Preparing for Surgery

Happy feet at the gym this morning. Loving my bright pink Sauconys!!

Surgery is scheduled for Monday - four days away. In some ways, I wish that the next four days will fly by but at the same time, I wish that they will pass by slow as molasses. I want the days to move quickly because I want to get this thing over and done with and I want to start moving on the road to recovery. I want the days to be drawn out because I know that recovery will be a long and slow process and I want to try to pack in as much as I can between now and then - seeing friends, taking walks, playing with the kiddos, and working out. I'm kind of petrified of the thought of being limited in my mobility.

Over the past two weeks, I've been focusing on staying active and strengthening my legs. I figure that the stronger my legs are going into surgery, the faster recovery will be, right? I've been working out 4-5 times a week. I've been able to hit my favorite spin class a few times, focusing on higher resistance vs. higher RPM, and hop on the elliptical machine without aggravating my knee. As for legs, I've been doing a variety of leg exercises, many I learned from my little project with FITNESS Magazine, but also combining other moves that I know and that I love such as Bulgarian Split Squats on a ball (probably one of my all-time favorites), Goblet Squats, Single-Leg Deadlifts, Bridges, Hamstring Curls, Leg Lifts, and Single-Leg Squats on a step. I've been focusing on strengthening the muscle on the front inside of my thigh to improve the stabilization of my knee. At least that's what I remember from physical therapy the last time around.

The best part of my week so far was that I made it to TRX on Monday and it felt great. I love TRX because it forces you to be super aware of your body. It force you to recruit a lot of different muscles to perform the moves, especially your core. While you can fake it to a certain extent when you lift weights at the gym, you can't when you do TRX. My instructor knew of my injury but I was actually surprised that I was able to do the entire workout without my knee feeling funny. Even the pistol squats and curtsy squats.

I was talking to my son Jasper the other day about my surgery and the fact that Mommy will be on the couch a lot afterwards. He was most concerned about the crutches and wanted to know every last detail - how you use them and if I'd have to use them all the time, even when I sleep at night. While I reassured him that no, I don't have to sleep with my crutches, he asked what would happen if I was in bed and I had to get up but couldn't reach my crutches. I told him that I would call him or Daddy. "What if we don't hear you Mommy??" he asked. "Well, then I'll just have to push Daddy out of bed." I have never heard him laugh louder or longer.

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