Archives for November 2015

Looking forward, looking back

November 30, 2015 by KJK Leave a Comment

Two pretty girls, one lucky guy. Marg Carney and Denise Elder, Manly Beach before our 630am swim on my birthday.

Monday morning I woke to find another year had slipped away. It was my 63rd birthday. Who cares I guess, except that my mother died about 6 weeks after her 63rd birthday so that is a bit sobering. I was on a roll and had promised everyone that I would come for a swim at Manly at 630am. It was a beautiful morning and thankfully the surf was flat. Marg Carney, Denise Elder and Gail Kennedy were there to escort me into the drink. I think I was born about 6.30am and that’s when we got into the water. It was surprisingly cold.

The swim was uneventful although it’s impossible to see direction when using a snorkel. I travelled all over the place and eventually arrived at Shelly. Coming back along the shore was a bit more predictable. Maybe it’s my imagination but the pain seems to be abating a bit. I’m approaching the water without the fear I had a couple of weeks ago and the burning sensation in my neck and down into my hand seems to be saying adios. Not regrets! The pain is going to the same place the gut bugs went. Hopefully.

Very jolly breakfast at Manly Wine bar afterwards and because I wasn’t in much pain it would have been nice to linger. I love sitting there at the breakfast table watching the sun sparkle on the ocean and listening to people talk. Unfortunately, over the last couple of months, I’v e been in too much pain to enjoy it. I am lucky to have these friends, who have helped me so much through these recent dark hours .

Marg and Gail at Manly Wine after a very enjoyable, relativley, pain-free btreakfast

Marg and Gail at Manly Wine after a very enjoyable, relatively, pain-free breakfast

“It is not so much our friends’ help that helps us as the confident knowledge that they will help us.” Epicurus said that. Clever old Greek, in the days when Greece wasn’t synonymous with financial crisis. He was thinking of me.

It was a busy day at work including lunch with Ryan Crewe Brown and Aditi Grover at the MLC Centre. Dinner was with Catherine, Amelia and Bergin at Garfish. I’m wistful at times like this. I think of Hilary a long way away, struggling to find a job and happiness in London. The circle has been broken. I Skype to her several times during dinner as I hope we could connect in the early hours of the day. Alas, it was to no avail. That is the harsh reality of children: if you educate them, imbue them with ambition and then turn them loose, they could, and do, end up anywhere. Hilary is in a cold, grey country, full of Poms, far from home and the sparkling waters of Manly on a beautiful summer’s day. I miss her very much.

Many things in life are uncertain but one thing I can be reasonably certain of is that I will never be 62 years old again. Still, it was a very enjoyable day as Pain took a rostered day off.

Limits of postsurgical rehabilitation

November 29, 2015 by KJK Leave a Comment

Today I started to find the limits of where you get to in recovery from surgery for a tibial plateau fracture.

As on many Sundays, the day began with a swim at Balmoral. I didn’t feel too bad after the swim yesterday and had a reasonable night’s sleep. That means I only woke up three or four times. That is a reasonable night’s sleep for me at present.

It was only a 1 km race and I waited till virtually everybody else had left and tagged along at the back of the field. I didn’t want to enter the race proper, as I was concerned about kicking people in the face with a flippers. I hate this when it happens to me so didn’t want to inflict it on other club members. I got round easily enough and at least I felt like I was participating again.

At lunchtime I attended my good friend and client David Ingham’s 70th birthday party at Manly Skiff club. I wasn’t able to get away until after 3 PM and had to rush to Virgin gym at French’s Forest to get the weekend’s gym session in. I would have preferred to stay at David’s function at in much pain and the company was agreeable. Nevertheless, I had made the commitment to myslef all those months ago and that is why discipline and determination are so important in recovery.

I did the standard warm-up on the bike: ………..5 mins on resistance 9, 10, 11, 12 and 13 – about 27 minutes all told. Sprinted to 100rpm, five times on levels 10, 11, 12 and 13. Struggled at level 13. Sweating like a pig as the gym seemed very warm and very tired at the end of this session. Interestingly, my heart rate got up to 142 bpm during the last five minutes. I can’t ever remember my heart rate getting this high, in nay form of exercise. I guess that means people with any sort of heart condition have to to be very careful about this type of graduated resistance exercise routine on a bicycle involving sprints. If you have a heart condition don’t do it.

Also of interest, I burnt only 300 cal of energy during the session on the bike. By way of comparison, two standard glasses of red or white wine (175ml) with 13% ABV would contain about 320 calories which is similar to a slice of Madeira cake. All that exercise on the bike would have only made up for two glasses of wine or a slice of cake. I’m not doing this exercise to lose weight, but it’s enlightening how hard you have to work to shift even a little of the energy produced by eating the wrong sort of food.

The rest of the session was:

Leg Extension…………….10 reps x 30kg x 2 sets both legs

Adductor……………………10 x 40kgs

Adductor……………………10 x 45kgs

Leg Curl …………………..10 x 35kg x 2 both legs

Leg Press………………….10 reps x 50kg x 2 both legs warm up

Leg Press………………….10 reps x 60kg both legs

Leg Press………………….10 reps x 70kg both legs

Leg Press………………….10 reps x 80kg x 2 both legs

And that was at for the day. It wasn’t a very big session but I couldn’t do any more. I’m feeling really tired. I don’t know if it’s work and the long process of rehabilitation or the neck pain and a lack of sleep, but I would love a holiday and a break for a while from this endless routine. I am reaching my limits. Maybe that’s what an increasing resistance exercise programme will ultimately do.

LIMITS: For almost 10 months I have been in a rehab programme involving progressive resistance exercise on a stationary bike, a leg press machine and various other gym equipment. This has been successful but I’ve felt recently that I’m reaching my physical limits. During the week, I asked Belinda about setting new limits and goals eg if I should continue to progress beyond level 13 on the bike? She said no. I then asked should I continue pushing on beyond 80 kg on the leg press machine and she said no. She had already said that I should not do leg extensions past 30 kg.

So I guess, as I approach 10 months post surgery, these are my limits. At least at this stage. I think fatigue is definitely starting to set in. Also tomorrow is my 63rd birthday so age must have something to do with capacity to keep pushing up the resistance.

The swim of shame

November 28, 2015 by KJK Leave a Comment

Saturday dawned very breezy. It would be tumultuous in the ocean. Bit of pain in the hand when I awoke but today is a special day – the 2km/4km/6km swim at Balmoral Beach Club. This is a gala day down there and I wasn’t going to miss it no matter how bad I felt. I’ve had a week off because of the pain. Enough. Time to get back in the water. I have done the 6km course every year for the last 8 years.

Finishing the 2km swim at Balmoral with flippers and snorkel in hand. I was happy just to be able to participate

So there was great noise and hubbub when I arrived with flippers and snorkel in my bag. It is one of the few times we throw the club open to the public and the longer distances attracted some good swimmers. I put my name on the board for the 2km swim. Shame. Walked across the sand carrying my flippers and snorkel. More shame. Nevertheless, it was great to be part of it, even though it was a rough and windswept day. I had to be careful not to kick anyone with my flippers as the scrum reached the first turning point at Deadmans. I toyed with the idea of doing 4kms but my hand started to burn on the last lap back from the baths, so packed it in at 2km. While it was disappointing not to be able to keep going, I was happy to be able to participate and at least do something. Barry couldn’t even get in the water, so he’s in worse shape than me.

After the shower, I stood on the verandah drinking coffee and watched the 4km swimmers come. I clapped them off the beach. Stayed till Jon Attwater and Doug Sturrock, the last of the 6km group, came in, looking pretty worn out. This swim has special resonance for me. I went in the event on the first weekend I was admitted as a member of the BBC in 2008. I only made 4km, but felt pretty pleased. I was severely injured in a horse riding accident the following weekend and underwent surgery and a c6/c7 spinal fusion shortly after. I didn’t return to the club for 6 years, and spent the intervening time ploughing up and down North Sydney and Manly pools with a snorkel. I had been told I would never swim normally again. My return to the 2/4/6 event in about 2008, and successfully completing 6km numerous times in recent years, has been a great restorative for me.

Another great voice

The exercise routines have finally caught up with me and I couldn’t face the Saturday afternoon torture up at Virgin Gym at French’s Forest. I had a sleep in the afternoon and Catherine came over. We swapped tibial plateau fracture war stories. I showed her some of my exercises. She was impressed with the jump turns.

I watched a documentary – All or nothing at all – on the life of Frank Sinatra in the evening. I’ve always hated his voice and his songs. He is not as interesting as Amy Winehouse but I can now see why people like him and the doco was not hard to watch.

Why do we suffer?

November 27, 2015 by KJK 7 Comments

One of the advantages of breaking your leg and going through extensive rehabilitation is the possibility for considerable time spent in reflection. This year will long live in my memory as one associated with pain: the pain of breaking my leg and the pain of surgery, the humiliation and pain of turning up to my daughter’s wedding on crutches, the pain from impinged tendons in my shoulders from the wheelchair, a strained planter ligament in my foot and the burning pain in my neck and arm that have been my constant companions for the last two months.

Inevitably, as I have spent much time alone and in pain, this year, I have pondered that ancient question, Why do human beings suffer? You can’t dig around in this type of subject matter without those other thorny questions arising: Does God cause suffering? What should we do about suffering and can we prevent it?

Epicurus – the world’s first optimist

Today I read an article in the British magazine Philosophy Now (Benjamin Kerstein) about the Greek philosopher Epicurus (341 – 270 BC) who pondered these questions. Epicurus may have broken his leg skiing and had time to sit round and philosophise about this causal event in his life. Maybe not. Maybe he just sat around a lot.

Anyway, Epicurus seemed to believe that suffering is a defining feature of human life. Suffering forces us to confront some of the most fundamental and difficult questions of human existence: Why do we exist? Why are human beings condemned to an inevitable death? Why is suffering and injustice heaped on apparently good people, while the wicked prosper and flourish. Is there a God? And if there is, why does He allow suffering to continue? Inevitably does this lead humans to conclude that God is evil? I certainly have reached that conclusion on numerous occasions this year.

Alison Krauss, the US folk-singer, asks “Why do we suffer, crossing off the years, there must be a reason to it all.” Epicurus, who may have been a fan of her music, asked – is there really a reason? He believed that the world and everything in it was the result of the random activities of indivisible particles of matter (he postulated a philosophy called atomism. (The word atom means indivisible). He concluded that the world was not good nor bad, just indifferent. Human beings as part of this indifferent universe, will endure both good and bad fortune and all sorts of suffering. He concluded, rationally, that in the face of indifference and pain, the most reasonable response for a human being is to seek to minimise suffering – in particular one’s own suffering. To achieve this he believed people should cultivate pleasure, and seek enjoyment and tranquility in life. Mr Kestein said Epicurus cautions against seeing this as a call to hedonism – it is not a philosophy of sensual, pleasure seeking. Epicurus was apparently quite explicit about this. Instead, his philosophy advocated a search for ataxia – a form of happiness that was defined by an absence of pain, or at least an attempt to keep pain to an absolute minimum. Ataxia could not be achieved by hedonism. Epicurus advocated seeing a middle way between pleasure and pain thus there is pleasure to be had in food and drink but neither should be consumed to excess or suffering will result. Epicurus recommended a lot of moderation, derived from the pleasures of intellectual excellence, virtuous behaviour, the fulfilment of basic material needs and genuine, lasting friendships.

To my great relief, Epicurus also philosophised that suffering was not insurmountable. Suffering was the result of our inability to avoid all pain and sorrow. He also believed that death, as the end of all sensation, was nothing to be feared. In fact, it was something of a deliverance. Funny, I’ve felt that way a few times this year. He had a very interesting idea that nothing awaits us after death. It is the end of ourselves, the dispersion of our constituent atoms into the void. However, it’s also the end of all human suffering. As a result suffering should not be feared – suffering does not last.

Epicurus then, answered my question and that posited by Alison Krauss, through a rational philosophy of moderation as a means of moderating suffering. Life has no essential meaning according to Epicurus. What meaning we bring to it, we bring through our efforts to moderate its negative aspects, which we achieve by moderating ourselves and our behaviour. As a rationalist, Epicurus believed that the management of suffering is within human capabilities (Hope so). He was thus quintessentially Greek and was delving into questions which still trouble us today. They obviously also trouble US female, bluegrass singers.

I looked up some of Epicurus’s writings and he has some great quotes

Not what we have but what we enjoy, constitutes our abundance.
It is not so much our friends’ help that helps us as the confident knowledge that they will help us.
Death does not concern us, because as long as we exist, death is not here. And when it does come, we no longer exist.

And to top it off he left us the English word Epicurean which means somebody who derives pleasure from food and drink. He was a busy man.

Look who I bumped into on Friday afternoon going for a run/ swim biathlon after work. Amelia K

Serious rehab

November 25, 2015 by KJK Leave a Comment

Still too sore to join the Wednesday group and go for a swim this morning. Have decided I will not swim at all this week to give my neck a rest and hopefully alleviate the pain. Still the show must go on and so I presented myself at the Virgin gym in town to see what Belinda had in store for me. I arrived half an hour early and warmed up on the bike. I was a bit tired and sweating profusely before the session even started. We did a whole lot of new things including:

1) Running on the spot with very high leg lift. This was pretty difficult at first but I got used to it. The broken leg didn’t want to have anything to do with this at first and my coordination was terrible. It actually got better the faster I ran.

2) Walking lunges. This was really hard – back and forth across the gym. Instead of a normal lunge where you go forward then stand up again then lunge on the other leg, this was a succession of lunges in a walking motion with one knee almost touching the floor. Very difficult at first. I think this was trying to load up my knee while at the same time making it move. This seems to be a holy Grail for Belinda – putting load on the broken knee while it is in motion.

3) Jump turns. This is a straight skiing exercise where the body stays facing forward while the feet are together and about 45° to one side. I then had to jump up and land with my feet together and facing 45° the other way. This was also really hard until I got used to it, but strangely enough, once I tried it a few times it wasn’t so bad. This is a pure replication of the manoeuvre on a very steep skiing slope where the terrain does not allow a normal carved turn. The turn is initiated by jumping slightly, getting the skis off the ground and pointing them in a different direction. It was weird trying to do it in the gym. I felt stupid, but I know what she was aiming at.

TThe coach the bag arch using the free-form board the back arch using the free-form board was introduced into my routine a couple of weeks ago. This is a very difficult exercise but cried a satisfying one. The key is to keep the board under your backside as you lift your hips off the floor. This is difficult as your feet want to push out as your back arches. This is now a regular part of my routine with Belinda – part stretch and part leg strengthening exercise.

Belinda introduced the back-arch using the Freeform board into my exercise routine a couple of weeks ago. This is a very difficult exercise but a satisfying one. The key is to keep the board under your backside as you lift your hips off the floor. This is difficult as your feet want to push out as your back arches. This is now a regular part of my routine with Belinda – part stretch and part leg strengthening exercise.

We also did repetitions of the back arch using the Freeform board. Even though I find this exercise difficult, I asked her could we do it this week as I find it a really excellent stretch for muscles that I hardly ever use. For some reason, I sense that this is an excellent exercise for office-bound workers who sit at a desk every day. As usual, we completed numerous sets of speed skating on the Freeform board. All of this is about trying to get me skiing again. Belinda is now presuming that I am responsible for all the strength work and she is concentrating on the balance, coordination, stretching and range of movement that I will need to ski again. I see Matt Lyons the surgeon next week for the sign off. Here’s hoping.

Josh Dugan and me

November 22, 2015 by KJK Leave a Comment

litery Some days you can do it and some days you can’t. Today, I couldn’t. I was in pain when I woke up and my arm was burning. It was a hot, still Sunday morning. The ocean had a glassy sheen. Shimmering like syrup. Perfect. I had fully intended to get up and swim at Manly but my resolve weakened and I just couldn’t do it. I have overdone it since I had the spinal block and probably should have had a couple of weeks off swimming. Spent most of the day reading a fantastic book that I first read 20 years ago. Called Literary Las Vegas, it’s a selection of excerpts from some of the best writing about America’s most infamous city. Some of the greats are featured here – Tom Wolfe, Michael Herr and the incomparable Hunter S Thompson. These were peerless authors who obviously found Las Vegas important enough to write about. No doubt about it, LV is the best and worst of America. I’ve been there twice already and am really looking forward to revisiting it next year

While reading the Sydney Morning Herald, I came across a story about St George rugby league player Josh Dugan. A sublimely talented athlete, he will sometimes be remembered more for bad behaviour and lots of tatts than his skills. But this caught my eye:

“By then Dugan hopes to be back in full contact training after recovering from a neck operation in which surgeons shaved two of his vertebrae to relieve a nerve problem that was causing numbness in his fingers.

Dugan first began feeling pain in his neck and shoulders last year but the injury intensified after this season’s opening game and he often struggled to finish games or train with the team between matches. `Three of my vertebrae were pushing on each other and they were pushing on my disc, which was then pushing on the nerve,’ he said.

Josh Dugan - a superbly talented footballer who paled a whole season with a nerve root problem in his neck which ultimately required surgery

Josh Dugan – a superbly talented footballer who played the 2015 season with a nerve root problem in his neck which ultimately required surgery

`I would get constant aching in my shoulder and in my neck, and there were times I would get tingling down my arm and numbness in my fingers. It started last year, there were times I would get burners in my shoulders and that sort of thing but pretty much since round one it has just been gradually getting worse and worse. I didn’t want to go through that again next year so I wanted to get on top of it and I can already feel the difference.’ “

Sydney Morning Herald November 21 – 22, 2015 Pages 56 – 57

Lucky you. I wonder who his surgeon was? I think I’ll write to him and ask. Poor old Josh has got a C6 C7 nerve root problem. He has a cervical radiculopathy resulting from neck arthritis or degenerative disc disease, which forms bone spurs and decreases disc height. This reduces the opening through which a nerve travels and pinches the nerve. Problems with a herniated disc can place pressure on the nerve along with inflammation which can irritate the nerve. Neck injury is another cause of a pinched nerve. It’s quite a shock to see someone so high profile and obviously so tough, who has exactly the same complaint as me. He is also about 30 years younger than I am. I can only presume that his injury is a result of football trauma rather than advancing years. However, I had my first episode of neck spasm at the age of 22 in exactly the same place I have it now. It certainly doesn’t seem to be a respecter of persons

So me and Josh Dugan. I can’t play footy like him and I don’t have as many tatts, but Josh, I feel your pain. Believe me, I feel your pain. How you ever got through a rugby league season with this ailment is beyond me. You seem more human to me now not just a distant footballer. You have the same ailments that all us punters in the cheap seats have to endure. It makes us feel better. I wish you a speedy recovery and hope it doesn’t effect your side-step. Also stay off the beers – they don’t help rehabilitation (or anything else for that matter, especially your reputation.)

Hey, I just had a thought. Maybe Josh Dugan is the Hunter S Thompson of rugby league. Both were supremely talented, both cannoned around crashing into things. Both got arrested (a lot!) and both had periods of life, under the influence of mind altering substances, which will forever remain a black hole in their memories. “Now what did I do last night?” I wonder if Thompson had tatts? He probably didn’t play Rugby League for St George.

Skidding in sideways

November 21, 2015 by KJK Leave a Comment

I swam at Manly on Tuesday and Wednesday and Balmoral on Thursday. Nothing too serious, just a couple of km’s with my snorkel and flippers. On Friday backed up at Manly, swimming to Shelly Beach and back, head down looking at the fish on a scorchingly hot day. I may be overdoing it as the pain in my neck and spasm in my hand, is coming back. In the first few days after the spinal block, the pain abated and I felt really good, but now it’s as bad as ever. A sure sign is how difficult it is to get out of bed in the morning. It’s suddenly hard again. Even though I’m using a snorkel it seems to be irritating the nerves in my arm. I was really weary on Friday night after a busy week at work, but struggled down to Balmoral for the extraordinary general meeting to elect the new life members at the club. Terrific evening although I was really sore.

I surprised myself on Saturday morning, once more getting up and returning to Balmoral for a few loops of the bay. I do enjoy the coffee and conversation afterwards.

Saturday afternoon found me as ever in the Virgin gym at French Forest. I was feeling very lethargic and my arm and hand hurt. Still I have broken leg and the rehab must go on.

Bike……………………………5 mins on resistance 9, on 10, on 11, on 12 and 5 minutes on resistance 13 for the first time. I was able to get to 100rpms, five times on levels 10, 11, 12 and the new level 13. Increase in resistance. This was a real surprise to me. I upped the resistance to 13 but could still crank out 100 rpm five times. I seem to be getting stronger and stronger on the bike despite the increasing resistance. Maybe this is a sign that my leg really has healed.

Leg Extension……………….10 reps x 30kg x 2 sets both legs

Adductor……………………10 x 40kgs x 2 I did 45kgs last time but it hurt this time so stopped

Leg Curl …………………..10 reps x 35kg x 2 both legs

Leg Press………………….10 reps x 70kg x 2 both legs Didn’t warm up with lighter weights

Leg Press………………….10 reps x 80kg x 2 both legs

A change from reading about Islam. A lot more light hearted and an antidote to pain

It was not a long session. I didn’t have much energy. I felt melancholy driving home and afterwards sitting quietly in my apartment. With a broken leg and neck injury, I was feeling battered. Pain changes everything. To cheer myself up, and because I’m going on a road trip in the USA next year, I started pulling out some of my books on Las Vegas. I particularly like Hunter S Thompson. I think if Mark Twain represents the Mississippi, Herman Melville the north-east and John Steinbeck, California, then Hunter S Thompson represents the old southwest. I found this quote:

“Life should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside in a cloud of smoke, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming “Wow! What a Ride!”

The Proud Highway:

Saga of a Desperate Southern Gentleman, 1955-1967

This just cracked me up. For a guy in his 60’s, this is the only way you can live. This is the only way you can reconcile the pain and the injuries and the failing athletic capability. Unlike Thomson, I don’t do bucket loads of drugs and have always tried to look after myself, but on this Saturday afternoon I feel like a wreck. The quote makes me laugh. He was a mad, wicked guy but gee he could write.

“Skidding in broadside.” How could he have thought of that? Amy Winehouse and Hunter S Thompson may just get me through this difficult, post-surgical, period of my life. That’s a strange triumvirate. I wonder what we each have in common?

On any Wednesday

November 18, 2015 by KJK Leave a Comment

It’s Wednesday again. My how the weeks roll by. I was a bit restless last night. I think more to do with the anxiety post the attacks in France. The brutality of such mindless killing is really tormenting me. Also, I’m still suffering low-grade pain in my neck and not sleeping that well. I made it down for the Wednesday swim at Manly with the Balmoral group for the first time in many weeks. It was a sunny, calm morning but swimming with a snorkel and flippers seems strangely odd. Still, I’m grateful. It’s better than not swimming at all.

As I’m starting the second half of rehab, I decided I’d do something a bit different today and concentrate mainly on the leg press machine. Warmed up on the bike as usual.

Bike

Resistance level 9 x 5 mins………………………100rpm x 5

Resistance level 10 x 10 mins………………………100rpm x 5

Resistance level 11 x 5 mins………………………100rpm x 5

Resistance level 12 x 5 mins……………………….100rpm x 1

Leg press

I did two circuits on the leg press machine.

First circuit. Second circuit

50 x 60kgs 20 x 60kgs

30 x 70kgs 20 x 70kgs

20 x 80kgs 10 x 80kgs

I was particularly pleased that I can do 80 kg pretty easily now. I bumped into Belinda in the gym. She was with another client but I told her briefly that I’d managed 80 kg on the weekend. Should I push on and try some heavier weights. She said “no” quite emphatically. I might have to work on her a bit. I’d like to have a shot at 100kgs.

Seen in the Virgin gym in Pitt St drying his hair. So that’s why they have hair dryers in the men’s change room. He was wearing blue suede shoes which was pretty avant-garde

When I got into the change room, after the workout, I noticed the hairdryer scrum in full blast, with blokes teasing and fluffing up their hair while studiously contemplating themselves in the mirror. Hair is a very serious business with some people it seems. There was one guy there who looked vaguely familiar. He had an extravagant pompadour. I guess I can’t begrudge him using the hairdryers. Wish I could remember where I had seen him before. Wish I had a pompadour like him! Actually a pompadour of any description would do.

Finished the last episode of The Following, this evening. What a marathon that was. It was crap. Won’t be backing up for season two. What was Kevin Bacon thinking?

Nine month milestones

November 14, 2015 by KJK 2 Comments

So after nine months of rehabilitation, following tibial plateau fracture and re-constructive surgery, it’s worth an inventory of what is possible. I spent the afternoon in the gym and for the first time in weeks I was not in any pain, either from neck or leg. The spinal block appears to be working.

Why is nine months so significant? I was told at the start that I would be in for an 18 month programme if I wanted to achieve full recovery. I’m half way. There were no guidelines or signposts for this stuff when I started. I’m recording this so that those who come after may have some form of road map to guide them on their journey. I would have liked something to check my progress against, but nothing existed. I’m feeling my way through this, albeit with a fair bit of help.

I had some significant milestones this afternoon:
1) Got to resistance level 12 on a stationary bike for the first time

2) Increased weight to 35 kg on the leg curl machine for the first time

3) Increased weight to 45 kg on the adductor machine for the first time and

4) Finally managed to leg press 80 kg, which is my body weight

Nine months after surgery I finally manage to leg press my body wieght

Nine months after surgery I finally manage to leg press my body weight, which I was very pleased about

The following is a guide, and it is a guide only, to what is possible after nine months of physiotherapy and personal training. This will not apply to everyone. Younger people will advance more quickly and will be able to do more in a gym at nine months then is outlined here. Older people may not yet be at these levels after nine months. Each recovery will be different but I suspect mine is fairly typical for someone in their 50s or early 60s who has been fairly regular in their exercise routine.

A TYPICAL GYM SESSION AT 9 MONTHS – EXERCISE TIME ABOUT 1.5 HOURS.

Bike……………………………10 mins on resistance 9, 10 mins on resistance 10, 5 mins on resistance 11 and 5 mins on resistance 12. I was able to get to 100rpms, five times on levels 10 and 11 and did one set of 100rpm at the new level 12. Increase in resistance

Leg Extension……………….20 reps x 30kg x 4 sets both legs

Adductor……………………10 x 40kgs

Adductor……………………10 x 45 kgs Increase in resistance

Freeform plate …………….20 lunges each leg

Freeform plate ……………25 one legged squats on each leg

Freeform plate ……………30 skates on each leg

Bosu ball skips ………….50 on both sides 100 in total

Jacobs ladder …………….5 minutes at 80 steps per minute.

Leg Curl …………………..10 reps x 30kg x 2 both legs

Leg Curl …………………..10 reps x 35kg both legs Increase in weight

Leg Press…………………..10 reps x 50kg both legs warm up

Leg Press………………….10 reps x 60kg both legs

Leg Press………………….10 reps x 70kg both legs

Leg Press………………….10 reps x 80kg x 2 both legs Increase in weight. First time I have been able to leg press my body weight.

The Jacobs Ladder, a safe but taxing exercise machine for the legs once the initial phase of rehab is complete.

The Jacobs Ladder, a safe but taxing exercise machine for a broken leg, once the initial phase of rehab is complete.

So I am officially half way through an 18 month rehab program. What else can you expect?

1) You should be free of pain in the injured leg when walking or exercising

2) There should be no residual swelling or heat of any sort in the injured limb

3) There should be significant recovery of muscle mass to the extent that, to the untrained eye, there is little difference between the injured and uninjured limb

4) You should be able to kneel on the floor supporting all your weight on the kneecap of the broken leg without experiencing any pain. Don’t try this in the first months after surgery – really hurts.

5) You should be able able to do most things with the broken leg that your unbroken limb can do. I can’t run and I don’t think I could twist out of a set of ski bindings or bike cleats. Beyond that I think I can do most things with my injured leg.

Belinda thinks that when I see Matt Lyons, the surgeon, in a couple of weeks, he will let me ski again. For the first time I’m having doubts about whether I want to. I still have 9 months of work in front of me. The body is willing but the mind is getting weary. With nine months still to go, do I want to go through all this again, if I hurt myself on the slopes?

Caution: You should not attempt any of these exercises if you are not under the supervision of a physiotherapist or experienced post-surgical rehabilitation trainer. You should also not attempt these exercises unless you have been subjected to a supervised and gradual recovery program. Obviously anyone with a heart condition or other medical impediment should not attempt these exercises. These are guidelines only and are no substitute for professional, medical advice. Tibial plateau fracture surgery and rehabilitation is complicated and can expose a patient to post-operative injury if gym exercises are not carried out in a careful and conservative manner. If you are not certain do not attempt these exercises.

A picture never lies. The weight rack on the leg press machine at Virgin gym French’s Forest with the pin set at 80kgs. Saturday November 14, 2015

Mother Mother Ocean

November 14, 2015 by KJK Leave a Comment

My first morning, post spinal block, I woke to the sound of heavy rain drumming on the balcony outside my bedroom, mixed with the gentle sigh of surf on the beach across the road. I had had a good night’s sleep – about six hours – but I still felt bleary after yesterday’s procedure. Blissfully no pain. Hauled myself out of bed and tried to decide what to do with the day. As on so many other mornings, the desire to flop back into bed was almost overwhelming. I didn’t feel like a drive to Balmoral in the rain.

buffet And yet. The words of Jimmy Buffet came to me as I stood looking out at the grey, rainswept Pacific, the wind ripping sheets of white water.

Mother, mother ocean, I have heard you call,
Wanted to sail upon your waters
since I was three feet tall.
You’ve seen it all, you’ve seen it all.

This is from his song, A Pirate Looks at Forty. It was on A1A, the first Buffet album I ever owned circa 1974. That’s 41 years ago and the song is still inspiring me to get into the ocean on a cold, grey morning. We never thought we were going to get old back then and now I’m a pirate looking at sixty. It was also very quiet in my apartment and to be honest I longed for the sound of the human voice. I dressed and headed for Balmoral.

It was the walk of shame again to an ocean that was dirty and churned up after the rain. I clamped the snorkel mouthpiece in my teeth determined not to swallow water. This is the home of the gut bugs after all. Most people had already finished the race so I did a couple of lonely circuits round the bay. In that murky water it was only me and the bull sharks.

I loitered for a couple of hours over breakfast. Saturday down there is always something special and I do miss the tumult.

And lend to the rhyme of of the poet,

The beauty of thy voice.

(The Day is Done: Longfellow)

O yes, the beauty of the human voice. It’s a great antidote to pain. Longfellow knew this. Silence is never that golden.

Alison Maunder had some prebiotic for me – Fructo oligosaccharides. Don’t know what it is but gee it sounds impressive. Alison is trying to get my intestinal microflora back up to full speed following everything this year. I’ve been really good taking my kefir and probiotic every day since I got rid of the gutbugs. I’m determined to stay “clean,” as I feel so much better.

When I arrived home, I saw the shocking news about the atrocities in Paris. What unspeakable acts. I thought back to my struggle to get through the Koran earlier in the year when I was laid up from surgery. The violence of some of those passages came back to me watching the imagery of slaughter in France.

“The punishment of those who wage war against Allah and His messenger and strive to make mischief in the land is only this, that they should be murdered or crucified or their hands and their feet should be cut off on opposite sides or they should be imprisoned; this shall be as a disgrace for them in this world, and in the hereafter they shall have a grievous chastisement” (Koran 5:33)

and

“I will cast terror into the hearts of those who disbelieve. Therefore strike off their heads and strike off every fingertip of them” (Koran 8:12)

I marked these passages, but there are heaps more like this. Such a violent, political tract masquerading as religious instruction. France and Spain were first invaded by Muslims around 700 A.D. Europe has constantly fought them off ever since – that’s a 1300 year war to preserve a culture. I wonder, as I watch these images, whether we are seeing the Anglo-Celts finally bow their heads in defeat to a culture that has been trying to overthrow them for more than a millennia. It’s very sad.

The struggles I have had this year are as nothing, when compared with all those people who have lost their lives at the hands of a primitive political system disguised as a religion. I pray for all of them.