Recovery and Rehab Update: Weeks 3-13 After 2nd Surgery

It's been a while since I posted here, so I'm do for an update. I'm a little over 3 months out from the second surgery (synovectomy/patellar release/chondroplasty/fat pad resection) and almost 10 months out from my first knee surgery (mosaicplasty/meniscectomy). I'm still in full rehab mode and have a lot more work to do.

I'm still not real close to running, but I have made some progress. My right knee assisted ROM is 100% and my kneecap is moving much better than pre-surgery. My walking is far from perfect, but I've been walking outside every other day for 10 minutes. I still have sporadic swelling, considerable stiffness, and occasional pain in the knee, but I've been able to start some strength work. Hopefully activities like climbing stairs, driving, and returning to work are in the near future for me. 

Today I started doing blood-flow-restricted (BFR) training at home. I purchased wireless Bluetooth BFR cuffs that I can calibrate and inflate with a phone app. I started with just two exercises (4 sets with 30-15-15-15 reps) with 80% restriction. I am doing right leg SLRs and leg extensions...both with a 1-pound ankle weight. With BFR therapy you can exercise to complete muscle failure with very light weights, so there is little mechanical load on the injured/recovering joint. I'm very interested to see what kind of results I get over the next month or so.

I have sort of (probably prematurely) sketched out a plan to return to some running this year. I'm walking 10 minutes every other day right now. I have a plan to gradually lengthen the walks and increase the frequency a little bit. When I can comfortably walk 20+ minutes most days of the week, I'll insert short "jogs" once every 5 minutes or so. I hope to start with about a minute of running (total...for the whole workout) and very gradually increase that. When I get clearance from my PT and OS to resume athletic activities, I'll update this blog with more details of my plan.

I've been very inspired by Roger Robinson, an 82-year old runner who launched a running comeback at the age of 80...on 2 replaced knees! (One partial replacement and one total replacement.) He was able to return to a very competitive level (adjusting for age). His super gradual, patient, and realistic approach to his running comeback is a blueprint for how I'd like to go about my return. Being substantially younger than Roger, I can probably push the pace of my comeback a little quicker...but many of the principles he trains by definitely apply.