elevated ice on knee

Then I go to work all day and before bed I do the following:

8:00-9:00pm 1 more hour on spin bike (10 miles)

9:00-10:00pm more leg strengthening and range of motion exercises

So on physical therapy days I do about 6 hours total. This does not count the ice routine that I do for about an hour a day spread throughout the day.

2 hours and 15 minutes on bike = 22-23 miles today

K+37 days

37 days but who's counting

2 hours and 15 minutes total on spin bike today covering about 25 miles total

Also did ROM and strengthening exercises throughout the day. Pretty happy as I did 120 straight leg lifts and 150 side leg lifts. Considering I could barely do 10 of these about a week ago things are progressing nicely. Slowly but surely putting more weight on knee but still on two crutches.