Happy St. Pat’s day to all from “Little Miss Lucky”–that’s me moments after my surgery.
Thanks to massive pain killers and nerve blocks, I don’t really remember most of it. I remember waking up to graham crackers and ginger ale and the nurse directing me to eat the crackers. I just wanted to fall back asleep. My leg was numb, but I could feel the bulky weight of my new reality. Maybe if I could go back to sleep, I could magically awaken to a fully rehabbed and strong ACL? Not the case. That was too much to think about. As the anesthesia slowly wore off, my surgeon came in the room. I felt like I needed to ask him so much, but was first concerned with how I was going to get into my car and leave the hospital; I couldn’t bare to think of life beyond that. Then he said,”Well, the worst part is over. It all gets better from here.”
He was and is right. Once you make the surgical decision to reconstruct your knee, every day from that point on gets better and the only thing you have to do is progress. I know, this sounds contrary to what most of the rest of this blog says. Rehab is not easy, but the great thing is that you have the opportunity each day to “rebuild” your knee and the rest of your body. You become more conscious of movements, body mechanics and proper form. You never take a moment you can move for granted again. Most people will never see life–or their bodies–from that angle. So complain as we do, the whole ACL experience makes us better athletes –and people in the end. Lucky us 
great attitude….I kept saying that too, that I would never take anything for granted again after this. Hang in there. You will emerge stronger and more aware of your body than ever. I’m 5 weeks out right now, and I know this experience has taught me so much.
Happy St Patricks Day!!
I can completely relate on every level.
I hope you are still doing well and coming along with your planned return to the slopes.
Can’t wait to hear how the brace is working out for you.
Cheers!
It’s so nice to hear we’re in the same boat. It takes a lot to keep smiling through this, but it’s people, like you two, that really keep me going.
I’ve just come across this blog and think it’s fantastic! I’m 6 months and one week post acl and meniscus repair using my hamstring. I busted my knee skiing – I’m from the UK and had given up my office job in London to pursue a career in the mountains so I was devasted when the accident happened. I guess you could say that my rehab has gone ‘OK’, but I’ve got to a point where I was expecting to be a lot more active than I am able to be right now – I’m still in a lot of pain when trying things like squats, lunges etc and I’m worried as to why this is…..did you have any major set backs along the way? I’m seeing a surgeon in 2 weeks for a check up so I’m hoping to get some answers! I’ll keep reading your blog, as I’m very interested as to how you find your brace and what it’s like skiing the first time – thanks for such a good read.
Hi Katie,
Thanks for stopping by and sharing your story–I hope that soon enough you will be able to enjoy a lifetime in the mountains pursuing your dreams.Unfortunately, these things happen to the best of us. One day you think your progressing ahead of schedule, and the next week you feel you’ve fallen behind. In terms of still feeling pain, I completely understand. When that was the case for me, I started doing the stretches two times a day–morning and night. Don’t push it too, too hard, but do what you are comfortable with and do it until you start to feel slightly fatigued, don’t let yourself get fully fatigued at this stage, because that’s when we are likely to injure ourselves. Rather, focus on doing all the movements correctly and under control. My therapist says, “Motion is lotion for the muscles and joints.” So keep moving, things will start to feel just like they did in no time. But remember, you are the best judge for your body, so don’t push yourself, but keep moving, especially with the basic movements (clams, bridges, simple sqauts) that make all the difference. Best of luck and let me know how it goes!
I work with AlloSource (www.allosource.org), one of the nation’s largest non-profit providers of skin, bone and soft tissue allografts for use in surgical procedures. We have been following your blog and think you have created a great informational resource for your readers, especially because you are so candid about your own experiences.
We have also recently started a blog at http://www.allograftpossibilites.org, in order to better educate both the medical community and the public on the topic of tissue donation and the science of allograft transplantation.
I wanted to reach out to you to introduce you and your readers to our resource. Thanks again for the great blog – keep up the good work!
Wow! Thank you for the follow and I will be sure to link out to your new blog. A lot of people come here asking about graft possibilities, so your blog and site will indeed be a great resource for many. Congrats on starting the blog!
The blog has no preceding “www”, just http://allograftpossibilities.org/
The date of my surgery is coming soon (April 1st). Did you experience anxiety going into the surgery at all? I find myself most anxious for the surgery, but I am trying to not let that get the best of me.