Today was a very good day for my knee overall, so I thought I would write about it to help keep my spirits up and stay dedicated to the still long road of recovery ahead.
Despite it being a good day, it did not start well. My knee was achy despite icing last night, and I thought it would be a bad day for the knee. Nevertheless, after my first class, I made my way to the IMA wher eI started my physical therapy exercise routine. After biking 15 minutes, my knee has loosened up considerably; next came the leg curls. My right hamstrings have regained considerable strength — I was able to curl sets of ten starting at 40 lbs and moving up by five pound increments to 65 lbs, which is where I stalled. I can still do more with my left leg, but the disparity is nowhere near where it used to be. Furthermore, I am not pain-limited in the leg curl exercise, so I feel I can build up strength as quickly as I can continue to push my limits there.
My quadriceps development, on the other hand, is pain-limited, and is therefore a much slower prospect. Although I was sure it wasn’t going to go well when I went to do my leg presses, I decided I would try anyway. I concentrated on my technique and although it wasn’t comfortable, I was able to control the pain and get through two sets. Afterwards, surprisingly, my knee felt better than before, not worse as it usually does. It was my first glimmer of hope in a while that I may be finally turning the corner on this knee swelling issue — nevertheless, I will continue to medicate and ice until I am sure it is behind me. After all, I only have two month and six days until I need to be back playing frisbee!