Too tired to go for swim. Stomach still upset from dirty water at Balmoral, last weekend. Another amoeba. Walked to Shelly and back then half hour on the bike. First time I did the whole session on the 6th cog. Pretty slow probably, averaged 65 rpm. Not strong, don’t know if it’s just a bit of lethargy, or the blood thinners or the stomach issue. Something wrong. I think I’ve got the three month blues. Not seeing much improvement. Catherine warned me about this. She said it happened to her at the same point. All the fast initial improvement is over. Getting out of the chair, getting rid of crutches and all the visible stuff is behind me. Now it’s the hard grind. This will probably go on for months. Got that old Black Dog happening. Tired all the time, and feel crook and listless.

Incredibly tired when I woke up, hardly had the energy to walk down to Manly. Very flat. Red sunrise. Decided to swim to North Steyne with Roz and Jan Davies. Sun burnished North Steyne clubhouse golden when we reached there. It seemed to chase the darkness away as it came slowly over the horizon. Amazingly flat sea. Headed straight into work. Did not feel like going to the gym. Considered cancelling. Have to keep doing this. Felt very lethargic doing exercises. Practiced stepping down off a step onto front of left foot, then onto heel. This is very difficult and different than stepping up which is now relatively easy. Did this about 3 sets x ten reps. Leg is amazingly weak. Tried to do some squats but not very well. Did 3 sets x 10 reps of 10kg bench press just using bad leg and then did 4 sets x 10 reps of leg flexes lifting the bar with two legs and lowering it with just the injured leg. Felt a bit better afterwards but too tired to do any bike. Been wearing the compression stocking. Feel like a goose.

Yesterday was an important milestone. Fourteen weeks since surgery but, more importantly, two months since weight-bearing and the start of real rehabilitation and genuine regenerative exercise. I had a lazy Friday today. End of the working week and decided that there would be no gym and no bike today. I think the blood thinners are making me tired and I slept in till 6 AM. Leisurely stroll down to Manly. A huge surf boomed into Queenscliff and I stopped for awhile and watched surfers getting some perfect tube rides on a 2 m swell held up by a strong offshore wind. Manly wasn’t too bad, pretty glassy with the occasional big set pounding through. I waited for the lulls and didn’t have any trouble getting out. Quiet swim over to Shelly Beach and back with the 7 AM Bold and Beautiful group. Caught the Jet cat into work with daughter Catherine.

At this stage, after eight weeks of rehab exercise, it’s worth trying to determine what someone with a tibial plateau fracture should be able to do and should not attempt to do. Most importantly, by this stage you should not have any residual pain other than an ache and some stiffness when you wake up in the morning or when you have been seated for some time. This should pass quickly with movement. The list below is prepared using the experiences of a 62 year old male as a guide. If you are younger you may have a faster recovery; if you are older it may be slower. If you are a woman it may be different again. I don’t smoke or drink so that will also have an impact. The timeline below is the result of a very structured exercise program supervised by a physiotherapist and a personal trainer who is experienced in post-surgical rehabilitation for sporting people. She is a genius and has been a major factor in my recovery. I am not a doctor nor am I a health care professional. These are my personal experiences. None of the following exercises should be attempted without clearance from your surgeon and physiotherapist.

WHAT YOU SHOULD BE ABLE TO DO
1) Walk with a natural gait without limping [Read more…]

I was too stuffed go for a swim today. I woke up and looked at the ocean – it was perfect, still beaten flat by light offshore breezes. With no enthusiasm, I climbed onto the stationary bike on the veranda and got busy before breakfast. For the first time I really didn’t feel like it. I got up onto the sixth cog on the back wheel for the first time and did most of the session flicking back and forth between five and six with the chain on the big ring at the front. It was pretty lacklustre only 60 – 70 RPM with a maximum speed of 30 km an hour and an average of 25 km hr with a distance of 12.4 km. Anyway I did it. [Read more…]

The Jimble, a stinging box jellyfish Carybdea rastonii often plagues swimmers in Sydney in the Autumn

Another early start. Dragging myself awake to the sound of the Blackberry alarm and heading off to Manly in the dark. I don’t drive down there anymore. I can walk fast enough to cover the distance by 6.10am. Water still glassy and beaten flat by the wind. The weather Gods are with me still. I arrive to some consternation by the 6am group of Bold and Beautiful swimmers who are just leaving the water beaten up by the Jimbles. I tear back to the club house and smear myself with Vaseline. We head out to the point at 630am into the still dark ocean and everyone turns left heading north towards Queenscliffe. I presume the rest of the Balmoral Beach Club group has gone too. It’s a mass of bodies ahead in the water. Half way to North Steyne I feel the jellyfish tentacles of a Jimble slide over the back of my neck, then down between my shoulder blades and finally over the backs of my legs. I await the sting. The shock never comes. It’s gone. The Vaseline works. I make it to North Steyne clubhouse, feeling pretty good but getting old. Swim back with Tim Anderson. Time of 40 minutes. I guess that’s respectable. That’s a 1.3km brisk walk and a 1.9km swim all before 7.30am and I haven’t got to the gym yet. [Read more…]

Bit tired this morning after vigorous day yesterday. Tuesday is a day off work and an exercise day. Started the laborious task of trying to get the bloodstains out of everything. Blood splatters are all through my sheets, clothes and even pillowcases. I don’t know how I got blood on the pillowcases but it must’ve been by thrashing around and scratching in my sleep. Left a pile of sheets and clothes soaking in the laundry tub, then headed down to Manly for a swim. The Manly Surf Club clubhouse is quiet and deserted – a change from the usual, cheery tumult. Swam over to Shelly on a bright sunny day with a chill, southerly wind blowing. Water cooling down but not cold. It’s not as much fun on your own although there is a certain joy being in the water on a bright sunny day and there are myriads of fish in the water. I missed the human dynamic. I was also tentative about whether yesterday’s exertions would hurt my shoulders and leave me with residual pain. No evidence of that so I just cruised along. It would appear that about seven weeks after finally leaving wheelchair and crutches behind, I have overcome the damage I did to my shoulders. I feel this is a major milestone as I compounded the leg injury by injuring both my shoulders. This was unnecessary but nobody warned me how careful you have to be with a wheelchair and crutches. Given the damage you can do to shoulders, it’s amazing that nobody warns you.

Alarm woke me at 530. A dark Monday Morning.Leg is stiff and knee sore as usual so I spend a couple of minutes just lying prone and stretching. No itchiness however, so had a good night’s sleep. Wind has come up during the night, blowing hard, rattling the windows. Maybe the days of calm seas and good weather are over. Can’t hear swells pounding into the beach, which is curious given the wind. I’m fortunate that the first thing I hear when I wake in the morning is the sound of the ocean. Very different to where I grew up. Get dressed quickly, check bed for bloodstains – thankfully there aren’t any so maybe that’s all over. Howling southerly wind as I walk along the beachfront in the predawn darkness. Ocean is wind-pounded. Flat as the top of a billiard table. Sun at 5:45 AM aglow on the eastern horizon – it’s going to be a glorious day, but cold. I shiver outside Manly Surf club until Margaret and Denise turn up at 630. We hit the water with a small group from Bold and Beautiful. No obvious shoulder pain so I decide to have a go and stick it to Denise. On the way to Shelly Beach the sun sneaks up and turns the water golden. I’m lucky to have these friends to swim with. They are such an important part of recuperation. It makes the dreary monotony of the exercise bearable. Well short of fitness but I keep going all the way to Shelly Beach pushing as hard as I can. Cold as we swim past Fairy Bower into the still-dark calm of the beach. Water very flat and feeling okay so I try and stay with Denise on the way back to Manly going at about 80% pace and don’t get left behind. This is my first good hit out in the water since mid-January. Very slow but no obvious shoulder pain. It is an amazing relief. It gives me a strange sense of euphoria, like I just might make a complete recovery. A pod of dolphins surface on the point as we arrive back at Manly. [Read more…]