Final day - Or let's hope so

I think it's time to bring this blog to a close. I went surfing again Sunday and then did some suicide sprints when I got home later to practice spinning on my left leg, the day before that I bicycled, the day before that I ran probably somewhere around 3 miles, the day before that I cycled again, etc. So I'm somewhere close to back to normal. Returning to soccer might be up next, unless I get any good at surfing and move to the coast. My knee cap still doesn't track entirely properly when I'm moving from a straight-legged position to bending. But I think that might subside over time.

So thanks for reading. Both of you. If anybody stumbles upon this site while they're considering ACL reconstruction or has any other questions about the knee or wants to send me free cash money, drop me an email.

DJ Darwin will take us out:

Day 175 - Leg song Thursday

I've been delinquent in posting lately, mainly because I haven't had much new happening with the knee to post about and I've been on vacation. Tuesday, I started doing some pivot turns on the knee while running. That felt fine, both during and after. I've also continued running, which hasn't been a problem. I went cycling today. That's the first I've done that in about 10 days or so. It feels pretty good right now. The one thing that continues to be a problem is the knee cap still sort of catches sometimes when I move from a straight leg position to a bending position. I've continued trying to strengthen the VMO, which is kind of helping, it seems, but only time will tell if that continues to improve.

So this song seems appropriate for this week, Aerosmith's deep track Lord of the Thighs. No comment on what this song might be about.

Day 170 - Surfing

I went surfing Thursday. I was worried it might be too much for my knee, but once I was out on the water and caught a wave, I forgot all about my knee. I was out there for about 2 hours and caught about 5 or 6 waves where I was actually able to stand up on the board. It wasn't a problem for my knee at all.

Cowabunga.

And since I missed the Thursday song once again, here's a catch-up for you:

Day 166 - I'm eating more blue M&Ms

It turns out that the dye used in blue M&Ms protects against crippling spinal cord damage in mice. It turns them blue, but that's a small price to pay to retain the ability to walk.

And I wonder what this dye might do for ligament tears? I'm headed out to buy a bag of blue M&Ms now.

Day 164 - Passed another test

I walked a St. Bernard today at the Washington Animal Rescue League, a place at which I volunteer. I didn't know it when I started out, but this led to another test of my knee.

These dogs are huge, but sweet. This one in particular, who has been given the fitting name Stonewall, has tremendous strength. Don't let the photo at the right fool you. Here's another angle to show you how big he is.



But once I got him out to the park, he was ok. At one point, I got him running and playing with me. And let me just stop here and say if amusement parks really wanted to build a scary ride, they should forget about roller coasters. Instead, invent a ride where a 200 lb St. Bernard is running full-speed at you. It doesn't matter what you do, you're doomed.

But Stonewall is true to his breed's temperament. He doesn't have a mean bone in his body. He would get close to me, but veer away at the last second and gracefully blow right by me without so much as harming a hair on my leg. But at one point, I tried to be too clever and jump behind a bench, sort of like a matador pulling his muleta away from a bull at the last second. Unfortunately, that was the exact direction Stonewall was going. So he sort of hit my leg --my bad knee. Luckily, it wasn't planted at the time. But I stumbled and caught myself using that leg. It was a good test of whether the new ACL had healed into the bones. It had, and it held.

Whew.

Later, while taking Stonewall back inside, I had to hold back all 200 lbs of his brute strength while another volunteer was walking some dogs by. I don't think Stonewall really wanted to get to the dogs, but under those situations with dogs who don't know each other, you can't take any chances, especially since Stonewall could demolish the whole building if he set his mind to it. Yet again, my knee held. That's no small feat, considering that apparently a St. Bernard once pulled more than 4,000 pounds!

Day 163 - Passed the test

Yesterday, I had my final one-legged hop test for my knee. I passed with flying colors. So I'm now cleared to resume all activities. Even soccer. I'll have to slowly ease into soccer, maybe just some running on a field first, dribbling a ball, shooting, etc. And I still need to strengthen my VMO, but all in all this was great news. But just to show the universe likes to keep things on an even keel, I was later stung by a wasp on my good knee. I have no idea why he stung me. I wasn't bothering him at all. It wasn't too bad though. It's a little sore and itchy today, but nothing I can't manage.

Anyway, I celebrated my test-passing with a beer. And since I missed the Thursday song, here's one to make up for it:

Day 160 - Back to the tape

My knee cap still isn't tracking properly, so I've resumed taping my knee. It helps a lot, especially going up and down stairs. I think one problem is that my VMO muscle is still a bit weak. So I'm hoping the tape will allow me to strengthen the VMO and get my knee cap back on track, literally.

But I may be trying to progress too fast or too soon. My physical therapist kept saying it can take a year after the surgery to fully get the knee back to feeling normal. As it is, I'm able to run and bike and carry out most normal day to day activities without a problem. So it may just take more time.

But I'll keep taping and hope it speeds things along.

Day 156 - Insane soccer Saturday

A compilation of amazing moves by some of the modern day greats (The end has a great clip of Maradona freaking out):

Day 154 - Leg song Thursday

What would summer be without a little Steven Tyler. Here's his band Aerosmith doing Falling in Love (Is Hard on the Knees) [great video, by the way]:

Day 153 - Rubbing me the wrong way

The edge of my kneecap has become sore and painful. I'm not sure if this is left over from the surgery or if this is due to the increased activity in recent weeks. But the way I've started treating it is something called transverse friction massage, which basically just means rubbing it with your finger back and forth perpendicular to the direction the ligament fibers run.

As you can see from the photo, the patella ligament runs across the knee cap. That's what's become inflamed and is the source of my soreness. To massage the sore spot, I have to put one hand on the top of my knee cap and push down to tilt up the bottom of the knee cap. Part of the ligament extends just under the lip of the knee cap, so by tilting it up, I can better access the sore bit and massage it with my finger.

I learned this technique from a previous physical therapist. My physical therapist has never mentioned it and may not even know about it. So it's a good idea to shop around and even switch physical therapists if your current one isn't helping. In my experience, they all seem to have different knowledge and preferred techniques, so one of them may know a method that can help your particular condition.

The transverse friction massage seems to be helping so far. It really made a difference when I previously used it during my rehab prior to the surgery, so I'm hoping I get similar results this go around.

Here's a nice overview of how to treat patella tendonitis. It briefly discusses the massage technique, if you're interested in learning more.

Day 152 - May the Force be with you

One improvement I've noticed recently is that my knee seems capable of generating more force, in running and especially jumping. I was doing some practice one-legged hopping yesterday to prepare for the final test in a couple of weeks, and my knee felt a lot more functional than it has since the surgery.

It's difficult to explain, but previously, it was like I wasn't able to generate as much springing action in my surgically repaired knee as with my other knee. I could still hop as far, but I really had to go through all sorts of contortions and effort to get my leg to land in the right place. And even then, something just didn't feel right, like things were out of sync and there just wasn't any power being generated.

But yesterday, for the first time, I felt like I was getting springing force and was able to easily hop the same distance on my surgically repaired knee as on my other leg. And according to a recent study, ACL reconstruction eventually allows the patient to produce as much force as he previously could. The researchers compared people who had undergone ACL surgery to people who had not and found no loss in function in the former group. The researchers concluded: "After ACL reconstruction, rehabilitated participants did not exhibit deficits in force production or reactive strength capabilities. Our results suggest that force production and reactive strength capabilities can be restored to levels comparable with the uninjured control limb..."

It seems only appropriate to end this post thusly: May the Force be with you.

Day 149 - Insane soccer tricks

Some of these are probably faked camera tricks, but it's still fun to watch. I'll consider myself recovered when I can do the flipping-around-with-the-ball-between-my-legs-and-then-shoot trick.

Happy Saturday:

Day 147 - Leg song Thursday

The knee felt pretty good the day after the long bike ride. It felt pretty good when I went for a run earlier today too. This was actually the first time my knee felt fresh right from the start. That's quite an improvement. I've usually just felt like I was plodding and struggling along. But today, I felt like I had jets. There's still a few tweaks of pain, and I really didn't want to push it past 25 minutes, but it definitely feels much better than it did when I first resumed running on the road.

Here's a classic from John Mellencamp: Get a Leg Up (it's really more about an impromptu threesome than legs, but it's close enough for me).

Day 145 - Tour de Knee

I rode my bike about one hour today. I only planned to go for about 40 minutes, but I was inspired by Lance Armstrong's amazing performance today at the Tour de France (For those who don't know, the 37-year-old guy erased a 40 second lead in the team time trial and missed donning the yellow jersey by just thousandths of a second).

So when I hit 40 minutes, I rode on. My knee felt OK at that point, so it seemed like a good idea. On the way back though, my knee was starting to ache a little, mostly around the bursitis area. It feels a little stiff now, but mostly OK. This may have been a bad idea, but we'll find out tomorrow.

Before I left, I rolled the hell out of my vastus lateralis. That seems to help, so I'll do more of that tonight. And hope that the knee feels pretty decent in the morning.

Day 143 - Tight

My physical therapist said I've got tight spots in my vastus lateralis. I told her to watch her language, but she was actually referring to one of the muscles in my quadriceps.

As you can tell from the photo, the vastus lateralis comes down and attaches to the outside of the knee cap. So if it's tight, it's going to pull the knee cap out of alignment, which is exactly what's happening to me.

So I'm rolling it and stretching in an effort to keep it loose. It seems to help, but I think it'll take a few days to a week of this to really make a difference.

But such is recovery from ACL reconstruction.

Day 142 - Happy Fourth

Day 140 - Leg song Thursday

Van Halen's Drop Dead Legs seems appropriate for summer and heading into the July 4th weekend.

Day 139 - New camera for an old knee

I got a new camera today, a Canon Rebel Xsi, which does everything except shine your shoes. No, wait, there's actually a button on here for that. The photo to the right is of the gears on my bike, which I'll be riding a lot later this week (click on it to blow it up to see the amazing detail this camera captures).

I went for a run today, and my knee felt pretty good right from the get-go. That's unusual, actually. It generally takes a few minutes of running to get it warmed up and feeling OK. Tonight though, it feels a bit stiff and sore. I also did some jumping after the running. That felt pretty good too, but maybe it was too much.

So tomorrow, it's more rest for the knee. Stretching the hamstring, quads, IT band, groin, etc. And foam-rolling too.

I'll leave you with a close-up pic of my dog's eye, which shows off the macro function of this camera (click on it to blow it up; you can actually count her eyelashes if you want to; of course, if you do want to do that, you're probably kind of a weirdo, but that's not the point here) (I had a better black and white photo, but for some reason, blogger won't let me upload it).

Day 138 - Up, down and sideways

I ran on Friday. The knee felt pretty good. I also practiced jumping on one leg. I've got the test coming up on Thursday for the one-legged hop and if I pass that, I'll be cleared to move on to the next level, which I believe involves destroying the Death Star to save humanity (a little Star Wars humor for the geeks in the audience).

The knee felt pretty good on Sunday, so I went for a bike ride. I only did about 36 minutes, but this was a breakthrough because I rode pretty hard and also returned for the first time to one of my usual routes, which involves a lot of hillwork, which has been tough on the knee up until now. My knee felt fairly good the rest of the day.

But today, it felt a bit stiff and kind of sore in the back. So I decided to rest it and see how it's feeling tomorrow.

All in all, this is a weird injury to recover from. With all my previous injuries, it's mainly been a fairly steady projectory of gradually getting better until full recovery. But recovering from this surgery has been anything but steady and progressive. It's always two steps forward, 1.5 steps back, 9 steps to the side and just keep on riding this wave no matter how gnarly it gets, hoping things will somehow all work out for the better eventually because, really, what other alternative is there? Miles in Sideways showed that giving up and drinking the spit bucket doesn't really solve anything.

Catch ya on the flip side.

Day 135 - Riding

Today, I went for what I planned to be an easy bike ride. But my knee felt pretty good, so I hammered a bit harder. I was actually able to get out of the saddle and pedal, something I haven't been able to do until now. I did about 32 minutes and the knee felt awesome, probably the best it's felt since the surgery.

Until I got off. Argh. It felt a bit stiff. But after a while, it went back to feeling pretty good. Later it felt kind of horrible. Stiff, kind of popping and clicking. I think it'll be OK in the morning, but it's weird how the status of my knee can swing from one extreme to the other.

Later, I was walking around with a friend in DC and stumbled upon the sad sight in the photo. Oh, the humanity!

Day 134 - Leg song Thursday - Sea Legs

It's summer and surf's up. A clip from Sea Legs, a surfing film by Patagonia:



The music might be by Piers Faccini, but nobody is really sure.

Day 133 - I run, I bike, I take a photo

Today, I biked about 21 minutes. It felt mostly OK on my knee. Going uphill is still a problem because it causes too much stress and force on parts that are still healing. After that, I tried going for a 20 minute run. But I stopped after about 13 minutes because my knee was feeling raw. I think I've been pushing it maybe too much lately.

I've been taking a day off in between runs, but I've also been walking a lot in addition to running. So I may not have given my knee enough time to rest and recuperate. I'll lay off it tomorrow and maybe go for an easy bike ride in a day or two.

After the bike and run, I went for a walk and took the photo posted here. I have no idea who did the mural or what it represents, but it must mean something. The thing on the left appears to be a peep, but I'm not sure who the guy on the right could be. Sort of looks like Aerosmith front man Steven Tyler, but I don't think he's ever worn a bowtie. Taken all together --Steven Tyler in a bowtie on stage with a peep-- it must be saying something deep and meaningful, but I'm not sure what.

Day 132 - At least I'm alive

My knee is still a bit creaky, but at least I'm alive. Nine people yesterday weren't that lucky, and 76 others were sent to the hospital with injuries, after 2 Metro cars collided. I was on the subway system at the time, and on the same line that it happened on, but I was on the opposite end of the line, fortunately.

What a tragedy.

Day 131 - Weak link

An athlete's body can be a tough but fragile thing. And nobody knows that better than the professional athlete. They may put in the extra training and effort it takes to strengthen their body and make it capable of performing better than the rest of us mere mortals. Michael Jordan was able to defy gravity. Rafael Nadal has been capable of defying Roger Federer.

But when it comes down to it, no matter their commitment or training intensity, they're still just as vulnerable to injury as the rest of us. It's simple physics. Our muscles, tendons and ligaments can only withstand so much force, no matter how strong we make them. Exceed that threshold and injury is the result.

One of the parts of the body most vulnerable to this is the knee. And Nadal is the latest example of this sad fact. He's had to drop out of Wimbledon due to tendonitis in his knee. I wouldn't be surprised if it's a result of over-training. He's known for his work ethic and running down every shot during a match, and he's working at least that hard in practice. Here's how one sports writer describes him:

He is also known as one of the most intense practice players, well, ever. He frequently spends five hours a day on the practice court, chasing every ball like he was playing in a Grand Slam final.

Nadal says he'll be able to return. Let's hope so. But I'm reminded of Tracy Austin, who's career was ended prematurely due to a series of injuries from over-training. She was finished at 21. Nadal is 23.

The knees will keep you honest.

Day 129 - Hopping to the beat of the New York Dolls

Today, at physical therapy, I hopped for distance on one leg. I was almost able to hop as far on my surgically repaired knee as on my good knee. Probably a few more days and I'll be able to match it. The main problem is the first couple of jumps on the bad knee feel a little weird, and there's a bit of pain when I stick the landing. So I think there's still some healing that needs to happen before I'm ready to max out my jumps.

But I've been relinquished from the weekly physical therapy sessions. I won't go back for another 2 weeks, and that's only for a quick check-up to make sure everything is progressing smoothly. After that, I'll go back in another 2 weeks to be cleared for resumption of all activity, I believe.

So to celebrate, I later went to see the New York Dolls. I'm not really a fan, but I won tickets, so what's not to like. And since I missed Leg song Thursday, here's one of their most recent songs, Dance Like a Monkey:

New York Dolls - Dance Like A Monkey

Day 128 - 25 minutes of sheer terror

I kid, I kid. There was no terror. I was a little apprehensive because I couldn't see, but I pounded out 25 blind minutes on the pavement anyway. More or less.

I went to the eye doc today and, of course, eye docs are never happy unless they can induce blindness in you somehow. I suppose that's good for business. He gave me some sort of dilating eye drops that he said was essential to accurately assessing my eyesight. But his office was littered with advertisements for bizarre cosmetic bullshit, such as Botox for people who are so superficial they're willing to risk death and being maimed for good looks, and Latisse, which is supposed to lengthen your eyelashes. So this guy is about as credible as a politician.

But an hour later, I walk out of his office, cleared with eyesight that is above average for seeing things close-up. Yes, he actually told me this. But I'm now blind to things near, far, and everywhere in between, thanks to his beloved dilating eyedrops.

I can't work, since most of my work involves being able to see. So I decide to put on some shades and go for a run. The run starts out feeling kind of tweaky on my knee, but as I get warmed up, it begins to feel OK. I run the route I ran the other day, but when I'm at the point when I should be around 17 minutes, I look down at my watch and see that I've only gone 4 minutes. Huh? I'm not sure what happened, but somehow my trusty watch kept switching to lap times, so I have no idea how long I've been running. But I'm also partially blind, so who knows. I could've run to the moon and back for all I know.

I do a little more running and add in some extra routes, just to make sure I've gone more than 20 minutes. I get back home and judging from the approximate time I left the house, I've done about 30 minutes. That doesn't seem possible, so I'll just call it an even 25.

I thought my knee would feel like hell, but surprisingly, it felt great later on. It actually felt the best it has felt since the surgery. It's kind of weird. It's like the more I use it like it's normal, the better it does.

Right now though, at 1:29 am, it feels a little stiff and weird. But that's after walking a few miles through the city, from one happy hour to the other. In bad shoes. With only one eye completely functional. Just kidding. I couldn't see out of either eye.

Anyway, I'm off to physical therapy tomorrow. So maybe I'll have better news after that.

Day 127 - Knee feels moderately OK

My knee feels mostly OK today after running on the road yesterday. There's a little stiffness and soreness in certain parts, but overall, it feels pretty good. My back is a little sore from the pounding it took from the pavement, but that's not too bad.

I might ride my bike tomorrow depending on how my knee feels. The kneecap still isn't tracking totally properly. It's better than it was, but I can't seem to get it back to normal. I took the tape off because that seemed to be making things worse. But it's not any better without the tape, so I'm not sure what to do at this point. Hopefully, my physical therapist will have a solution on Friday, other than her usual go-to: ice.

Day 126 - Pavement strikes back

I ran on the pavement today for 20 minutes. That's a whole lot different than running on the treadmill. There's obviously no give to the pavement, so all the shock-absorbing has to come from my shoes, cartilage and muscles. It felt a little rough at first, but as I got warmed up, it started to feel OK.

But later, the knee was feeling a little tweaky in certain parts. I'm not sure if the pavement was a good idea, but my physical therapist said I was ready for it. I guess I'll just have to wait and see how it's feeling tomorrow.

One thing about running is that it is so much slower than cycling. Once you get used to cycling, going back to running seems like you're not moving at all. But due to my cycling habits, I was running 4 or 5 feet away from the parked cars, so I was kind of in the middle of the right lane. That tends to be OK when cycling, but if you're running down the middle of the street, drivers just think you're an escaped mental patient because they gave me a wide berth and didn't honk or say anything. Sometimes, it pays to be crazy.

Day 125 - Family reunion

The knee feels OK today after the bike ride. I was planning to run today, but instead I went to see the entire Marsalis family play at the Kennedy Center. And when I say the entire family, I mean everybody. Dad, mom, sons, even sons who don't play music, extended family members, people who once stopped by the Marsalis house for coffee, former plumbers, etc. Even Harry Connick, Jr., was there.

The purpose of the night was to honor Ellis. So all the sons were there: Wynton, Branford, Delfeayo, Jason, and even Ellis Jr, who doesn't play an instrument and is apparently called "The Oracle."

It was a great show. Here's what it was like:

Day 124 - The rubber hits the road

I took my bicycle for a spin today to test out my knee. As you may recall, I've been laying off the bike riding because it seemed to aggravate my bursitis.

So I took it easy and planned on only doing about 10 minutes. But my knee felt pretty good, so I stretched it out to 17 minutes. It still feels ok tonight, so hopefully the rest has allowed the bursitis to settle down. I didn't press it, so that will be the real test down the road. For now, I'll continue to try to build up my time in the saddle as long as my knee feels ok tomorrow.

Day 123 - Take the money and run

So the total cost of my surgery just went up by more than a grand. The previous tally was a bit over $32,000, but I just received a bill for the CPM machine and the knee brace. The CPM machine cost $650 and the knee brace came in at $625.00. Oh and there's an extra $80 charge for the pad that goes on the CPM machine. A reasonable person would think the pad was part of the CPM machine, but apparently, there are no reasonable people working at the company that supplied the CPM machine and the brace, just crooks, liars and thieves.

So the total cost of the surgery now comes to more than $34,000.00. Actually, it's probably more than $35,000.00 if you include all the charges for the physical therapy.

By the way, the CPM machine and the knee brace are worthless. They make no difference in the outcome of ACL surgery. I don't know why surgeons continue to recommend them or why health insurance companies continue to pay for them. But my insurance company --which would not pay for the nurse who assisted in the surgery-- had no problem shelling out out over $600 for these contraptions. I wish they would've instead put that money towards beer for me. Or perhaps just donated it to the ASPCA.

But like Steve Miller said, it's easier to Take the Money and Run:

Day 122 - I jump, Leo Kottke plays

At physical therapy today, I did a one-legged jump for distance. I started with my good leg and then tried to match that distance with my bum leg. The first jump on my left knee (the surgically repaired one) felt strange. Several jumps after that continued to feel strange. It was as if I didn't really have a good idea of where my knee/leg was going to wind up.

They say it can take a while to get used to the new ACL in there because it still lacks all the nerves and other things that allow you to sense movement in space. So I suspect it was a combination of that and my own mental blocks of worrying that my knee wasn't yet strong enough to withstand the force of jumping and landing.

But after about 10 or so jumps, it began to feel more or less kind of normal. I was still worried about the landing though.

I never quite matched the distance of my good leg, but I came pretty close. My physical therapist said I was doing better than most. I told her it was because I didn't ice my knee.

Later, I went to see the amazing guitarist Leo Kottke. If you've never heard his music, you should check it out. And he tells pretty funny stories in between songs, so if you can, see him live.

Day 121 - Leg song Thursday

Technically not a leg song, but I'm going to see Dave Brubeck in concert tonight, so his classic, Take Five, seems apropos (and note the brilliant drumming by the incomparable Joe Morello):

Day 120 - I wish I was a newt

According to some of my newt friends, they can regenerate an entire limb in a matter of weeks. An entire limb?! All I needed was a new ACL, and now 4 months after the surgery, I'm still not back to normal. If I had some newt blood in me, I probably could've regrown an ACL in a few days, a week max.

I won't bore you with the details of newt limb regeneration, but if you want a quick overview, watch the video below, which explains it all in about a minute. But I hope some crazy scientist somewhere is working on a way to splice newt genes into people because I could go for some of that. It'd beat going through surgery and 4 months of rehab.

Day 119 - Pounding the pavement

I did a tiny bit of pavement pounding today. I ran to the gym, a trip that takes me about 2 minutes max, and I ran home from the gym. So about 4 minutes in all, but in between I hammered out 25 minutes on the treadmill.

The knee felt a bit sore and sensitive today on the treadmill, so it may not have been the best day to start pounding the pavement. But my physical therapist said last week I was cleared to hit the streets.

I hadn't done it until today because the knee just wasn't where I wanted it to be and I didn't want to risk any excessive pounding. The treadmill's surface is more shock-absorbing than pavement and cement. As always, I'll find out tomorrow if this was a good idea or not.

Day 118 - Jumping Jack Flash

More jumping today. Knee feels about the same. I'm continuing to try to strengthen the VMO and stretch the IT band. Knee cap tracking still feels a little funny at times, but for the most part, everything's good and it's a jumping jack flash.

Day 117 - 25 minutes without tape

Today, I ran 25 minutes on the treadmill without tape on my knee. And so far, it still feels pretty good. I'm kind of surprised by that because yesterday, it ached in one spot and the knee cap didn't feel so good going down steps. That was after doing my jumping exercises and also a lot of walking. But this morning, it felt ok. And it continued to feel OK through the run and the rest of the day. So that may be good news. Extremely good news actually, because I'm sick of putting the tape on. And it was ripping off my skin. So I hope I'm finally done with that.

Day 115 - Jumping Jive

I guess all my trampoline work paid off. Yesterday, I was cleared for jumping. Forward. Backward. Side to side. And one-footed as well. My knee feels OK today for the most part. That's good news. Hopefully, I'll be able to return to this type of dancing soon, but probably not for another few months or so:

The Brian Setzer Orchestra - Jump Jive An' Wail
Uploaded by UniversalMusicGroup. - Music videos, artist interviews, concerts and more.

Day 114 - Leg song Thursday - Koko Taylor

The great blues singer Koko Taylor died yesterday at 80. So in her honor, here's one of her songs, I'm a Woman, even though it has nothing to do with legs. I wanted to put "Jump for Joy" on here, but I couldn't find it anywhere online. Enjoy:

Koko Taylor I m A Woman
Uploaded by Zone19. - Explore more music videos.

Day 113 - 25 minutes

Today, I cranked the speed up a little and did 25 minutes on the treadmill. I was only going to do 20 minutes, but fortunately a girl had taken my favorite treadmill at the gym, so I was forced to shift to a different one. It turned out that this treadmill had much better cushioning, so I figured 25 minutes would be OK on the knee. We'll see how right I was tomorrow.

Day 112 - Surgeon confirms Tom Brady is an alien

His performance on the football field has always hinted at it, but now there's proof that Tom Brady is indeed an alien. His surgeon, Neal ElAttrache raved today about Brady's incredible recovery from ACL reconstruction last year:

"With regard to his recovery of strength, I've never seen anything quite like it," ElAttrache said to the Times. "With an average person, it would have taken probably twice as long to get range of motion and strength back."

And this despite the fact the Brady suffered a staph infection after his surgery.

And it's not as if ElAttrache is new at this surgery thing. He's previously operated on other star athletes, including the Los Angeles Lakers' Kwame Brown and the Dodgers' Jason Schmidt. So he knows a thing or two about a thing or two.

So it's pretty clear that Brady is an alien life form, probably escaped from Roswell. I wonder if the NFL rules say anything about aliens. But I guess we shouldn't be surprised that if there is an alien in the NFL, it would have been picked up by Bill "anything to win" Belichick. On a positive note, maybe we can use Brady's amazing recovery abilities to help others who have to undergo ACL reconstruction.

Day 111 - 20 minutes again

I clocked in 20 more minutes today on the treadmill. The knee feels a little sore actually. But that's mainly due to my patella still not tracking properly and the fact that I was testing it on the stairs on the way home from work before hitting the treadmill. So I don't think the running is the main source of my problem. I'll rest tomorrow and keep taping it and it should be fine.

Day 110 - Cake

Last night, I saw Cake in concert. They were pretty good musically, but the lead singer, John McCrea, bummed me out with his hipster-doofus pretentiousness. But that annoying facade isn't evident in their songs, so I just tried to tune him out and enjoy the music. I snapped a photo, which apparently was against official Cake policy or whatever. You can recognize McCrea by the aura of hipster-doofusness that glows above him.

On a positive note, I did a fair amount of dancing at the show (and that was on top of the 20 minutes I had spent running on the treadmill earlier), and my knee felt pretty good this morning. Today, I walked all over DC, from the U Street area to Adams Morgan to Dupont Circle to Georgetown. Not sure how much distance I covered, but it must've been at least several miles. My knee feels a little stiff tonight, but that's probably mainly because I didn't have any tape on it today. Hopefully, it'll be feeling good by morning.

In the meantime, here's a Cake song that I've always liked, mainly because it reminds me of a girl I used to know:

Day 109 - 20 minutes

Today, I did 20 minutes of running on the treadmill, exceeding my personal best so far by 1/3. The knee feels OK. I'll see how it feels tomorrow.

Day 108 - Grapevine breakthrough

So today, my physical therapist cleared me for doing the grapevine and the shuffle --which if you don't know what these are, you're probably better off. But they're basically exercises that involve sideways torsion on the knees, so being cleared for doing those means my knee is gradually, albeit slowly, getting better. These exercises felt pretty good. I didn't notice any pain or discomfort at all. Next week, I might be cleared for jumping or agility or something. Stay tuned.

In the meantime, here's the late but brilliant Marvin Gaye doing his classic, I heard it through the grapevine:

Day 107 - Leg song Thursday - Paul McCartney sings the blues

I have no idea what this song is about, but I like it. And since I ran 15 minutes on the treadmill yesterday, it seems apropos: Paul McCartney's 3 Legs:



Here are the lyrics:

Well when I walk, when I walk
On my horse upon the hill (when I walk the horse upon a hill)
Well when I walk, walk walk walk
On my horse upon the hill (when I walk the horse upon a hill)
And I lay me down
Will my lover love me still
A dog is here, (a dog is here), a dog is there (a dog is there)
My dog he got three leg
But he cant run

Well when I thought, well I thought
When I thought you was my friend (when I thought I could call you my friend)
When I thought, when I thought
When I thought you was my friend (when I thought I could call you my friend)
But you laid me down, put my heart around the bend

A fly flies in (a fly flies in), a fly flies out (a fly flies out)
Most flies they got three leg, but mine got one.

Well when I fly when I fly when I fly,when I fly above the cloud
(when I fly above the man in the crowd)
Well when I fly when I fly when I fly,when I fly above the crowd
(when I fly above the man in the crowd)

You can knock me down with a feather, yes you could
But you know its not allowed (but you know its not allowed)

A dog is here, (a dog is here), a dog is there (a dog is there)
My dog he got three leg
But he cant run

My dog he got three leg
Your dog he got none

My dog he got three leg
Your dog he got none

My dog he got three leg
Your dog he got none

Day 106 - My new niece

My new niece, Beatrice, was born earlier today. I hope she has strong ACLs.

Day 105 - Weights (or waits)

I had physical therapy today and I'm now graduating to a regimen that involves more weight lifting. I'm also, hopefully, going to keep increasing my running time on the treadmill. The bursitis is still kind of present and I still need tape on my knee to get my knee cap tracking properly. But slowly and surely, I'm progressing. And at least I'm no longer stuck in an elevator.

Day 104 - Trapped in an elevator

Phew! If you've never been trapped in an elevator, trust me, you don't want to be. I got stuck in one today in DC's subway system, called Metro. Given Metro's reputation for careless accidents, I half-expected the elevator to explode or perhaps fly through the roof and soar about the sky, a la Willy Wonka. The elevator started going up, but stopped after about 1 foot. When I realized I was stuck, I pressed the down button. Nothing. The up button. Nothing. Door open, door close, up, down. Nothing, nothing, nothing, nothing.

It finally dawned on me that I was trapped. I pressed the alarm bell. Nothing. There was another button for "emergency call." I didn't quite understand the difference between this and an alarm bell, but you don't question such things when trapped in an elevator, you just blindly press buttons, hoping something will set you free. The emergency call button appeared to be some sort of silent alarm channeled directly to Batman's secret residence, because it did absolutely nothing.

I began pressing it and simultaneously yelling out "Hello?", thinking, rather naively if you know anything about the ineptitude of Metro employees, that there might actually be somebody monitoring for communications coming from patrons trapped in elevators. Nobody answered.

At this point I began to wonder how airtight an elevator is and how much air I might have left. I could hear a ventilation fan running so I figured that meant I at least had fresh air coming in. I pressed the alarm bell, which did trigger a bell. I let it ring for several minutes. I didn't hear anybody or anything that indicated anyway was aware that I was stuck in the elevator. The location of the elevator is down a hall and far removed from the booth where a Metro employee sits. Thinking about this, I realized it was possible that a) the employee could not hear the bell, b) the employee could hear the bell but did not care, and/or c) the employee could hear the bell but had no idea what it meant and was hoping it stopped so they could get back to napping. I wondered if I would be spending the night in the elevator.

I then wondered if I could budge open the door. I first tried to pry them open. I couldn't move them at all. But there were two panels making up each door. I budged on the inside panel and the door started to move. Just a little. And then I was able to pry open the entire door. Only to be met with the closed outer door.

I tried prying open the outer door, but it was closed up tight and didn't move. There were no inner panels to budge on so I was stuck. Just then I heard voices. I looked out the tiny, dirty elevator window and I could see 2 Metro employees. But they weren't there to help me. They just happened to be walking by. "Hey! Hey!" I yelled. They finally heard me and came back. One guy tried to budge open the outer door, but he couldn't move it. After several tries, he gave up. "Hold on, we're getting somebody to help you," he said. And then he disappeared. What?!

That left me to continue to pry open the outer door while simultaneously using my feet and one arm to hold open the inner door. Which kept trying to close. At one point, a recorded voice came over the elevator's intercom and said "Please allow the doors to close."

"Fuck you," was my response.

After several minutes, a man's voice came over the intercom, "Hello, sir in the elevator."

"Yes?" I said.

"Sir?"

"Yes? Hello. Yes?!" I yelled, hoping he would hear. I wanted to move closer to wherever the intercom was, but I had no idea where the speaker was and I didn't want to risk allowing the doors to close, fearing that I might not be able to pry them open again.

"Sir?"

The damn intercom didn't even work. The emergency call button had probably been installed by Fisher-Price.

Another Metro employee appeared at the elevator door. He told me that the fire department was on its way. Apparently, only the fire department has the power to override the elevator and open the door. That is perhaps the stupidest thing I've heard all month (and I will point out that I live in DC, where Congress is located, so I hear some pretty stupid stuff just about every day).

At about this time, I noticed that the light on the elevator buttons had switched from up (my original direction) to down. That was important because when I was frantically pressing buttons before, nothing had happened at all. I wondered if I dared allowed the doors to close, would the elevator think it had arrived at its destination and open the doors normally?

Thinking the fire department would soon be axing or crowbarring their way inside soon anyway, I let the doors close. The elevator started moving down, ever so slowly. And then, just like that, poof, the doors opened.

When I finally got to the street, a fire engine was arriving, with sirens blaring and lights flashing.

Day 103 - Knee equivocation

So the knee kind of feels good and it kind of feels bad. I've left the tape off to give the rashed up area a chance to heal. I did a lot of walking yesterday after the treadmill running, so I was wondering how all that activity would affect it. The bursitis feels like it might be acting up a bit, but when I put on my new kicks and walked around my neighborhood, it felt ok. A couple of times, I've felt a few twinges, which I think was the knee cap not tracking properly. But that disappeared. So I'm really sort of stuck in limbo right now of not really good and not really bad.

I think that's a good sign though. If I can handle 10 minutes of running and a ton of walking and still feel marginally OK, then hopefully I'm gradually progressing. And yesterday, some kids in my neighborhood were selling lemonade and for an extra 5 cents they would give you your fortune. I would've been a fool to pass up a deal like that, especially in this lousy economy. The lemonade was ok, but my fortune was pretty good. The kids told me: You will live a long life. I took that to mean that my knee would eventually get better. So I've got that going for me.

DAy 102 - Rash-a-ma-tazz

The tape was helping, but now it's caused a rash. The first layer of tape is supposed to protect the skin from the harsher tape that forms the 2nd layer, but I guess my skin can only take so much. It's just a small patch, so I've covered it with a large band-aid to protect it and then applied tape over the top of that.

On a positive note, I clocked in 10 minutes of running on the treadmill this morning. The knee feels pretty good. The real test will be how it feels tomorrow, so I'll keep my fingers crossed.

Day 101 - Tripping over the brain

I haven't seen it discussed much, but I agree with this Sporting News article that psychological barriers can be one of the biggest hurdles in recovering after ACL reconstruction. In the article, Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Carson Palmer, who has recovered from ACL surgery, gives this advice to Tom Brady, the New England quarterback who missed last season with an ACL tear:

"I would just tell him to be prepared for the mental obstacles when he gets back on the practice field -- and the game field," Palmer said. "You have to get over being uneasy about people being down around your feet and get over feeling like you need to step out of the way to protect yourself."

I haven't been anywhere near a soccer field since tearing my ACL, so I can't really say if the mental ghosts will haunt me if I do resume playing (I suspect they won't since I've wrecked on my bike several times and this somehow has not deterred my brain from throwing my body back in the saddle). But mental blocks can impede recovery in other ways.

You get used to limping in the first few weeks after surgery, so it becomes difficult to change and get back to your normal way of walking. You don't trust your knee, so you resist putting full weight on it even when they say it's ok to do so. Your knee heals at such a slow snail's pace that you begin to wonder if it will ever heal at all. After getting steadily better, your knee suddenly feels worse and you wonder if you'll ever be able to resume normal levels of activity without the damn thing becoming inflamed. And perhaps most of all, if you were an athlete before the surgery, it's difficult to be a couch-ridden gimp because you really want to get back to your sport.

The whole recovery process is fraught with mental trials. The best advice I know of is just to take it one day at a time. If it feels great, then plow through the rehab exercises. If it feels crappy, stay off of it. I have no advice for the problems Tom Brady might face, but he seems to be doing pretty well without my input.

Day 100 - Leg song Thursday

The classic from The Monks: Nice legs, shame about the face.

Day 99 - Knee feels good

The bursitis feels alright today, so maybe the running didn't aggravate it. I also ended up at work without tape on my knee because I woke up late and didn't have time to go through the rigamarole of putting on the tape. But it felt pretty good even going down steps, so maybe the tape has done its job. I taped it up when I got home though so I could work out.

I'll go running again tomorrow on the treadmill and see how everything is doing.

Day 98 - I run again

I bounced on the trampoline today in physical therapy. Actually, my feet weren't allowed to leave the canvas, so I more or less oscillated up and down. I won't be cleared for actual jumping for another week or two. After that, I was cleared for the treadmill, where I ran for 5 minutes. That's the most I've run in about 4 months. I assume this was a breakthrough moment, but my physical therapist was pretty low-key about it. I guess she doesn't really get excited about something unless it involves ice.

The running felt OK on my knee. Most importantly, all the parts where they drilled and cut into me felt fine, no pain. I felt some twinging at the site of my bursitis, but I'll have to wait until tomorrow to see whether that's really an issue. But I'm not too worried about that because bursitis is relatively easy to get rid of.

Later, my co-workers took me out for drinks for my birthday, which was last Friday. I had an Espresso Martini, which was delicious. It had cream and coffee in it, so it tasted more like a shake than a martini.

Day 97 - I run

I didn't have time to post about it but I took the knee out for a spin last week. It wasn't far, but it felt ok. I ran about 20-30 yards on the way to the gym. Then on the way back, I ran about 15 yards or so. The knee felt pretty good. And it didn't seem to be any worse for wear the next day, so I think that's a good sign.

My physical therapist didn't think it was a good idea, but I kind of ignore about half of what she says since most of what she says involves chastising me for not icing my knee, which, as I've already posted about, does nothing and is a waste of good frozen water. Tomorrow, I'm supposed to start plyometrics. I don't know what that means but it seems to have something to do with jumping on a trampoline. And probably ice.

Day 96 - Beach redux

I spent the weekend at the beach. I don't know if it was the tape or the beer that helped my knee, but either way it felt pretty good. As promised, here are the photos of the tape job on my knee.



Not sure if you can tell, but the tape consists of one strip across the knee cap, which serves to push the knee cap towards the inside of my leg. There's another strip that attaches to the bottom of my knee cap, loops underneath it and then swerves up the inside of my knee. This helps rotate my knee cap clockwise (if you're looking at it(this may get confusing if you're looking at the photo because it's reversed; the photo is of my left leg, but it looks like it's my right leg)). I did quite a bit of walking at the beach, but my knee felt pretty good. So hopefully the tape is doing its job.

Day 93 - Leg song Thursday - Twisted legs angel

Garrincha never got the recognition of Pele, but some regard him as one of the best dribblers in the history of the sport. The amazing thing is he was able to do this despite several deformities in his legs. One source describes Garrincha, who was also nicknamed the twisted legs angel, thusly:

He had several birth defects: his spine was deformed, his right leg bent inwards and his left leg six centimeters shorter and curved outwards, all of which did not impede him to play football at the top level, due to his skills at ball control and dribbling, as well as his effective shot with either foot -- an example of which are the goals in World Cups against England in 1962 and Bulgaria in 1966.

Watch and be amazed:

Day 92 - Mastodon blows my knee off

I went to see this band Mastodon last night. They're a speed metal /death metal band or whatever the kids are calling it nowadays. I have no idea why I even bought tickets to this show. It was pretty awful. I hope the intense vibration somehow helped my knee. Hmm, probably not. Anyway, I have photos of my taped knee, which I'll post tomorrow.

Day 90 - Tale of the tape

So I've been wearing tape on my knee for the past week. I have to say it's helped. I think my knee cap had sort of slid off to the side as a result of the surgery/healing/etc. The tape helps hold it in the right alignment so it tracks properly. There's definitely less pain with the tape than without. But I'll know more tomorrow after physical therapy. I'll see if I can get a good photo of the tape job too so you can see what it looks like.

Day 87 - Book Review Saturday - Beat the Reaper

So if you like eclectic, medical stories (and you must or why would you be reading this blog?), I highly recommend Josh Bazell's new book Beat the Reaper. It's a fast-paced thriller (I'm not sure what that means exactly but that's what they're calling it) about a former Mafia guy turned doctor. Now, I know that sounds kind of boring. I was bored when I first read the description too. But Bazell, who is a physician, has created a character, Pietro Brnwa, who is a fascinating mix of a thug who's funny, witty, worldly and knowledgeable. And he takes you on a ride that will have you laughing while learning about medicine, the Holocaust and the Witness Protection program. Oh, and this book is also knee-related because one of the storylines revolves around a woman who's been diagnosed with cancer of the knee. And you won't believe the ending. All I'll say about that is remember Chekhov's famous advice: "a pistol on the wall in the first act must be fired by the last act."

Here's an excerpt from the beginning of the book:

So I'm on my way to work and I stop to watch a pigeon fight a rat in the snow, and some fuckhead tries to mug me! Naturally there's a gun. He comes up behind me and sticks it into the base of my skull. It's cold, and it actually feels sort of good, in an acupressure kind of way. "Take it easy, Doc," he says.

Which explains that, at least. Even at five in the morning, I'm not the kind of guy you mug. I look like an Easter Island sculpture of a longshoreman. But the fuckhead can see the blue scrub pants under my overcoat, and the ventilated green plastic clogs, so he thinks I've got drugs and money on me. And maybe that I've takensome kind of oath not to kick his fuckhead ass for trying to mug me.

I barely have enough drugs and money to get me through the day. And the only oath I took, as I recall, was to first do no harm. I'm thinking we're past that point.

"Okay," I say, raising my hands.

The rat and the pigeon run away. Chickenshits.

I turn around, which rolls the gun off my skull and leaves my raised right hand above the fuckhead's arm. I wrap his elbow and jerk upwards, causing the ligaments to pop like champagne corks.

Let's take a moment to smell the rose known as the elbow.

The two bones of the forearm, the ulna and the radius, move independently of each other, and also rotate. You can see this by turning your hand from palm up, in which position the ulna and radius are parallel, to palm down, where they're crossed into an "X."[ 1 ] They therefore require a complicated anchoring system at the elbow, with the ligaments wrapping the various bone ends in spoolable and unspoolable ribbons that look like the tape on the handle of a tennis racket. It's a shame to tear these ligaments apart.

But the fuckhead and I have a worse problem right now. Namely that while my right hand has been fucking up his elbow, my left, having somehow come into position by my right ear, is now hooking toward his throat in a knife-edge.

And it just gets better from there.