I had been told to walk up and down in the pool at about waist depth, so as not to put too much weight on my injured leg, so that i could simulate the walking motion.
This was important to teach my muscles in my leg the correct procedure for walking, as i needed to relearn all of this again.
I found that i needed to be at around about armpit level depth to relieve enough weight from my leg to make walking possible.
I did about half an hour of walking back and forth, with a bit of pain occasionally in my knee.
Then it was a bit of suntanning and catching up on the latest news in the world of surfing in the local Zigzag magazine.
For those interested, exercises include:
* Standing straight up with my crutches for support, and slowly transferring my weight from right to left and back again, as much as i can withstand.
* In a sitting position, doing leg raises.
* Using an elastic band, hooking it around my toes, and pushing against the band, stretching out my calf muscle.
* Using the same band, with the foot pulled away from me, try to pull it back towards me against the resistance, basically the opposite of the above exercise.
* Standing in an upright position, with the elastic connected to my injured leg from the front, try to pull against the band, and flex my knee in a reverse raise to 90 degrees.
I have a whole list of exercises to perform, which are taking me an hour or so every day to go thru.
I have also been told that it is necessary to get hold of a brace for my knee asap as i need to start load bearing on my injured leg, and this brace will facilitate that without the pain.
I also got a call back from one of the South African newspapers that i had contacted while still in the DR. They had been following my progress, and wanted to do a telephone interview with me now that i was finally home again.
Here is the article that was published in the Cape Times newspaper...the details a little misprinted, but the gist of things is there...
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