Question
David, hello! Thank you for your quick responses!
   I'm the distal fibula osteotomy with the post-op pain and the "too busy" surgeon.
   I read your pail-lifting response, and agree it is a good strengthening idea, will do it. However, what I'm after is any knowledge you have of ways to use small handweights,(2.5 & 5#, or no equipment, to do seated exercises that will provide aerobic benefit. (?)
   Pre-op, I did strengthening one day, and treadmill the next, resting totally one day, and ensuring that 3 days a week I did 1/2 hour, regardless of the imcrements, which started at 5 minutes, and ended up being consecutive. Pain kept me from hitting my target heart rate and maintaining it, but tenacity got my resting down from over 100, to 70-odd! (Treadmill has hand-rails, and I used my arms to lessen the impact, with minor success.)
   A local, medically supervised, health club, offers a class entitled, "Seated aerobics", but the cost of joining is out of the question until I am back to work. ($500-odd a year, in advance, well worth it when I have the income!)
   I would prefer to, at the minimum, maintain the gains I've made, if not better them. I do not wish to weaken, and find myself in worse shape, or gain weight while I am recovering.
   Seated, doing quickly repeated movements, such as raising and lowering handweights, or, lying, raising and lowering legs, is it possible to attain one's target?
   I did see my surgeon yesterday, I had tripped coming up the stairs, and was concerned about the possibility of damaging my hardware set. He had said he'd wait, but they had a cancellation. He told my step-Mom, who goes with me now to help me be a little more assertive and to remember things I forget, that he didn't return my call because I was going through the meds too quickly. I took them exactly as prescribed, and looking at my log after being chastised, I took only one about half the time, or I would have been out much sooner, so I do not understand this, think they should be prescribed as they are intended to be used? Why would a Dr. prescribe one or two, then chastise a patient for using two? I feel like an addict or something. It could easily happen, but I doubt it would in a couple of weeks post-op, as the stuff barely touches the pain, gets nowhere near giving any good feelings. The Recovery nurse had told my step-mom he had given me a mild med bacause I wasn't used to narcotics. When she questioned him at visit about a stronger one, he puffed up and said, "This is the strongest one there is! I can't give her anything stronger or more often." It is percocet, and I know nothing of the classes and strengths, but am confused about the altered info.
   Regardless, I did no damage, got staples out, site looks very good, he did a great job. Muscle spasms are due to blood pooling, and will ease as blood leaves the site. New cast, permission to shower seated, thank God! Same Rx, he thinks another 2 or 3 weeks before I can be managed with a strong nsaid. NOW I take only one, regardless of pain level or what is written on bottle, so I don't run out and have to beg... Better than giving myself an ulcer with nsaids!
   Thank you!!! Have a great day, and I pray you are blessed!!! Kim

Answer
Hello again!

To determine if any aerobics exercise is working, or not, do this test:

When you wake up, but not sit up, place two fingers on your wrist of your opposite wrist. Not your thumb. Count the number of heart beats in 10 seconds. Multiply the answer by 6. The answer is your resting heart rate per minute.

Do the dumbbells, or any aerobic exercise you can do, and check your pulse again. See if the heart beat has increased at least 50% higher than when you were sleeping. If it has, your aerobic exercise is working. If very little change, you need to try a different aerobic exercise.

Move your arms back and forth when doing the aerobic exercise. I have found that people who do treadmill exercises, GREATLY increase their aerobics by moving their arms back and forth while doing the treadmill, vs no arm movement. Does not have to be wide and strong movements of the arms, even limited and controlled movement for some reason cause the heart to beat faster.

Health club exercise classes are well worth the money. If you can afford it. If you cannot, there is many things you can do at home. It is great that you have your Step-Mom with you for support. Make recover go a lot faster and easier when someone is beside you.

Thanks mom!

You forget because of the pain and other distractions. Again, it is the fast life we all live today. Concentration is very difficult for most of us. Too many things going on around us all the time. I stopped trying to improve my memory, I now keep a daily calendar of things to do and appointments to keep, places to go. When I go to bed, everything I was GOING to remember to do the next day, I completely forget when I wake up. The calendar reminds me, so I have a little more control in my daily out-of-control life.

Percocet is really strong. If you are having a reaction to it, it is probably very strong on your stomach.

I am very glad you are having some positive moments in your situation with pain, injury, appointments, etc.

Here is one to think about. Take a deck of playing cards. Write on 2 cards, "annoying day." 2 more cards write "bad day" and 2 more cards "terrible day." Sort the cards. Now turn over a card. What will it be? Unwritten cards are average days, ok days, happy days.

Each card is a day in your life. Flip a card, flip a card, flip a card. The days go by. Who knows what tomorrow will bring! After 5 cars, or even 15 cars, you may get a "hit" of annoying day, or bad day or terrible day.

What I am saying is that ALL of us have annoying days, bad days and terrible days. No way to predict when they will come. BUT most of our days are ok average, many times funny, many times good. We have more good days than bad days...
But we forget that we WILL have bad days in our life, so we get really upset when we have bad days.

Those days pass, and the good days come back.

Just remember to wake up, get up, and face another day. Good or bad. You have people that will help you.

Have a good weekend.