Counting the days…

Great to hear from you, Bronny, and to hear that you’ve come along so well, following the “NZ version” of the non-op cure!

The UWO protocol does mention plyometrics in the final part (post-12-weeks) of the rehab, and that’s kind of like “jump off a wall and land on my bad foot”. Not a HIGH wall, at least at first, more like a step, then a box, then a table. . .

I also get easily bored by therapeutic exercises and such, and much prefer competitive sports. Just running around the gym for 3 minutes before starting to hit the volleyball usually stretches my patience. . . Now I’m doing 1- and 2-leg heel raises while brushing my teeth and while washing dishes, and taking long brisk walks for Cardio exercise, post-heart-surgery.

I’d be bicycling already, but the roads have been really miserable this winter so far — so enjoy what YOU call SUMMER!!

Yeah, i’ve doing some plyometric exercises, jumping from one leg to the other and jump squats, stuff like that. I have jumped down a step onto my bad foot when out walking, but haven’t felt a huge pull to try anything bigger.

Are you still doing heel raises? Am i going to be doing them forever? Actually if someone had told me that i’d still be doing them now I’d have thought they were kidding. But I have another 8 physio sessions approved by the insurer so I guess that is another 4mths…

I’m only still doing heel raises because (I think) my internal AT-and-calf reassembly is a bit “off”. I suspect that my AT-soleus join healed perfectly but my AT-gastroc join healed long, somehow. Maybe there were multiple tears (as one of the UltraSounds indicated), and the immobilization didn’t bring all of them into close proximity?

So my bent-kneed p-flexion strength seems fine, but my straight-kneed p-flexion strength still sucks a bit. I can do about a half-height 1-legger, and I can hold that and bounce, and I can do a “silly walk” where I rise up into a full-height heel raise on every stride, straight-kneed. (I don’t know why that rhythmic silly walk — like one that elsurfer did on his latest video — is easier than a straight 1-leg heel raise, but it is!)

But just going up into a normal full-height 1-leg heel raise, over and over, with a straight leg, is still too hard. And visually, it looks like my gastroc is contracting way farther/higher when I try, than on the other side. As if it’s pulling on a rope that’s too long.

The good news is that it’s not bad, and it still seems to be improving, though naturally at a snail’s pace at ~14 months. (I’m also suddenly 5+ pounds over my “fighting trim”, post-heart-op, which isn’t making it any easier.) And the gradual recovery from the heart op also means my leg is NOT what’s keeping me off the volleyball court, much less from dominating the league!

One of these days, I expect to spring $65 for a detailed isokinetic re-test on the fancy machine at the clinic, both straight-kneed and bent-kneed, to help test my theory, and to quantify the deficit objectively. I might also discuss the results with somebody, either my fancy sports-med surgeon or my fancy PT, or both, at least for their info.

I’m curious to see if this deficit does “cost” me any/much performance on the volleyball court, but I’ll have to get back there first, which will take at least another few months of cardio rehab. First things first!! In any case, I’d be shocked if I ever decide it’s bad enough to be worth fixing surgically, even if somebody wants the job. . .

Bronny, I hope — we all hope — that you and yours and all our other AB.com pals from NZ are safe and unscathed by the Christchurch earthquake.

I just got this from Bronny by email:

Hey Norm
Thanks for your message. I can’t post to AB anymore - it keeps asking me to type the security code but I can’t see the code, hence why i’ve not been commenting recently. Maybe you can pass that on to Dennis for me - its been ever since the upgrade. I’m sure i’m not the only one with this problem.

Its certainly horrible here. I’m in Wellington - ironically probably one of the places in the world most likely to be destroyed by earthquake, given most of it was created by massive quakes in 1847 and 1855 - and we are fine. I have some friends in CHCH but as far as I know most of them are fine, though not in such great mental shape. Some are leaving town today and coming up here for a bit, just to have a break from it all. I’m trying to get out and keep away from the TV because its just paralysing. Sometimes it would be good to be at work, but i’m just going out on my bike instead!!

I’m still reading AB of course. but not the same as being involved

bron

Thanks for posting that Norm. I’ve fixed the anit-spam words.

Bronny, the problem has been fixed, but if you have any issues with logging in still please let me know.
thanks for letting me know.

norm - just received an email from Bronny. login issues have been resolved.

Recently, Bronny has been “hanging out” at Teresa1’s blog — it’s like a party that moves into the kitchen!