11 week review

So I know that no one still reads this besides Lydia, but I thought I'd apologize for not posting last week. I'm sure many of you were devastated. But anyway, progress is going really well for my knee. I'm still lifting and I've started biking again. I'm also mowing all my yards and walking around all day doesn't cause any pain at the end of the day. The swelling is almost completely gone except for in this one spot. I've started doing some jogging just for a couple seconds to see how it feels and it only hurts a little. The doctor says I can start running within the next month or less, depending on how soon I get my full extension back, which is still only a few degrees away. The biking is helping with my flexion and I don't really have any stiffness anymore ever. When I wake up in the morning, I barely notice my knee. I definitely feel like I've made it through the worst part and from here it's all downhill. I don't really feel restricted by my knee in doing anything. The only thing I'm worried about is I plan on going to Cedar Point sometime this summer and I'm worried about squeezing in the little seats on the rides. Hopefully I'll have enough flexion to do that soon. And I think that's it for updates. Check back next Monday.

end of month 2!

Another month of progress down. I made some big gains, like being able to ride a stationary bike, lifting, and basically normal walking. My knee never really hurts except when pushing extension and flexion. There is still some swelling and my knee looks larger than my good knee. I hope to be biking outdoors when I get home this Thursday so I'll take my first ride outdoors on Friday. I'm so excited to be able to exercise outdoors again. And my therapist said that in a couple weeks, depending on my range of motion, I'll be able to jog again. So I'm making some solid progress and I'm excited to keep making progress. For the 2 people who are following my blog still, check back next Monday for another post!

8 week review

My knee feels much better this week. I started working out again on this week and lifted on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Doing this really makes my knee good, maybe because my body is warmed up and sweating so the joint is looser. I've also been riding a stationary bike every day and can bike all the way around with good form with no pain. There is some tightness, so I'm gonna wait until I'm out of school to bike outdoors, but I definitely should be biking by May 19. Also, walking is back to normal because I can swing my knee to within 2 degrees of straight. Really the only thing that is still worrying me at this point is my bending, which still isn't great. At therapy on Thursday I measured in at 105 degrees flexion and my good knee is at 145. So I have a lot to make up, but I know it'll come back eventually. The stiffness that I have in the morning is becoming less and less and the stiffness in general is going away. There is some swelling still present, but I think with icing and biking it'll go away. I feel a lot more optimistic about my knee recovery now because I know that it will eventually get better. Oh and I mowed for 9 hours on Saturday and my knee didn't hinder me at all or hurt afterward. Aside from playing sports and running, my knee doesn't really keep me from doing anything anymore.

P.S. I think I'll post on Mondays from now on because that is when my actual week progresses are since that's the day I had my surgery, not on Sunday. Also, my 2 month review is this Saturday, so I'm gonna do a post on that day then not again till next Monday. So I'm gonna post on the 14, then not till the 23.

7 week review

I really wish my knee would just get better at this point. I've pretty much forgotten what it's like to have two normal legs and be able to run and jump and do all the things I love doing. But I guess I should tell you about this week and any progress. I'm making good progress on flexion, I think I'm past 100 degrees now. And after putting my knee in a brace that cranks it straight for half an hour, I can lay both legs flat on the floor and I'm only a few degrees away from being perfectly straight. But the motion of bending and straightening is not smooth like my good knee. Like I can get it to go straight after working on it and get it to bend pretty far after pushing it, but then it's stiff and won't go the other direction without pain. So if I make it straight and try to bend it, it hurts and vice versa. Then after an hour or so I lose the ability to fully straighten it or bend it pretty far, which is frustrating. So I can get it to a pretty good ROM, but it doesn't stay. Hopefully this will change over time. But now for some positive news, I made my first revolution on a bike pedal. Before I was just going back and forth with my bad knee extended but now I can go all the way around. So I'm hoping that this means I can bike outdoors soon. And I'm starting to get some muscle tone and the swelling is going down but at a snail's pace. So overall, this week was pretty good as I made some solid progress.

6 week review

This week has been another solid week of recovery. My knee is getting closer and closer to being as straight as my good knee and my flexion is finally coming back. As you can see in the picture below I am definitely past 90 degrees. I really think that I can reach my goal of biking by the end of the school year. Also, I mowed over 3 days this weekend and my knee did fine with all the walking over a somewhat unstable surface (grass). It definitely was good to do something that I've done in the past so it feels like I'm returning to a sense of normalcy in my life. Other than that, there's really nothing to report about this week.

5 week review

This has been a pretty good week in terms of making progress. My bad knee is so close to being as straight as my good knee. If I put a weighted towel over my heel and lay it off the edge of a table for 15 minutes, I can put both my legs flat on the floor. The only difference is that I can flex my good knee when it's flat on the floor, but I can only get a pathetic little flex out of my bad knee. And my walking is essentially normal now. Tonight for the first time I could walk and swing my bad knee to straight like how normal people walk. I had a mini celebration in my head. Also, I'm working on getting more flexion in my knee, which is coming slowly but surely. I hope to be able to bike by the time I get out of school, so May 19. Now I just want the swelling to go away because it looks ugly. It's tough to make myself do my entire circuit of rehab exercises 4 times a day, but I keep reminding myself that I need to do them in order to be normal again. It helps to read successful acl recovery stories because they all say the same thing: work your butt off in rehab. So that's what I plan to keep on doing.

So I feel like this was a big week for me, as I'm making enough progress to keep me satisfied. For now. I really can't wait until I can bike. I'm for sure doing a post on that day, just to release all of my happiness. Then I'll promptly go for a nice, long ride.

end of 1st month

Let's gooooooooo. This week has been interesting, but in a good ish way. I'll get to that eventually. Anyway, on Monday I was walking to the DC (my dining area) and slipped in the mud and bent my knee past what it usually bends. This was probably the second worst pain of my life, behind when I actually tore my acl. My leg was twitching slightly and I couldn't move my knee at all. Immediately I was worried that I tore my graft or did some other kind of damage, but I didn't twist it in any way, just bent it back. It was really sore in the back of my knee the rest of Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, I lost a lot of range of motion, and the knee felt weak when standing on it. I asked one of my teachers, who is the head athletic trainer, and my therapist today if they thought I did any real damage and they said they don't think so as the graft is really strong the first few weeks after surgery, then it weakens. So, to sum this story up, I was really worried, but I don't think I hurt anything. I've been working on getting my extension back that I lost from the fall and it's already back to "normal," or where it was pre fall. And now for some very good news: that sharp pain that was in the back of my knee when trying to work on flexion is now gone. Because of the fall? I guess so. But whatever, I'm just glad that it's gone and now I can work on getting my flexion back. Now there's still pain, but it feels just like it did before surgery, like it's stretching the joint in a good way and I can make progress. And some more good news: I was curious as to how much flexion I had after doing some of my rehab exercises, and I'm past 90 degrees with only mild pain. Seeing as how getting to 90 degrees was extremely painful the last time I tried to bend my knee, I'm pretty happy. So even though it was horribly painful, I guess the whole thing turned out for good in the long run. Hopefully now I can work on my extension and flexion now with no difficulties and make some progress.

I look back at where I was exactly one month ago from today, and I've made tons of progress. Back then I nearly passed out going 5 feet to the bathroom and now I can walk around and do light rehab and have my normal life somewhat back. I know I have a lot of work ahead of me, but I'm gonna work hard and get back to normal and hopefully be playing sports again (not all out) by the end of summer. Anyway, thanks for following my progress! Check back again on Sunday when I'll post with all the progress I've made.