Today was a bit of a different day. I actually went outside to walk! ha. Not exactly on purpose, but it works. I had a friend over who was able to watch the girls while I walked to the thrift store that isn't too far away.
I ended up having to go twice because the first time the shop wasn't open -oops! Overall it was probably about 10ish minutes of walking.
I've also been cleaning today, vacuuming and washing the floor, both of which are harder on my knee than I would like to admit. I'm not quite finished yet, but the kitchen and dining room are completely done! Hooray! The floors haven't been this clean in longer than I'm willing to admit. Priorities are what dictate the cleanliness of our home, and often, baby snuggles or temper tantrums sidetrack the cleaning. Ah well, such is life in a young family.
Today, though, I'm determined to not let the kids stop me. My friend was a help both to play with my girls and on the flip side get some of the cleaning tasks done too - he helped me move couches and actually did my dishes while I was out for the thrift store.
Anyway, pain level for my knee is about a 6/7 right now, so once finish up the floor it's going to be rolling and icing for the rest of the day - hopefully it'll calm down by tomorrow!
xo,
J
Thursday, September 18, 2014
Wednesday, September 17, 2014
Day 2
So, I'm not stepping on the treadmill every day. To do so would be to commit murder to my ambition of being healthy in the long term.
As it is, yesterday I spent heating then stretching a little then icing it. It wasn't fun, but I wasn't in a crazy amount of pain. At one point on day 1, I moved my knee just right and heard a CRACK...and then there wasn't even the slightest tension! Hooray...too bad it didn't last terribly long.
Today I did go on the treadmill for 10 min at 2.6 for 1 min and 2.7 for 9. I came back up the stairs and rolled out on the roller then used the tension bands for some light strength building. I iced it after rolling it out again.
Right now, about 3 hours later, it feels tight and uncomfortable, but not painful! I'm thinking this is a step in the right direction.
I'm also hoping to get in a little bit of upper body lifting in this afternoon, but we'll see. Nap time is only so long. :)
XO,
J
Thanks for reading, I have a feeling this is going to get fairly tedious, so I'll try to spice it up just a little after I get a routine going!
As it is, yesterday I spent heating then stretching a little then icing it. It wasn't fun, but I wasn't in a crazy amount of pain. At one point on day 1, I moved my knee just right and heard a CRACK...and then there wasn't even the slightest tension! Hooray...too bad it didn't last terribly long.
Today I did go on the treadmill for 10 min at 2.6 for 1 min and 2.7 for 9. I came back up the stairs and rolled out on the roller then used the tension bands for some light strength building. I iced it after rolling it out again.
Right now, about 3 hours later, it feels tight and uncomfortable, but not painful! I'm thinking this is a step in the right direction.
I'm also hoping to get in a little bit of upper body lifting in this afternoon, but we'll see. Nap time is only so long. :)
XO,
J
Thanks for reading, I have a feeling this is going to get fairly tedious, so I'll try to spice it up just a little after I get a routine going!
Monday, September 15, 2014
Day 1
Today marks the beginning of a journey that I'm hoping ends in health and an absence of pain.
Years ago I was diagnosed with a benign tumor in my leg and arthritis in my knees and was told to just take it easy, lest I do permanent damage. I took that advice to heart. I got insoles for my shoes and hoped and prayed that would do the trick.
I went off to post-secondary school. The sedentary student life helped my knee to be just about pain free. There were nights of discomfort, but for the most part, I was fine.
I finished school, got married, and started working in retail. The pain came back full force. It was days and nights of 7-8 level pain. It was not good...at all. I went to a physio therapist. He looked at x-rays and said he confirmed the diagnosis, but wanted me to get my doctor to get an MRI done.
The MRI confirmed the tumor, and that is all the doctors ever since focused on. There was nothing they could do - surgery would make things worse, perhaps even damage nerves and blah blah blah.
I got pregnant and that helped loosen all the ligaments in my body and took the pain level to nil. It was awesome - minus the puking.
Fast forward to a cross province move and a new doctor. I told him what my former doctors told me and he recommended a new physio place. I went with trepidation. The exercises I had done faithfully the last time did next to nothing. I was skeptical, but willing to try anything.
My new therapist turned my entire world upside down. He listened to my story then grabbed my hand and started manipulating it. He basically said that if I didn't have any degeneration in my hands it was unlikely that I had arthritis anywhere, and if I did, it would be an extremely aggressive kind that would make me bedridden - but it was highly unlikely since there wasn't any advancement in my body.
The therapist got me to get new x-rays and told me to get a specialist involved, telling them about the tumor and to ignore it this time. In the meantime, though, he started working my knee. He got me on a treadmill, elliptical, stationary bike, and tension bands. He even had to figure out modified stretches because apparently my legs are super flexible...to the point of not stretching the correct muscles. Flexible in the wrong places, but flexible nonetheless!
The whole regime was intimidating and exciting. Things I had been told were off limits were opened up to me. He encouraged core strength and helped figure out how to exercise without working my knee for the leg rest days.
He figured out I didn't have arthritis at all and the tumor had nothing to do with the knee pain! All that was wrong was IT band syndrome - my ligaments surrounding my knee were way WAY too tight. Stretching and strengthening should all but get rid of the pain!
I was doing really well, then I got pregnant again, which meant horribly sick as well as my pelvic girdle separated leaving me in excruciating pain. We also moved twice in a short amount of time and life was a disaster.
My knee got worse and I was completely discouraged. I didn't feel like I had the time to get it better, and just left it. I still went on the stationary bike, but didn't do anything to strengthen the muscles that would keep my knee in line.
Fast forward a year. I'm ready to start again. I want to have some control over this body of mine. I want to be able to take my kids for a walk or even cook a complicated meal without paying for it for weeks on end.
Over the last few weeks I had been on a search for a treadmill on Kijiji. This weekend, we found one! It's better than the one we had when we moved and got rid of it. Treadmills, for me, are way better than going outside, because getting 3 little ones ready to go out for just a ten minute walk is insanity. So, I can go on the treadmill for just a little while, while they are watching a video then I can use a foam roller and ice it. We'll see how it goes.
Yesterday I tested it out. My knee this morning is sitting at about an 8 on the pain scale. I was excited, though to get on the treadmill again. I did ten minutes and rolled out on the roller. I'm icing it right now. I would say that I'm sitting at about a 7 right now. I'm discouraged because of the pain, but determined to keep it up.
Well, now you have the back story. Now to write the next chapter!
XO
J
Years ago I was diagnosed with a benign tumor in my leg and arthritis in my knees and was told to just take it easy, lest I do permanent damage. I took that advice to heart. I got insoles for my shoes and hoped and prayed that would do the trick.
I went off to post-secondary school. The sedentary student life helped my knee to be just about pain free. There were nights of discomfort, but for the most part, I was fine.
I finished school, got married, and started working in retail. The pain came back full force. It was days and nights of 7-8 level pain. It was not good...at all. I went to a physio therapist. He looked at x-rays and said he confirmed the diagnosis, but wanted me to get my doctor to get an MRI done.
The MRI confirmed the tumor, and that is all the doctors ever since focused on. There was nothing they could do - surgery would make things worse, perhaps even damage nerves and blah blah blah.
I got pregnant and that helped loosen all the ligaments in my body and took the pain level to nil. It was awesome - minus the puking.
Fast forward to a cross province move and a new doctor. I told him what my former doctors told me and he recommended a new physio place. I went with trepidation. The exercises I had done faithfully the last time did next to nothing. I was skeptical, but willing to try anything.
My new therapist turned my entire world upside down. He listened to my story then grabbed my hand and started manipulating it. He basically said that if I didn't have any degeneration in my hands it was unlikely that I had arthritis anywhere, and if I did, it would be an extremely aggressive kind that would make me bedridden - but it was highly unlikely since there wasn't any advancement in my body.
The therapist got me to get new x-rays and told me to get a specialist involved, telling them about the tumor and to ignore it this time. In the meantime, though, he started working my knee. He got me on a treadmill, elliptical, stationary bike, and tension bands. He even had to figure out modified stretches because apparently my legs are super flexible...to the point of not stretching the correct muscles. Flexible in the wrong places, but flexible nonetheless!
The whole regime was intimidating and exciting. Things I had been told were off limits were opened up to me. He encouraged core strength and helped figure out how to exercise without working my knee for the leg rest days.
He figured out I didn't have arthritis at all and the tumor had nothing to do with the knee pain! All that was wrong was IT band syndrome - my ligaments surrounding my knee were way WAY too tight. Stretching and strengthening should all but get rid of the pain!
I was doing really well, then I got pregnant again, which meant horribly sick as well as my pelvic girdle separated leaving me in excruciating pain. We also moved twice in a short amount of time and life was a disaster.
My knee got worse and I was completely discouraged. I didn't feel like I had the time to get it better, and just left it. I still went on the stationary bike, but didn't do anything to strengthen the muscles that would keep my knee in line.
Fast forward a year. I'm ready to start again. I want to have some control over this body of mine. I want to be able to take my kids for a walk or even cook a complicated meal without paying for it for weeks on end.
Over the last few weeks I had been on a search for a treadmill on Kijiji. This weekend, we found one! It's better than the one we had when we moved and got rid of it. Treadmills, for me, are way better than going outside, because getting 3 little ones ready to go out for just a ten minute walk is insanity. So, I can go on the treadmill for just a little while, while they are watching a video then I can use a foam roller and ice it. We'll see how it goes.
Yesterday I tested it out. My knee this morning is sitting at about an 8 on the pain scale. I was excited, though to get on the treadmill again. I did ten minutes and rolled out on the roller. I'm icing it right now. I would say that I'm sitting at about a 7 right now. I'm discouraged because of the pain, but determined to keep it up.
Well, now you have the back story. Now to write the next chapter!
XO
J
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