OMGosh, I did it!

Many of you know that I used to be a walker and would walk 3 miles over my lunch break at work. Didn't matter what kind of weather, I'd be out there walking every day. I had knee surgery back in July and since then have not been allowed to walk. And it's been killing me that I can't.

Well, last week, I started walking again, not on the treadmill (I'm not allowed to use our treadmill anymore..dr orders ), but outside during lunch. I got up to about .7 mile last Friday. And today? I did my first mile!! OK, so it took me 20 minutes to do that mile....it used to take me 13 to 14, depending on how lazy I was. But you know what? I don't care! My first mile walk in months!

You're going to laugh at me, but I could cry, I'm so happy. Maybe this is a turning point for me. I'm only walking every other day for now b/c I don't want to push it. But I'm on the elliptical twice a day, every day.

So 15 minutes on the elliptical in the morning, a 1-mile walk over lunch and 15 minutes on the elliptical at night. Life is good today.

Please wish me luck that I can continue with this! Thanks so much!

I know how much you want to lose the extra weight you have gained by not being able to exercise or walk. So good luck to you, you did good and I hope you can keep it up.

Congratulations!! Just keep taking it slow - don't want to push yourself too hard & set yourself back!

Originally Posted by white cat lover

Congratulations!!

Just keep taking it slow - don't want to push yourself too hard & set yourself back!

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That's really an achievement - congratulations!

Congratulations! I can't imagine why you'd think we'd laugh at you - you've shared how important this is, and the knee surgery was a real set back. This is GREAT news, and we want to share your joy and provide encouragement!!

!!!!!!

Congrats!!

If you don't mind me asking, what kind of knee surgery did you have? My husband had his acl rebuilt and he doesn't think he can walk with me (I *try* to walk 3 miles each day). He thinks it will hurt his knee too much. That was 3 years ago or so.

Good for you!!!

Can I ask why your doctor told you that you can't use your treadmill anymore? I used to work in Orthopaedics and I've never heard any such thing.

Were you were walking or running on it? When running harder surfaces (such as treadmills and paved streets) can cause greater forces to be absorbed in the knee, which can lead to knee injuries. Running on inclined surfaces alters your body`s natural center of gravity, so if anything, it may add increased stresses to your lower back.

But so far as I am aware walking on a treadmill is no better or worse for you than walking outside on the paved sidewalk. Both are considered impact aerobics because they put force on your joints.

Oh hun, that is such wonderful news! You should be so proud of yourself!

wonderful news

That is wonderful news!!

Aw, thanks so much! It means so much to me to have a place where I can get support and encouragement.Thank you. You guys rock!

My knee surgery was to shave the meniscus off to the point where it had torn. Meniscus tears cannot be repaired, so the doctor shaved the meniscus. At the same time, he also cleaned out a lot of damaged cartilage that had been causing some problems for quite some time now. When I started walking again, I made it up to two miles, but then I ended up with the beginning of a stress fracture around the tibia at the knee area, largely because I tried too much too soon. So I was pretty much done at that point and had to rest the leg and take Advil to try to reduce the swelling. My doctor didn't want me walking at all. Maybe around the grocery store, if I had, to but that was it.

Natalie_ca, the reason I'm not allowed to use the treadmill anymore is because of the constant stress of putting my leg down on the belt. I was jogging on the treadmill and using it at about a 5% incline. The ortho surgeon told me that he didn't like treadmills because of the stress, that, in his opinion, walking outside is better than the treadmill.....he said walking, that he didn't want me jogging at all anymore. My physical therapist agreed with him 100% and he stressed the advantages of the elliptical over the treadmill.

When I got the stress fracture, it was from the treadmill, not walking outside. We couldn't understand why the pain wasn't going away and, in fact, it was getting worse. My physical therapy sessions turned into 45 minutes of sheer pain in the knee and I had loved going to PT; I loved doing the exercises because I really wanted to get my knee working again. X-rays finally showed the area where the fracture was beginning to happen. And at that point, the doctor even forbade me to do therapy.

So yes, I've gained about 23 pounds. I was used to walking and although I couldn't walk, I was still eating like I could. Plus, I got really depressed and when that happens, I eat. You see, the one thing that I could always count on was walking. I have to be so careful with exercise and with twisting and turning....I have four blown discs in my lower back. And I found out two years ago that I'm osteopaenic....."this close" to osteoporosis. But walking? That I could do. And I learned to love my daily walk. When I couldn't do that anymore, the depression set in. I know how silly it sounds....so many people are in far worse shape than me and I felt guilty for that, too.

At the beginning of November, I said, OK, that's it. Enough of this crap. Pam, you can either wallow in your own pity and eat your way back to 200 pounds again, or you can get up off your butt and do something! That's what the darn elliptical is for! Put your big-girl panties on and deal with it. I had a long talk with my DH, who never said anything about the weight gain, but who was very relieved when I decided to stop feeling sorry for myself. Turns out he was starting to worry.

Thank you for being there!

And kara_leigh? One of my co-workers had his left ACL rebuilt about three years ago, too. He started playing basketball again. He uses the elliptical at his gym all the time now. But no treadmill....his PT told him the same thing about treadmills. Maybe if you agreed to walk slower for awhile with your DH? Or have him start out walking about 1/4 mile to start? Patience is key. Don't do too much too soon or he might end up in worse trouble. I don't know how old your DH is....my co-worker just turned 40 and I know that he's been playing basketball again. He does wear a sleeve on his knee when he's playing.

Congratulations, Pam! You're awesome!!

Sorry it took doing too much too soon and hurting yourself again to make you really slow down and start small, but I am glad you were able to begin to rebuild, and have made it to 1 MILE!

Now, keep your pace steady, and don't get so excited that you overdo it again!

Originally Posted by Winchester

And kara_leigh? One of my co-workers had his left ACL rebuilt about three years ago, too. He started playing basketball again. He uses the elliptical at his gym all the time now. But no treadmill....his PT told him the same thing about treadmills. Maybe if you agreed to walk slower for awhile with your DH? Or have him start out walking about 1/4 mile to start? Patience is key. Don't do too much too soon or he might end up in worse trouble. I don't know how old your DH is....my co-worker just turned 40 and I know that he's been playing basketball again. He does wear a sleeve on his knee when he's playing.

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My DH is 34. His main complaint with walking is that his knee starts to swell up and hurt really bad; he can't even stand for long periods of time without that happening. One of the PT he worked with (a stand in for his regular one) screwed up his rebuild and it didn't heal correctly, so that might be the problem. I wish I could get him to go even a 1/4 of a mile, he refuses to even try, but I don't blame him. He lives in pain every day and I wouldn't want to make it worse than it already is.

Originally Posted by kara_leigh

My DH is 34. His main complaint with walking is that his knee starts to swell up and hurt really bad; he can't even stand for long periods of time without that happening. One of the PT he worked with (a stand in for his regular one) screwed up his rebuild and it didn't heal correctly, so that might be the problem. I wish I could get him to go even a 1/4 of a mile, he refuses to even try, but I don't blame him. He lives in pain every day and I wouldn't want to make it worse than it already is.

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My brother is having that with both of his knees. He played a lot of hockey when he was younger and has always been very active. He's had at least two operations on both of his knees and is in constant pain. They swell up and he's always wearing his braces. And in January, he's having his left knee replaced because he can't handle it anymore. My brother is 51 and has had to go through a lot just to get the doctor to agree to knee replacement because he's too young for that surgery. But he can't live with the pain either.

There's a guy here at work who had had the meniscus shaved in his right knee and had some damaged cartilage removed....right around the same time that I had the surgery. He's now using a cane because it hurts so bad he can't put weight on his leg. I guess his doctor is going to operate again next month as they've found more damage.

And me? Even now, there are times when my knee will twinge, although that's around the area with the stress fracture, not at the knee itself. But overall, I'm thinking I've been very lucky.

I hope your DH will be able to find something for the pain. Living with constant pain isn't good.

Originally Posted by Winchester

My brother is having that with both of his knees. He played a lot of hockey when he was younger and has always been very active. He's had at least two operations on both of his knees and is in constant pain. They swell up and he's always wearing his braces. And in January, he's having his left knee replaced because he can't handle it anymore. My brother is 51 and has had to go through a lot just to get the doctor to agree to knee replacement because he's too young for that surgery. But he can't live with the pain either.

There's a guy here at work who had had the meniscus shaved in his right knee and had some damaged cartilage removed....right around the same time that I had the surgery. He's now using a cane because it hurts so bad he can't put weight on his leg. I guess his doctor is going to operate again next month as they've found more damage.

And me? Even now, there are times when my knee will twinge, although that's around the area with the stress fracture, not at the knee itself. But overall, I'm thinking I've been very lucky.

I hope your DH will be able to find something for the pain. Living with constant pain isn't good.

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Yeah, he completely severed his acl, and tore his lcl and pcl, plus he ripped a giant hole in one of his meniscus and crushed the top of his tibia where the meniscus was missing. He had a great surgeon (the best in our city) that fixed it to almost perfect and he was right on tract, but his PT was out one day and he had another one step in and start doing stuff to his knee that he wasn't supposed to do and they think he retore something. His surgeon was MAAAAADD. Fixing it again was never brought up though.