Strong Enough

As in, "Your leg isn't..."

I didn't really expect my physical therapist to say anything other than that today. Still, it kinda sucked to hear her tell me my leg isn't strong enough yet to walk without crutches and/or the immobilizer. I mean it hasn't even been two weeks since surgery... Still, I was hoping to hear, "Chris, you're healed. Your leg is as strong as a super hero's. In fact, you're ready to walk... to run... to dance like that crazy kid at the baseball game."

I've been going to PT twice a week (insurance only pays for so many, otherwise I'd go every day) and I've been doing my exercises at home. Tightening the quads, lifting the leg, balancing on the leg, straightening the leg, bending the knee. It's a long way from an "Insanity" workout. (Then again, I'm a long way from an "Insanity" workout.) In fact it's dreadfully tedious and boring. But it's important. I know that. I've heard it 47-Million times (I'm rounding up) -- the physical therapy is crucial and the recovery is going to take a long time. I've said it before and I'll say it again: I'm not the most patient patient. But I'm trying... 

So much of it is mental. I mean of course, there's pain. Like, a lot of pain. Bending the knee can be excruciating. I try not scream when the physical therapist is testing the limits of my flexibility. But I can do it. It sounds weird, but straightening the leg is even more of a mental challenge. When I get to that point where my leg is fully extended, I get this fear that my knee is going to buckle and bend the wrong way. The physical therapist assures me it won't and I suppose she's got the credentials, so I'll believe her...

Am I making progress? Yes. Am I getting more flexible? Of course. Am I getting stronger? Sure. Just not as quickly as I'd like. And apparently that's something every patient says. Patients with no patience... go figure.

Today's Title: It was either this or Sheryl Crow

Video Killed the Radio Star

I've been watching a lot of radio during the last week and a half, as I've become one with my couch. No - I'm not delirious from the pain meds (not completely delirious, anyway) -- I typed that correctly. I've been watching a lot of radio. 

There is a lot of radio on television -- particularly sports talk radio. Mike and Mike (ESPN2), Boomer and Carton (CBS Sports Network), Dennis and Callahan (NESN), Dan Patrick (NBC Sports Network), Colin Cowherd (ESPNU), SVP & Russillo (ESPN News), Mike Francesa (Fox Sports 1), Michael Kay (YES), Doug Gottlieb (CBS Sports Network), Paul Finebaum (SEC Network) -- it is the perfect daytime space-filler for the 947 sports networks on cable TV. They've got live games at night. They've got to do something during the day. And sports talk radio is already there. You can argue that radio is dead (or alive and kicking), but sports talk has certainly found a niche on cable TV. It's also almost exclusively white and middle-aged... but that's a topic, perhaps, for another time.

I love radio -- always have. I learned so much about broadcasting -- so much about life -- in the greatest media classroom while a student at Syracuse University. The lessons I learned working at Z89, I still lean on today. Same with the friends I made there. While I was still in college, I turned an internship with the "Glenn and Pat" morning show -- yeah, that Glenn -- into a summer job at KC101. One of the great things about radio -- throwing on a hat and sweatshirt, showing up at work and talking into a microphone. When I did radio, I didn't have to worry about hair and makeup... though, I usually did. Well, at least the hair... I always worried about the hair. 

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A quick update on the ACL recovery...

Things are moving along pretty well. When I'm sitting with my leg elevated and iced, it feels great. When I'm up and moving around, it's still pretty sore. The doctor says the leg looks good; the physical therapists say the leg is getting stronger. I'm still wearing the immobilizer, but I'm able to walk shuffle around a little with no crutches. (I know Dr. Kelley is shaking his head at me right now.) I still usually use at least one crutch so I don't put too much pressure and weight on the injured leg. I'm also doing my physical therapy -- squeeze the quads, lift the leg, bend the knee. Boring, but important work. 

Today's Title: The answer to an MTV trivia question

Wake Up!!

*Chris rolls over, looks at the clock*

Nice... 7:22. Sleeping in is swee--- wait... what?? 7:22?!?! 

"Emma. EMMA!! Wake up!! The bus will be here in ten minutes!!"

So, that's how my morning started. Like a predictable sitcom plot. The mom (my wife) is out of town on a business trip leaving the dad (me) in charge. The dad is an incompetent but lovable oaf and things go hilariously off track. My daughter jumps out of bed, throws on some clothes and gathers her school things. I scramble downstairs and pack her a lunch. Throw in the fact that I'm hopping around on one foot, and you can't cue up the laugh track fast enough. 

Now in my defense, I've got the afternoon routine down pat -- homework, snack, soccer practice, swim practice, dinner, reading, bedtime -- because I'm home in the afternoon. I'm at work in the morning, so that routine is a bit of a mystery to me.   

So what went wrong? There's plenty of blame to go around.
--Blame my son. Okay, maybe I shouldn't throw my seven-year-old under the blame bus, but I was counting on him to be our alarm clock. He always gets up early. In fact, he did get up early this morning -- he was in my bed at 5:00. But he fell back asleep.
--Blame the cable. Something's going on with the cable box in our bedroom. Some of the channels aren't working -- important channels, like Disney Channel. So when my son couldn't watch "Phineas and Ferb" this morning, we turned off the TV and that's why he (we) fell back asleep.
--Blame my daughter. You know, she does have an alarm clock.
--Blame myself. I am supposed to be the adult here.
--Blame Tuesday. If you follow me on Twitter, you know I'm no fan of Tuesday. It's the worst day of the week (#BlameTuesday). By the way, if you don't follow me on Twitter, you need to rethink your social media decisions...

Of course it all worked out in the end. My daughter got up, got dressed and got on her bus with a packed lunch in hand. It always works out in those sitcoms...

Today's Title: We were supposed to wake up at six o'clock

Full Circle

I got the pedal all the way around this morning. Made a full circle. And my knee didn't explode. So I did it again... and again... and a few more times! What, you're not impressed? Well, I was. But then again, I've got a different perspective right now. Yep, something I would normally take for granted -- peddling a bike, in this case a recumbent bike at physical therapy -- gave me a real sense of accomplishment. I laughed when the physical therapist greeted me with, "We're gonna start on the bike today." But this apparently isn't her first time dealing with a guy trying to bounce back from ACL replacement surgery.  (Obviously...)

I also did some super-exciting leg lifts on my back, side and stomach. It's all about strengthening the quad muscles. When they're strong enough, I can lose this full leg brace and go back to the smaller brace which will allow me some flexibility. Honestly, one of the most enjoyable parts of PT is the opportunity to shed the immobilizer for an hour. 

Before the brace went back on, the therapist put some kinesio tape on my knee. You've seen athletes using this stuff, right? Athletes use it because it's supposed to support joints and muscles while allowing for full range of motion. In my case, it's supposed to alleviate some of the bruising. Kinesio tape has its skeptics. In fact, my physical therapist says she was one of them, until she used it on someone recovering from the same surgery I had. His bruising was worse then mine, but it went in away in the area that had been taped. So, we'll see what happens. It certainly can't hurt. And it's a cool pattern. If only it were a flashier color. By the way, that wound above the tape is the small incision from surgery. It's really doesn't look too bad, does it? 

After PT, my mom (my ride today - thanks mom!) took me for lunch outside. Man, it was nice to get outside for a little while.

Bruises

I kinda knew this would be the case, but now I've got visual proof. This afternoon my left leg -- around my shin and ankle, particularly -- is a purple and navy colored mess. (Again, I'll spare you the photo.) And it's pretty sore.

I was feeling pretty good about my recovery yesterday. Maybe too good. I'd gotten out of the house for a few appointments and the physical therapist said my leg looked good and seemed strong. When I got home, I was ready to run a marathon! Okay, maybe a 5K. Alright, at least I thought I was well enough to help out a little in the kitchen -- I unloaded the dishwasher (on one foot -- I'm really good at hopping). And I'd even managed to climb the stairs (slowly, with crutches) and sleep in my own bed last night. 

That was great. I slept really well. What probably wasn't great was the fact that sleeping in my bed required me to unhook myself from this machine that had been keeping my leg iced for the last 48+ hours. So today, the leg's a little more sore than it had been and a lot more colorful.

I'm still getting up and unwrapping the leg to do the exercises the physical therapist told me to do. But for the most part, I've been back on the couch and connected to the machine all day. At least the Sports Gods have been smiling at me with today's football schedule. But can we just not talk about what about what happened to Syracuse last night. Talk about bruises...

Today's Title: Yeah, I've got 'em

Sitting, Waiting, Wishing

How 'bout a Friday update? It is Friday, right? It's amazing how you lose track of things when you're sitting on the couch, waiting to get better, wishing you could fast forward.

It's also amazing how 48 hours sitting in the same place can feel like so much longer than 48 hours. I got out of the house yesterday for my first follow-up with the surgeon. And the feeling of freedom -- to be able to unhook my leg from the ice/compression machine for more than just a bathroom visit -- was amazing.  As for the medical update, everything is as it should be. In fact, my leg looks surprisingly less horrific than I'd expected. I've got a picture, but just in case you are reading this while eating I'll spare you. But seriously, why would you be reading this while eating? 

Anyway, getting out of the house yesterday was a treat. It was even more so today. I had my first physical therapy appointment. My exercises at the moment consist of slowly, gently bending my leg... pushing down on a towel beneath my knee by squeezing my quad... and turning my ankle to "draw" the alphabet. Exciting stuff, huh? The physical therapist also said things look good. But as I've mentioned, I'm not the most patient person and this slow, deliberate approach to getting back on my feet is frustrating. But, I know better than to push it. In the meantime, I'm gonna be the best leg bender, quad squeezer and ankle speller there is.

Meanwhile, life goes on around me. My wife has been juggling caring for me, preparing for a major conference at work and organizing a school fundraiser. My kids have been going to school and soccer and swimming and student council meetings... thank goodness for my parents and our friends, who've been helping with the taxi service, dropping off food and generally offering support. 

It's all made me think how fortunate I am to have family and friends nearby to help. "It takes a village," as a friend texted me the other day while offering to help. I'm fortunate I live in that village. And, more important, I'm even more fortunate that this setback is only temporary. I know eventually I'll be up and moving again like nothing happened. And I know there are others who are dealing with challenges far more daunting than mine. Seriously, I see what they're going through and think "suck it up, Velardi." There are far worse things than sitting, waiting and wishing...

Today Title: The relaxed stylings of Mr Johnson.

The Big Comfy Couch

Technically, my couch isn't made of that "memory foam" stuff, but in a day or two that's not gonna matter -- there's going to be a clearly defined Chris-shaped groove in this cushion. I've been here - leg elevated, attached to this ice machine - for more than 24 hours now. As I mentioned yesterday, I've got plenty to keep me occupied in the "Recovery Zone," as my wife dubbed it: Phones, TVs, a laptop, a Playstation, a Kindle, books, and magazines. But I'm not gonna lie, being stuck in one spot is getting old. 

And my butt's getting sore. 

But I should probably suck it up and deal with that. That may just be the appetizer to my main course of pain. Everyone warned me about the second day -- when the local anesthesia starts wearing off. I can tell that's starting to happen. I can feel the cold water pumping through that contraption and I can tell when the compression kicks in - that part is good. That tingling sensation is also becoming more pronounced in my left quad - that part is odd. And then there's the knee. I feel ya now, knee. Not a sharp pain, but a bit of a dull ache - that part isn't so good. And yes, I am absolutely taking my pain medication - as advised - every four hours to stay in front of it. 

What worries me a little, is what it's going to be like trying to sleep tonight. Last night was pretty tough because of this immobilizer. You know those days when the three-year old didn't want to go to daycare so he wrapped himself around your leg so you couldn't leave? Imagine trying to sleep with that kid still giving your leg a bear hug. That's what it was like last night. Not painful, but quite uncomfortable. Tonight, I'm afraid the bear won't just be hugging... he might be biting too.

Today's Title:  Now that's a comfy couch