Post Trauma Edema vs. Janathon

Post Trauma Edema, originally uploaded by ultraBobban.

This is the second full day after cast removal. I started the day by going on crutches to the Post Office, then to the bank and then the Supermarket to get milk, fruit and veg, a round trip of 1.20 miles. I did this much slower than during Crutchathon as I wanted to partially walk rather than be non-weight bearing. After an hour of rest with my leg at heart height I sat down for a lunch of grilled sardines and fruit to finish.

Nothing better in the afternoon than to look for furniture and antiques on Ebay and then I got some inspiration. Watching one of my favourite marathon runners Ryan Hall and an hour of his workouts on the PC. Ryan is a personal favourite as he has an effortless gait and approaches things scientific but laid back way. I decided to use the exercise bike and cycled for 50 minutes, with some high reps from 40-45 mins. This was followed by 15 minutes of crunches, reverse crunches, press ups, superman, leg lifts and bicycle crunches. Breaking into an exercise induced sweat has rarely felt so good.

The downside? Post trauma edema. I have some serious swelling in my right leg. I can feel the titanium screws through the skin but the rest of the lower leg is fluid filled (with a leg raise it takes about 30 mins to drain and an hour to get back to normal). How it can be described is the sensation when you take your socks off and it leaves an elastic mark in the skin for a couple of minutes but an extreme version with a swollen foot. Look at the photo and compare it with my left where tendons are clearly visible. Research is telling me that this could take many weeks or months to go.