Surgeon and Physio Visit

I had my first surgeon visit two days ago; the staples came off, I started a physio program yesterday, and the prospect of returning to martial arts is looking up. I got a new knee brace that can be locked in 10-degree intervals, rather than just the straight one I still had from the ER. The initial stats do not look too bad:

• 58 degrees range of motion (ROM)
• Weight bearing as tolerated (WBAT)

After the initial physio consultation, I got a long laundry list of home exercises to do. Since the ruptured tendon had to be cut shorter to be reattached, the range of motion protocol is new to me. After surgery, you start at 0-30 degrees for the first two weeks, then increase by 15 degrees every two weeks until you reach full ROM. So 58 is a good start.

The other issue is that your quad muscle atrophies completely. You will not have any quad strength for a while, and in some cases (I was lucky not to) you have to retrain your nerve-muscle connection. The at-home protocol is:

• Heel slides with a fitness band (see banner picture)
• Quad sets
• And various hamstring and hip stretches (as these muscles are not being used)

Next on the order was business continuity. When you co-own a small business, you cannot ever get into victim mode and just wait for things to get better, or blame someone else for crappy medical benefits. You have to be proactive. That included pestering my surgeon for a notes:

• Accessible Parking Permit In Ontario, you have to file the initial application with your doctors blessing and apply for the permit in person. Important: With any mobility aid, you are an insurance liability. Do not drive without being cleared by your doctor. The point here is to lessen the head-ache on people that provide your mobility, not to drive yourself around.
• Reclining Office Chair with Footrest I expensed one through the company. With that I was back at work the day it got delivered to get work done and the raging fire under control. While the cost was probably high, the alternative of my business partner (figuratively) knifing me for absence would have been worse.

I am trying to dial in supplementation as well. I am taking:

• Collagen and Vitamin C, there are scientific studies that support collagen supplementation for tendon repair, to synthesize collagen you need Vitamin C in your system as well.
• Magnesium for muscle relaxation and to prevent cramps. Until you experience it, you will not know how bad your quads can atrophy and become sore with just slight use.
• Zinc for tissue repair and immune support.

Diet is an issue. I used to go 3-4 days to F45 and Karate up to 5 times a week. Now I am basically sedentary. My Japanese mother-in-law’s reaction to the injury was: “You are going to be so fat!”; I call that support functional the same way how you loose weight in Jiu Jitsu randori, by not dying. My wife does not diffuse that tiger-mom stereotype either. I am constantly being pushed to move and still work on the Honey-Do list. The expectation of prompt service for any demand is still there, even though the fact that scaling stairs are still a major obstacle for me. The Like a Dragon Diversion explained earlier probably sums this up best.

… Thanks to so much TLC I think I will be ok in no time.

With that little bite of wisdom, I am trying to keep my diet in check and can never be in victim mode. This kind of brings my Shodan essay full circle, everything is Budo. If you ever feel sorry for yourself, watch some Paralympic Karate. There are folks with a much worse hand than you who still give it all.

I discovered a great Facebook group for patellar tendon ruptures with a lot of members. There are a lot of people who have gone through this and can provide helpful resources. Other suggestions (not followed) include:

• Stool softener
• BPC-157 supplementation, I want to see how collagen + vitamin C works first
• Taking it a lot slower on return to work than what I am doing now

I spent some downtime to curate my physio playlist. Good days start at the beginning, bad days start at no leaf clover … consistency! I opened up to friends and family, so the long tail is not sorted into vibes yet.

Published: 2025-04-30
Updated  : 2025-10-04
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