27 May 2016 - Surgery day +8

In the interest of not writing a 10,000 word article I will try to keep the last week to a few highlights.

Movies
Fulfilled my promise of going to see Capt America: Civil War one more time pre-surgery. Since i knew after this it would be quite awhile before i would be able to see a movie. After the movie before bed and again just before surgery i got use some wonderful Chlorohexidine sponges. Never felt so clean in my life after those two showers.

Definitely not Elaine's sponges from Seinfeld

Low O2 conundrum solved
Waking up from anesthesia i mentioned to the nurses my previous week's O2 numbers. Well things got fun. After an hour of me, plummeting my O2 by passing out from the Dilaudid.(they did say keep pushing the button until I felt no pain) Along with my sleep apnea controlling /cosing my airway (nurse watched with concern /horro as every time i fell asleep I stopped breathing almost entirely). The Nurses decided to pull out my CPAP and hook oxygen into it. I am only guessing here but the other alternative might have been a trach-tube?
Things were still bad although now instead of plummeting from 90% to 60% i was drifting between 855 and 91%. Which was still annoying for me because every time i dropped i would have to hyperventilate to get my Oxygen level up.
Just over the hour mark i asked to be put back on the straight oxygen so i could sit and read my book. Well the nurse took the sensor thing off my finger and put it on my big toe. Instantly 100% O2 without doing anything.
Why? Well i have spent the better part of the last 25 years working outside in cold weather. Most of my finger tips have been frost bitten to some degree. I can barely use touch screens.
After this discovery Oxygen was not discussed again

The delivery of my equipment!

Hospital Semi Private Room
 I will sum up my 3 roommates by state the nicknames i gave them: \
Mr Suffer in Silence (he moaned and groaned all night except when the nurse was doing his rounds)
Mr throw your bed pan (empty thankfully, and he threw it at 0230hrs)
Mr OMG my bandage is bleeding (no actually that is seepage it is normal)
The nursing staff were fantastic. They took great care of us. I make sure to do 2 things in hosptial, make the nurses laugh and be under dramatic about every thing i tell them.

Post surgery requirement, homemade PB Cookies

The Wound day 2
The nurse was kind enough to take some pics of my hip when she removed the dressing in preparation to re-bandage me for the trip home. Above and below the staples was purple bruising. The Nurse cleaned things up so as to make it less gross.

I discussed the tattoo with the surgeon pre-surgery, I told him"do what you need to do"

Day 3-5
My leg swelled. Discomfort. Loss of ROM through my knee and hip. I felt as if I had lost a 5 round Muay Thai fight solely by having my left leg and hip smashed repeatedly. Other than that i am in pretty solid condition. I did have a tiny bit of seepage on the Sunday but very minor. No fever or any other signs of bleeding or infection. When the PCN called we discussed it and she was not concerned either.

you cannot really see it but left leg is twice the size of my right leg. The circle is the blood spot. 

Aquacell bandages are Awesome
The Aqua cell bandage allowed me to shower right away. I am lucky enough to have a stand up shower at home so that means daily showers. The Aqua Cell Bandage had to come off 7 days post op. It came off easily enough. Although things got dicey just as i was getting out of the stand up shower. I got nauseated and light headed. Not sure if it was the shower being too hot or the heat lamp.So i rushed things and got back on the couch quickly. Catastrophe avoided. Sticking to cold showers. Counted up the staples in my leg, 29 total.

You know you were curious. 

A week plus a Day
So surgery last week was on my birthday, my 40th birthday to be precise. Surgery for some is a horrible experience. To me it seemed like the perfect way to end /start another decade. I will be tracking the days, weeks, and months for quite awhile to come. Post surgery nothing is linear. In fact i think my ROM is not as good as it should be. Things are progressing and it will get there. I just have to keep chipping away at it slowly, daily. 1% a day improvement. I feel a lot more in touch with my day to day because for now at least I have singular focus on a task. Recovery and rehabilitation, from there i have other plans.
As I lay here typing my leg is no longer painfully swollen, the bruising has subsided, and the only thing i really feel in the leg is the wound closing up.
I will continue to do what i am told. I will cover the rehab exercises and timelines that I have been given for me. Probably next time. It is summer time. Go outside, get some sun. Lift something heavy or do something that makes your lungs feel like they might burst. What ever it is enjoy it. This process has been fun so far. I know it will continue that way.

Keep Moving forward, Keep Getting strong(er)

17 May 2016 -2 days to go...

This has been going through my head all day.

Kind of how I feel like this is my approach to rehab. I am going to feel older, I am going to be slower. So instead I have to use my knowledge and build some gritty strength to keep in the fight.

Training since the last post has been next to nil. Lots of dog walking and some other stuff to simple keep moving. After the FORCE test I did not really feel to inspired to push myself in the final days before surgery. The days following the FORCE Test left me in a LOT of pain and discomfort. So I was looking at just getting myself comfortable before the big day.

With all that being said I have also been busy with pre-surgery appointments.

12 May

My Pre-surgery appointment
Highlights:

-I got asked 3 times if I had diabetes, then tested for it as a part of my blood work. (I was also tested for it last month also.)
- had an interesting discussion as the Nurse tried to convince me to NEVER get the backs of my hands tattooed. WHY? Because you can push tattoo ink into the blood stream. She must have thought my artwork was all done in prison or something.
-Tattoos also make it hard to put in IV's. I simply replied "Well the army Medics don't ever seem to have a problem with it".
-The real shit storm started when she checked my HR, BP and O2. My O2 was only at 92%. She made me do the pre-surgery breathing drills on the spot to prove to me they work.

-The reason for the low O2 could be for a few reasons. I recently started the CPAP, i just came off of months of Naproxen, and I have not done hard conditioning regularly for months due to hip irritation. take your pick.

-I got more X rays in prep for surgery day.

16 May 

I finished up my last night of shift work. I had my last Demon hunting session for a few weeks. I still have the option of a call in session and I will be in touch with the Pysch Doc. She left me with some more long term homework.

About 2 weeks ago I lost the Nurse that was keeping my case file in order. So I met with a new one and got the last few things organized. So I am ready to have my post surgery equipment delivered tomorrow and a few other last minute ends to tie in order for me to leave work behind for 6- 8 weeks. I am in no hurry. This recovery decides the next few decades of my life. I plan on making a full recovery.

Speaking of which the situation post surgery for work has been interesting. I have not talked about it to much. The short version is that originally they told I would be out of a career. Then they told me I would be able to stay on while on a low risk Permanent Category.
While visiting the nurse yesterday i got word back from the doctor that he had basically threatened High risk PCAT again. I simply looked at the nurse and asked her to go back to the Doctor and tell him I would have a successful surgery so let's just stop discussing it.
I have not had the surgery yet. A lot can go wrong. Just as much can go very right.

This whole scenario is down to 2 people at this point. The Surgeon doing his job. Me doing my job post surgery. The whole piece I control is me post surgery.

So that is where I leave this until next week. I am ready to do my part.

Luck is merely preparation meeting opportunity. 19 May i have 40 yrs of life experience preparing me for this challenge. So time to step it up and seize the opportunity to find out and prove what I am made of one more time.

and now a video of the procedure I am to going to have.... (Yes it is explicit, might make you squeamish)

Good Times.

Let's build some hurt'n bombs!

05 May 2016 - 2 Weeks to go...

In July 2012 I tore my ACL. Surgery in Nov 2012. I started writing this Trg /Recovery Log because I would be asked 20 times a day how my knee was doing. 8 mths post surgery I started having mild back issues and some hip impingement that i kept fighting through, working around, or getting treatment for when it got really bad. Nov 2014: an X-ray and MRI confirmed that I had bones spurs and arthritis in my hip. Sept 2015: I found out this meant a hip resurfacing (read: form of replacement). I write this for me now, to track things, and to organize my thoughts. In addition to giving my friends and family somewhere to go when they want to know how I am doing. It might also help someone else who has similar issues. I am not a medical professional. I did not stay in a Holiday Inn last night. This is simply my story as I progress through things.  Thanks for reading. 
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I can’t – I can’t thank you guys for the opportunity. Let me tell you something: If tomorrow wasn’t promised, what would you give for today? Forget everything else. Forget everything else. Forget that there was any sunlight left. What would you spend today thinking about. Yourself? Or the man that’s beside you? Or the man that you know you’d give everything in your heart for?

We get one opportunity in life. One chance in life to do whatever you’re gonna do. To lay your foundation. To make whatever mark you’re gonna make. Whatever legacy you’re gonna leave. Leave your legacy. And it’s found through effort. 

Wins and losses come a dime a dozen. But effort? Nobody can judge effort. Effort is between you and you. Effort ain’t got nothing to do with nobody else. So that team that think they ready to see you? They think what they seen on film. They ain’t saw what film shows. Because every day is a new day. Every moment is a new moment.

So now you got to go out and show them that I’m a different creature now than I was five minutes ago. (Sir) Cause I’m pissed off for greatness. Because you ain’t pissed off for greatness, that mean you OK with being mediocre. Ain’t no man in here OK with being just basic. So let’s do what we do. Tonight, (Sir) we ain’t gotta worry about taking no breaks. Don’t worry about close calls – let’s do it  -Ray Lewis 

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
30 April 
It felt good to get back in the swing of things. I pushed the pace throughout this whole session. The descending Pull Up ladder worked out very well. No failed reps and every set felt like I still had at least 1 more in the tank. Pull Ups were done between all sets of bench. Everything was somehow supersetted the whole session.
 Bench 
1 x 3 x 170
1 x 3 x 190
1 x 3 x 215
8 x 3 x 145 (hands in 2")
Pull Ups (Various hand positions)
5 x 5
4 x 4
3 x 3
2 x 2
1 x 1
Ab Wheel 5 x 10
Barbell Curls, Push Up handles, Rolling Triceps to finish things up.
1 May 
I had plans to train. Due to unforeseen circumstances at work I did not get the time. Dog walks and stretching.

2 May
My abs were killing me from all the Ab wheel work on Saturday. I watched a Chris Duffin video the other day and from that I adjusted my ab wheel technique slightly. It did not feel like much at the time, definitely feeling it now though. I have a feeling i will be watching a plethora of Chris Duffin vids post Op.

I decided I would do some TRX Lunges and Pistols with my right leg only. Low Volume should be ok right? Well when you haven't done full ROM in months things go wrong. My leg cramped and stiffened up after only a few sets. Just wonderful the day before my Annual PT Test.
Dips  5 x 3
Pull Ups 5 x 2
TRX Pistols 3 x 5
Lunges 3 x 5
Rows, Rollouts, Facepulls, & Y's to finish up the session.

3 May
My Annual FORCE test. As expected i got up a little sore. I had a hot shower. Rubbed some blue heat onto both legs and hips, popped some NSAIDS and Extra strength Tylenol. Steeling my mind for the impending discomfort. My Numbers this year were definitely a down-slide from last year. This is the first year that there is actual criteria to aim for. I was way off the mark. If you want to understand the test in more detail click here.

2013 - FORCE Test

2014 - FORCE Test

2015 FORCE Test

This years numbers: (The order is the order completed and is now the set order for the test officially now. )
2016:
20m Rushs  - :40
Sandbag Lift - 1:17
Intermittent Carry - 3:03
Sand Bag drag - :17 

Test Score Calculator

This gives me a score 2 points below bronze, so basically miserable. I can live with this for now. The silver lining is that my intermittent carry was my best yet. Everything else was not drastically off since The Fun part came a few hours later. This test put me through a lot of ROM's that i avoid due to hip irritation. It reared it's ugly hip a few days later.

Despite the discomfort I had planned on getting my OHP in for the week.
OHP 5 x 3 x 135
Between sets of OHP
Band Pull a parts 5 x 21 x Red EFS Band
Face Pull 5 x 13 x Black EFS Band
Dips AMRAP 15 reps
Pull Ups AMRAP 11 reps
Happy with the Dips and Pull Ups. These have both increased considerably in the last months doing them almost daily every week. Also considering this time last year I could not do a single rep of either due my upper back /rotator stuff. Finished up with  Ab Wheel,  CS Rear Delt DB Rows, Int & Ext Rotator work. 

4 May
Took it easy. Met a friend for lunch. My hip was a mess. My Low back felt great. My Hip on the other hand was miserable from doing the FORCE test and going through ROM that is simply bone on bone. It took me a few days of upping my NSAID's and Tylenol to get things back under control.

5 May
DB Floor Press, AB Wheel, Pall off Press, Biceps, and Triceps  at 0230hrs. Just 30 min of movement for the day and nothing to irritate the hip further.

Keep Moving Forward, Maintain your fundamentals, Keep Getting Strong(er)