Any advice on how to restart at C25K once I potentially have surgery on the left knee?

[LilRunner2019]

Sooo I may have to have surgery on my left knee, due to the cartilage damage and fluid that keeps sending serious pain issues from my knee sometimes to halfway up my thigh mostly the pain is just my knee being a pain!!like severe pain. I’ve been having to avoid most forms of exercise apart from walking and couple gentle bike rides since last year now and I’m beginning to feel like I want to get running again but have been advised by my GP no running till after my specialist treatment is dealt with. (Was meant to have first specialist meeting tomorrow but has been postponed by themselves due to of course the Corona virus lockdown which I can totally understand and am fine with🥰 sending support and love to our NHS and our Keyworkers🤟🏼) but I just wondered if anyone has any advice for after surgery as my general GP has said it may mean surgery on my knee as well as a special injection of some form to remove the current fluid of the knee which I admit don’t look forward to but would rather have it all done if it will help me be able to do a lot more exercising in life. I can work on it at home and when I’ve been at work (I work in a hotel before and after lockdown but not during) but please anyone got advice? Uploaded a photo of my knee just resting on three small cushions to elevate it about a week ago it’s just getting so bad.

[OnearmedBandit11 Graduate]

G’Day LilRunner,

First off maybe we can call you, LilRester for now 😉

I had a massive accident in 2003, I know a little about recovery, so I cannot stress enough that you should follow your Doctors advice. Once all is done, it might be a great idea to find a “Sports Physiotherapist” and get them to review your medical records and they will probably be your best bet to identifying any fast track way of getting active again.

I’m happy to answer any questions about my accident but I’ll say the amputated arm is the least of my worries when it comes to training 😉

Cheers and Good Luck

[LilRunner2019 in reply to OnearmedBandit11]

Thankyou!!! I’m sorry you had such An accident. I had a minor accident of falling down some concrete/marble stairs in a Bulgarian orphanage in 2015. I’ve been on three different meds since and even had physio earlier on as they didn’t want to risk giving me an op back then. I haven’t had the op as of yet mind but I know It’s a more likely chance of surgery than anything else right now with how tough it’s getting for my knee. Also haha yh lil rester is probably a good nickname right now x again thankyou

[IannodaTruffe Mentor]

As stated in the guide to the plan, ail any of us can do after a lay off is to go out and see what we can comfortably manage, then build back up gently, using C25k or something similar as a guide to weekly increase.

You lose next to no condition in the first two weeks of non running, after that decline is slow. After an operation such as yours though, it would be wise to go back to an early stage.

I have had to do this, starting from W1R1 after a long layoff with a knee injury, with the aim of rebuilding my muscle resistance to the impact of running.

The guide has advice on minimising impact.

Take care and best wishes.

[Hidden]

I had meniscus/cartilage trim last August, it was worn due to many (nearly 60!!) years of tennis, hockey, skiing etc!! I had a physio sessions post op, two weeks after, once he could see I had strength in quad and good balance, he gave me some balance exercises. Having been told no sport for 4 weeks he said I had improved enough to start sport gently, which I did!! So there's hope for you depending what a physio says (you should get a session or two as part of post op treatment. About 6 weeks after I started C25K, not really being a runner, but supplementing what sport I could already do, which was limited! I'm sure you'll be fine if you do all the exercises you're given!! Good luck

[LilRunner2019 in reply to Hidden]

Thankyou kristina! I’m only 25 myself but always been fairly interested in sports myself as well as my music to be fair aha. But yeh I have currently got cartilage damage after an accident of falling down some concrete/marble stairs in A Bulgarian orphanage and I had a giant paint tub in my hands which almost but luckily didn’t crush me at the bottom of the flight I fell down. (We were a group of 19-21 year olds doing a charity trip voluntarily to refurbish the orphanage) luckily cause the paint tub didn’t crush me as I managed to move only just in time (somehow the tub didn’t smash into smitherines either) I didn’t have to be taken to be checked by local hospital but there was a local pharmacy with simple English writing and easy to find painkillers so our main leader of the kindly got me some and told me rest most of the rest of the week. December 2015 that was and not long got my referral finally they didn’t want to risk it back then but of course I was 21....only just turned. Thankyou for your advice and I’ll take heed to yours and the others aswell. Thankyou so much! X

[marv123 Graduate]

I had a full ACL reconstruction in my right knee in May 2018 and I am only now getting back into running with my knee pain free. I went to all of the rehab sessions and did all of the strength exercises they gave me, I then went back to playing football 9 months after my operation - but I didn’t trust it as any sign of pain, I just stopped. Invariably it depends on your body as to how long it will take to recover and be back exercising.