Aug 26 2008
Drove last night first time in 13 weeks….Woopeee!!!!
Tomorrow will be 12 weeks post op for me– right foot…..in two shoes, but still using 2 crutches and have 4 more PT sessions until my 12 authorized sessions are up. Got brave last night and crutched out to car (with husband in passenger seat) to see if the old leg could manage driving. Plan was to use bad foot on accelerator and good foot on brake. Drove a couple couple miles around the neighborhood and felt okay, other than my bad leg was very sore at the hip and thigh — need to work on using/exercising the area more I guess. Braking with left foot takes a little getting used to, but don’t think I had enough strenth in right leg to do both braking and accelerating with it…..at first, some rough stops, but got smoother and more natural feeling as we moved along. Got home with very tired right leg……my wonderful hubby immediately got online to shop for a stationary bike for me to use at home to strengthen my legs……Felt awesome to know I can drive ….will practice some more this week and next week attempt to drive my daughter to school and pick her up…..she is counting the days, as she hates taking the bus….
Was wondering something about stationary bikes…….at PT I ride a standard bike, but we were looking into more of a recumbent style, with a seat that has a back. I am wondering whether the recumbent bike would be putting more pressure on the achilles tendon because your legs are out in front of you instead of vertical to the ground. I don’t want to get a bike that would reinjure the achilles, obviously. Any thoughts on whether it matters what type of bike to get???????? I was planning on going to Sears with my husband to try out some different ones….I wear shoes when I ride the bike.
Well, thanks in advance for any input……..
Happy healing …… we WILL all get there!!!!
Marianne
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Hi Marianne-
Congrats! You’re almost free! ha-ha.
On the bike question…I rode my real bike outside before I got on a stationary bike. Felt fine. When i’m at the gym, if I ride a bike, I ride a recumbant, feels fine. I ride the recumbants cuz they have fans built in =) As long as you can adjust the resistance up and down to the settings you want/need you should be ok with either. The recumbants are definately more comfortable and don’t leave you “saddle sore”. I’d said go with the more comfy of the two unless you plan on doing home spin classes! Also, if you have a bicycle already, you can buy a bike trainer that allows you to ride inside. I just picked one up since it’s going to start raining here soon. May be a little less expensive? I’m not sure how much a decent bike is but the trainer was $350. If you go to Sears…Proform is a GREAT brand. I have one of their treadmills (collecting dust for the first time ever) and I love it. We’re making it!! woo hoo!!
Marianne,
Great job - hope to follow in your “two footsteps” and drive in over a week (or so). Sounds like PT is going well for you - can’t wait to get started in two days.
Mom’s “owie”
Marianne-
Man, I can’t wait for the green light to drive a car again! I think I’m gonna drive to the 7-11 and buy a slurpee or something, or take some other random former seemingless journey that will have all the meaning in the world.
And I do think Aaron Rogers is going to play pretty well with that offense. I’d hate to be him and throw a pick or two week one though…what pressure.
Its really nice that so many of us are on this road to recovery together. It makes it much easier to bear.
Happy healing to you too.
Steve
Marianne-
The boredom was killing me so I broke down yesterday and rode the cart. At Costco btw. I made sure I put the crutches in the most conspicuous place so everyone would know why the young guy was hoarding one of the carts from another needy soul.
It was actually kind of fun. The backup beeper does draw a lot of unwanted attention, though. Didn’t like that.
So I guess I’ll have to embarass myself another way when Cal beats SC.
Talk to you later,
Steve