That's right.....I can go down the stairs!!! From a previous post I had said I was having trouble going down the stairs. I had been trying it but noticed I was sore so I quit. I hadn't really even tried since I was kind of scared to plus I was avoiding the pain that I thought could come with it.
But out of the blue, without even thinking I walked down the stairs. Like normal. One foot on each step not two like I had been doing. To the normal person (which I guess is not me) this sounds so uneventful, but for me, it's a new accomplishment. I guess when I had been trying to do the stairs before I wasn't ready. I've made some progress and can now do them. I'll admit there is a twinge now and then, but I am not thinking about it anymore and am just walking down the stairs just like everyone else does. Huge deal for me.
Hiking 8/30, 9,/1 & 9/3/2014
I went up north to camp in the trailer with Kev for a few days. We had talked about me going up with him but I wanted to be at a point where I would be ok riding my quad as well as doing some hiking. I was going to go last week remember? And then I had my little pity party lol But this week we were all set to go. On Saturday Meredith and Dave came up and they brought Alicia up with them. Once they got there we went over to Woods Canyon Lake. At the trailhead Kev dropped us three girls off and we made plans to meet the two of them at the lake. It's a nice trail, it's all paved and basically just follows the road down to the lake. When we got to the end of the trail we had to follow the roadway to the far end of the lake cause that's where Kev and Dave were. A lot of the times that Kev and I go to this lake we do the hike which goes all the way around, but Kev didn't want me to do that yet cause it's uneven and some rock areas and since it was my first time out of my neighborhood walks he wanted to make sure I did ok. And I did great, felt great no problems with my knee. It was nice to be up north in some cooler weather and working on what I love doing, some great hiking.
On Monday Kev wanted to head over to Willow Springs Lake to do some fishing. Those guys all left Sunday so it was just him and I. On the way there we stopped at the trail on the rim which is one of my favorite trails. It has great views and is also a nice paved trail for most of the way. We went out for about a mile and a 1/2 and then turned around. Again, I felt good, my knee was good and I was loving doing one of my favorite trails on my new knee. After the hike we headed over to the lake which was really crowded so I got a little more hiking in there while we made our way to a side of the lake that had some shade. Another great day out in the cooler weather.
Wednesday was my longest hike. Kev and I did a trail that we have done several times in the wilderness area. It is really pretty and secluded from campers. It use to be an old logging road but is all overgrown now but still a nice hiking trail. We've seen all kinds of animals on this trail including a bear a few years back. At times the trail has some uneven surfaces and rocks but I was feeling good about my knee and really didn't worry about going a good distance out in the woods. Overall we did 4 miles. I felt good afterwards but was ready to finish. I have to work up to doing a lot of miles as well as something more difficult, but I'm getting there. Excited I did good on a dirt trail and my knee felt good as well.
As well as getting some hiking in all week I did get a chance to ride my quad and relax in the beautiful pines. I am still doing exercises regularly and icing as well, all of these things are helping me progress which I feel is going well.
On Monday Kev wanted to head over to Willow Springs Lake to do some fishing. Those guys all left Sunday so it was just him and I. On the way there we stopped at the trail on the rim which is one of my favorite trails. It has great views and is also a nice paved trail for most of the way. We went out for about a mile and a 1/2 and then turned around. Again, I felt good, my knee was good and I was loving doing one of my favorite trails on my new knee. After the hike we headed over to the lake which was really crowded so I got a little more hiking in there while we made our way to a side of the lake that had some shade. Another great day out in the cooler weather.
Wednesday was my longest hike. Kev and I did a trail that we have done several times in the wilderness area. It is really pretty and secluded from campers. It use to be an old logging road but is all overgrown now but still a nice hiking trail. We've seen all kinds of animals on this trail including a bear a few years back. At times the trail has some uneven surfaces and rocks but I was feeling good about my knee and really didn't worry about going a good distance out in the woods. Overall we did 4 miles. I felt good afterwards but was ready to finish. I have to work up to doing a lot of miles as well as something more difficult, but I'm getting there. Excited I did good on a dirt trail and my knee felt good as well.
As well as getting some hiking in all week I did get a chance to ride my quad and relax in the beautiful pines. I am still doing exercises regularly and icing as well, all of these things are helping me progress which I feel is going well.
Dr Appointment Update 8/28/2014
I had a follow up doctor appointment and this time it was with the PA Andrea that had come to see me every day in the hospital. She said I was healing really well, she checked my bending which is awesome and also my straightening which again is "right there." I'm not sure if it will ever be there with the way everyone says it's "right there." Where is there? Just kidding. I know I have a little ways to go on that and believe it or not that seems to be more work then the bending. Actually I guess it could go either way depending on the day. We talked about the pain medication I have. I really don't take much of it except at night. And mainly it's because I get these spasms and they tend to go on for a while when I get them and then it starts to hurt or it keeps me up so I'll take some pain meds to settle them down and try to sleep. She said that's normal and may go on for a while with the more I start to do. She did prescribe a muscle relaxer that she hopes will help with the spasms, so we'll see. We also talked about what I can and cannot do and basically she said nothing. There are things that I cannot do like I could before, but overall I should let pain be my guide. I asked her about running, I know that's pretty funny since I don't even like it. LOL But I did ask cause I did like when I was doing some 5k runs with my friends but she said what Dr Wilmink said....no running. So I guess I thought she would say something different???? No, she explained that if it was my life's passion and just something that I loved and couldn't live without then we would work to get me back to it. But since it's just a casual social thing, don't do it. Why wear down my knee faster then it will wear anyway just in daily life? She did say I could start riding my bike so that was cool. I like to do that but like anything else in AZ right now it's hot outside, but just knowing it's ok if I want to do something different is good.
Other then that the appointment was pretty much just routine. Andrea did tell me I was ahead of where most knee patients were at this point, which I continue like hearing. She told me that if my knee feels warm now and then, that's normal. Dr. Wilmink had told me that but it's a weird feeling. It's almost like my knee has a fever. It's just really warm actually pretty much hot all around my knee and no where else. The joint is continuing to be accepted by my body and everything is working together. She said this could last for up to a year and the spams could as well. Do t mind the fever but the spams suck.
I told her I wanted to continue PT at least a few times a week to work on my strength and straightening and she agreed. I was all set and have my next follow up on October 9th.
Other then that the appointment was pretty much just routine. Andrea did tell me I was ahead of where most knee patients were at this point, which I continue like hearing. She told me that if my knee feels warm now and then, that's normal. Dr. Wilmink had told me that but it's a weird feeling. It's almost like my knee has a fever. It's just really warm actually pretty much hot all around my knee and no where else. The joint is continuing to be accepted by my body and everything is working together. She said this could last for up to a year and the spams could as well. Do t mind the fever but the spams suck.
I told her I wanted to continue PT at least a few times a week to work on my strength and straightening and she agreed. I was all set and have my next follow up on October 9th.
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