Update:
A month ago I had an MRI done on my left knee trying to determine why I
had developed severe knee pain while I was wearing my prosthesis. The MRI showed that I had several small
issues but nothing that the doctors felt could produce the level of pain I was
having. They feel that my left leg isn’t
strong enough, thus allowing the patella to move around too much and causing
the pain (that’s my understanding of what they said). It’s rather obvious that my left leg has
atrophied over the last 3 ½ years, especially since I spent 1 ½ years in a
wheelchair full-time and was very limited in my walking for most of the time
that I did have a prosthesis. So the
plan is for me to regain some of the muscle and strength that I’ve lost and see
if that helps.`
For the last month I’ve been going to the gym six days a week. On three days I swim laps for 45 minutes. On the other three days, I work out with
weights and use some of the cardio machines.
In the last month I’ve worked up to 225 steps on a stair stepper, 8
minutes on an elliptical, and another 10 minutes on a “pedal car” style bike (I
don’t have the range of motion with the prosthesis to do a regular
bicycle).
I also work daily on standing on one leg (both right and left) as well
as several other exercises using bands given to me by my physical therapist. Standing on one leg on my left side (on the
prosthesis) is very difficult; but I’m making slow progress. So much of the ability to stand on one leg is
done with the lower leg and ankle (as well as getting sensory feedback) that an
amputee is missing. Other muscles have
to be strengthened and some retraining has to take place to make it work after
an amputation. I’d also like to say that
my prosthesis has a very flexible foot (ankle) which makes it more
challenging. Not to mention my weak
muscles and overall lack of balance and grace even before I became an
amputee. Ha! Ha!
The picture is how my leg looks after one month’s labor and there is already
a noticeable increase in my muscle mass and leg strength (I never thought of
taking a picture before I started this a month ago). Let me say that the cardio and swimming is very
tiring work; but I am stronger than I was a month ago. I’m still wiped out each day afterwards; however,
I am not taking as long to recover as I did at the beginning.
As far as whether all of this is making a difference with the knee pain,
I don’t know yet. I’ve purposefully not
pushed myself in ways that caused the pain in the past. I want to give my leg and knee time to
strengthen before putting it to the test. And I
know that I’m better off if I’m stronger and in better shape. I’ve got a L-O-N-G way to go; but I’m working
at it, one step at a time.
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