New Knee Revision Training - Bit of a hitch

Well I felt great after Flywheel yesterday and was only a little sore today. However I had another day over in Kitsap County with my 95 year old mom. She has definitely taken a turn for the worst so my training plans are getting shelved for the time being while I do whatever I need to do to help her. Unfortunately going back and forth on the ferry and sitting with her is not doing my knee any good. It has definitely gotten angry. On the somewhat positive side I told her about my knee issues - since she has a knee replacement herself she was sympathetic. I downplayed the whole thing though not to worry her which I think worked.

FLYWHEEL - She's Baaaack!

Awesome Awesome Awesome Flywheel class today! - I attended to my Docs recommendation and did not stand up during class and tried not to hammer too much. Of course just being there again with Alex leading the class meant I probably went too strong. (She was out on Maternity leave last time I was in class!) Even though I stayed in the saddle I managed to blow away my last torque stat from a half a year ago. I feel great!
It is even better that I managed to have a great class after spending the day in Kitsap with Mom doing elder care. When I managed to catch the correct ferry to put me downtown in time for the class I got on my iPhone and reserved a spot right away. I went into it feeling really tired but man it was worth every minute!

New Knee Revision: Training

What kind of training schedule am I looking forward to this year?
This has become a very interesting question for me. I **was** planning on ramping up my regular cycling with a few longer rides in the mid year as goals in mind. Included was a  two day Seattle to Portland (almost 200 miles) and a Canadian Randonneurs DART (~200k). HOWEVER I recently found out that I get to go in to the Bone Doc at the end of February and have my knee prosthetic "revised"... So now my training goals have spin classes (No standing!) at least 3 times per week up to the surgery and then more than a month of rehab including indoor cycling until I get my range of motion back. By the end of March I think I should be able to be on the bike on the flats for up to maybe 10-20miles.
The big question will be whether I can still do the STP in July.... Which would mean I should be riding 80-100 mile rides at least 3-4 times in May & June. - I have a funny feeling I will end up driving support instead of riding.

New Knee Status: Almost Two Years

Something Wicked This way Comes....
Well not as sinister as all that but still a bit of a downer.
Just to catch you up:
April 2015 was the total knee replacement. After which I had a stellar rehab.
By August 2015 I was back at work and up through May 2016 I spent a lot of time going back and forth to Turkey for my work (Flight Tests of 737 AEW&C). I even fit in a few stopovers in the UK and Iceland where I tested my new knee with things like climbing the Bath Cathedral tower and riding the Iceland Horses. During that time I felt pretty good about the knee but started having issues with my right foot!
Oh yeah that is probably a whole 'nother blog subject. In short, when I was in junior high my horse took a fall climbing a muddy hill with me on her. My right foot got smushed between her and the ground and pretty much every bone in that foot was either broken or dislocated. Treatment at the time was an ace bandage and crutches....  Fast forward to present day and we have arthritis and a wildly cranky foot with a 40 some year old injury.
So how is this relevant to this Left Knee post? Maybe it really isn't but it did do two things. It totally distracted me from my knee and also caused my walking gait to go wonky and likely added some odd loads to the new knee joint.
I did eventually notice that my knee was not really happy.... Back in the summer I went in to have it checked. BikePT noticed that it appeared to be a bit loose. Doc took X-rays and sent me for scans to make sure it was not infected. He didn't like some of the details on the X-rays that appeared to indicate that the lower metal piece might be loose. We took a wait and see attitude but he warned me that we might have to unzip it to fix it. On my visit to him just before RSVP he warned me not to stand on the bike... for 200 miles!?!  In early December Doc removed 80ml of fluid from it, yikes! Fluid was tested and showed no signs of infection but by early January the knee was swollen again. When I visited the Doc we both noticed that it was no longer straight and was in fact back to bow-legged mode when I stood on it. So after looking over all the data we made the decision to unzip the knee and do a revision. Plan is to replace the lower piece with a piece that has a longer spike.
So fun times ahead!

New Knee @ Work

Well it had to happen sooner or later: I started back to work this week. As I am a software engineer at a large aerospace company I spend my time at work in front of a computer. I generally get plenty of mousing exercise but not much in the way of other exercise at work. Theron lies a problem. My knee has behaved wonderfully while I stay active but it really does not like prolonged sitting! I got back from work feeling stiff and achy. I'm trying to figure out ways to fight that!

New Knee Status: Three Month Checkup

Two momentous things on the calendar today: I started back to work and I had my three month check with the surgeon.

Funnest part of the doctor visit was getting X-Rays. I am just geeky enough to enjoy getting to see the new hardware in my knee. I had actually thought that I still had the lower screw in (leftover from my ACL repair back in the day). As it turns out it was my upper screw that the doctor left in. I posted the after picture on my blog page and if you look at the line of the inner leg in the before and after picture you can see how bow legged I was in the before shot. The doctor was quite happy with everything he saw in the X-Ray. He reiterated his admonishment that this process was a 9 month process and I was not there yet. I still have numbness on the outside side of the knee and I still have stiffness and pain after sitting for any length of time. These are gradually getting better and it is rare that I have to take pain meds to manage discomfort.
Even though it was a very short work day because of doctor and physical therapy visits I was glad to get in and get into my computer and reset my long forgotten passwords! I brought the laptop home with me so I could attempt to catch up with work email.

New Knee: Week 7 - WWDC

Here I am down in San Francisco attending Apple's World Wide Developer Conference!

I signed up for the ticket lottery whIle recovering from surgery anesthetic and lucked out by getting in. At first I was afraid I would not be able to attend so soon after surgery and I even contacted the Apple Developers support team about the possibility of bowing out. They would have let me but luckily when I talked to my doctor he gave me the go ahead to fly down and attend. For me it is only a couple hours flight so not a huge issue. 

I talked to MrBikePT and he gave me a few pointers. I had already booked a slightly more expensive hotel because it was really close to the Conference center. He suggested I take an ace bandage to use for a little compression therapy at the end of day. Also told me to find the ice machine and if available I might want to use a whirlpool. 

As it turned out the week has not been too hard on the knee. The worst was day one when we spent hours in lines! By two thirds through that day I was ready to pack it in and found a seat where I could download the software I wanted and then headed back to the hotel. I had brought along a gallon ziplock bag which I filled up with ice for a bit of a lie down with feet up and ice on. 

Between Conference and a bit of sight-seeing I didn't take time out to workout in the gym.... Bad Linda! I did manage to get my leg up with ice on it every day (I needed it!) and I booked a massage where I had the masseuse  work on my legs mostly. I did have to skip out on several sessions as I was not able to sit for full days.