Thanks - And DTFP

[DTF]

Hi Rip. This post is meant as a thank you, a call to others to Do The Program, and a plea to people to educate themselves with the information available on this site and others. The information provided here is invaluable. Hopefully my experience can help highlight that to others.

Background: I have been involved in athletics most of my life. I played hockey and baseball competitively from the time I was very young and I also trained in martial arts. I always enjoyed "working out" at the gym, but like many, my weight lifting efforts were not directed toward much of anything specific. A few years ago I had a life changing experience (here if you are interested ... http://www.kare11.com/news/news_arti...storyid=510963) that left me the proud owner of a defibrillator. The docs advised me to stop contact sports - not due to my heart, but due to the risk of damaging the defibrillator and the surgery risks that go with replacing it. I then had a 2+ year issue trying fixing the root cause of my heart issues. Thankfully that now seem to be resolved. Early in 2010 I got back in the gym and decided that weight training was still something I enjoyed. Approximately Thanksgiving of 2010 is when I got serious. A great friend of mine was able to get me out of my unfocused "workouts" and into focused training. I read all the books and started on my linear progression. Over the next year I worked the linear progression, spent some time doing Texas Method, and eventually began using 5-3-1. As of the last week of December, during the week of 3's on the 5-3-1 program, I squatted 430lbs for a set of 4 and deadlifted 455lbs for a set of 4. I was just short of 42 years old, 6'2", and 245lbs.

Injury: During the last week of December I did something no hockey player should ever do - I joined a pick-up game of basketball. While running down the court I planted my foot to jump and completely ruptured the patellar tendon in my right knee. I knew instantly what had happened. I skipped the ER and went directly to the orthopedic specialists that treat the professional and D1 athletes in my area. My consultation that day was short. I told the guy admitting me (who happened to be a former trainer in the NBA) that I ruptured my patellar tendon. He thought I was joking until he took a look - and then quickly agreed. Funny side note - he said that based on his NBA experience, no one over 40 should be allowed to jump because bad things happen when they do. I met with the doc for a total of about 30 seconds. He said surgery was the only option if I wanted to walk again, so see a surgeon as quickly as possible. I made an appointment for the next morning. As I left the clinic I called one of my best friends and confidants - who also happens to be one of Rip's coaches - and told her what happened. She had some great advice but also hooked me up with a call to Rip. Our call was short, but he gave me an overview of what to expect, some questions to ask, and a timeline for some key actions. He told me specifically to relax, make sure the surgeon was focused on providing a repair with the highest possible tensile strength rather than making it look pretty, and to get in the gym as soon as possible after the surgery because that would accelerate recovery. I ended up having several days before the surgery could be scheduled (holidays + added complexity due to my defibrillator), so I spent a lot of time reading info on this site and doing my own research on the surgery, recovery, and rehab.

Update: I am now about 6 weeks post-op. I spent several days after the surgery (pretty gruesome - involved a 6 inch incision, drilling holes, grinding bone, and lots of sutures) recovering and taking narcotics. I was focused on getting off the pills and into the gym which I was able to do about 5 days post-op. I spent my time working upper body (bench, seated press, chins, etc) and working flexibility of the knee and trying to maintain the strength around my hip. I started at about 15* of flexibility and was unable to put any weight on my leg. By the 3rd week I was past 90* of bend in my knee and able to stand with my leg straight. By 4 weeks I was walking in my brace without crutches. By 5 weeks I was walking without a brace. As of now (6 weeks) my flexibility is at 135*, I can walk with a normal gate without my brace (including going up and down stairs), and I am able to re-focus on strengthening my leg. The strength loss and atrophy is staggering. The strength of the repair is no longer the limiting factor, so it is time to get to work. I have a good surgeon and physical therapist. The first two exercises (among many others) I am starting with are squats and deadlifts. Today was a landmark day - I was able to squat below parallel with body weight. It hurts my ego to be doing body weight squats - but I am truly celebrating the ability to do so as well. As a reference, my surgeon and PT are concerned about me because they say I am progressing faster than most D1 athletes they see. The "normal" progression would have me at 90* of flexibility and limited weight bearing on the leg. I am doing at 6 weeks what most people can not do at 12 weeks post-op. My goals are to be squatting 315lbs by the 4th of July and be back to pre-injury strength by Christmas 2012.

Summary: Here are the key points. It is true what Rip says about strong people being harder to kill. We are much more capable of handling life's little issues (yes, my injury is a little issue) if we are strong. Next, the information available on this site is staggering and invaluable if you are willing to spend the time to read. Finally, I own how I approach rehab - not the doctors or PT's. I need to listen to them and consider what they say, but I also have a huge number of resources to gather information and I get to choose what is best for me.

Rip and this website are a wonderful resource. Don't waste it.

[Mark Rippetoe]

Nice job, Dan. There is light at the end of this tunnel. Cardell was squatting 315 x 5 x 3 at 5 months post op, and you will be too.

[heints25]

Hey Dan. Nice story. You certainly have an awesome mindset on recovery and rehab (especially in taking ownership of YOUR rehab). I am curious who your surgeon and PT are, as I live in the Twin Cities and I am also having knee surgery in May. I have been seeing Dr. McCarty with Sports and Orthopedic Specialists as he is one of a few trained in my procedure. I am extremely happy with him, and I know he works with a lot of professional athletes. I was curious if you were going to the same place, or somewhere different that I can keep in mind for future reference. I am not naive to think I will never need an ortho again.

On a side note, I used to work in Hutch and acutally had the pleasure of training with your friend who got me started down the correct path. Where do you train?

[DTF]

Hello heints. I PM'ed you with the name of my surgeon and PT. Rather than hinting at things, the friend I was referring to - and that you were mentioning - is Juli Peterson. She has been a great friend and resource - and she is a top notch coach. She is very generous in sharing her knowledge. Being included on Rip's coaching staff is a great endorsement in itself, and I can not recommend her more highly. She is yet another example of the quality resources that can be found through Starting Strength.

[waterboys]

Inspiring story. So, if you don't mind me asking, what turned out to be the root cause of your heart issues?

[DTF]

Hi Waterboys. The heart issue was electrical in nature. There was nothing wrong structurally with my heart. No blockages, no valve problems, etc. The issue was with the electrical signals that trigger the different chambers of the heart to beat in normal rhythm. Over time it is possible for your heart to generate redundant paths for these signals. What would happen for me is that the signals in these redundant paths would get out of sync and my heart rate would double or triple instantly. If my heart rate was already elevated when this happened, my heart rate would hit 230+ beats per minute. What was somewhat unique for me is that the issue was in my left ventricle rather than the atria. Many people have atrial fibrillation. It is not pleasant, but can be manageable. When you have ventricular fibrillation your heart stops moving blood and you die without some sort of intervention. That is what happened in my initial incident, and it happened 9 more times afterwards - all of which caused my defibrillator to fire which really sucks, but saved my life. I tried a few docs who wanted me on meds to limit my heart rate instead of addressing the problem directly. I eventually found a doc at the Mayo Clinic who specialized in issues like mine and was willing to address the root cause of the problem. He did an ablation procedure that eliminated the redundant electrical pathways. Since having that done I have been trouble free.

[DTF]

Hi Rip. I just wanted to give you a quick update on progress since surgery to repair my patellar tendon rupture. It is just over 15 weeks since surgery - 107 days to be exact. Tonight was a notable night for me. I squatted 315lbs for 3 sets of 5. I still have work to do but am celebrating this milestone. Thanks again for your advice and support along the way.

[Mark Rippetoe]

Excellent job. An enormously important example of balls overcoming what would have been a crippling injury without them. PTs take notice, if you are permitted to do so.

[John Petrizzo]

Awesome story, Dan you are an inspiring individual and I could not agree with you more about the information available on this site and in the books. I am a month away from graduating with my doctorate in physical therapy and I will make sure to use your story as an example of what can happen when a PT and a patient refuse to limit themselves with mediocrity. Thank you for sharing your story and updating us with your progress.

[Brian Zahn]

Nice work! how far is that from your lifetime PR? Were you training the other lifts as best you could during recovery?