5 months

It has been 5 months since the surgery and it has almost come full circle. For the last month and a half I have been doing all team workouts with the team. We have been doing a long distance run about 4.2 miles and 400 meter sprints and shorter distance sprints around the soccer field. During the last two weeks I have been joining the team in soccer training sessions. I haven't been cleared to play full contact so when I'm about to go into a tackle I try to pass the ball away to steer away from any major contact. I feel like I can go into a tackle but there is no point risking it during the spring season which has no meaning or importance. I still have a little soarness at night or during the day after a long hard training session. I don't have any pain while I play and I can do everything normal except go into a collision. I have no problem cutting or changing directions and pace. I do have pain if I try to put my heel to my butt when I sit down, I hope that pain goes away. Our trainer is trying to get the surgeon to clear me to play mid April so I can play in our game on April 18th. I'm not sure if the surgeon will go through with it because he is very conservative but I will let you know in 3 weeks. It is such an adrenaline rush to finally be able to play something you love and have done since you were four and weren't physically able to for the past 7 months. Not much else to report except that I can do almost everything normal again, run full speed, kick full power (almost), cut and change directions, etc. I'm still fat because as soon as I was losing weight and getting back into shape, seven friends and I decided to go to Cancun for spring break and our resort had all you can eat and drink 24 hours a day and we were there for 7 days. That was fun and I'm glad I'm still alive. I will keep you updated when I see the surgeon next.

Day 95

It's been a couple days over 3 months post op and coming up on Day 100. I have been running for a couple weeks but today was the first day I returned to running with the team during spring season workouts. I did physical therapy at 7 am and the team warmed up at 9 am and we ran 4.3 mile run on a trail and our university cross country course. I wasn't planning on running the whole way because the furthest I have fun in last 4 and a half months is 1.5 miles. But once I got going it felt so good to workout i just kept going. With temps below freezing I didn't even care. The great part is I didn't even finish last on the team, I came in third to last place. But everyone has been training 5 days a week for over a month. I finished the course at 35:40 and was dog tired at the end. Last week I started to run 5 days a week and this week I will continue that, but will work out with the team. Most likely at a slower pace, 400 meter sprints isn't going to happen just yet but I will do my best. I received one of those nike+ things for xmas and used it today which is really cool, I can track how far and fast I run every single time. I'm excited to start my senior year of college, classes are starting to get hard, I'm taking Intermediate Financial Accounting, Investments: Debt, equity, and derivative; Corporate Finance, International Financial Management, Real Estate Finance, and a food science elective. I'm really looking forward to start getting back onto the pitch so the team can start preparing for next season. Because I can't do much lifting with the team, I'm starting to train with the soccer ball outside with the coaches doing passing and dribbling and some agility work with a ladder and jumping and also a lot of ab workouts. A little bad news to report, I'm now the fattest I have ever been in my life. Our nutritionist makes us sit in this bod pod machine that calculates your body fat, lean muscle, etc. A little bit over a month ago i was 158 pounds with 4 percent body fat and 7 pounds of fat. Now Im 165 and doubled my fat to 8 percent and 14 pounds, but I know I will soon get back into shape.

Day 81

For some reason my last blog update showed up in crazy symbols for a lot of viewers so I will update you with what has been going on in the last month. For starters, I'm having wrist surgery tomorrow morning at 6am so thats a bit of a buzz kill. However since I found out I had to have the surgery in 2008 I'm counting it as part of 2008 and looking forward to a great and healthy year in 2009. But for my knee, everything has been going great. It has almost been 12 weeks and I didn't think I would be this far when I was in week one. I walk perfectly fine and don't have any pain doing really any exercise. I have full motion, my heel can go to my butt, but now I'm trying to get it where I feel no discomfort when I bend it that far back and I become comfortable. Last week Monday they were able to bend it to my butt while laying on my back and before that my last measurement was 142, only a couple degrees off of my right leg. The scars are starting to look better as well. I'm also proud to announce that today I ran for the first time. I biked for 1.6 miles or 5 minutes and then I did 130 pound leg press with just my left leg 3 sets of 15 and did some jumping excercise with my left leg on the total gym. I then did some balance activities on a machine they have at physical therapy and proceeded to some agility. I jumped over hurdles with one leg facing forward and then did some jumping lateral both ways. I then used a latter on the ground and did jumps in different directions in that and then did agility where I try to go as quick as I can in different motions throughout the latter and I'm pretty positive I'm almost as quick as I was prior to the injury but I'm definitely much less conditioned. I'm sweating and heart pumping after only a minute of intense workout. I then did some lunges with resisting weight going lateral and backwards. And I saved the best for last, I was able to run on the treadmill today. I ran for 5 minutes initially at 6.5-7mph and it was .56 of a mile and then after the agility I hopped back on for 10 minutes at 7.0 mph and ran 1.15 miles. It was really cool to start running again and I had no pain in doing any of my exercises today except towards the end of my 10 minute run I could feel a little shin splint coming on and my knee was a little loose/popping a bit. I think it may just be some rust but I'm looking forward to start conditioning again and getting into form. I now feel a little bit of tightness in my knee but today was the hardest workout I've had in months so I kind of expect it. This break has been great, I was able to see friends I haven't seen in over a year and I celebrated Christmas and Christmas Eve with family as well as celebrate the new year and my 21st birthday. The hokies also finally won a BCS bowl game which was fun to watch. I hope everyone has a great 2009!

Day 68

It was difficult to update lately due to a lot of family coming and going and celebrating the holidays. I have experienced multiple days where my whole body is sore because I'm starting to use muscles that I never use such as the hamstring and abs and upper quad, etc. Not much has changed with my knee, I think my knee is healing exponentially and the drastic changes are starting to level off. I have been working out at the gym nearby my house and usually run at least a half of a mile in the pool and do some pool exercises. I usually swim a couple lengths without using my arms and doing a different kick each time. I then ride the bike for 10 to 20 minutes and then maybe do some ab work. My range of motion is at 142 degrees and I'm starting to gain some muscle back. I can do 145 pounds on the leg press but I know I can definitely do more but they are holding me back. I'm doing new exercises that challenge my strength and balance but I can see an improvement through the tests the physical therapist runs on this big machine that measures balance. I’ve been doing more core strength work. I hope to be able to run in the next week or two. I had x-rays on my wrist on Friday and the doctor said it is still broken and he ordered an MRI which I had done yesterday afternoon, in order to evaluate whether or not to have surgery. I'm just looking forward to the year 2008 to finish.

Day 55

Day 55-

I guess life is a roller coaster with ups and downs. I haven't updated lately because I was studying for final exams and today I'm officially now a senior in college. I found out late last night from my surgeon that I will have to undergo surgery on my wrist as the healing is going backwards and they need to put a screw in my wrist to fix it up. That's a big disappointment because I'm finally starting to get back into the swing of things and feel great. I'm not sure when I'm going to have the surgery either during winter break in Chicago or come back a week early to school and have the surgery done here. I don't really want a cast over break because I have Christmas, New Years Eve, and my 21st birthday to celebrate, but I also don't want to be in a cast too long during school because I need to take notes. But enough about my wrist and onto an update of my knee. Yesterday during physical therapy I rode the bike for 5 miles and jogged at a brisk pace in the underwater treadmill for 1 mile and walked another .15 of a mile. The swelling my knee is practically gone and for the most part my knee feels great. I sometimes get a cracking sound or clicking but I think it's pretty normal. Today during measurements, I was able to bend my knee 145 degrees, only 12 degrees difference between my good leg and repaired leg. My left quad is 52.5 cm and my right quad is 57.7 cms around. All of my physical therapy has been concentrated on strengthening my quad and on balance. My physical therapist says that I should be able to start running in the next 2-3 weeks and when I get back I will do tests to see the difference in leg strength in various muscles of both legs. If my repaired leg has 80+ percent strength compared to my right leg then I can start to do soccer/sport exercises outside such as passing and dribbling. As for now I can run in the pool, swim, elliptical, biking, and treadmill walking as well as do upper body weightlifting but that will be hard with a broken wrist.

Day 43

It's day 43 and my knee feels a lot better. I can walk normal again and go up and down stairs almost free of pain. I can bend my knee 132 degrees when someone stretches me out and I can bend it 128 on my own. During physical therapy I have started to run on the underwater treadmill which is pretty exciting and I can go all the way around on the bike so I can start to get fitness in. I walk for 2 minutes in the underwater treadmill and then run for 10 and then walk for 3 minutes to cool down. I bike for about 5 to 10 minutes and Ive started to do more on leg press and im doing wall squats for a minute while throwing a weighted ball. Physical therapy still last around 2+ hours and 5-6 days a week. Most of the exercises I do work on balance and strengthening the quad muscle. My body is very sore from all of the new muscles that get worked during new exercises especially my butt, calf, hamstring, but I'm starting to get healthier. I'm beginning to gain some of my weight back. I took a bod pod test the other day in which you sit in an egg shaped machine and it calculates your lean muscle and your body fat and I'm at 153 pounds (still about 7 pounds underweight), 8 pounds of fat and 5.4 percent body fat. My last test was in August and I was 161 pounds with 8 pounds of body fat so Ive lost mostly muscle.

Day 38

Day 38

During my physical therapy on Friday, I was able to bend my knee to 112 degrees. It took a while to get it to 112 because I was incredibly sore and stiff and I think it was due to 3 servings of turkey and extra gravy and a plateful of mashed potatoes, stuffing, rolls, cranberry's, casserole and mashed sweet potatoes and of course some champagne and wine! The swelling has gone down a lot which is a great sign but there is still room for improvement. I'm looking forward to go back to school in order to get my brace unlocked so I can bend my knee when I walk. Sometimes while I'm just in the house I don't wear my brace at all. I don't have any pain walking around and only very minor pain going up stairs and a bit more pain going down stairs but everyday has been getting better. It has been a great week in Chicago and I'm not too excited to go back to school and take my final exams before the holidays but only 2 weeks of school before I'm a senior in college and about a month until I'm 21 years old!