Rehab Begins.........November 7, 2010

On Friday I had my first follow up appointment with the doctor after having my hip surgery. They took out my stitches because my incisions are healing well. They also gave me the go ahead to stop using my crutches pain permitting. The doctors said that I may experience some pain or soreness over the next week or two just walking around, and that if I do it is not a bad idea to use the crutches for a while just to give my hip a rest. The third thing that happened at the doctor, and the thing I am most excited about is that I got my rehab plan. The doctors gave  me a full lay out of my rehab for the first six weeks after surgery.
The rehab plan starts tomorrow, Monday, and is physical therapy sessions two to three times a week with our athletic trainers at school. The first few weeks focus on getting my normal gait back and then getting my full range of motion back in my hip. After six weeks I can start to build my strength back. With this plan it wasn't all good news though, I got a whole list of restrictions. For the next six weeks I can do no running, jumping, jogging, or lifting of anything over 20 lbs. That means I am restricted to just walking and working on my shoulder and scap circuits.
After I got my rehab plan I asked the question I wanted to know the most. What can I do as far as throwing a baseball over these couple months of rehab? The answer was better than I had expected. For the next two to three weeks I can sit in a chair and throw as long as I do not cause too much discomfort in my hip. After that period I can start to stand up and throw lightly without a too much of a step as long as I don't incorporate an excessive amount of rotation with my hips. The final step, assuming everything is healing properly and I have my full range of motion back, after six weeks of rehab I can begin my normal routine of playing catch, but not throwing off of a mound.
This will give me the best chance to keep my arm in shape during this down time, so when I am finally released as 100% it won't take as long to get game ready. I am getting the opportunity to get my body fully back to 100%, and still having the chance to be ready to go by game one of the season. That is the best possible opportunity I can hope for once I sustained this injury.
I will begin my rehab plan officially on Monday and do as much as I am allowed to do to get better and get back out there with my teammates.

Recovering from Surgery.......November 1, 2010

Last Thursday I went under the knife to repair my torn labrum. I was definitely nervous for surgery, but it went much smoother than I had anticipated. After a couple hours of meeting with surgeons, nurses, and anesthesiologists I finally had my surgery. I woke up in the recovery room and was released to go home a couple hours later. I had some soreness, but I was mostly just exhausted from the drugs they had me on.
It was a pretty rough weekend, spent mostly sleeping and laying around. I am on crutches for a week, before I head back to the doctor to get my stitches removed. They gave me some pictures of the inside of my hip that they took with the arthroscopic camera while performing the surgery, but I am not sure what they are. Maybe we can get some of those us on here in later posts.
Other than recovering from surgery there is not too much to report. I have been attending the lifting and conditioning sessions with my teammates, although I am unable to participate. My teammates are working hard in the weight room, and that is going to go a long way to getting us ready to compete in the spring. On Friday after I get my stitches removed I will also get my rehab plan that I can start doing next week. They have already informed me that it will be frustratingly slow, starting with some light walking. My only physical activity for six weeks will be walking. Only after that six week period will I be able to do some light jogging and other things like that to get me ready to get back in baseball shape. On Friday I will definitely be asking when I am able to start at least doing some light throwing to keep my arm in shape.
I had what I considered a pretty successful fall, and am excited to get to the spring. I have not really been in the mix to get a lot of innings in my previous two years of college, but this year my coach has made it clear that I have the opportunity to throw a lot of meaningful innings and help us win games. That means I need to get myself ready to compete at a high level when I am fully recovered.
I am excited though, I have had some nagging hip injuries for the last two seasons, which finally led to this major tear. But having had this surgery and going through rehab, this season my body will be completely 100%. That is definitely exciting, and I will work hard to get myself mentally prepared and keep my mechanics sharp so that I can have a big contribution on the field this spring.
I will make sure to keep everyone posted on the rehab as I go through, and keep supporting my teammates as they go through off-season workouts. It is definitely frustrating to sit out while everyone else is working hard. I wish I could be in there sweating and getting stronger with the rest of the guys. I will just have to work even harder when I finally get cleared.
Keep working towards goals, mine is to get healed and back to strength so I can contribute the best I can to a Concordia Golden Bears championship season.