Two months now have gone by since knee surgery on August 10. Physical therapy continues as does pain medication taken nearly every morning. I still think things are going about as well as I could have asked for, especially given my initial reluctance to have the surgery.
Physical therapy is Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday, normally for about two hours after work on each night. I get the impression from the therapists I've been working with that my rehab is progressing well, and I might be ahead of schedule, although no one has come out directly and said that to me.
A lot of the exercises involve some unusual motion and trying to keep my balance while flexing my knee. At this point I've got my range of motion back and now trying to build up strength in my knee, quadriceps, and calf. My thigh muscles doesn't feel like a bowl of jello anymore and there's some newly acquired definition in the muscle that I'm pretty happy about.
Morning still suck, and not just because I have to go to work. Most everything on my right leg is sore when I wake up and I am still relying on my pain medication, although in a lesser dose than I was using a month ago. I do some light stretching throughout the day at work and try to get up from my desk as often as possible to stretch out and keep the blood moving. After sitting for more than an hour I can really feel things tighten up and I'll take a lap around the office.
One of the good things about my office building is that there are two floors and I have to go downstairs a few times each day for miscellaneous reasons. Going downstairs is one of the toughest motions to get back after surgery, it's pretty amazing how tough it really is to bend your knee like that. Definitely something I've always taken for granted but it's becoming easier all the time. I plan on continuing PT for at least the rest of 2012 and then deciding whether or not I should continue supervised therapy or just start exercising on my own. To be determined. To be continued.
Sunday, October 14, 2012
Wednesday, September 12, 2012
Month
It been a month now since surgery. I've done six physical therapy sessions with one more to go this week. I'll be going to PT three times per week for the foreseeable future. It's going about as well as I could ask for PT-wise. I don't know if they're just giving me the run around and a pat on the back, but I've heard a few different therapists say that thought I was ahead of schedule, and for how soon it is after surgery, I'm doing very well. The sessions are basically half stretching and half rebuilding the leg strength that was lost after the injury and surgery. Each session has ended with 15-20 minutes of ice with electric stimulation, of which I am going to try and get a video.
This past weekend I was able to make it out for really the first time since surgery. I had a wedding on Friday, went to a baseball game on Saturday, and went out for football on Sunday. I had to go up and down stairs a number of times at the game on Saturday. I just took my time and watched my step. I probably was made a few people who got stuck behind me go insane when I was slow walking to the the men's. I guess I kinda enjoyed that.
The following Monday at work was rough. It was partially the result of an active weekend; I did have some knee pain, tightness and discomfort for most of the day. I think I was also a bit hungover for the first time in over a month. I had a few drinks Friday night, Saturday day, and Sunday day and night with more drinks Sunday than the other two days combined. I have eased off on drinking any alcohol well taking the pain medication, but I let this weekend be an exception. It was good to get out and do something, so I just accepted it, drank plenty of water and gave it time. I was back to normal by the time my PT session rolled around at 5:30pm.
Friday, August 31, 2012
3 weeks out of surgery
It's been three weeks since my knee surgery. I began physical therapy this past Tuesday. That was 18 days after surgery. The swelling had greatly subsided and I felt ready to start working with the professionals. I chose physical therapy office half way between home and work and plan on getting my sessions in after work 2 or 3 times a week.
I began my first session Tuesday afternoon at 12pm. The first session goes a little longer and there were no other appointments, so I decided to go in and get it done. My physical therapist (PT from now on) is a guy named Bob who as it happened graduated from the same high school as me a few years before I did and plays in the same Sunday softball league where I tore my ACL. Strange coincidence. The PT said he's had a handful of injuries similar to mine this summer as a result of playing in softball leagues. That didn't surprise me much because I know I saw at least one or two other guys go down while playing in the league this past year. I know one guy needed an ambulance for whatever happened to him. A bunch of old guys trying to act young often times results in painful injuries.
We went over my goals, a timetable and I worked through I few basic exercises. A lot of the focus at the beginning will be trying to get my leg to fully extend and also bend my knee as far as the other knee can bend. I did a few exercises that worked on strengthening my quadriceps and also muscles up near my hip. The whole session lasted about an hour and a half. I was given some exercises to do at home on days were I don't have PT and I left feeling good about where I was headed. I went back to work and finished out the rest of the day.
I called Walgreen's late in the afternoon to get a refill of my prescription, thinking I better refill just to be safe in case there is some lingering pain after PT. Walgreen's though, apparently had no record of my prescription and was unable to do anything for me until they heard from my doctor. This was pretty strange since I had just been to Walgreen's days before to pick up the prescription. I called my doctors office but was only able to leave a message with a nurse.
The next morning was pretty unpleasant. Generally, mornings are the worst time of day for my knee pain because any pain medicine has worn off over night and my leg is just kind of in the same position all night and tends to tighten up. I got up, took my last pain pill (usually i take 2 or 2.5), ate some high fiber cereal and went to work.
I began the day making a series of phone calls between Walgreen's and my doctor's office trying to get this all straightened out. Hopefully, I thought, I'd be able to pick up the prescription around lunch time. By mid morning, my knee and thigh were beginning to ache, at times there was this pulsating pain in my lower quad. I felt like I was running a temperature and was told by a co-worker I didn't look so good. I needed my pills, damn it! The day after the first PT session was kicking my ass.
After another handful of calls, I was able to confirm with Walgreen's would be ready for pick up around 6pm, an hour after I normally get off work. I hung around work for as long as I could but the place cleared out about 5:15. I went out to my car, turned the key, and the son of a bitch wouldn't start. I didn't really care about the car but if this episode got in the way of me getting to Walgreen's at 6, I'd just lose it. Luckily, I had a friend come through and stop by and come jump my car. I got to Walgreen around six, picked up my prescription, and was out the door with a smile.
The rest of the week was pretty uneventful. I had my second PT session on Thursday. It was very similar to what I did in my previous session, except it began with me doing 10 minutes on a bike. The pain the following day, today, can't even compare to what I felt on Wednesday. This morning, I woke up and took 2.5 pills and have been doing just fine.
I began my first session Tuesday afternoon at 12pm. The first session goes a little longer and there were no other appointments, so I decided to go in and get it done. My physical therapist (PT from now on) is a guy named Bob who as it happened graduated from the same high school as me a few years before I did and plays in the same Sunday softball league where I tore my ACL. Strange coincidence. The PT said he's had a handful of injuries similar to mine this summer as a result of playing in softball leagues. That didn't surprise me much because I know I saw at least one or two other guys go down while playing in the league this past year. I know one guy needed an ambulance for whatever happened to him. A bunch of old guys trying to act young often times results in painful injuries.
We went over my goals, a timetable and I worked through I few basic exercises. A lot of the focus at the beginning will be trying to get my leg to fully extend and also bend my knee as far as the other knee can bend. I did a few exercises that worked on strengthening my quadriceps and also muscles up near my hip. The whole session lasted about an hour and a half. I was given some exercises to do at home on days were I don't have PT and I left feeling good about where I was headed. I went back to work and finished out the rest of the day.
I called Walgreen's late in the afternoon to get a refill of my prescription, thinking I better refill just to be safe in case there is some lingering pain after PT. Walgreen's though, apparently had no record of my prescription and was unable to do anything for me until they heard from my doctor. This was pretty strange since I had just been to Walgreen's days before to pick up the prescription. I called my doctors office but was only able to leave a message with a nurse.
The next morning was pretty unpleasant. Generally, mornings are the worst time of day for my knee pain because any pain medicine has worn off over night and my leg is just kind of in the same position all night and tends to tighten up. I got up, took my last pain pill (usually i take 2 or 2.5), ate some high fiber cereal and went to work.
I began the day making a series of phone calls between Walgreen's and my doctor's office trying to get this all straightened out. Hopefully, I thought, I'd be able to pick up the prescription around lunch time. By mid morning, my knee and thigh were beginning to ache, at times there was this pulsating pain in my lower quad. I felt like I was running a temperature and was told by a co-worker I didn't look so good. I needed my pills, damn it! The day after the first PT session was kicking my ass.
After another handful of calls, I was able to confirm with Walgreen's would be ready for pick up around 6pm, an hour after I normally get off work. I hung around work for as long as I could but the place cleared out about 5:15. I went out to my car, turned the key, and the son of a bitch wouldn't start. I didn't really care about the car but if this episode got in the way of me getting to Walgreen's at 6, I'd just lose it. Luckily, I had a friend come through and stop by and come jump my car. I got to Walgreen around six, picked up my prescription, and was out the door with a smile.
The rest of the week was pretty uneventful. I had my second PT session on Thursday. It was very similar to what I did in my previous session, except it began with me doing 10 minutes on a bike. The pain the following day, today, can't even compare to what I felt on Wednesday. This morning, I woke up and took 2.5 pills and have been doing just fine.
Monday, August 20, 2012
10 Days After - Back to the Doctor
My first follow up with surgeon was today, ten days after the surgery. My impression going in was that things were going pretty well. I am able to walk around, albeit gingerly, I can get some good bend going in my knee, and the swelling has gone down noticeably. To this point, I'm happy with my progress.
I got to the doctor's office for my 1145am appointment and waited until about 1210pm until my name was called. The nurse told me she was going to take out the sutures and then the doctor would come in and take a look. The sutures came out pain free and the nurse mentioned how the incisions look like they're healing well.
The doctor was in shortly thereafter and he basically wanted to see how far I could extend my knee and how far I could bend it towards my body while sitting. He went through some still photos of the procedure, he showed me where my ACL was supposed to be but wasn't and showed me my new ACL which as it happens is some guy's old ACL. You see, my new right ACL was harvested from a cadaver and then reattached inside of my knee. Kinda weird but it's standard procedure in the world of ACL reconstruction. I'll take this opportunity to thank the aforementioned cadaver for his body part that I will in the future find very useful. Maybe a post dedicated to who it might have been one of these days.
Anyways, the doctor was satisfied with my progress and said I can begin physical therapy this week. I need to call the insurance company and a few physical therapy centers to figure out how I can manage rehab with my job. There seems to be a physical therapy office / building / outfit on every other street, so I don't envision a problem.
One thing from over the weekend I found out was that's its probably best to have an ample supply of prescription pain killers at all times. I ran out on Friday and figured the weekend would be a good time to try and wean myself off the good stuff. I started taking extra strength Tylenol and it just was not the same. I had trouble sleeping for more than a few hours at a time and I had terrible, cold, night sweats. I got my refill for my pain meds today and what a huge difference it makes. So as a piece of advice if in a similar situation: Stay ahead of the pain and when running low on your pain meds, its more than worth it to get the refill when you're only a week out of surgery.
I got to the doctor's office for my 1145am appointment and waited until about 1210pm until my name was called. The nurse told me she was going to take out the sutures and then the doctor would come in and take a look. The sutures came out pain free and the nurse mentioned how the incisions look like they're healing well.
The doctor was in shortly thereafter and he basically wanted to see how far I could extend my knee and how far I could bend it towards my body while sitting. He went through some still photos of the procedure, he showed me where my ACL was supposed to be but wasn't and showed me my new ACL which as it happens is some guy's old ACL. You see, my new right ACL was harvested from a cadaver and then reattached inside of my knee. Kinda weird but it's standard procedure in the world of ACL reconstruction. I'll take this opportunity to thank the aforementioned cadaver for his body part that I will in the future find very useful. Maybe a post dedicated to who it might have been one of these days.
Anyways, the doctor was satisfied with my progress and said I can begin physical therapy this week. I need to call the insurance company and a few physical therapy centers to figure out how I can manage rehab with my job. There seems to be a physical therapy office / building / outfit on every other street, so I don't envision a problem.
One thing from over the weekend I found out was that's its probably best to have an ample supply of prescription pain killers at all times. I ran out on Friday and figured the weekend would be a good time to try and wean myself off the good stuff. I started taking extra strength Tylenol and it just was not the same. I had trouble sleeping for more than a few hours at a time and I had terrible, cold, night sweats. I got my refill for my pain meds today and what a huge difference it makes. So as a piece of advice if in a similar situation: Stay ahead of the pain and when running low on your pain meds, its more than worth it to get the refill when you're only a week out of surgery.
Friday, August 17, 2012
One Week Surgiversary
Today, Friday, makes it one week since I've had my ACL surgery. In one week I've gone from being a crutch-needing, constantly in pain, frequently puking disaster area to merely a hobbling, somewhat physically independent, somewhat opioid dependent maker of progress. There have been a few unexpected pop / crack noises that kinda shook me up.. The noises weren't followed by much pain, just maybe a tingle, so I figure it was just my knee kind of re-adjusting to its new surroundings. I've taken it pretty easy and haven't had any bad missteps. At times, I'm walking with no cane. When I do I'm sort of hunched over. It's obvious there's a limp or leg dragging but I'm able to put some pressure on it and keep my balance, so I'm happy to be walking again.
Despite all the positives, when I walk, I can feel how weak my leg has become. The thigh muscles began to atrophy shortly after the injury occurred, strengthened some in the month or prior to surgery, but now they're really starting to fade on me. My right thigh has a consistency similar to that of a packet of Go-Gurt. If I were a chicken and you were going to eat me I'd recommend the breast or the wing or the gizzard, the thigh and leg are just not where the good meat is at anymore. It'll all come back with the physical therapy and strengthening exercises and time, but that's just it, it's going to take some time. It's just incredible how quickly the muscle deteriorates compared to how much time it takes to get it back. I signed up for it though, so I just need to be ready when the time comes.
Hopefully, the time is next week. I see my surgeon on Monday and I expect him to let me know when I can begin the physical therapy. I think he'll remove the stitches and let me know how he thinks my recovery has progressed so far. I've followed all the doctor's instructions, nearly to a T, so barring any weekend catastrophes, I expect to leave there Monday with good results and a better idea of the game plan moving forward.
Despite all the positives, when I walk, I can feel how weak my leg has become. The thigh muscles began to atrophy shortly after the injury occurred, strengthened some in the month or prior to surgery, but now they're really starting to fade on me. My right thigh has a consistency similar to that of a packet of Go-Gurt. If I were a chicken and you were going to eat me I'd recommend the breast or the wing or the gizzard, the thigh and leg are just not where the good meat is at anymore. It'll all come back with the physical therapy and strengthening exercises and time, but that's just it, it's going to take some time. It's just incredible how quickly the muscle deteriorates compared to how much time it takes to get it back. I signed up for it though, so I just need to be ready when the time comes.
Hopefully, the time is next week. I see my surgeon on Monday and I expect him to let me know when I can begin the physical therapy. I think he'll remove the stitches and let me know how he thinks my recovery has progressed so far. I've followed all the doctor's instructions, nearly to a T, so barring any weekend catastrophes, I expect to leave there Monday with good results and a better idea of the game plan moving forward.
Wednesday, August 15, 2012
Back To Work
I made it back into work today for the first time since surgery. I brought my cane (below) with me to get around and a pocket full of pain meds to make the transition back that much easier.
Work wasn't all too bad, everyone there was very helpful, offered to get me water, etc. Gotta take a little help sometimes, and it was nice of them to give me a hand. Had a Qdoba burrito for lunch. I checked a couple weeks back but nothing has changed. Qdoba is still not a cure for a bum knee. I'll follow up on this in due time, just to make certain the situation hasn't changed.
I had work to do, and stayed fairly busy so the day went by quickly. It can get a little frustrating when it feels like everyone is asking you the same questions, and asking you how you're feeling, and can they do anything to help. It's not that I don't appreciate it, and I know people just want to help, but for whatever reason I get annoyed. It's probably more just being frustrated with myself. Having to explain what the prognosis is just makes me think about how long its going to be until I'm back on my feet. It's tough knowing there are a lot of really simple things I'm used to doing without a thought that I'm just unable to right now. I just need to take it easy and accept the help when people are willing to offer it.
All in all, it was good to be back at work, not laying in bed and actually making myself useful felt good. I got home around 5:30pm and was pretty exhausted. I iced up my knee again, laid in bed and got a short nap in. I was more tired than I expected since I slept pretty well the night before. Just a longer day than I've been used to catching up with me. Tomorrow I get to take my first real shower since having surgery, and I'm actually looking forward to that.
Here's the cane I've been using to get around. It was my grandma's before she passed away. It had a Made in China sticker on it, which I promptly removed. America! I think it's either an eagle, a whale, or since maybe a dragon on the top of the cane, but I'm not really sure.
Work wasn't all too bad, everyone there was very helpful, offered to get me water, etc. Gotta take a little help sometimes, and it was nice of them to give me a hand. Had a Qdoba burrito for lunch. I checked a couple weeks back but nothing has changed. Qdoba is still not a cure for a bum knee. I'll follow up on this in due time, just to make certain the situation hasn't changed.
I had work to do, and stayed fairly busy so the day went by quickly. It can get a little frustrating when it feels like everyone is asking you the same questions, and asking you how you're feeling, and can they do anything to help. It's not that I don't appreciate it, and I know people just want to help, but for whatever reason I get annoyed. It's probably more just being frustrated with myself. Having to explain what the prognosis is just makes me think about how long its going to be until I'm back on my feet. It's tough knowing there are a lot of really simple things I'm used to doing without a thought that I'm just unable to right now. I just need to take it easy and accept the help when people are willing to offer it.
All in all, it was good to be back at work, not laying in bed and actually making myself useful felt good. I got home around 5:30pm and was pretty exhausted. I iced up my knee again, laid in bed and got a short nap in. I was more tired than I expected since I slept pretty well the night before. Just a longer day than I've been used to catching up with me. Tomorrow I get to take my first real shower since having surgery, and I'm actually looking forward to that.
Here's the cane I've been using to get around. It was my grandma's before she passed away. It had a Made in China sticker on it, which I promptly removed. America! I think it's either an eagle, a whale, or since maybe a dragon on the top of the cane, but I'm not really sure.
Monday, August 13, 2012
How It Happened
The day that will live in infamy, June 24, 2012. The old high school alumni Sunday softball league played up at the local park. The fields have always been shoddy. I played on them as a kid and really nothing much has changed. Plenty of dips and divots, areas where there's too much dirt or not enough, I guess basically your average Little League field.
Our team played two games that day, in the first we took a beating. I think the score was 10-0. It was ugly. The next game was sure to be better though. Our competition, a team named Travis and the Chimps was notoriously bad. We were up probably 8 or 9 runs when I came to bat in maybe the 5th inning. I hit a single to center field, the player bobbled the ball while fielding it and I decided to go for second base. I was running hard and it looked like I was going to make it there safely, but as I put the brakes on quickly, my right knee gave out on me. There was an extremely loud, dull pop and I went down in a heap around second base. I knew immediately that something was very wrong and I instinctively grabbed my knee. As players from the other team and teammates began to gather around me to see what had happened. A person asked me if I wanted to get off the field; I most certainly did. A couple of guys helped me up, and gave me assistance getting to our team's bench.
It was a hot day, so I parked myself under a tree in the shade. A few people had extra ice so I bagged some up and began to ice the knee down, still mindlessly hoping that everything would be OK. Maybe my knee just popped in and out real quick, with no real damage. That would be great, but obviously it was wishful thinking. As I sat there a few people walked by and asked how I was doing. My friend's parents who came to the park to watch the game said that they could hear the pop from where they were sitting. They were easily over 100 feet from second base where it happened, this can't be good.
Faced with the grim reality that something was seriously wrong, I did what most Sunday softball players would do at a time like this. I drank. I had a few at the park, I hobbled to my car, drove up to the bar and had some more there with the team. It was beginning to get dark, I was beginning to get drunk, and my knee was beginning to swell up. It was time to go home. I limped out of the bar and to my car, a frustrated drunken mess. I made it home safely, continued to ice the knee up and fell asleep.
The next morning I woke up to a grotesquely swollen knee (below) and called into work to tell them what happened. I couldn't walk, was getting around the house using a baseball bat for a crutch and in quite a bit of pain. Mentally and physically, that was a rough day for me, more difficult than the day of surgery or the day after. I went into work the next day on crutches, I went to the doctor soon after and an MRI revealed that I had torn the ACL in my right knee. I was headed for surgery, there was no way around it.
Our team played two games that day, in the first we took a beating. I think the score was 10-0. It was ugly. The next game was sure to be better though. Our competition, a team named Travis and the Chimps was notoriously bad. We were up probably 8 or 9 runs when I came to bat in maybe the 5th inning. I hit a single to center field, the player bobbled the ball while fielding it and I decided to go for second base. I was running hard and it looked like I was going to make it there safely, but as I put the brakes on quickly, my right knee gave out on me. There was an extremely loud, dull pop and I went down in a heap around second base. I knew immediately that something was very wrong and I instinctively grabbed my knee. As players from the other team and teammates began to gather around me to see what had happened. A person asked me if I wanted to get off the field; I most certainly did. A couple of guys helped me up, and gave me assistance getting to our team's bench.
It was a hot day, so I parked myself under a tree in the shade. A few people had extra ice so I bagged some up and began to ice the knee down, still mindlessly hoping that everything would be OK. Maybe my knee just popped in and out real quick, with no real damage. That would be great, but obviously it was wishful thinking. As I sat there a few people walked by and asked how I was doing. My friend's parents who came to the park to watch the game said that they could hear the pop from where they were sitting. They were easily over 100 feet from second base where it happened, this can't be good.
Faced with the grim reality that something was seriously wrong, I did what most Sunday softball players would do at a time like this. I drank. I had a few at the park, I hobbled to my car, drove up to the bar and had some more there with the team. It was beginning to get dark, I was beginning to get drunk, and my knee was beginning to swell up. It was time to go home. I limped out of the bar and to my car, a frustrated drunken mess. I made it home safely, continued to ice the knee up and fell asleep.
The next morning I woke up to a grotesquely swollen knee (below) and called into work to tell them what happened. I couldn't walk, was getting around the house using a baseball bat for a crutch and in quite a bit of pain. Mentally and physically, that was a rough day for me, more difficult than the day of surgery or the day after. I went into work the next day on crutches, I went to the doctor soon after and an MRI revealed that I had torn the ACL in my right knee. I was headed for surgery, there was no way around it.
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