Today’s post is swings and rout-a-bouts otherwise known as “good days and bad days”

Yesterday was a bad day for me. I let frustration and anger get the better of me.

I had three key appointments.

The first was an initial consult with a Physio at Corporate Health Group to get me back into a Hyro Rehab Program.

Despite corrective surgery my ankle is still chronically unstable. The surgery has weakened the ankle further and it requires hefty rehab. Nothing that worries me its a process I have to go through. I keep telling myself I’ve had minor surgery, but when I met with my surgeon it was quite clear it was major.

My frustration with this consult is they didn’t have a fax my Physio had sent through, thankfully I had a copy of it. The appointment was largely procedural for their benefit.

I was already Physio cleared for Hydro, have a program written up all I needed was for someone to go through the exercises and let me in the pool.

So I’m in the pool at 8am tomorrow morning, really looking forward to it.

I was running back-to-back appointments which I try and avoid as often they run late and I also still tire easily.

I went to the next appointment which was for a sleep review. I suffer severe sleep apnea and since surgery have been having real compliance issues.

Specialist ran about 20 minutes late which isn’t usual. In my fluster I forgot to refer to my prepared notes and as I result I’m going to have to re-book.

It was a good appointment though, specialist said my compliance currently is actually much better than some of his more “normal” patients. So given that I’m recovering from surgery, stressing my body in different ways I should be commended. So I was happy with that.

Final appointment of note was with my new remedial sports masseur.

Amy is a gun, she’s only massaged me a few times, has only recently graduated from her Dip in Massage but her approach is just amazing.

Little bugger got me swearing through treatment which is unusual for me. (I’m normally quite the gentleman!)

I had to go to the chemist and my usual chemist didn’t have any of the regular staff I know working. The young lady who tried to help me was of almost no help.

I ended going to Chemist Warehouse as I had an idea what I needed and they were a bit cheaper than the other chemist I go to.

I’ve been having some problems with my wounds particularly the large incision.

The tape they put on was half coming off, in my rush to remove the tape so I could recover it I opened the wound up which wasn’t a smart thing to do.

I won’t go into detail, but I put a new dressing on and got it covered back up.

Ended out calling Sportsmed this morning and chatting to one of the nurses who gave me some great pointers.

So yesterday go to me a bit.

I was confident that today I could turn it around and make it a positive day.

Had three things to sort out.

1. Wound care
2. PT
3. Physio

Called Sportsmed and worked out how to deal with my wounds. When I was in high school I was a St John cadet and I’ve got my Senior First Aid cert and I think it’s largely my cadet experience I’m pulling on. It comes down to confidence, I actually had a fair clew what I needed to do, I just needed a bit of guidance.

Caught up with Sean by PT, I’m actually running two PTs and about to add a third.

It’s a little excessive but it does actually work well.

Sean was great at helping me keep up my training consistency and by pushing just a little bit.

I’m still struggling a bit but unless I’m on a death bed there is no way I’m going to miss a PT session. They are far too valuable to miss.

We spoke about whole range of things and because the studio was empty we were free to move around and it was a nice relaxed atmosphere.

This afternoon I had a private consult with my Physio only a standard appointment as straight after I was in for a hour long Pilates Mat class.

I’m working with my Physio to get me ready for a return to work. Part of that is getting me more stable on my ankle. Part of it will be the supply and purchase of an ankle brace.

A lot of Physio and allied health companies buy from company known as Practitioner Supplies. I’ve done some research on that companies site for ankle braces to find the one my Physio recommended.

PS, had a banner ad showing a new ankle brace that was meant to be “the new standard in ankle braces” it’s also on sale this month which is almost about a third off the price of the recommended brace.

I grabbed the information about the brace and emailed it through to the Physio for review.

I also emailed my Podiatrist to get her view.

Physio has been great, they are going to order both in. I’ll try each one and I’ll only have to pay for the one I/we like.

Finished up the private consult and it was time for the group class to start.

This is the first day of this class and they only had two people (including myself) book in.

Not sure if the class is going to last with so low numbers, but I made full use of the hour.

Was great to spend an hour in the Pilates studio. My rehab and recent Physio visits have no allowed for so much time in the studio. I do Pilates at my Physio’s practice http://www.therapia.com.au/ it has to be one of the most impressive Pilates Studios.

It’s a great space and to have access to class for an hour for $28 with a Physio to client ratio of 2-1  is a bargain.

In true form I had a heavily modified program to do, but Liz who took the class who is my Physio did a brilliant job.

Even thought Liz kept a close eye on me, I really struggled with the class. Even though it’s “just Pilates” anyone that has done Pilates knows that when you slow things down, focus on your breathing while doing the exercises it’s actually very hard normally.

It’s demanding mentally and often physically.

I only took my mid strength pain killers prior to this class and while I’m trying to reduce my usage of pain killers there is only so far you can push without them.

Anyway, I’m at home, just eaten dinner, about to ice the ankle and head for an early night.

Got a big day tomorrow with my return to the pool! Looking forward to it.

Lunch today chicken tenderloins, pasta spiral base. Fresh salad chopped onion, tomato, capsicum, baby rocket. pasta sauce and light vinegarette dressing

Prepared and plated in around 15 minutes.

I didn’t realize how injury and rehabilitation affected you.

I known and understand how I obsess and over analyze things, but I wasn’t prepared for the personal growth and mental will power I needed to get through this.

It’s amazing when you try and do something and you find it a struggle. Your head shoots you down and says “no don’t do this” “you can’t do this” “doing this hurts”

You have to re-train your brain to get over this.

Part of this struggle is pain, pain should not be ignored as it’s the body’s way of telling you something. Get it wrong and you end up like me injured!

Heed the warning and your the better for it.

Now I’ve been taught to visualize exercise which when I first was told it I thought was the biggest piece of crap out since Dr Phil.

Now I use visualization to work out if I’m actually in pain or if I just think I’m in pain.

There are times I can work myself up so much into a frenzy, my pain response it out of control and pain receptors fire so much I’m over-welcomed and I start to shut down.

For those not familiar with visualization you think in your head what you want to do. If you find it hurts then you need to work with your head to push through that. It’s doing this which can be really hard as your pain response from the body is avoidance. You really have to trick your brain in coming to the party especially if the pain is and has been chronic and on going.

I thought this was utter crap, but you know what it works for me and that’s all that really matters.

So I’ve managed to sprain my rotator cuff, not that badly, but enough it’s not getting better.

Physio says it’s due to my crutches use and we’ve made an adjustment today which should help.

Turns out I was loading my shoulders a little bit too much and they’ve got grumpy.

So I now have a new set of exercises to do 🙂

I’m not all that worried as I know they it will settle down and the fact that my rehab while slow is going very well.

I’ve had three hours of physio consult this week which has just been amazing. My Physio has to be one of the most hardest working and dedicated people I’ve worked with.

Got given my Hydro program today and I’m really looking forward to starting that this coming week.

I’m working on building up my endurance as I recover. My Physio is doing constant assessments and for the moment I’m still weight bearing as possible on two crutches. I had hoped to drop one or both and move onto a walking stick, but I’m just not ready yet.

I use Facebook and this blog to vent a lot of my frustration, but over all my rehab is going quite well.

When I met with my surgeon a few days ago he answered some of the question I had and when you realize what he did I’m doing very well.

Modern surgery techniques really are incredible, I’ll be left with really tiny scares but what they can do arthroscopically these days is just amazing.

I’ve also had horrendous problems with sleep, I’m hoping that moving my exercises to earlier in the evening will help fix that.

I’ve stopped pushing into pain and for me my exercises are still very difficult. We think I was stressing myself out and that was causing me to take hours to calm down before sleeping.

Lets hope it does settle down.

I have three visits to the Hydo physio next week, one initial consult and two pool sessions. All will be at 8am a bit early, but the plan is to return to work the week after so it will be good to get back into a earlier morning routine.

Been a really positive week, may it continue 🙂

So after visiting my family GP I went with one of my sisters to Westfield Marion to go grocery shopping.

You can borrow free of charge for 3 hours mobility scooters they are known as “powershopper” today I had number 5.

It’s awesome being so mobile and to do things for myself. My sister still had to play catch up as I managed to pick most things off the shelves and displays.

It’s one of those smart things to do, as trying to go shopping on crutches would have aggravated the hell out of my foot.

I had hoped to catch a movie but right now I couldn’t sit comfortably for that long.

Another positive day 🙂

Despite having fractured sleep and waking up tired today was the day I got a not so little part of my life back.

Today I stepped, well hopped into Life Personal Trainers at Kent Town.

Two weeks today the day I had surgery on my ankle.

I got up fired up some awesome music to get me in the right head-space, donned my gym gear and I was driven to the studio.

I’ve touched base with my trainer frequently since surgery, he’s been a great support and checked in on me a few times.

My determination is now stronger than ever.

I just got a message from one of the directors of the company saying he was seriously impressed that despite significant injury I still went into to do an upperbody work out.

I’m not physically able nor medically cleared to do any sort of weight bearing exercise.

Sean my PT has been amazing at how he has adopted my work outs to suit.

Today I had a lot of special requests, the main one related to the fact that I was unable to wear normal shoes, which would normally prevent me from going to any sort of commercial gym.

Today I trained with Sean with only us there, it meant a safe quiet environment where we were free to discuss openly what I had and am going through without distraction.

I messages Sean this morning saying I was having problems with my right shoulder (I’ve sprained it slightly) I said unless he thought I was unfit to train I badly needed to come in and train.

While I’m still physically recuperating  my mind is still wanting to race ahead. Being able to return to a fairly light work out wasn’t what I thought I needed but it turned out perfectly.

I wanted to smash the daylights out of a couple of boxing focus pads, but that wouldn’t have been good.

These past few weeks especially has showed me that despite learning a hell of a lot about my body once you engage the right medical team (team pilko) like i have ,bloody listen to what your told and do it!

I fessed up to my Physio today and sad while I had valued her opinion it wasn’t until last week that I really took onboard everything she was saying.

It’s this trust that I have placed in my medical team which is really paying off, we’re all doing our job and the results are just amazing.

I still have a job ahead of me, but again this dedicated team of professionals I’m working with are just amazing.

While some of them I’ve only met through this injury, I’m all the better for knowing and working with them.

It’s the combined strength and wealth of knowledge, handwork and dedication of us all. That is step-by-step literally changing my life.

I can see why others are inspired by me and even as tough as has this has and continues to be the feeling of hope and optimism the reward and satisfaction is just amazing.

This is my first post from my mobile in a while so it should be short and sweet 😉

Good day today had some counseling this morning. I’m going OK I just need that bit of extra help. That said I’m almost talked out as I’ve had so many consults of late it’s tiring.

I’m having real issues with sleep and it’s causing havoc with my sleep apnea. I’m really lucky I sweet talked my way into getting into seeing my specialist next Monday. My apnea is so bad one night off CPAP is like a week of bad sleep for someone else, it really is that bad. I got a new mask last week and it’s helping my compliance as the biggest problem was falling asleep without the mask on.

I then had an hour long massage, the third in eight days. My body really is taking a battering right now and massage is just one way I’m dealing with that.

Last appointment today was with an exercise Physiologist who last saw me in October 2011 when I was 26kg heavier and 23cm wider in the waist.

Although concerned about my injury he was pleased at my progress and determination.

Tomorrow is two weeks to the day of surgery. Most of my medical team are impressed with my resolve and commitment.

My main PT was surprised that I was even talking about return to training, little alone booking in.

I know together we can achieve my goals and getting my brain on board is part of that.

Something which is helped is that I’ve stepped down the main level of pain killer I’m using.

I’m not going to post what I’m using as this is a public forum. I will say however I’ve been running maximum doses of some of “the good stuff”.

There are times I switch back up as needed. Every single tablet I swallow is logged, time and dosage wise so my treating medical team and I can review. The level of detail this makes available greatly helps in my overall case management. I’ll post later what technology I’m using to manage my treatment.

So now I have been given a home exercise program both for free weights (dumbbells) and floor based exercises.

I still need to procure a suitable bench and weights which I will do later in the week.

Tomorrow I return to modified personal training. The first time in two weeks and first ever post op.

I’m only cleared for upper-body, non weight bearing. I’ve had my inner liner gloves repaired and I’m ready to make myself sore again for the right reasons.

Part of this is I want to punch the crap out of the pads.

I have a lot if pent up frustration that needs an outlet and my physio suggested this outlet needs to be focused, so boxing it is!

My mother will be driving me tomorrow and I’ve warned her to watch out as I’ll be in fine voice 😉 She not a fan of boxing and I suspect if she does witness what I do, she may not like it! That’s fine it’s not about her in this instance!

My return to exercise is being carefully monitored to ensure injury is prevented.

PT has a clearance letter from Physio and copy of surgical report.

Challenge tomorrow while training is as much mental as it is physical.

I’m really looking forward to it

I had it confirmed today that since October 2011 my waist is now 23cm less what it used to be.

That’s quite an achievement, with more to come 🙂

So late last week, after having a crap nights sleep and getting frustrated at the pain caused by a simple visit to the GP I bottomed out.

My ability to cope was impaired and life through Pilko’s eyes seemed bleak.

In the afternoon I had a great consult with my Physio who kept me focused on my rehab and my end goal.

She was pleased that my range of movement (ROM) is the best it’s been in months. I still have pain issues, but they’ve changed and am improving too.

I met with my Physio again yesterday and another good consult. I asked her for a bruit honest opinion which she freely gave.

Again it would seem that I’m overestimating where I’m at, but as long as I keep my eye focused on the prize (end game) and continue what I’m doing I’ll be fine.

I backed up this positive influence by heading into Next Gen to the Cafe. Sounds weird going to a gym when you literally can do nothing.

There is a PT there who in the past year has recovered from ACL surgery. She was suggested to me via another staff member and we work incredibly well together.

We’ve only trained once together and she managed to push me harder than ever before. I think there has to be an element of male pride in this. This is the first female trainer I’ve worked with one-one-one for sometime and I think it brings out my competitive edge. Something which people will  rarely see.

The past year pre injury has been a real eye opener into my persona and certainly post injury and now rehab has changed my outlook again.

While this trainer hasn’t done an ankle she can relate on so many other ways it’s incredible. She’s a rather unassuming person, possibly a little quite for my liking, but the dedication and commitment, plus shear generosity is almost unmatched.

A late addition to Team Pilko a very needed and welcomed addition.

I’m really growing as an person in so many ways through this and Team Pilko is along for the ride.

It’s going to be interesting where it all goes, the dedication formed is remarkable.

While ankle surgery may seem minor when you piece it together with what I started in October 2011 it’s life changing.

To those in Team Pilko who do read this, thank you sincerely, after family and close friends you really are a valued part of my life.

I look forward to sharing my innovations and discoveries with you.

So it came up time to renew the hire of my crutches which I’ve had for 3 months.

I should have asked a while ago how much to buy, turns out I’ve paid enough to have bought them twice, bugger!

I initially wanted to buy the crutches I was using as I have a history with them. Hire place wouldn’t let me do that. I was annoyed to start with, but in the end they did me a favor.

Turns out I wore out the grip at the bottom of the crutch and the new crutches have better softer handles and the arm brace actually provides support.

Really could have used this for the past week while I’ve been NWB, for most of the time I’m now PWB with a tenancy of moving to FWB.

With rebate from private health they are going to cost me about $12.

I couldn’t find a decent instructional video on youtube that deals with elbow crutches, so I’m going to collaborate with a friend of mine and make a video.

It’s all about having the right tools and equipment for the job.