Flexion mark 2.

Thursday 17th March - 7 weeks post-accident, 2 weeks post re-fracture with 4 weeks on crutches NWB left to go (provided I don't balls it up again). My clips from my second operation came out, and my brace was set to 40 degrees. My poor knee. 7 weeks during which the greatest percentage of time has been fixed in extension. This joint has become fixed nearly solid. I've been desperate to flex the joint. I'm convinced that most of the pain I've been getting for the past week has been due to stiffness not the fracture. When the brace reset, I made it to 10 degrees, and stopped. The only thing I can compare the feeling to is trying to bend one of your fingers back into forced extension. It won't go, and it feels like it shouldn't. In the case of your finger, that's because it's not meant to. In the case of my knee, it's because scar tissue and swelling are causing the joint to fix. I've spent the past 24 hours easing it into flexion, and now make it to 30 degrees, but it feels painful and tight. In honesty, I've probably overdone it, but I'm feeling particularly impatient at the moment.

My mood swings are still quite intense, the days at home along are long and tedious. My underlying depression gives me significant diurnal mood variation, so mornings are my best times. I'm countering this by doing all my exercises in the afternoon to try to balance my mood as best I can. The next 3 weeks should be better, as Jason is on holiday and so I won't have long periods of time alone.

I've been trying to improve my static exercise routine. I've been using the hand bike for at least 30 minutes each day, spending at least 15 minutes doing core exercises, focusing particularly on my right leg gluts and hamstring as well as my abs. I'm also able to get back on my turbo trainer now I've got some movement in the knee. I'm managing to maintain my weight pretty well. I've lost 2kg, which I attribute to the loss of muscle from my right leg, but my general shape is staying pretty static apart from an increase in the size of my arms and shoulders.

So, a bit more about static exercising.
Hand bike. I thoroughly recommend this to anyone who is immobilised for any period of time. You can get a whole range of styles. Mine cost around £50 from Amazon and has a basic resistance dial and a LCD screen which scrolls through time, rotations, distance in KM and calories. It sits comfortably on my kitchen table, and is easy to put away afterwards. The highest resistance setting isn't that taxing, but by varying resistance and RPM for periods of time you can get something akin to a spin session. You can also vary your arm and body movements as you 'pedal' so you can work your torso quite well (it's an action similar to hoola-hooping!)

I can't recommend this gadget highly enough, it makes it possible to get an aerobic work-out whilst sitting down.

Positives:
Working out a way to use my exercise regimes to balance my mood swings.
Managing to get from 10 to 40 degrees of flexion over 24 hours though a combination of gradual work and regular icing.
Finally having a shower! (now my surgical clips are out, I can sit in the bath with my brace off and shower. It felt AMAZING!)