Road Tripin’

Liesje and I joined forces with the Dave-Kristie tandem and headed down to snowy Cowtown to suprise Stef – her birthday is coming up so we unexpectedly became house guests for the weekend.  It was a pretty fun weekend of not doing much, and like many times before, this trip down to Calgary included a bike on the roof rack.  You see, I’m 100% committed to getting back to normal physical condition so I brought down my ‘cross bike so I wouldn’t miss any rehab workouts.  By borrowing Josh’s trainer, I managed to get some good spinning in.  I was feelin’ pretty good – enough so to start pushing a bit on the pedals – enough to break a sweat.

One weird tidbit about riding the trainer right now is that I can’t stand to pedal.  You see, I just don’t have the strength yet to push my left leg over-the-top so what happens is that I kind of come to a dead stop.  Really it’s a strange sensation.  So I figure this is a safe measure as to when I’m allowed to start riding outside.  Once I can comfortably and effectively stand to pedal will I allow myself to ride outside.  Can’t wait.

I’m happy to say that my leg is definitely stronger than one week ago (when I began rehabbing it) and I’m motivated to keep it going.  Hopefully my short term disability paperwork have been taken care of and I can start being a contributing member of society by going back to work….yeah, weird hey, I want to go back to work for work’s sake.

Quelf Scarf Neck Tie

Boys and girls took separate shopping trips on Saturday – us boys went for bikes & guitars.  We checked our Bow Cycle’s big sale then hit up a couple of guitar shops.  Good theraputic dude time.  Nothing like a rousing game of Quelf to throw your inhibitions aside (except for lipstick wearing…)

So, one successful road trip down means I’m one step closer to a normal life.  As each day goes by, I feel more and more normal; something to celebrate foresure.

I wonder how many times I’m going to be informed that I now have matching scars?

Mike

Let the Rehab Begin

Today is the last day of my ‘healing’ period as I go to see my surgeon for my 6 week check up tomorrow.  Wow, it’s been 6 weeks already; it sure did go by quickly.  I remember back 4 weeks ago thinking it was taking so long – and that this day (6 weeks) seemed so far away, but every day and week that went by I began to feel more and more normal.

I’ve been away from work for quite a while.  It’s funny what happens to your in box when you’re not there:

I finally felt energetic enough to tackle one of the main bike projects I have to accomplish before the sunny season hits.  I’ve got my MTB all ready to go for the summer – now I have to get my body up and running.

So I’ve got a busy week ahead of me.  A couple of doctor visits, some physio appointments, and maybe even get back to work for a couple of hours.  It will be nice to get back to some sort of normal life that’s for sure.

Am I going to buzz the metal detector in airports now?

Mike

Patella Recovery – One Week to Go

…until I begin my rehab that is.

So it has now been 5 weeks since my hockey accident where I busted up my patella pretty bad, and I must say I’m feeling pretty good – considering all that I’ve been through that is.  One of my goals that I’ve set for my recovery was to be able to get my range of motion for my left leg up to 90 degrees by the six week mark – just before I start physiotherapy.  Well, I’m happy to say that can bend my knee to 90!  Horray, I’m ahead of my self imposed schedule.

I’ve managed to keep my spirits high and I’ve spent little time dwelling on my set back.  I can only move forward and do everything I can to ensure I heal as best as possible.  I will be able to ride again and I hope to be strong enough to race again – I’m just not going to rush the racing part.

These episodes that life throws at you really puts things in perspective (for me anyways).  I look at the ’stressful’ things in my life with a different light now.  Like I’ve started to say, nothing lasts forever. So either enjoy the moment while you are in it or don’t worry because soon things will change as nothing lasts forever. So I have a second chance with my health, as right now I’m frail and weak, but I will be strong again.  So guess what, I’m going to enjoy that strength while it lasts!

I’ve got some good stuff to look forward to as well.  So far I’ll be going to see The Killers, Coldplay, & Dave Mathews Band – all before the fall.

I have been off from work for the past 5 weeks, and I will not be able to return to office life for another week at the least.  But I’ve managed to keep good company during my days at home as you can see from the pic:

So is it gross that I now can see the pins in my patella as two little bumps under my skin?

Mike