Ruptured Achilles Tendon - Day 16 - Post Op Day 4

Today was the first Post Op follow-up at Dr. Smiths.

He took off the splint to see if the wound was healing well and to check for infection. So far the wound looks good and he will be able to take off the staples in 9 days. 

Dr. Smith said most Achilles Tendon Ruptures will have a full distinct tear where he would sew the 2 ends together, but Kevin's tendon was "very" shredded so he had to sew it a different way, encircling and gathering the frayed tendon ends together to bunch it back up. Ew.. no wonder the tendon tore.. I can only image what the right leg looks like.. I fear its in a similar condition, and if so, preventative measures should be taken, asap. 

~12 cm incision. 

Swollen

Staples

Staples

Ruptured Achilles Tendon - Day 13 - Surgery Day

Surgery Day!

Instructions prior to surgery:
Fasting starting Thursday @ midnight, or Friday @ 12:00am, no food or water.
Also to not wear contact lenses during the surgery, in case the lenses dry out and scratch the eyes.

We were instructed to arrive at the surgery center at 1030am, 1 hour prior to surgery to fill out paper work. Paper work took about 10 seconds. Kevin was finally called in to change around noon. The nurses asked him what he was allergic to, and set up the IV.  A little after 12:30, the doctor was ready, and Kevin was rolled away into the surgery room.
I left and the nurses said they would call me 20-30 mins prior to when Kevin was ready to be picked up.

While we were in the waiting room we joked at what Kevin was going to eat and stuff ourselves with afterwards because the fasting had him hungry and thirsty.

Kevin said he woke up around 2:45 from the anesthesia. But he was just very tired and uncomfortable. He had an appetite, but he wanted to lay down and rest more than eat.

His leg is wrapped up in a splint instead of a full cast. I wonder if that is better?

Photos:

In the waiting room

Initialing the leg by Kevin and his Doctor to make sure they operate on the correct leg.

Grump Kevin afterwards.

Ruptured Achilles Tendon - Day 11

2 more days until surgery (Friday). Its a love/hate situation because the sooner you get surgery, the sooner you can start healing. But the sooner you get surgery, the sooner things are gonna SUCK even more. At least now, before surgery, Kevin still has some mobility and tolerable pain, but after surgery, it will be no mobility and lots of pain.

I was hoping he would have had surgery within a week of the incident, but with the doctor we went with, and all the hassel we had to go through with the insurance company, it seemed better to stick with the original doctor, since they were there from the beginning. Aetna, the insurance company, really wants to make sure that you are as injured as the doctor and hospital say you are. (idiots)

Yesterday Kevin got his blood work done. The doctor said they need to do a red blood cell count 3 days before they can do surgery to make sure he wont bleed to death, etc.

Today Kevin said this is the most pain he's felt since the beginning. Its a dull achy feeling along the tendon and up the leg. I suspect the pain is from the swelling, and atrophy of the muscles.

The best we can do is elevated and ice it. 2 more days..

Rupture Achilles Tendon - Day 9

Today was Kevin's followup with Dr. Smith, the orthopedic surgeon, to evaluate the MRI results.

Dr. Smith confirmed that the tendon had a 4 cm tear. EW!

Surgery is schedule for Friday. In the meantime, Kevin needs to have a physical with blood work to confirm he is healthy enough for surgery.

The surgery should last 1.5 hours and the doctor will make an 8cm incision. Afterwards, Kevin should be in a cast for 3 weeks, and a boot for and additional 3 weeks. After that Dr. Smith will check on Kevin's progress to see if he can start physical therapy. If things go well, Kevin may even be able to start physical therapy sooner, but Dr. Smith thinks its best to wait about 6 weeks after the surgery to start PT.

So far his leg is pretty much the same as it has been for the past few days. It does get pretty swollen when it is not elevated. The most pain he feels is when he has to stand up and all the blood rushes down to his foot. But overall, he says it just feels uncomfortable.

Ruptured Achilles Tendon - Day 4

Today we were able to pick up the CD with the MRI images.
I don't know how to really "read" them (yet), but these were the images that I thought showed some pretty gnarly stuff.

Kevin still wanted to cook dinner, but standing in the kitchen really causes his foot to swell a lot..
But on the brighter side, the skirt steak he cooked tasted really, really good. hehe

Right foot - unaffected foot, notice the distinct curvature from the malleolus (the boney part that sticks out on the ankle) to his foot.

Left foot: Notice there is No curvature on this foot from the swelling.

MRI images:
Now I don't know exactly what I'm looking at, but these seemed pretty gnarly.
I call this the "curly pig tail!"

I call this the "dark abyss" 

I call this the "crackers"

Ruptured Achilles Tendon - Day 3

Good News: 1 day later - Aetna approved the MRI (like they should)
Bad News: the MRI company gave away our Wednesday morning time spot to someone else, so we were able to get an appointment Wednesday at 430p. However, that means Kevin would have to drive himself to the appointment.
He's able to drive, since it was his left Achilles that ruptured, but it is pretty cumbersome for him to get around.

He was standing longer than he should and the blood started to pool at the foot. When he took off his splint the foot was pretty swollen and bruised.

Later that night he slept with his foot elevated which helped reduce the swelling.

Bruising on both sides of the foot :(

Ruptured Achilles Tendon - Day 2

So first thing Monday morning, I called and we were able to get an appointment Monday afternoon with the orthopedic surgeon. Terrific :)

Dr. Smith performed a few special tests and felt that it is a full tear, but he wanted an MRI to confirm. However my PPO Aetna insurance company was being very difficult. It was seriously a 2+ hour ordeal just to schedule an MRI.
(I have had an MRI before under my other insurance, United Health Care, and it was so easy to obtain an MRI the same or next day. Not Aetna)
The MRI office wanted an approval code from our doctor, which the doctor would need to obtain from Aetna,. However, Aetna needed a procedure code from the MRI company to give the approval code. But the MRI company wouldn't give the code without the doctor's tax ID number. But the doctor didn't know his tax ID number, because he works for the hospital. So, the doctor had to call the very unresponsive hospital admin to give the tax-id number. FINALLY, everyone had all the #'s they needed. Then Aetna had to ask a billion questions to the doctor, "Whats his range of motion? Is this a prior injury? etc" Finally, they said it would take 1-2 days to give the approval for an MRI.
WHAT?!
Honestly, the doctor says it needs surgery, and you (the insurance company) need to approve an MRI? WTF?

Kevin said he felt the pain was more manageable. At least it wasn't getting worse. He doesn't use his crutches much around the house and doesn't elevate his leg as much as he should.

Ruptured Achilles Tendon - The Beginning.

One of my greatest fears, a ruptured Achilles tendon, has hit close to home. 

On Sunday, Feb 26, 2012 my boyfriend, Kevin, ruptured his Achilles tendon while playing basketball. As with most other ruptured Achilles, it comes without warning to most "weekend warriors". As he began to take a step, it felt like someone kicked him in the leg. He turned around and saw that no one was behind him, so he began to continue forward, it was at that moment, he felt the dreaded "pop".

He hopped off court, put an ankle brace on and elevated his foot. 

When he got home, he told me what he did, and as a person studying physical therapy, I ran some special tests on him and the results didn't look good. Looking at the leg, it was swollen with a visible depression where the tendon should be. The Thompson test showed that his foot didn't move. He was unable to perform toe raises or any type of weight bearing, which again showed positive for a ruptured Achilles. 

Since it was Sunday, and my orthopedic wasn't open, I wasn't sure where to take him. I called Urgent care and they said my b/f would need to go to the Hospital. 

So we headed to the nearest hospital around noon, and we didn't leave the hospital until after 5pm. It was a long visit. The doctor thought it was a partial tear and not a full tear because Kevin was able to put his foot into plantar flexion, (pointing down), but he was reluctant to say for sure. So he said we had to call the orthopedic surgeon on Monday and schedule an appointment. He wrapped up Kevin's left leg in a splint, and sent us home. 

Since Kevin is allergic to acetaminophen, its limited to what type of pain meds he can take, so he opted to not take any. He said the pain wasn't too bad to just tough if out.

Right leg - Unaffected leg
See the nice curvature of the Achilles tendon

Left Leg - Ruptured Achilles

So when's your next event?

Often I get asked this question, either by friends or family, someone at the gym, or another runner on the road. And I reply, "none, I train for nothing, I just like doing this".

 At the end of 2011, I decided to not do any events in 2012, and spend the year training on my weaknesses to get faster and stronger.
 During 2011, I had a lot of events lined up, and with a busy work and school schedule, I gave up quality for quantity. Given about 3 days a week to train with only maybe 1 or 2 hours at most to spare, I focused getting in my miles, and not even thinking about my times. If I'm going to do a half ironman, I'd rather finish the whole race instead of worry about my times.

 So, this year, my main focus is to shed 7% body fat so I can be lighter and faster. And in the process, get stronger arms and back muscles so I can be a better swimmer, and stronger hips and hamstrings so I run and bike faster. I still train and workout almost everyday. I love not stressing over getting in my miles, and just focus on my core of my legs.

I don't need to have the deadline of an event looming over me to "motivate" me, it actually stresses me out more. I love working out and training just because. If I wasn't doing that, I don't know what I would do. 

But...if given the opportunity, and if I feel I can perform decently, there are only 2 events in 2012 that I would want to do.
1- Nike women's full marathon in sf around Sept
2- Barb's race 70.3 half ironman around June to July (highly unlikely that this will happen.. Maybe 2013)

Happy trainings!

Adidas ClimaWarm

I'm not a big fan of most Adidas products, but their ClimaWarm line is Amazing.
I've tried the ClimaCool line (its like Nike Dryfit) but I'm not a big fan of it.
I pretty much only support the ClimaWarm line from Adidas.

The ClimaWarm line is great at keeping you warm and dry, but without the bulk in addition to looking great for women.

I recently got this jacket and am so in love with it. I gave it a few test runs and its fantastic at keeping the elements out. You really can't go wrong with anything from the Adidas ClimaWarm line. Also Adidas prices are much lower than Nike and you can always get a good deal at the outlet. I think I got this jacket for around $35 at the Adidas outlet. You can't beat that kind of deal.

I've tried other "warm" lines from other brands, like Nike, but Adidas always wins hands down.


http://www.shopadidas.com/product/womens-outdoor-hiking-one-sided-fleece-hooded-jacket/QW737?cid=O05945&breadcrumb=u3Z1z13y2p

Happy Running!

How To Hike To Big Buddha, Ngong Ping on Lantau Island - Hong Kong

This is a beautiful hike and I can't wait to do it again next time I go to Hong Kong. It is challenging in a sense that its about 10 km of all stairs. But the trail itself is very well maintained and well groomed which makes it "easier" in that sense. A dirt or rocky path would make it pretty miserable to do. The hike took us about 3.5 hours to do (at a slow and easy pace).. but it took us about 1 hour of getting lost trying to find the Start of the hike.
You can click on any of the photos to enlarge.

The tricky part is Finding the start of the path which is not easily marked. So I wanted to make this post to help others (and myself) to find the path.

Take the MTR (subway)  to Tung Chung - its the same island as the airport

*Here is the tricky part*
Once you exit the subway, follow the Bike Path (AWAY from the Cable car signs) and don't go through any tunnels yet. If there is a fork in the road and one side leads to a tunnel, don't go through that part. Keep following the bike path, it will curve around some large buildings.

**UPDATE************
Fredrik, a fellow reader, photoblog'd how to find the Bike Path
See his pictures HERE:

Thanks Fredrik!
**********************

Keep walking until you see a tunnel that looks exactly like this. There will be several tunnels that looks similar with the 2 arrows. Make sure you see the mosaics and the sidewalk. 

The tunnel will lead you to a main road - Go Right

 You will see these signs (Go Right) - none of these signs point you to the Buddha but you're on the right path. Follow the Reddish/Purple arrows for now.

Keep walking and following the bike path. Along the path we saw lots of people drying their laundry on the bushes and trees, despite signs that say to not do so.

You will see a bridge - Go to the Right (Do Not go on the bridge) Not far you will see a little path to the right that looks like it leads to a swampy area. Go there. (lol sounds sketchy doesnt it?) haha 

***** UPDATE******UPDATE*********************************************

a reader informed me of another route to avoid this swampy area (the next few photos). I haven't personally been on it, but it seems easy enough to follow: ~Thanks Ole Ch.

Stay on Yu Tung Road (don't turn right, do cross the bridge).

Near the end of Yu Tung Road (it ends with a sharp turn to the left and becomes Chung Mun Road) there is another sign post with blue/red sings.

One of the reddish/purple signs is pointing towards Hau Wong Temple. The building in your picture right before the bridge across the water (some kind of playground) is right next to Hau Wong Temple, so follow the sign by turning right off Yu Tung Road (down some stairs). Follow the path and turn left at the first fork.
--This path will lead to the fork with the six white sign pictured above. From here the instructions are the same.

************************************************************************

Go Left where the people are heading in the photo

Once you reach a fork in the road, Go Right 

Can you believe it, You are about Halfway to the START of the buddha hike.

As you walk you will see people that live in the little huts. I don't know if they take kindly to strangers. I stayed quiet and tried not to bother them. 

Keep walking you will see this sign - Go Right 

Keep following the path straight. 

You will come across this building. Keep walking

Soon you will see this bridge, and the cable cars to the right. You have finally made your way around the water.

Follow the path, you will come across the last set of little houses. 

Once you past the houses you will see these firebeaters and the stairs which BEGIN the hike to the buddha!

FINALLY!

The man in the photo is the only 1 out of 3 people we came across during the hike. And this man, in his late 60's totally kicked our butts. We didn't see him again until he was already on his way back and we were about only half way to the 1st tower. 

In total there are 5 towers, which are labeled #2- #6, but I will call them 1-5 to avoid confusion.

The toughest part was the beginning getting to the first tower. Its pretty steep and we took many breaks. The Entire trail is made of these stone steps.

Sit and enjoy the view

Panoramic view

You will see posts like this - the end is when you get to C30 

Here is C03 - you are going toward Ngong Ping

The path is pretty easy  to follow now, just follow the stairs, the massive amount of stairs. 

The path to Tower 2 - *Bleep*!! ( just a reminder there are 5 towers in total)

BLEEP!!

Path to Tower 3 - When we were hiking we didn't know there were 5 towers. The 3rd tower was larger than the others so we thought this was the end. We were pretty excited being about 1.5 hours in at this point and rushed up to tower 3. 

BLEEP

However once we reached tower 3, to our dismay 2 more towers, and Buddha very, very far away (arrow)..  Follow the path under the cable cars. People will yell at you and call you crazy from above. 

You will reach a fork in the road and it will steer you left. It looks like you are no longer following the cable cars, but it is a much easier path. 

Aerial view:

The path that goes straight ends. It looks like the canyon was too deep and they stopped building and decided to go another route. 

The path now isn't too steep, more straight with a slight incline which makes you miss the stairs. 

This Corgi is kicking my butt. These people took the cable car and are taking the path back. I'm curious how that dog is gonna handle the 60 degree stair incline..  

Tower 5 is in sight!!

Finally C30!!

Ahh the last tower!

oh wait.. you're not at the Buddha yet!! 

You need to climb 250 steps to reach him. 

Now you have reached the Buddha. 

omitofu.. 

Tummy Troubles?

This is a interesting article from Active.com  "5 Digestion Tips for Athletes"
I'm not sure if I like them all.. but it doesn't hurt to try..

I'll paraphrase the key points

1. Largest meal should be lunch. 
• Ideal portion size = two hands cupped together. (I don't think that is enough food for me.. but I will try it)
• Eat smaller portions more frequently. 
2. Avoid Combining:
• Fruit and Dairy (like fruit and yogurt) Acidity of fruit can rot in the milk while in the stomach
• Sweet and Sour (can irritate digestive tract)
3. Limit to 3 different foods at a time/meal
• Complicated meals = complicated digestion.
4. Drink 1/2 cup of water before a meal
• This will active the digestive fire to burn food.
5.  Chew thoroughly:
• The more something is chewed up, the easier the stomach will digest it. 

I'm pretty much guilty of violating each rule to the most extreme degree. 

I seriously inhale all my food, and I eat insanely large portions.
I love eating my dessert with my meals and I always consume liquids during meals.
And only 3 ingredients in my meal? I love variety and the more the merrier.. 

 I'm sure following these 5 rules are a very healthy way to eat. This will definitely be a challenge.. 

Happy Eating.. er.. I mean.. Happy Chewing.... :P

Plank-off!

BenDoesLife.com is an awesome blog. I first came across his blog maybe a year ago via Kara Goucher's Blog when she posted about the imfamous video Ben made called "My 120 lb Journey" (its an awesome video if you haven't seen it yet. Often I re-watch it to get inspired again)

Ben has a new post where he does a weekly vlog of a "Plank off" and he planks with a timer to see how long he and the viewers can plank together.

I tried it this week but I can't last very long.. maybe 20-30 seconds? but I do plan to "plank-off" with Ben in the upcoming weeks to get better. My goal is to be able to plank for 2 minutes.

http://bendoeslife.tumblr.com/post/15598262635/remember-in-2010-when-we-were-all-planking-lets

check it out and we can plank together :)

Happy Planking!

Tips to Stop Snacking.

I'm a sucker for free things, especially free Kindle Downloads.

Recently I downloaded this book on the kindle (for free) called "Lose Weight Without Dieting" by David Nordmark. (its still free if you want to download it too)

Its a pretty easy read, and the concepts are pretty common (nothing wild and crazy). I do like the book and would recommend it.

The authors main concepts are to not diet, but to change your eating habits, and offers simple suggestions and tips on how to do that.

My favorite part of the book that I would like to share would be his chapter on Snacking.

Snacking is where a lot of us (including me) overly increase our caloric intake. And we mainly snack because we are bored.

A few good ways to control you habits on snacking:
(I don't remember all the points, but these are the ones that stuck with me, because I try to practice them as much as I can. And since they stuck with me, I hope they will stick with you)

1 - Have a designated area for eating, for example the dining table. If you were to eat anything even a snack, you have to eat it at the dining table. That way, you have to make an extra effort to leave your desk or couch to grab a snack and then eat it all at the dining table.. and for some of us (like me) who are too lazy to even get off the couch, we will then skip that snacking encounter.

2- When you feel like snacking - drink a glass a water. Usually this will curb your desire to consume "something".

3- Still have the urge? Wait 7 minutes. Now you can Eat your snack, but you will Have to wait 7 minutes, and during that time you need to do something productive (NOT Watching TV). Examples would be cleaning the bathroom, sorting the laundry, sorting the mail, take a walk, take the dishes out of the washer, etc. The reason is usually you will get distracted with what you are doing, that after 7 minutes, you will forget that you even wanted your snack in the first place.

4- Now 7 minutes have passed, you sorted your mail, did the laundry, took a walk, and you still want your snack? Go and eat it. It means your body really is hungry and it wants food, and you are not just eating because you are bored.

These tips are to mainly stop the habit of snacking because we are bored.

Happy Un-Snacking! :)

Are you a Belly Breather?

There are 2 types common types of breathing, Chest Breathing and Belly Breathing.

I am naturally a chest breather, but I'm trying to incorporate Belly breathing into my runs. 

if my old ballet teacher heard this, she'd flip out, because she really discouraged belly breathing.

How do you tell what type you are? 

Take a deep breath.. Does your Chest expand out, or your Belly? 

What Happens when you're a Chest breather? 

   - the neck and chest muscles engage to lift your chest to expand the upper portion of your lungs. Now because this is the smaller part of your lungs (see diagram) and closer to your heart, its easier to get air in and out of them and into the body, (the path of least resistance). This gives you rapid, short breaths.
This may also be a large contributor to pain around the neck, trapezius, intercostals (the muscles between the ribs) and side cramps.

The minus? - Your chest can only expand out so much, so you end up not filling up the entire lungs with air, and with rapid, short breaths the body isn't getting enough oxygen which causes more panting and rapid short breaths. 

What Happens when you're a Belly Breather? 

    - The Diaphragm and abdomen muscles expand out to allow more room in the lower chest cavity, which allows air to flow deep-down into the lower part of your lungs, (see diagram) the large part of the lungs.

   - Have you noticed that when you Inhale deeply, when you pause, you can still inhale more air.  The same goes with the reverse. When you exhale deeply you can still exhale more air out by compressing your muscles.  How does the body do this? Because there is a lot of "hidden" air deep into the lower pockets of your lungs. It is this part of the lungs you want to engage while you run. 

What's The Benefit? You draw in more air into your lungs, therefore more Oxygen into your body. Also you draw in air slower therefore letting your body get more fresh air and increase its VO2 Max.

I still am not a natural belly breather. I have to force myself to remember to belly breathe and expand out my belly with each breath. But I hope with more practice, it will come more naturally. 

Happy Running and Belly breathing. 

Last run for 2011

Today's run felt awesome, I was able to get in some more miles and add in a few nice hills.

Last year I set a goal of running 1000 miles. Although, I didn't complete my goal, the journey was awesome and I met some fantastic people in the process.

The main reason for missing my goal was bad planning. I wasn't expecting school to be 4 days a week and for school to be so demanding (on top of working a full time job). Also Triathlon training took up any time I did have for training. Running 4-5 days a week, ended up to only being 2 days a  week with the other days swimming and biking.  Thus I only hit about half my goal, I think I came in around ~600-ish miles. I don't know the exact mileage for sure because my nike+ system malfunctioned often.

I don't have any events planned and I don't think I will do a tri in 2012.. If I do,  I hope to do Barb's race at the end of July 2012.. but we'll see....

So.. the goal will reset for 2012. I plan to refocus on running to improve and get faster.

Happy Running!
Kick Ass-phalt 2012.

The Nerve of nerves....

After a looong period of being ill then holiday gluttony, on Dec 27 I was 500% motivated to burn off the l-b-s and I felt i-n-v-i-n-c-i-b-l-e.....

I started the morning off with 1 hour of bootcamp (which we did lots of lunges) then a 2 mile run. Then in the evening I did a 4 mile run right before another 1 hr of bootcamp. I felt great, and my muscles had very minimal soreness. 

10 minutes into my 2nd session of bootcamp I stepped to do a forward lunge and my Right  leg collapsed. I gathered myself, and tried again, my left leg was able to do a lunge, however when my right leg stepped forward to lunge, instead of flexing, my quad would completely relax, causing me to lose my balance.

It was odd because I felt no pain or weakness in my leg. I was able to do squats, climb stairs, extensions, flexion. I had a full range of movement. 

I massaged it with a roller, and completed the remaining 40 minutes of bootcamp substituting squats for lunges. 

After bootcamp, I had another 1 hour of yoga. I debated on not going, but I thought yoga would help, and it did. I was able to do the warrior pose, which is pretty much a lunge. 

What I discovered, was probably due to my sudden increase in exercise my muscles were a bit swelled which pressed on the nerve and all the lunges from the morning plus a total of a 6 mile run, my quads and hips were tired. So, as I tried to do another lunge, my femoral nerve fired as a defense mechanism causing the muscle to completely relax in-order to protect my quads from straining or worse, tearing. 

Its a little wake-up call when your body actually prevents you from doing something because it knows something bad is about to happen. 

often time people say, mind over body.. well this time the body won. 

--the aftermath--

After a epsom salt bath, a night of rest and more yoga, my leg is fine now, and able to do lunges again. 

 

Endurance? Where did you go???

My endurance hit rock bottom, literally.
Getting sick really sucks the life and endurance out of you. Its been 3 dreadful weeks and I'm finally getting better.
I've been able to run for a week, but I feel like I'm starting again from 0. :(

Its been so hard for me to do the same 3-4 mile path I used to do all the time without multiple breaks. My poor VO2 max is non-existent.

So.. Since I'm starting from the beginning, I thought it would be a good chance to "re-learn" how to run by focusing on my gait, foot turn over and pace.

It will probably be another 2-3 weeks before I can build up a decent base and attempt to do do 5-6 milers without feeling like my heads gonna explode.

Sigh... its gonna be a long road to recovery..

Can you run away from a cold?

Recently life has gotten hectic, which means running and training has been moved very far down the list of priorities. School, work and moving. This past month, if I wasn't at work or cramming for a test, I was spending every second packing and now unpacking. 

Not running for almost over a month has been havoc on my immune system, and now I'm down with a nasty cold and tonsillitis. So, on top of unpacking, cramming for tests, and work, now I have to do it all being sick and tired, which pounding headaches and a sore throat that prevent me from eating. :( 

But it made me think, when was the last time I got sick? Its been a while. 

I know running keeps my immune system up, even if I'm running in the rain or the cold winter days, I feel that I am invincible. 

I think this is the karma telling me that no matter how busy life gets, always make time to run. Else, I'll be stuck with an ear infection and wads of tissues for 2 weeks.

So.. can you run away from a cold.

I believe you can.