D.O.A.P. : 21 Weeks

Diary of a Prunner

 

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I'm trying to change my attitude this week. I cannot allow myself to sit all day long despite my limitations. There is always SOMETHING to do. Right now, it seems that "swimming" will be my only hope of getting cardio until I'm weight bearing. I put swimming in quotes because I don't actually swim. I have no swimming skill or talent, but I can kick my legs and hold onto one of those boards! I also thought about pool running. I'll just have to see what the doc says.

This face describes how I felt after leaving the gym on Monday.

Another goal for this week was to try my best to do normal activities like clean and cook. These tasks are so much harder to perform and require a lot of rest breaks, but they do allow me to feel more normal. I also had the opportunity to meet some friends for social time this week. Coffee dates, lunch dates...I even had a couple of friends drop off dinner. I know some good people.

 

• 4/4/16: Went to The Y for some lifting. Chest and Biceps. I don't usually lift those two groups together but it was easy for me to do all of those from the bench when I hadn't really had a plan in my head of what I was going to do. I was extremely self conscious about going in with my knee walker. I knew I needed to use it to be able to carry the dumbbells from the rack to the bench. I went all out and used the handicap buttons to open the doors. A lot of the senior citizens asked me what happened and asked to race me on the indoor track. I tried not to wonder what people were thinking about my one leg and my pregnant belly. Hopefully the thoughts were more positive than negative.
  

  

  I received this note of encouragement from my friend, Megan, Monday evening.

• 4/5/16: 21 minutes on arm bike. I was hoping this would have more of a cardiovascular effect on me, but it did not. Bummer. I guess I just need to keep hoping for the opportunity to hit up the pool. Two more days until I find out if I get a boot instead of a splint.
• 4/6/16: 15 minutes on arm bike ( I wanted to give it another chance), lifted back and triceps. The good thing about having one functional leg is that I can increase the intensity of some of these exercises by performing them in single leg stance. I really felt the heart pumping when I did some of these exercises today.
  

  

  Just me, my splint, my scooter, and a dumbbell. One-legged lifting is my life.

• 4/7/16: REST. I had my ortho appointment today. They took x-ray images and said that my foot was aligned appropriately and healing as expected. I was able to get out of the splint and into a boot. I'll still be non weight bearing "for a while," but the boot gives me freedom to take a real shower. I am dying to wash my hair the real way! I asked Dr. D if I could get in the pool to workout and he said I could as long as I minimized the intensity of kicking. Guess I'll have to learn how to swim with my arms! I noticed that resting from the gym did give me a lot more energy to move around the house. I'm counting the things I do at home as exercise! I still have to take frequent rest breaks, but it's worth feeling normal by cooking and doing chores as tolerated.
  

  

  My foot at my ortho appointment. The sausage-like features have decreased slightly. Still very tender and bruised.

• 4/8/16: Pool, lifted shoulders. My main goal for the pool today was to not die when going from my parked knee walker to the actual pool. I survived! My foot is very tender. I couldn't do a whole lot with it in the pool. I did a lot of hopping on my right leg to get the heart rate going in addition to some leg exercises. It wasn't hard to stay non weight bearing because my foot hurt enough to remind me not to do it. It was nice to get in the pool and let my foot have some freedom from the boot. The cool water felt really good and relaxed me a bit.
• 4/9/16: REST. Bad day. No other way to put it. I was extremely depressed. All I wanted to do was stay curled up on my couch with my heavy boot on. I didn't care to move, eat, drink...I was a complete disaster. I couldn't stop thinking about how it had been 11 DAYS since I put BOTH of my feet in a pair of running shoes so that my heart rate could increase for at least 6 miles. I seriously was at my lowest point since the accident. I was supposed to attempt swimming with my friend, Theresa, and cancelled on her because I hated my life. I hated that I couldn't be my best. I hated that I was mostly dependent on others. This was a stupid day.
• 4/10/16: Lifted biceps and triceps. My arms should be sexy at the end of all of this! Ha! I'm trying to make my heart rate increase by balancing on my good leg while performing the different exercises. Gotta love a good single leg stance.
  

  

  These ladies turned a horrible Saturday into a forgotten waste of a day. I met up with these beauties on Sunday for some face time and conversation. I have the best friends. [From left to right: Christine, Dani, Marion, ME, Theresa, Amanda, Megan, and Jackie]