Week 5 Retrospective

I'm becoming a serial procrastinator - its almost end of week 6 and I just got around to doing week 5 retro.  But I'm still doing it, so I get brownie points anyway.  I haven't been slacking, just having too much fun over the long weekend.  Well, on with it now.

At the last retro I said that I would include some upper body exercises in my workouts.  This did happen, once.  I did some machines and weights at the gym for the arms, back and chest.  I also said that I would keep the exercise records in one place, and I did.  They are all in Evernote.  And, finally, I was going to keep up with my exercises, and I also did that, having done the full routine four times last week.  So, I'm three for three on the action items!  Good for me.  I will be having a gluten-free cookie later to celebrate.

For week 5 retro I decided to come back to the simplest format of went well/could be better (read: I didn't have time to think of something more exciting).  So, here it is:

Went well

• Good news at the follow up with Dr. Zarnett
• Doing all exercises
• Doing an upper body workout
• Can walk a lot more
• Flexion and range of motion improving
• Don't get as tired anymore
• Housework is under control
• Part of stitch came out
• Going to bed/getting up early
• Stretching/breathing exercises in the morning

Could be better

• Still have inflamation on the incision
• Scar is itchy sometimes
• Can't wear skinny jeans
• Don't have enough time/energy to get big chores done
• Not doing enough cardio
• Procrastinating on retros

Action items

• Plan to get 1-2 big items done during the week
• Do eliptical/bike for cardio
• Do next retro on time

Because today is already Wednesday of week 6, I think there is a good chance that I will procrastinate on this week's retro as well.  To mitigate that I've decided to do a different retro at the end of the week: instead of going over the past 7 days I will be reviewing the whole time period since I had the surgery.  I will also do that in a different format to make things more interesting and dig deeper.  

Before then I'll write another post on my progress, the exercises I've been doing, and the latest improvements.

That's it for this retro, a great rest of the week to all, and ciao.

Week 4 Retrospective

Last week I said I would get better organized so I don't get so tired by end of day, and keep up the exercises.  I got a good head start in the beginning of the week by cleaning up and getting some food ready for the week with my mom's help.  During the week I did a little housework every day to keep my place clean and to make sure I have enough healthy food.  I went to the gym to work out, where I used the cable machine to do the leg exercises and biked for a bit of cardio.  And so I'm 2 for 2 on my action items from the third week! Yey, me.

For week 4 retro I decided to change it up a little.  Doing retros the same way every time gets boring quickly, and there is a danger of going through the motions without thinking about the substance.  So, instead of the previous "Went well - Could be better" format, this time around I thought about what made me glad, sad, or mad. Not like dishes throwing mad, more like "argh, wtf" mad.  I'm also going to add "thankful for" category.  I know, I know, I'm sounding life-coachy again, but it does make things more fun, I swear!

Glad :)

• Can walk longer distances
• Can bike longer
• Don't get as tired
• Exercises getting easier
• Leg muscle showing
• Stretching and breathing exercises in the morning
• Its getting warmer outside!
• Might be able to bike outdoors soon
• Moved up follow up with Dr. Zarnett

Sad :(

• Incision not fully healed
• Can't go swimming yet
• This blog has no comments
• More pain elsewhere
• Not doing any upper body exercises
• Exercise records aren't organized

Mad (grrr)

• Leg cramps
• Stitch coming out (yuk)
• Housework is tiresome and boring
• Traffic still sucks

Thanks

• My parents!
• My friends who call/write to ask how I'm doing
• Coworkers are very supportive

Action Items:

• Do some stretching every morning
• Start doing upper body workouts
• Keep exercises records in one place

Overall, my progress is still good - my flexion is getting close to the pre-op levels, I can feel increasing strength in the leg, going up and down stairs is becoming easier, etc.  The only hiccup is the part of the incision that seems to be "spitting" a stitch that my body seems to have refused to let dissolve.  Its pretty painful, not to mention unpleasant, and its not letting the incision to heal properly. I'm told this is a relatively regular occurrence, but I moved up my follow up with the surgeon to get it checked out.  

Week 3 Retrospective

I seem to have run into one of the classical retrospective problems: my action items aren't getting done despite being clear and fairly manageable.  I was thinking a lot about my long term goals this week, but the dog ate my homework I never actually defined them.  I think partially I'm ok with not having longer term goals set in stone for now, because I feel that I am on track or even ahead of schedule.  I also get lots of feedback about my progress at physio every week.  However, I'm guessing it will become more of a problem later on when I have fewer sessions, and will need to keep track on my own.  I will drop this action item for now and will revisit it later.
I did concentrate on stretching more, which was the second action item.  So I'm one for two on action items again this week.  With that said, here's week 3 retro:

Went well:

• Almost no limp
• Doing exercises every day
• Back to work
• Driving is ok
• More range of motion
• Muscles coming back
• Lots of feedback from physio
• Flexion is ahead of schedule

Could be better:

• Traffic sucks
• Small infection/irritation
• Getting tired quickly

Action Items:

• Get better organized so I don't get so tired by end of day
• Keep up the exercises

This week I was getting swamped with chores at home.  I kinda like home made food, and I don't like living in a pigsty, so at least a minimal amount of food shopping, cooking and cleaning has to be done to make that happen.  My mom helped me with cooking on Saturday, so food is covered for a little while.  Also, next week I will try to organize things a bit better (like getting my lunches ready the night before, packing my gym stuff ahead of time, sweeping and dusting a bit during the week).  

Nothing to say goodbye to this week, even the limp is still with me if I walk long enough.  But I'd like to welcome back my super-cool Donjoy brace which I now wear to do squats and some other exercises.  It accompanied me on a walk on some uneven terrain today, and it reminds me that I will soon be able to do light hiking, and I will one day ski again.  

Don't we look good together?

Week 2 Retrospective

At the beginning of each retro its good to review the actions from next week.  Lets see how I did on the two from last week.

1. Define longer term milestones - I was too lazy to do the research that this required, so it rolls over to next week because I still think its important to have these goals.
2. Start keeping track of exercises - I did start recording the sets and reps in a spreadsheet, so I'm gonna count this one as done.  

So, I'm 1 for 2 for the first week's commitments.  Now, lets see what went well and what wasn't as great during week 2 after the surgery.

Went well:

• No more splint
• Finished pills
• Doc says all is going well
• Can walk without crutches or splint (sort of)
• I'm back home
• Doing exercises every day
• Keeping records of exercises
• Working from home

Could be better:

• Didn't define long term goals
• Walking is painful
• Different muscles are hurting all over
• Not stretching enough
• Hard to walk without a limp
• Haven't gone to work yet

Action Items:

• Define longer term milestones
• Dedicate more time to stretching

Hm... Looks like last week a lot revolved around exercises and walking.  In fact walking has been  on my mind a lot, so I am going to do a whole post just about that next.

Besides starting to walk, last week was a time to say goodbye.  They were very useful to me for a while, but finally this threesome had to go, and lets hope I'll never need them again:

Week 1 Retrospective

I've decided to do retrospectives at the end of each week.  I know this may make me sound a little life-coachy, but I think its the easiest and most useful way to reflect on how well (or how badly) things are going.  I'm borrowing this "ritual" from the practice of Agile software development, where we do retros every once in a while to figure out how well our processes are working and if something needs tweaking.  My rehab process is not very complex and involves just me most of the time, so the retros will be short and simple. I'll think about what went well, what could be better, and what I want to change going forward (actions).
Here's the retro for week one of my rehab:

Went well:

• Having ice/compression machine
• Staying with parents
• Baggy pants, skirts, shorts
• Blogging
• Physio helps a lot
• Doing exercises regularly
• Reached first week's milestones (90 degrees, walking with splint only)

Could be better:

• Exercises were painful for the first 2-3 days
• Didn't know how to elevate leg properly
• Didn't know when/how to change dressing
• Didn't know when could take a shower
• Not keeping track of exercises/repetitions
• Don't have long-term milestones defined
• Physio is expensive

Action Items:

• Define longer term milestones
• Start keeping track of exercises

That's it!

I like doing retros on stickies, and decided to try a virtual board this time.  This is what it looked like:

I used linoit.com for the board.