Day 31:

Going back to work has gone pretty well.  At first I wondered if maybe I took too long to come to work.  Things went smoothly and I felt pretty good the first day.  As the week has worn on I now realize why it was good I was out for four weeks.  As my duties picked up and I had to crutch to places more and more, I really started to feel tired.  I am glad that it is Thanksgiving week in the States because I think I would be pretty exhausted by the end of the week otherwise.

My recovery is going well.  My knee is becoming more and more flexible and less and less swollen.  This week's PT appoint went well too.  I got to use the exercise bike for the first time with good results.  10 minutes did not feel hard at all.  I also was able to unlock my brace to max flexion now that I am past the four week mark.  I forgot to ask what my target flexion should be, but at the moment it is 120 degrees.  If it varies person to person, I think I probably will end up on the lower end of the range based on how inflexible my good leg is.  I hope that there's not too much more to go.  A good sign was that my PT thought that I should focus on practicing my walking motion so that I can walk quickly after being able to weight bear.  It is funny.  I never gave so much thought about how I walked before.  I sort of forgot what I normally did.  

I also had my first beer since the surgery!  No beer has ever tasted so good!

A lot of people ask how much time you need off for an ACL reconstruction.  I am just one data point but as a 30 year old man in average shape who used his hamstrings and had a meniscus repair four weeks seemed about right.  I think if I didn't need to worry about weight bearing and using the crutches so long I would say that three weeks would have been fine.  I have an office job that can have long hours but is flexible as far as when I am in the office and when I can take a break to do exercises.  

Happy Thanksgiving to all my fellow Americans!  Best wishes to all the other fellow gimps recovering around the world!  

Day 25:

Things are going well although I continue to have a scare from time to time.  While doing my knee bends on Tuesday night I started to feel a grinding sensation as I was coming back through.  It didn't hurt, but it was a little troubling.  I brought it up to my PT who thought that it was probably just due to some inflammation due to the new exercises we were doing.  

One of the new exercises is the standing hamstring curl.  This is where I am really noticing the graft site.  It is not terribly painful but I definitely feel the rawness and the lack of *something*.  This still doesn't change my opinion about my decision of going with a hamstring graft over an allograft.  We will see how I feel once I start walking... 

Next week is going to be a big week for me.  I am going to go back to work and am told that I will be ready to go past 90 degrees officially on flexion and try the exercise bike.  I am getting pretty bored at the moment, so both developments are not too unwelcome at the moment. 

Day 18. 

Not a whole lot new to share.  I had another PT appointment on Wednesday.  The only thing of note is that they tried to see how far back my knee would go into flexion without much effort despite the 90 degree flexion restriction I currently have due to the meniscus repair.  Turns out that I can get to at least 105 without feeling any resistance.  I wonder if I couldn't go back any further, but my PT was being conservative.  

Getting a little restless and bored right now, but I am sure I will miss being able to concentrate on my recovery as much as I am once I go back to work in a week or so.  

It's funny.  I was on crutches for surgery over 10 years ago. I forgot how it's not really stairs that are the big problem; it is just getting and moving things.  Using my backpack has helped, but I hate being so reliant on getting help with getting food or coffee.  It is difficult if not impossible to brew coffee or make a sandwich and then try to take it to the table.  Often I try to lean on my crutches at the kitchen counter and eat and drink fast.  Still, I am sure this will be over before I know it and I really have little to complain about the whole process so far given my fears esp. going into this.  I am really happy with my surgeon especially at the moment.  

One thing I really wouldn't mind is a beer one of these nights.  I am not much of a drinker, but I miss kicking back and having a beer in the evening.  I have been afraid that alcohol might hamper my recovery or be dangerous, esp. when I was heavily on narcotics.  I also didn't want to drink the week before surgery, so it has been a while now.  

I may post a little less than I have been doing, especially once I start back work again.  Still, to the extent my surgery remains a positive experience I hope to continue to post from time to time to help patients coming after me from getting as scared as I was about this whole process. 

Thanks for reading. 

Day 16 

Things are going well. 

I am pretty much off of everything but ibuprofen.

 I went over my concerns about putting weight on my bad leg when I missed a step coming down the stairs with my PT.  He reassured me that I probably did not jeopardize the meniscus repair too much because there was less swelling now and because I was well into the recovery. 

The extra pain I felt on Sunday has also gone away. Still surprised that my graft site hasn't been too painful.  This was one of my biggest concerns in going with the hamstring over the allograft. 

I had to walk a bit far on my crutches to vote today. I was really tired afterwards.   This makes me wonder how being back in the office in a couple of weeks is going to go...

Day 14 (I think).

So it has been about two weeks since I had my surgery.  Things still seem to be going well generally.  I am really feeling my quads come back stronger.  I think I could easily do 50 straight leg raises in one session.    

Two recent developments were a little less positive.  After taking a shower on Friday, I missed a step coming back downstairs.  I didn't fall, but my crutches started to give out and I think I put a bit of weight on my bad leg out of instinct.  No pain or anything and my wife thankfully caught me, but I have a little bit of nervousness that I might have jeopardized my meniscus repair.  I hope not... 

The second thing is that I am feeling new types of pain.  I feel sort of a pulsating pain and tingling in my knee this morning from off and on.  If I had to guess this seems like something to do with my nerves coming back?  I expect this is normal but it is new.  It has made doing my PT a little more difficult and perhaps delayed me phasing out pain meds now.  

Another PT appointment tomorrow.  I hope to have good news from that.  

Thanks for reading.