Sunday Story…The Not-So Bionic Man

After my last message, when everything was going well, I may have gone over the edge. Monday, I had a great first PT session. Everything felt good, so I decided I should Ski erg for a bit. I couldn’t bike…, because the knee wouldn’t bend enough, so the ski seemed like the best choice. There is minimal flexion in the knees and lots of upper body work. So, 30 minutes sounds reasonable five days post-surgery, right?

Wrong—bucko! Five or ten minutes would have been fine. Thirty minutes was a serious mistake. While I was doing it, everything felt great. Then disaster struck. My entire leg swelled up to an extremely painful size, and nothing seemed to help except lying down, feet straight up the wall, with the ice machine on the knee.

Luckily, I didn’t do any permanent damage. By Saturday (today) the swelling had diminished, and the movement was much easier. This morning, I walked with the ruck crew for about 30 minutes, and it felt particularly good with no swelling. But I will still get upside down and get lots of ice along with my PT exercises.

This is one of those times where more is not better. Backing off the edge has more benefits than getting too close and falling off. Finding that sweet spot is the challenge…where just enough is right but a little more is very wrong.

Overall, a good week of recovery. Next week we will start poking along the edges again and see what is possible. Onward and upward!

John Mariotti

www.crossfitodyssey.com

www.sunday-stories.blogspot.com

775-338-2412