Injuries
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ACL Recovery Log – 6 Month Post Op Update
I can’t believe 6 months have passed since my surgery. Like usual, not much has changed since my last update. Overall, my knee feels the same: strong but weird. I’ve resigned to the fact that my knee won’t ever feel normal like my other knee. It’s just different now. It feels tighter because it is. I still have a slight clicking when I extend my leg and not sure if that will ever go away either. Biking I’ve been biking a lot! I feel like my mountain biking fitness is equal to my pre-injury fitness at this point. A few weeks ago, I did a big ride at Elm Ridge…
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ACL Recovery Log #14 – 3 Months Post Op
Last week marked 3 months post ACL reconstruction surgery! Three months marks a few big milestones, one of which is starting plyometrics in PT (light hopping and jumping), as well as a follow-up appointment with the doctor. Last week he cleared me for walking easy hiking trails, as well as some easy mountain biking. I must admit I haven’t done either yet. I’ve been a little reluctant to get on my mountain bike for obvious reasons. However, I have been riding my gravel bike a lot recently. Over Memorial Day Weekend I had a goal to ride at least 50 miles over three days. Done! I rode a total of…
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ACL Recovery Log #8 – 2 Weeks Post Op
Today I had my first post-op appointment! Good news: my surgeon said my knee looked great! I’m still not allowed to do much besides the stationary bike with no resistance, along with physical therapy which starts on Monday. Most of the swelling has gone down, just have some residual bruising. My stitches have been removed (minus the big dissolvable loop stitch on my big incision) and now I’ve just got some steristrips over the incisions which will probably fall off in a few weeks. Over the past two weeks, I have been focusing on the few post-op PT exercises my therapist gave me. I’m still doing heel slides and quad…
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ACL Recovery Log #7 – 5 Days Post ACL Surgery
Note: this post contains photos of my post-op knee with stitches so if that might bother you feel free to skip! The past weekend was a blur. I came home from surgery on Friday afternoon expecting the pain to hit hard, but it never did. I kept track of my pain meds and stayed on top of them so I must have done something right. Monday morning I was allowed to take off the dressing and take a shower. It didn’t look as bad as I thought it would. I forgot to mention in my last post that in addition to ACL reconstruction, I also had part of my torn…
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ACL Recovery Log #6 -ACL Recon Surgery
Well, it’s done!! I have a new ACL thanks to a generous cadaver donor. Here’s a little rundown of how my surgery day went. Jordan and I arrived at the surgery center at 11 am. I checked in and signed a bunch of paperwork. The nurse took me back to pre-op where they prepped me for surgery–changing into the scrubs and starting my IV. After a while, the anesthesiologist came to go over the post-op pain meds and to discuss my options for anesthesia. He said 98% of ACL surgery patients go with a spinal (epidural) and stay awake during surgery. I was hesitant about it, but he made it…