April 28
I went for my six-week post-surgery follow-up appointment this morning with the hope that I could start transitioning to putting some weight on the broken leg. Unfortunately, the x-ray showed that the bone hadn’t healed enough. This was rather disappointing for me, and it took me a day or so to get over it.
2 plates and 16 screws (just take my word for it)
May
1-2
Martha and I went to Louisville as we bought our tickets back in November. The crutches are challenging, but we manage okay. We had a great time, and Martha even had $10 on Golden Tempo, so she came out ahead on her gambling for the two days.
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| All Dressed Up for the Derby! |
May 8
I am continuing to get in the pool three times a week. On Mondays and Wednesdays, I spend 40 minutes doing deep water running. Since today is Friday, I have more time, and I do deep water running for two hours and then walk in the shallow end for 10 minutes. The next day, I am able to actually ride the bike and get the pedal all the way around without too much discomfort.
May
15
Another two-hour deep-water session with an hour of walking around the shallow end. My next appointment with the doctor is May 28, and I am hoping to walk out of his office without the assistance of the crutches. My bike sessions are now 30-45 minutes, and I am increasing the resistance a little.
May 28
The day of truth finally arrives! A few days ago, I started walking around the house assisted with the crutches. I am guessing that I was putting about half of my body weight on the left leg. My appointment is at 7:35am. They took x-rays and then Mason (Dr. Maples’ PA) came in to show me where some calcification could be seen on the back of the leg. I can’t see it, but I will take his word for it. He then said we could begin transitioning to 25-50% weight bearing and only use one crutch. Initially, I was disappointed, but when I tried the one crutch to leave the office, it wasn’t happening yet. So, I got to the car using two crutches.
On my drive home, I called Mandeville Physical Therapy and scheduled my appointment this afternoon at 2pm. This first appointment was rather pedestrian, but I did walk on the Alter-G treadmill at 50% body weight for 10 minutes. The one area where I am weak is the straight leg raise laying on my back. Matt instructed me to first tighten my thigh muscle and then lift, which is harder than the way I was doing it.
May
29
I flew my airplane this morning over to Cartersville, Georgia to get the line cutters replaced. Jerry went with me as a safety pilot, but then he proved to be more than that. I was expecting to wait while they did it, and then fly back in an hour or two. However, the shop’s pyrotechnic guy was in training and wouldn’t be able to do it until Monday. So, Jerry called up one of his partners, who flew over and picked us up.
After I got home, I ate a small lunch and then hopped on the bike to crank out 55 minutes of hard effort that left my leg muscles screaming.
May 30
I rise early, put on my running shorts and shoes and proceed to walk a mile around the neighborhood using one crutch. Beforehand, I decided success would be finishing the mile in under an hour. Never fear, I clocked in at 33:36!
Never stop running (or walking when you can't run),
Darin
