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    KNUTFUGGET   2,277
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Change of Plans...

Saturday, October 22, 2011

I tore my meniscus and had to have emergency knee surgery in September. I'm still in a leg brace and not allowed to really do much. I am doing my physical therapy, both at home and in office. Obviously, the surgery ruined my chances of making my weight loss goal by Sophie's birthday...

On the bright side, I'm not gaining, and I'm only 6 lbs away from the goal I was trying to make by November. As soon as they clear me for real exercise again (possibly January/February), I'll pick up where I left off and be one hot mama, lol.

I'm back in almost all of my pre-baby clothes, so not too shabby! ;-)
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SWEETSUNSHINE72 10/27/2011 9:51PM

    I agree. I am a Registered Massage Therapist, here in Canada. With a meniscus tear, yes, you need to stabilize the knee joint, and you especially want to be careful with pain and swelling, but there's still quite a bit you can do!

First, you want the swelling to reduce. Do all the standard stuff, like elevate your leg, support it, and use an ice pack. Another trick to help move the fluid out of your knee is to "pump" your lymph system. In a nutshell, your lymph system is a network of vessels (like your blood vessels), only, it's one direction, and it doesn't have it's own pump. It relies on having one-way valves that separate the vessels into chambers. As one chamber is gently compressed, it forces the fluid up to the next chamber higher. When it is released, it "sucks" the fluid from the chamber below, which "sucks" from the one below that, and so on. There is a larger chamber in the crease between your thigh and your pelvis/hip. You can "pump" it gently with the flat of your fingers, and that will help encourage movement of the fluid from your leg upwards.

Once the swelling has gone down, you can still move your leg, but just be careful not to move the knee. So, you might do leg-lifts, with a straight knee, and the knee brace on, for instance, or go swimming with a waterproof brace. In fact, check with your physiotherapist, but they might even encourage you to keep doing exercises like that, as it helps to stabilize the knee and strengthen it! Just listen to what your body is telling you, and if it hurts, stop and get some advice from the professionals you are working with. But, you can still do quite a bit! Just think outside the box! :)

Take care, and I hope you heal quickly! Remember, muscle is your fat-burning machine, so focus on building the muscle that you can, and you'll be in good shape! You're doing so FANTASTIC!!!!! emoticon

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BONDMANUS2002 10/22/2011 5:27AM

  great

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MARKSTIPANOVSKY 10/22/2011 5:03AM

    Brilliant - well done you. Do you exercise upper body?? Susan Powter speaks of adapting - she has a couple of good books on the subject.

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