Wednesday was my 15th physical therapy session. I’ve just about maxed out the leg press machine with 7of 8 elastic bands. Unfortunately, I had little progress with the calf raises since the last session. It is a stubborn muscle to train. We did increase the intensity of the stepping and balance exercises. At the end of the session, my therapist introduced me to the Bosu Ball. It is an inflated rubber hemispherical device about 2 feet in diameter. The purpose of it is to help build your balance and strength. While I didn’t master it in my first session, it does not seem to be as impossible as it looks at first glance. I’m going to be looking forward to playing with it some more. The good news of the day is that I’ve been cleared to walk outside on sidewalks provided I don’t put myself in a position to get tripped up. That means no walking the dogs for a while yet.
For the last week or so, I’ve been able to celebrate some small victories. Not only am I walking at home in 2 shoes and able to drive, I finally ditched the boot while sleeping. It feels so good not to have that boat anchor around my leg when I’m in bed. My doctor said I could have done it weeks ago but I toss and turn a lot at night and felt vulnerable without it. I also ditched my compression sock a few days ago. Once again the doctor said I could have done it weeks ago but I didn’t want to see my foot and leg blowing up like a balloon. Last week I was able to dig out a dwarf spruce tree (while in my boot) that died just before winter and replaced it with an arborvitae. My ultimate goals of running with my dogs, dancing with my wife, squatting 300 lbs. and just jumping up and down like a lunatic are still off in the distance but I’m getting closer. It feels great to think that I am really starting to win this battle.
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June 7th, 2012 at 8:49 pm - Edit
Do they have you doing your calf raises standing or sitting, with weight or just bodyweight ? I had a hard time on a bosu ball when both of my legs were healthy. Congratulations.
June 7th, 2012 at 10:05 pm - Edit
Corey,
They have me doing the calf raises on the leg press machine using just my bad leg. I’m not sure what force they have it set at but I think it is pretty low.
June 7th, 2012 at 10:48 pm - Edit
Sounds great, Starshep! Have you tried installing the ATR Timeline Widget (details on the Main Page)? I’m not seeing it or any other “sidebars”, maybe because of the (Mandigo) theme you’ve chosen.
June 7th, 2012 at 11:11 pm - Edit
Thanks Norm. I do have the ATR Timeline widget on my main page http://achillesblog.com/starshep/ but for some reason it does not show up on the individual blog entries.
June 7th, 2012 at 11:43 pm - Edit
Sorry for all the questions. Is the leg press machine the seated one legs straight out or the sled type where you are on your back ,legs up at a 45 ? Single legged raises on the sled are some what intimidating if you have never done them in the past. Training calves was (is) one of my favorite muscles to work at the gym. heres hoping your your bad leg catches up in strength and size. cheers
June 8th, 2012 at 2:24 am - Edit
Starshep,
Congrats for getting out of the boot, and thanks for sharing your PT sessions!
It is great that you have gotten so many PT sessions - I’m at 19 weeks post-surgery and just had my 3rd of 4 bi-weekly sessions TOTAL that were granted by my medical insurance
The single leg calf raises are the scariest part of my rehab right now. My PT homework includes this calf raise series progression:
=> first 2-footed (up with both feet, shift weight, lower on bad leg),
=> second up/down with bad leg with my good foot constantly on my toes,
=> third up/down with bad leg with my good foot constantly on my toes up on a step,
=> last up/down with only the bad leg, my good foot off the ground.
My therapist had me try that series in my recent PT session, and it made my achilles sore for the last two days. Now I’m nervous to try them again, so I think I’m going to just go slow and concentrate on the easiest of the series progression until my foot seems ready to move onto the next.
In the spirit of sharing, additional PT exercises (aka homework) received for the next 2 weeks includes:
=> double and single leg on bosu progressing to include a ball toss/catch against a wall (similar to your exercise),
=> single leg “star exercise” where you place and pickup cones (or plastic cups) in various positions to your left/right/front,
=> ladder step drill - kind of like a football drill where you alternate stepping on the outside of a “ladder”, then stepping into the middle of the “ladder” for about 10 feet (not using a real ladder of course but tape in that shape on the floor),
=> side step drill where you shuffle sideways with both feet then touch the ground with your hand at the end of each right/left/forward/backward direction (similar to a soccer drill I used to do pre-ATR),
=> box jump drill (2 footed progressing to single leg) where you jump into each quadrant of a 4-square box in clockwise/counter-clockwise/diagonal directions.
My therapist says that once I can do the box jump drill consistently without pain, then I’m ready to start running again.
There is no way that I can do any of these drills easily, or consistently, right now so I’m definitely not running any time soon
The hardest part of rehab is just getting myself to do these exercises on my own as much as I’m supposed to - It is a real grind! In many ways this seems to be the hardest part of the recovery!
Good luck with your exercises and keep the great posts coming!
John
June 8th, 2012 at 10:12 am - Edit
Corey,
Glad you’re interested enough to ask questions. It is the sled type. I’ve been weight lifting now for well over 30 years and I’ve trained on a wide variety of equipment, so I’m pretty comfortable with this one. I probably dislike standing calf raise machines the most. It seems like I’m really stretched out on those. I’m not too concerned about the calf not coming back. With enough work, I’m hopeful that it will get there. IIRC even Arnold Schwarzenegger said calves gave him the most trouble so I guess I’m in good company