Day 30

Sit, sit, sit. I am so very tired of sitting!!! I really had expected to be fairly back to normal by now. I feel too good to be so sedentary. 

The good news is that the infection seems to be going away. When I do get up to move about a little, I can walk quite normally. The staircase is getting easier to manage, although I still cannot go down the stairs with alternating steps. 

I want to share a little tip on stairs: Going down backward is easy on the knees!

I spent 15 years teaching step classes. One of the first thing a step instructor is taught is that stepping forward off the step bench during exercise is very dangerous and damaging to the knee, but backing down is safe and not damaging.

During my 6 years as a personal trainer, I worked with a number of clients who were recovering from knee problems, or had joint replacements. One of the things that was always a challenge for these clients was going down the stairs. I always encouraged them to (carefully!) back down stairs to take the pressure off their knees. 

Since my surgery, I have needed to go down the stairs in what I call "baby steps" - bad-foot/good-foot for each step. The problem is,  my "good" knee was taking a beating! I live in a two story house, and even though I try, sometimes, I just need to go up and down during the day. 

So when I felt I could try it, I tested going down the stairs backward, with both hands on the rails, watching closely my foot placement, and leaning forward so that my glutes have to take the weight. It didn't cause any pain, so I have been backing down the stairs since then. 

IF YOU WANT TO TRY THIS: it is ESSENTIAL that you can hold on firmly and go slowly enough that you don't fall!!!