Five months on and the sunrise was beautful

So it’s a mid winter Thursday and it’s exactly five months today since I was cut open. It’s a calm cold morning on the verandah of the Balmoral Beach club at 6.30am. Shivering in the pre-dawn chill. The sun a spectacular display as its shrugs off the shroud of night and ushers in the day. Colour with no backing music. The ferries plough across the heads in silhouette, windows winking. A timeless Sydney scene. Water calm and glassy but it looks frigid. The day will approach when I’ll see this for the last time. Two very short days in our lives – the day we are born and the day we die. The sun will rise over North Head regardless.

Thge Ferries ply theri trade across the Harbour - a timeless Sydney scene. Photo courtesy Jon Attwater

Dawn. Five months since surgery. The Ferries ply their trade across the Harbour – a timeless Sydney scene. Photo courtesy Jon Attwater

To pass the time I did my exercises concentrating on the dreaded stepping down with the good leg. One of the things I realise is I can do this stuff anywhere – all I need is a step and a bit of discipline. This is the sideways step which is easier then stepping down and back.

1) The step down is complete. Maintain most of weight on the injured leg on the upper step.

1) The step down is complete. Maintain most of weight on the injured leg on the upper step. Good leg on the left is only just touching the lower step. Heel, not toe, should connect with lower step first.

2) Foot position at bottom of step

2)The feet at the bottom of the stepping process should be in the same plane ie ankles aligned. When I first began doing this exercise I used the good leg to step down and forward to relieve pain on the injured leg. This is not good and must be avoided. Also when I first tried this exercise, I reached down with the toes of my good leg – you should try to keep the foot that is being lowered flat ie the heel should strike first if possible. Notice the foot is flat in this picture. The body should be straight and lowered slowly to impart flex to the muscles in the right, bent leg.

The positon after recvoery all the wieghgt is on the injured leg on the upper step. Back should b

3) The position after recovery. All the weight is on the injured right leg on the upper step.

3) The position after recovery. The body has been raised by flexing the quadriceps muscle in the injured, right leg. Coming up must be done slowly. A common mistake is to try and push off on the uninjured, lower leg. This does not achieve anything. The idea is to flex the muscles in the bad leg, not in the good one. Both feet are kept as close together as possible, ankles brushing each other. Back should be straighter than here. All the weight is on the injured leg on the upper step.
These photos were taken on the five month anniversary after surgery. On this morning I did 5 sets of 20 repetitions on my injured leg. In the first weeks after surgery I could not do this exercise at all. Recovering patients should immediately cease doing this exercise if it causes any pain in the knee. The only point of exertion here is the quad muscle in the injured leg on the upper step. The left uninjured leg is relaxed throughout and really takes no part in the exercise.

A dolphin swam with us today. She had a calf with her. It swam right under me. Water is definitely cooling down. I’d say about 16ºC. Air was about 8ºC.

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