Tuesday, March 30, 2010

CYBEX Arc Trainer!!

I purchased a CYBEX Arc Trainer (www.arctrainer.com) for my home and it was delivered yesterday. I am going to start hitting cardio hard and see what happens. I did 30 min in Cardio mode Monday night and 20 min in Weight Loss mode Tuesday morning. My starting bodyweight is 265.5 so I will start posting weekly updates.

As for the elbow/triceps recovery, my doctor appointment was moved to Monday, April 12 so we'll see what he says. I am hoping to start rehab and some light strengthening exercises then.

Sunday, March 21, 2010

Latest on my elbow/triceps...

Nothing really too new to report. I got my cast off on March 11th but Dr Shah told me to keep my arm in a sling for 5 more weeks. I have a follow up appointment on April 15th and will likely start rehab at that point. I must say it is feeling pretty good so I am anxious to get started rehabbing so I can begin strengthening it once more.

I have started back in the gym a little doing some light lower body and one-armed stuff. I have also started doing some cardio. Yes, you read correctly...CARDIO! I just purchased an CYBEX Arc Trainer (www.arctrainer.com) for my home and plan to really start cutting some weight and getting healthier. I would like to get down to 240-ish (currently about 265).

Anyway, that's the latest. Keep checking back for more updates!

Monday, March 8, 2010

Elbow / Triceps Update

After having successful surgery on 1/20/10 and one week into my rehab, I was involved in an automobile accident. I had gotten my cast off and began rehab which was going very nicely. I was extremely pleased with where I was and how everything felt post surgery. That was until the morning of 2/5/10. I was headed down to Beaumont to meet with a customer and traveling eastbound on FM 1960 which is a 6-lane road. A lady pulled out of a Sonic in front of all three lanes of eastbound traffic trying to go westbound. She didn’t make it past the third lane, which happened to be the lane I was in. I slammed into her wrecking my car (current estimate to repair is $7,000) and instinctively I grabbed the steering wheel with both hands to brace for the crash which jarred my elbow pretty good. She was ticketed for failing to yield the right of way to oncoming traffic so she was totally at fault.

Due to the swelling and discomfort I was feeling in my surgically repaired elbow, I went back to see my orthopedic doctor that afternoon and he scheduled me for another MRI on Tuesday, 2/9/10. I got the results 2/11/10 and the MRI showed that there was evidence of a re-rupture of the triceps tendon caused by the car accident. It is not near as bad as the first time and the separation is probably less than a ¼”. The doctor said that the ¼” separation would eventually turn to scar tissue but the repair would never be quite right. So I had surgery again on 2/16/10 to attempt to repair it, which there is no guarantee that the re-repair would be as good as the original repair. Bottom line is that triceps will probably never be 100% again and my powerlifting career is almost assuredly over.

I am still in a straight arm cast and am supposed to get this cast off Friday. After that I will be looking at 12 weeks of rehab to get range of motion back before I can begin a strengthening program.

So… that’s the latest. I am really at a loss over all this and my spirit is very, very broken right now. I can tell you this though. I am keeping my faith in my God and I know He will sustain me through all of this.