November 8, 2011

I started the long rocky road toward recovery more than 1o months ago.
Tomorrow is my last physical therapy session and I am learning to return to my daily routine prior to my ski injury.
Where am I after two knee surgeries?
In good shape considering the huge set back that changed my lifestyle over night.
More cautious than I was when it comes to my body, definitely.
More aware than being in overall good health is crucial to recovery.
More determined than ever to return to the lifestyle I had defined before the accident.
Over the last year, I have learned a lot about my body and the way it works, something I took for granted since I never had a major surgery before.
My weekly exercise is now divided between stretching, strengthening, walking and biking.
The weather is so gorgeous now that biking is a real treat. I started to bike every other day after driving my kids to school, alternating with physical therapy.
Starting tomorrow I will add more biking since it is a low impact exercise.
I still bike at home on the stationary bike if I have been at my desk for too long. I still stretch my leg regularly during the day.
I have regained most of my flexion and extension and I am not sure if I will ever be exactly the same but I am shooting for that goal.
My legs look good with all the exercises I have been doing and I intend to keep up with that.
It is strange to think of tomorrow being the end of the long strenuous road. I have made a second home at the physical therapy gym. I know everyone from the therapists to their aides. I have met dozens of patients and commiserate with many. Sharing similar injuries, knowing the pain of healing and the frustration that accompanies physical recovery, bring people closer to each other. People I wouldn't have met otherwise became familiar faces and helped me to cope with the challenges and frustrations that follow an accident and a surgery.
It has been a long winter and a tough summer. Fall, my favorite season of all, is bringing hope again and the promise of a better winter.
Although I won't be skiing, my family is making vacation plans and I am looking forward to 2012.
I have missed my left knee a lot.
Today I am grateful to be able to walk, to bike, to stand on my feet without pain and to do many things I thought too ordinary to pay any attention to them.
Lacing my shoes, crouching to dust under my bed, being on my knees to sort books on my library shelves, all the small things of life that stand in your way when the body can't do them anymore and again feel extraordinary when the body can accomplish them without too much pain and effort.
As a celebration gift I will make a gift to myself: a skirt and a pair of boots.
A welcome change after months in sweat pants, shorts and tee shirts.