Long Over Due Update 9-2-10

Wahoe! I'm back in Utah and have my life back. I am about 6 weeks post- op.  I am going to physical therapy at Tosh in Sandy, Ut. I like the facility and especially like the athletic trainer. He is helping me to keep my knee over my foot so that my knee doesn't cave in, making me more prone to re- injuring my knee. I did the stationary bike the other day for 50 minutes. It felt so good! The only thing I'm having a problem with still is stairs and uneven ground. I can't wait for a time when the word stairs have no significance whatsoever in my daily life. My physical therapist said I only had to come in once a week from now on. I remember from my first surgery I was still going 2-3 times a month for the first 3 months. So I decided I still want to go 2 times a week because I learn so much about my knee and soak up so much knowledge when I'm at rehab. I'm diligent enough to make it to the gym and do some therapy by myself but I still feel like I get more out of my gym time when I'm with my physical therapist. OH! and how could I forget. I have full range of motion! *smiles*

well that was dumb... 8/10/10

After less than 3 weeks after surgery a once in a lifetime opportunity arose... going to a Yankees Redsox game at the new Yankee stadium. Being able to sit comfortably and hobble around with a limp, or swagger as I like to call it... was good enough in my mind to go be able to attend the game.

But how naive of me to think there wouldn't be rushing mobs of excited half drunk New York fans not paying attention to where they were going or little old me. When we finally made it to the seats, we literally couldn't sit in them because the navy blue leather in 100 degree heat made it too hot for the seats to even touch. We chilled off by downing 2 yards of frozen margaritas and daiquiris (our drinks were in the huge plastic containers most commonly found in Vegas or Cancun). The heat was so unbearable that with a messed up knee I was willing to stand for the rest of the game under the shade structure. We stood and stood some more until an usher was kind enough to sneak us into new seats that fell under the shade, which completely made our day. My knee felt like it was on fire. All I could think about was sitting in a bath filled with ice and water. The Yankees lost 2-1.

It wasn't the ideal conditions to enjoy a baseball game... but I DID survive and did have fun. I was a little mad at myself for being in denial about my injury. I'm still hurt and still have to hold myself back from doing everything I want.

Physical therapy was good today after not going for 4 days. Bill got the extention in my knee to be only about an inch and a half from my heel to my butt. But it's still extremely painful when he pushes my knee beyond its moving point and beyond my paid threshold. The thing I am working on now is walking without a limp. It's especially hard in the morning because my knee gets extremely stiff. I'm going back to Utah in 2 weeks so I'm going to have to look into good physical therapy out there.

2 weeks post- op 8/5/10

Stitches out. Off crutches. No more need for my brace!

It's hard to believe only two weeks have gone by. It feels like it should be longer than that, but being stricken with boredom will do that I guess.

     all dressed up... looking like frankenstein

the forever familiar exam bed

 lifts with Bill

Road the stationary bike for the first time on Tuesday.

30 degree mellow leg press

re- learning how to walk. not quite there yet without a limp. 

leg lifts, mellow weight. works the quad/hammy.

Getting the stitches out! haha. pretty gross. I felt a sharp sting when they were getting removed, so happy to have them out!

some jewelry I made in the down time. hippy stuff.

good good good 8-1-10

I went to the doctor and had the scope stitches removed. He said that my progress has been exceptional and I'm a head of how most people are about a week out of surgery considering: 
- how straight my leg is
- how I'm already able to do leg lifts and control my leg coming back down from the lift
- how I don't need the CPM machine anymore because I'm way beyond 100 degrees with my extension.
So I was very happy!
He said it has a lot to do with how strong I was coming into surgery. The injury had time to heal, my knee had 100% motion and wasn't swollen. He said that my old ACL absorbed into my body when he went in with the scope to remove it there was nothing there! This apparently takes a long time, meaning that my ACL was gone for a long time before I got surgery.(*remember I can't actually pin point a time when I tore my ACL).

I've also been able to walk around without crutches, but my physical therapist didn't actually clear me to do that. I went to a dinner party for my dad and was able to sit down for a pretty long time somewhat comfortably. Today my friend Heidi took me to a movie (thanks Heid!). My knee felt a lot of soreness but I have come to the conclusion it's a feeling that I am going to have to get used to. It felt good to get out of the house 2 days in row.

I hate my huge knee brace and haven't used it around the house since the 4th day post surgery. I don't like it mostly because it's heavy and puts added weight that my leg needs to lug around. I wear it when I leave the house but I don't think it serves any purpose while I'm inside.

I can't wait to get all the stitches out of my knee so I will be comfortable falling asleep in another position besides laying on my back.

My knee never really did bruise that badly. I thought there was going to be more bruising. I make it a point to ice my knee a few hours a day-- ice ice baby. I'm still taking the ibuprophen 600mg about 3 or 4 times a day. It will be a good day when I don't need those at all anymore.

I'm excited for physical therapy on Tuesday. I think I will be able to get on the stationary bike!

one step at a time 7-28-10

I didn't even have a chance to hold them back.

As my physical therapist bent my leg backwards beyond my pain threshold the tears immediately came pouring out. This sudden jarring pain was a quick reminder that I still have a long way to go. Not that I ever really forgot.

Physical therapy is short, painful and uncomfortable. I also never feel like I'm doing enough exercises when I'm in there, but the ones I do hurt so bad I guess there's not much more I can do.  I've only been to two sessions. Like I said it's going to be a long process.  

On a positive note it's getting easier to move around the house. I can put myself to bed at night and am comfortable putting my leg in a position laying down where I don't have to be on my back all the time.  It's hard for me to sleep at night because I don't do anything during the day to make myself tired!

I was surprised initially that my knee didn't have much bruising, but it seems like all the internal bruising  is finally coming to the surface. My knee is also completely numb on both sides. I still after 6 years haven't fully regained the normal feeling in my left knee from the nerve damage so I'm expecting the feeling to take a while to come back. If I have an itch and I scratch my knee I can't feel anything, so how will the itch ever go away? haha.

that that does not kill you.. 4-25-10

So basically I'm really attractive right now. I haven't showered in 4 days. I have a metal brace on my leg from hip to ankle and I'm pretty sure I smell like throwup, seeing how I that's what I did this morning. An incredible pain in my stomach woke me from my slumber in the middle of the night. I thought it was weird to be having pain somehwere else besides my knee. It turns out my body reacted negativly to the oxycotin pain killers. The pain killers were doing a fine job of numbing the pain but did something absolutely absurd to my stomach. I can handle some knee discomfort but what I was feeling in the morning is something I can't handle. So starting today I went cold turkey on them and have only been taking ibuprofen and icing. That that does not kill you will only make you stronger. I'm getting around really well and tonight was the first night I could sit and eat dinner at the dinner table. Tomorrow I have my first physical therapy session and I feel like I'm a little a head of the game compared to my last acl surgery... so we'll see where I'm really at.

baby steps 7-24-10

- Mornings are the hardest. the pain is the worse when I get up. but eases up once I get out of bed/ take a pain killer. 
- I feel bad. I wake my mom up in the middle of the night at like 3 a.m. because the ice in the ice cooler that is connected to my leg melts and my knee starts feeling like it is on fire. 
- t.v. sucks pretty bad. time to read a book tomorrow. 
- I still haven't showered yet :)
- I had 3 friends come over which was nice but a little exhausting. the pain killers make me really tired and i have to fight off the drowsy feeling and be social. but it was SO good to have people come over. (thanks Matt, Steph, TG !!)
- I still have no appetite but am eating more substantial stuff.
- I'm always really cold, I think because of the cooling pack that's always on my leg
- last night i couldn't sleep because I kept having involuntary twitches in my bad leg that would be painful and wake me up. I think I got a head of myself by sleeping without the brace on. After I put the brace back on it felt a lot better and I fell a sleep.
- I raised my leg today and got to 65 degrees on the CMP!!! = progress