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!