How to Stay Fit Before Knee Surgery.. Prevent and Repair Muscle Atrophy

Hello! it's me, Lisa. I want to talk about what happened to my muscles before and after my knee surgeries, and what I did to stay fit through it all...
  When I fell last March I was in pretty good shape as I was swimming twice a week, and hiking, but with my knee completely blown out I couldn't even walk! I had to use crutches and some of the time I was in a wheel chair. My muscles started to atrophy right away, and my left leg muscles got a lot smaller. I am just over two months post surgery number 2, and I can walk great! I only used crutches after last surgery (partial knee replacement) for about three weeks! Then a cane for a week or so..  You can avoid a lengthy time on crutches or wheel chair bound if you work hard before and after surgery. Many people just lay around waiting, but DONT DO THAT!!! Even though you are in pain, there is a lot you can do...
       I just  want you to know that you also MUST keep as active as possible before surgery! I lost a lot of muscle mass.. You will have muscle wasting just like me, even if you do stay active. You just cannot do enough with the injured leg to prevent it...  and the muscles hat atrophy and decline will make your leg very weak, plus you lose muscle "memory". That is, after the injury, and after surgery too, you may not be ABLE to get your hamstring or thigh muscles to even move! You have to do special movements to bring them back. Like squeezing a small rubber ball between your legs...  I also bought a reclining excersize bike which I used twice to four times a day prior to surgery and after surgery starting at about ten days (stitches need healing time).  I like the bike because I put it in front of my tv..lol   So I could veg out AND work out at the same time.... I thought they were really expensive, but I got one for under $150 and its really neat!  Here is link if you wanna click and see what I got, click HERE.    It's hard to do much with gravity on your leg, but this bike let me lean back and no weight on my bad knee..  
      I also got some hand weights that helped me keep my arms in shape...      these sets are inexpensive and worked great for me! CLICK HERE TO SEE.

My Physical Therapist said that it can take up to a whole year to rebuild the muscle I lost!!!!  But the good news is, that you can rebuild muscle at any age!

Like I said in my last post, I used the Arctic Ice electric pump with it's nifty wrap to ice my knee all day on one ice fill-up CLICK HERE to SEE What it is . I used it on and off all day. It was awesome because I couldn't walk, so my husband would fill it up before he took off for work in the morning. It stayed ice cold all day which was SOOOO much easier than trying to  get back and forth from the freezer!   I still use it after working out most every day!

Listen to your doctor! Mine wanted me to lose weight before surgery.. Seriously? How do you do that while mostly lying around with your knee packed in ice?  Well, you got to eat LOTS of veggies! I ate baby carrots, celery, and cut up brocolli and cauliflower...  I dipped the latter in a little fat free ranch dressing because I am not a big raw veggie eater.  I ate a lot of veggie and other clear broth soups.  I had fruit, like apples, bananas, and grapes. These were what I snacked on all day long. For meals I had lean meat and stayed away from white rice, pasta and pizza... (all my favorites).      I just told everyone NOT to bring me junk!  but i snuck in a candy bar every now and then, but i really enjoyed the healthy snacks I ate and lot's of protein for healing!.  Sinc  I don't drink alcohol so that was not giving me empty calories (plus its just a very bad idea if you are on pain meds).

e I was alone and couldn't cook most days, I liked all the healthy snacks that I had delivered right to my door..CLICK HERE to see lot's of great healthy snack choices!  They are sent right to you! I LOVE Technology!

 I d id stretches every day in bed, and sitting up...  It took about ten minutes twice a day... I had to do them in bed until a few weeks ago when I could finally do them on the floor ..

Massage your scars a lot!! they need to be really broken up and it will feel like a tearing sensation, stings! but it's ok!!!   Keep putting lotion on them too..  I used: BEST HEALING CREAM! Click HERE to see

Walk as soon as you can and keep on walking! Go to all your PT appointments and DO THE WORK AT HOME!!!     It will take many months to recoup your strength so go easy!!!  PLEASE don't overdo it and reinjure yourself..ACL takes about 6 months or more, and partial knee replacement takes around 5 months for everything to knit up nice and tight..