Knee Surgery

Posted by on November 18, 2009 in Training

Well, I had the knee surgery today and all went well.  Things couldn’t have been smoother.  It is considered to be such a routine surgical procedure, or at least according to me, so I really had no nerves or concerns at all going into it.  The same couldn’t be said for some of the other patients and their families.  I overheard a very nervous father asking over and over about his son, and a wife asking about her husband with the same angst.

In my case, things were delayed a bit thanks to a patient before me who seemed to have a difficult time coming out of anesthesia.  That had a ripple affect on Mom and Dad who had planned on picking me up from the hospital.  With Mom’s teaching schedule beginning in mid-afternoon, she had no choice but to be driven back home by Dad.  While in the recovery room, I wondered why neither of them were there but obviously, I had no way of knowing their collective predicament.  Thanks to traffic and other hassles, when I was discharged, Dad hadn’t yet returned.  I thought about calling him to say no thanks, and that I could take a taxi, but he had a bunch of tupperware with Mom’s home-cooking.  Easy decision there!

As we were loading the food into my fridge and freezer, Dad had this look of envy and made some comments to that effect.  I couldn’t help but tease him a bit too.  Even my brother had some funny comments on his voicemail message to me about the good fortune I had with getting her food, something to the effect that he should get some medical procedure performed too!  Mom’s culinary skills are somewhat legendary among my friends and family.  Why do you think that I remain living a mere 20 miles away?  Oh, it’s because I love them too.

After hanging out with Dad a bit, I decided to head to the pharmacy to get my prescription filled when he left.  The 3 flights of stairs makes things difficult, but not totally unmanageable.  When I got to the drug store, I realized that I had left the paper prescription on my desk.  Argh!  So, I walked the .4 miles back, then did another round trip.  All told I walked 1.6 miles today.  That was not part of my plan.  Oh well.

My doctor said that the worst thing I could do tomorrow is nothing.  He suggested getting on a stationary bike, so I’ll set up my triathlon bike on the bike trainer and get going right away.  On Friday, I plan on swimming.  From there, it’ll be all about taking my time, but keeping a consistent schedule of rehab until it becomes training.  I am excited to have a corrected joint and to losing the weight I’ve gained.  After the base fitness period, which should take me to mid-January, I’ll be working hard on getting the speed up.

For now, I’m feeling great.  This was a big day on my calendar, and as always, I am super excited for the future!

2 Comments on Knee Surgery

By Steve on December 8, 2009 at 7:52 pm

Hey dude, not sure if you remember me, but I was in Brazil with you in 2008. Been following your blog for a bit now — good stuff (much better than mine! http://canstevemakeit.blogspot.com/2008/06/2008-ironman-brazil-racetravel-report.html and some photos so maybe you can recall who I am).

Glad the surgery went well. Wanted to suggest a book to you. Born To Run by Christopher McDougall. Apparently, many running/leg/foot injuries are caused by running shoes. Book is great and has some really good tips.

Steve

By gg on December 11, 2009 at 11:42 am

Hey Steve,

I definitely remember you from IM Brazil. It’s funny that you recommend that book. A good buddy of mine just did the same. He’s changed his running style complete and is now injury-free and more importantly, much faster (of course, speed always trumps comfort!). I’m not yet in full running mode, but I should begin that phase of training in the next week or so. I’ll definitely read the book and see what kind of gains are out there for me. For the record, my injury was the result of sports trauma stemming from football, and not caused by repetitive motion like running/cycling.

I still stay in touch with two other athletes I met in Brazil. Adrianne is one of them; we trained in DC during one of my visits, but she’s since moved back to Colorado. Another is a guy named Scott Weaver who lives in Columbus, Ohio. He and I visited recently when he took his new Brazilian bride (he didn’t just pick up an Ironman medal, he got a wife!) to NYC. Next up for me, long-course wise, is IM South Africa in April 2011. I’ll likely use Ken Glah again to arrange things. How about you? Drop me a line at gghoopss@yahoo.com so we can catch up.

Best,
GG

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