-Bending, Extenstion and ROM seem to be very up to par

-My knee only feels stiff when I am sitting at my desk for long periods of time

-Still no running, but I am avid on the bike, rowing machine, eliptical and others

-My knee doesn’t “pop” as much, apparently the knee cap is getting back into it’s groove

-My operated leg is still not as strong as the other leg (only 50 million more squats to go!)

-I am (cautiously) “jumping” on the BOSU ball and shuttle machine

-My scar is pretty much clear, no more purple/red to it

-My scar tissue has faded fast, sometimes I have to search hard to find the little bit of it

-I am actually looking forward to getting back to sports soon (sports, as in playing on a team) I’m also a huge advocate of being cautious with this bionic knee, so no set date yet, but I feel ready. I will be hitting the slopes in Tahoe this January.

I hope all is well with everyone! Where are you at post-op and what is your new knee life like these days?

Let’s pool together our collective knee wisdom and help a fellow reader out. He recently commented in the “All About Knee” section, and I wanted to bring it to the forefront to get your opinions.

Here’s his comment:

I had patellar graft on June 19th from my left knee and i am back jogging in straight line this week(week15) twice a week.I am in the gym 3 nites a week as well which starts with 20 mins intense on bike and think continuous work on my quads and hamstrings.My left quad is till very light compared to my good lef so my physio suggested i push more now with my left leg.I have slight pain after jogging now but its not too bad.
Has anybody got any good tips on how to increase quad and hamstring muscle bar the usual leg press and leg curl machines.

… at first, I was startled. I couldn’t believe his hair do, so I had to ask him about it. Turns out, Jack, with www.rollersoccer.com tattooed on the back of his head, is the owner creator of the Rollersoccer Federation International. As we talked soccer, it’s inevitable that I had to bring up my knee and how I lost it to soccer. No one who plays soccer questions an ACL soccer injury; they happen all the time.

Jack went on to tell me that some of soccer’s greatest players have used roller soccer as rehab to get back to the grassy field. Interesting. People wearing roller blades, sprinting up and down a wooden gym floor all while trying to incorporate the fundamentals of soccer is actually GOOD for knee rehab? What do you think? I’ll have to check with my surgeon and PTs on that one. Nonetheless, Jack–a very enthusiatic and outgoing fellow–piqued my interest. I do like a challenge, so while I’m still in wall-squat and leg-lift prohibition, I’ll look into the sport of roller soccer. 

So here’s how two different sugeries and two different graphs are doing at two different points in their recoveries:

Cadaver Graft, 6 weeks out…Kate, my friend, walked into the bar like it was nothing. No crutches, no brace. Not even a gimp. If you didn’t know she had surgery, you couldn’t tell anything. Prior to her surgery, Kate enjoyed an active lifestyle of hiking, biking and skiing. (She tore her ACL skiing in Tahoe.) Now, she isn’t quite running just yet, but she uses the excercise bike and is building her strenght back up. She will be back on the slopes in no time for the season. She took off work for three weeks.

Me…still not running, but moving around just fine. I don’t even think about me knee anymore. I can sit cross-legged again, do light yoga and kneel on my knees. The scar hasn’t gone clear yet, but it is certainly starting to fade into oblivion. It will be gone in no time. I, too, plan to hit the slopes this season–that’s my current goal. Perhaps Kate and I will do an ACL ski trip, and this time she will conquer Tahoe, no fear at all. Details to come….

Any other ACL skiers out there? Perhaps we can all plan a ski trip together–a celebration of progress, if you will. 

Pic from tahoesbest.com

 This is from the Downtown STL Chiro:

 “Russian Stimulation uses a stronger electrical current to cause a muscle group to contract and then relax by placing electrodes on the skin over the weak muscle. The current will elicit a gentle contraction, which will increase the strength of the muscle.” 

The Early Experiments http://ptjournal.highwire.org/cgi/content/abstract/82/10/1019

I realize not everyone wants to see my stitches (actually the steri-strips cover the stitches, but there’s plenty to see), so you can click here to see the damage from a patella tendon ACL reconstruction. You don’t have to look. My goal is to provide a realistic portrayal of recovery, so the pic is there if you need it.

In other ACL news, my last few days have been a strict schedule of rest, exercise and quality time spent in my CPM machine. I see my surgeon next Thursday and I want him to remove my stitches and allow me to start physical therapy then. That said, my main focus is to get the swelling, which is pretty prominent, to go down. Here’s what I’m doing each day to get me closer to those goals.

-I spent four hours in the CPM machine. (1hr. in the morning, 2hrs. in the afternoon and 1hr. before bed)

-After each CPM session, I go for a walk with my crutches, utilizing the “touchdown method.”

-I exercise after each walk. Here are the Week 1 post-op exercises as recommended by the Northwestern Orthopaedic Institute: Knee Extensions (straight), Knee Extensions (prone leg hangs), Sitting Knee Flexion/Extension, Isometric Hamstring & Quadricep Contractions, Co-Contractions w/Hams & Quads, Ankle Pumps, Straight Leg Raises and Range of Motion (bend & stretch as far as you can). This is just a list. I plan to expand upon each in future posts.

I can tell you from my own experience that there is a lot to get used to after surgery, even the simple things like, how to get out of the bed, If you need to get surgery, just make sure you take at least a week off work to really focus on you reducing swelling, getting back on your feet and re-learning how to move around your home.