Thursday, October 8, 2009

Last Day of Physical Therapy...

I had my last day of PT today. A week from tomorrow, I'll go to the Y and sign up for the current Karate session.

I'm not 100% yet, maybe 80. I'll still have to be careful of the ankle. No sparring just yet.

The wierd thing is, my foot FEELS like it's pointed straight forward when it's really pointed 5-10 degrees left now. I don't know if or to what degree that will go back.

Also, in th January/February time frame, I'll have to get two of the screws removed. That will have me out a few weeks while the bone fills back in.

We have a great workout room in our condo complex. Checked it out and got keys today. I'm starting up tomorrow.

Sayonara,

Dan

Thursday, August 20, 2009

With a little luck...

I'll be back at class next month.

Sayonara,

Dan

Wednesday, June 10, 2009

Out of the Boot and beginning PT

I've been out of the boot for two weeks now, and walking without a cane since yesterday. I'm still combating severe swelling of the lower leg, ankle, and foot. My 1st day of Physical Therapy was Monday, 06/08/09 - I'll be going twice a week for six weeks.

Required regimen: flexibility exercises, elevation of the leg as much as possible, and ice packs 15 minutes at a time twice per day.

Starting this Friday, 06/12/09, I'll be doing a stationary bicycle at PT sessions to improve flexibility in the ankle.

My surgeon is also considering the possibility of removing the two largest screws in my ankle at this point, which are on the inside of the leg.

I have a long, narrow metal plate and seven short screws on the outside of the leg, and a six-inch partially healed incision to go with it. On the inside of the leg, there are two large screws and a two-inch incision.

All the hardware is stainless steel per my surgeon, and NOT the titanium I had originally believed was installed. (It feels weird speaking of something as being "installed" when discussing your own body.)

At any rate, I'm making steady progress. There is still pain most of the time, but I am starting to experience some pain-free moments. Pain levels range from a two to a six on a scale of ten. I'm not taking anything for it, I prefer to know what's going on so that I don't do any additional damage.

Additionally, I do NOT at this point have full range of motion in the ankle. I've lost about a third of range in the up/down direction, and about half in the movement to either side. Much of it is the swelling I'm fighting.

(Tip: ace bandages help keep the swelling down a bit, start with them as soon as possible if your doctor allows)

Sayonara,

Dan

Thursday, April 9, 2009

Getting The Cast Off & The Boot...

Monday's a big day. The doctor will be removing my cast, & I go into an immobilization boot for 2-4 weeks. I'll still be non-weight-bearing for that time, and using a walker.

However, the good news is that the boot is removable for showers. I'll also be required to remove it several times a day & do range-of-motion exercises to get the ankle ready for when I can start trying to walk on it again. At that point, it'll take me about a month to six weeks to get back to walking normally. Whew!

It's amazing how much you learn about the hassles that go with a condition like this. Some people are pretty considerate, a few are totally rude and obnoxious. It's also a major workout using either crutches or a walker. I think I've lost 30lbs doing this.

Sayonara,

Dan

Thursday, March 26, 2009

The Good, The Bad, & The Broken...

I'm still recovering from my broken ankle.

The break happened when I was shoveling snow in our driveway. One foot hit a patch of black ice, the other stayed planted on the pavement. The one that stayed planted is the one that broke. It rotated as I was falling and that put the stress level past the breaking point.

The ankle was broken in three places, and required surgery. I have a plate with seven screws on the outside of the ankle and two screws on the inside of it. There is a two-inch incision on the inside and a six-inch incision on the outside.

I'll be in a cast yet for two more weeks from Monday, & then a boot for two-four weeks after that. After the boot, I'll be allowed to gradually start putting weight on it and relearning to walk. Part of the difficulty after I become weight-bearing is the muscle atrophy, which is pretty rapid and very significant. The other part is the stiffness in the joint after it's been immobilized for so long.

The good news is, when the surgeon took me out of the temporary splint and put me in the cast a couple of weeks ago, he tested me for range of motion, and I have full range of motion without pain. That's with him moving my foot, not me.

I had an interesting issue the night before last. I work in downtown Chicago, & have to walk two blocks from my parking ramp to the building where I work, with a walker. (I'm on desk-only duty doing computer & paperwork until the end of May) When I left the other evening, it was raining out. You're not supposed to get these casts wet at all. I had it bagged with a trash bag. Well, even though I'm just setting the foot on the ground as a balance point, (which is what the surgeon told me to do for stability on the walker) it still wore the bottom of the bag through and soaked the cast.

Unhealed incisions on both sides of the ankle and a cast sock soaked with rainwater off the streets of downtown Chicago. Not exactly a recipe for good health. I had to go to the emergency room, get the cast cut off, get the leg cleaned up, and get put in a temporary splint for the night. Then I had to go to the surgeon's office the next day and get a fresh cast of the correct type and angle put on. Another day off work after I was just out for four weeks. That's not really what I want happening in this economic environment.

Well, after I explained what happened to the surgeon, he pulls out this rubber-soled, canvas-sided velcro-strap sandal that I can put on over the garbage bag to keep it off the concrete. Where was this sandal a week ago?

These medical offices do great injury repair and such, but when it comes to practical advice on how to handle the day-to-day mechanics of living with a cast, they are very short on foresight and advice. There should be a cheat-sheet that tells you what to watch out for and ways to overcome obstacles, instead of having to learn every little thing the hard way! I think they just don't "get it" unless they've actually lived it themselves. There are other examples, but I won't go on.

The bottom line, however, is that I'll get to go back to Karate in early August. Believe me, I am greatly looking forward to it.

Thank you, as always, for reading.

Sayonara,

Dan

Thursday, March 5, 2009

Recovering from ankle repair surgery

My ankle surgery was this past Tuesday. From what they told me it was badly broken, but the repair went well. I'll have 8 weeks in a cast & months of PT.

Sayonara,

Dan

Monday, February 23, 2009

Broken...

Broken...

In three places,
My ankle that is,
Beat up by a skinny little snow shovel,
In collusion with cold-hearted driveway ice.

The x-rays are in,
The surgery's planned,
And I'm not moving much,
I'm laying on the lam.

AquarianM

By: Daniel A. Stafford
(C) 02/23/2009

Yep, broke my ankle but good slipping on ice yesterday while snow shoveling. It'll be a week before surgery, then 6-8 weeks before I can put weight on it at all. After that, likely eight months before I can go back to Karate.

Tuesday, February 10, 2009

Drillin' To The Left, Drillin' To The Right...

...this was a fun class, lots and lots of practice on katas, kicking drills, bag techniques.

One of the Black Belts did a weapons demonstration. I kind of thought the weapons used looked like they'd been adapted from agricultural hand tools, which would make sense.

We started out with katas, and Sensei had various of the higher-ranked belts doing the instructor work - teaching them to teach. One of our Green Belts got most of the load.

We also had a guy I've been helping who was just promoted to Yellow Belt last week - he's the same rank as me now.

There were also a couple of exercises where we had to mirror the moves we're used to from the other side of the body - specifically the fourteen-point hard blocks. It was wierd, but a good teaching tool. I'll have to practice that more often.

Another new thing was doing the eight-point soft blocks while walking in seison stance. Tricky, but a good idea.

All-in-all, a great class, and I got to learn a bit more of Takeoko Kai Go tonight in the last five minutes of class.

Sayonara,

Dan

Tuesday, February 3, 2009

Teaching, Learning, Sparring, & Shins...

Tonight was a fun class. I got to learn a bit more of Takeoko Kai Go.

Then I helped a guy who is getting his yellow belt Thursday with Takeoko Kai Shii. For at least 15 minutes.

After that, 25 minutes of sparring. Very good, but I really, really need shin guards. Ouch!

Sayonara,

Dan

Saturday, January 31, 2009

I'm A Bit Stiff And Sore...

...from all the sparring Thursday evening, no doubt. Not bad or bruised sore, really good workout sore. Mostly in my shoulders & rib cage from all the upper-body work on jabs and blocks.

There are times when you get more of a workout than you thought, I think this is one of them.

Now I need to get physical today a little to get things loosened up and blood flowing to begin the strength building.

The little aches and pains are signs that you're making progress - it's the big ones you have to be careful of.

Right now, I'm just grateful I get to continue after all that business with the YMCA membership last year.

Sayonara,

Dan

Thursday, January 29, 2009

Sparring 'Til We Drop...

...this was a great class. I was in for a makeup session at Sensei's invitation because I missed Tuesday last week. We started off for 20 minutes in a side room with stretching and then kick, punch, and self-defense techniques.

After that, we went to our usual Dojo and geared up for sparring, and we spent the next hour sparring.

One of the guys my age and about a foot shorter was really jazzed up and wound tight because he has a tournament a week from Sunday, Feb 8th. He was very fast & aggressive, but I managed to make him work for most of his points.

I sparred most everyone in class except a couple of the kids, and wound out the session sparring our Purple Belt.

All said and done, it was great exercise.

Sayonara,

Dan

Tuesday, January 27, 2009

For those Inquiring Where The Patches Go On Your Gi...

...see this post from last year:

Promoted...


Sayonara,

Dan

A Little Learning, A Little Teaching...

...This class was mostly about kata - I got to learn the first half of Takeoko Kai Go - which is the second kata required for my next promotion. We also went through all the white belt katas, from Empi to Takeoko Kai Ichei, Ni, & Son. I go to practice Shii as well.

Later in the class, Sensei had to work with our Purple Belt - so he had me instruct the two white belts there on the most basic Takeoko Kai - Ichei. I think they both made good progress.

At the end of class, since there was no sparring, Sensei asked us what we wanted to do. I requested kicking drills, because I need the aerobic exercise as well as the form training. We did roundhouse kicks, front kicks, jumping front kicks, side kicks, crescent kicks, etc.

All in all a good class.

Sensei also warned us that with the economy, he might be forced to work a second shift instead of first shift. If that's so, another black belt will be taking over the class. I'm hoping not, but I completely understand. My employer just announced that we will take a 5% pay cut through June, and that they are suspending 401k matching funds. The economy is bad for people's health this way. I've read of people who were losing weight and getting high blood pressure under control, only to be forced into eating cheap fast foods and having all their health gains go out the window.

Hopefully things will get better soon.

Sayonara,

Dan

Tuesday, January 20, 2009

I completely missed class this week...

...I was off yesterday for Martin Luther King Day, and it threw me off my usual routine. I was up early in the morning, and couldn't sleep. This is not good, because I work 3rd shift. I tried to take a nap for a couple of hours before class so that I wouldn't be so dead to the world at work tonight, and I blew it setting the alarm. I woke up when class was already half over.

I'll be back in next week, but watch those holidays against your routine, it's easy for the unusual to goof schedules up.

Sayonara, and thank you for reading,

Dan

Tuesday, January 13, 2009

A bit of confusion, a bit of teaching...

...class was good tonight, but started off a little weird. The Y only really has one room big enough for larger exercise classes, and there's an aerobics class ahead of us. It appears that the aerobics instructor on Thursdays before our karate class asked the Y for an extra 15 minutes in the classroom so they could cool down. The Y went along with it, because there are more students in aerobics class than in karate class.

I guess it doesn't matter that between the two nights there are probably 25 of us, and our schedules, which we all thought were set, well, they just don't mean a thing.

At least Sensei is being fair. If the aerobics class gets an hour and fifteen minutes when they paid for an hour, our class is getting an hour and fifteen minutes. We're starting the first 15 minutes in a smaller classroom in the new wing, and then moving to the big classroom at 8:15 instead of starting in there at 8:00. Class now runs until 9:15 pm.

At any rate, we started warm up with kata, all doing Takeoko kai ichei thru son, then our highest kata once.

After kata warm up, we did 45 minutes of sparring. At first it was one-on-one, and I was doing pretty well I thought, holding my own. Then we did two-on-one, and I got to be the man in the middle for 2/3rds the time. Wow, that was a workout!

After sparring, we worked on kata for another 1/2 hour. Some of us got to help others perfect their forms. I worked with one of the white belts on the first three Takeoko's especially ichei. If you get that one down, the next two only differ in which block and punch you're using. I thought the guy I was working with made some solid improvements.

We finished up with a couple of repetitions of the Empi kata, which is all elbow strikes for the most part.

There was a lot of good discussion after the class too. I really enjoyed it.

Until next week - (I'm only doing Tuesday nights right now)

Sayonara,

Dan

Tuesday, January 6, 2009

1st Class Back In 2009:

Ahhhhhhhh. It just plain felt good.

I had a little rust around the edges because of how busy it's been through the holidays. It was good to shake the rust off.

We started out with a few kata repetitions, everyone doing their highest kata. (I'm still at Takeoko Kai Shii) I need to get back into the groove with that, but it was a good warm-up, especially since I was three minutes late to class. (I know, I know! I couldn't help it, there was ice and snow on the truck & driveway when I woke up. I work 3rd shift and sleep until it's time to get ready for class.) Being late meant there was no time to stretch out before class, and after a month with no practice, I was a bit nervous. Everything went fine, though.

After about for reps of kata, we got our gear on and started sparring. I was surprised, I did really well, and was holding my own against several opponents, even a purple belt.

The fun part was after everyone in class had had a chance to fight everyone else. At that point, Sensei had us each get in the center of the dojo and declare who had been our greatest challenge in sparring so far tonight. Then he would have another student referee and call points while he coached us against our toughest opponent for the night. Three people in a row picked me as their toughest opponent tonight! I'm sure a good part of that is that I'm 6'6" and 319lbs. I have a very long reach, and I'm tough to push off balance. By the time the third bout was over, I was just about ready to keel over from exhaustion.

The person that was MY greatest challenge was our purple belt. She is barely 5' tall, and I'd be surprised if she weighed 120lbs. HOWEVER, she is very fit, extremely fast, and several belt ranks more skilled than I am. There were a couple of points where she literally hooked her arm in mine and climbed me like a tree to bop me in the head! (Makes me laugh, my Sis's daughter calls me Uncle Tree 'cause she likes to climb on me. I call her Squirrell.)

The best news was in the locker room after class. I like to weigh just before showering, for obvious reasons. Weight before the holidays: 314lbs. Weight after the holidays: 319lbs. Only a gain of 5, Not. Too. Bad. I was very grateful I hadn't lost much ground.

At any rate, it was wonderful to be back in class. There are a couple of new white belts, both doing quite well.

Happy New Year, and sayonara.

Dan

I get to go back to Karate class tonight!

Wooohooo, yeehaaaah! Er, dang, that is going to be great.

Sayonara,

Dan

Saturday, January 3, 2009

Just updated my YMCA membership...

...changed from full-family membership to program-only. Cost: $54.00 per year. Had a $34.00 credit from an unused swim pass, so $20.00 for this year. Signed up for next karate session, $60.00. All told, I spent $80.00 to get back in. It will now cost me $60.00 every six weeks to attend. I need to set aside $20.00 per paycheck. Not too bad.

Sayonara,

Dan