67 Days After ACL Surgery: Better than last week, but still worried..

When we left off last week, I was saying how I can't walk or bend it...or something like that and there was a lot of pain and so on.

Well here we are, about 8 days later, and my knee is better...but its still got me very nervous.

I feel like it hasn't been the same since I slipped, with regards to the pain and "wobbly" feeling I am experiencing. Now, maybe this is all in my head and I just "think" that I was able to do more before, but there is definitely pain (mostly at the end of PT and if I walk for too long...without the brace).

But back to last week....

58 Days After ACL Surgery: Did I just tear my ACL again?

Horrible news today. Absolutely horrible.

Everything has been going great my the knee. Physical therapy has been helping me a lot and I've started walking almost normally and going out all the time. Things were only getting better. 

Until last night.

We partied a little too hard last night and I was without my brace. I ended up walking home too (2 miles?) and this morning I woke up to a lot of discomfort in my knee for no known reason. As the day progressed, I started finding out from friends that I might have twisted my knee in the kitchen but nobody remembers for sure.

Then I also apparently told Michelle that my knee "gave out" and hearing her tell me that today scared the shit out of me. 

I am in bed now with the ice machine hooked up to my knee and in a lot of pain. I have been taking advil and tylenol all day but right now nothing is working. I took the tylenol around 4-5PM and I am going to take a vicodin now (10:45ishPM) so I can hopefully sleep ok.

I have pain in my whole knee, but a lot of it is in the side of my knee. Also, when I press on both sides of my knee at the same time I feel pain too. I don't want to speculate about anything because last time I did, I was right on all fronts. This time I'm just going into this situation with a different view.

I had a misstep yesterday. Then I walked a long way home. I overdid it plain and simple. My leg needs rest now and a painkiller will just help me deal with the pain. I am scheduled for PT tomorrow so I will go and take it easy. I will do the bike and other exercises and keep my knee moving so that swelling goes down. After a few days, it will be getting better and better and I will continue with my therapy.

I am praying hard for this to be true.

Updates will be flowing during this long week. Stay tuned.

50 Days After ACL Surgery: First Resistance Workouts

Exactly 60 days, or 2 months after my ACL surgery, I am finally moving to weights and resistance. To this point, most of my exercises at Physical Therapy have been range-of-motion exercises and a lot of movement. Today, Gina though it would finally be ok to start lifting some weights, especially since I was able to get the full rotation on the bike (not with toes, but middle of the foot).

Join me after the jump to read about my first weight exercises.

48 Days After ACL Surgery: Doctor says "Lose the brace!"

Today, after my 3rd visit to the doctor since surgery, I have had the most positive visit yet. He said my knee was looking better and asked me if I feel the bones (knee) shifting at all...I told him no I don't, especially since I am using the brace almost 24/7.

He checked out my knee a little more, bent it and straightened it, and said its still a bit stiff...but not bad. Some patients are a little too loose so stiffness is not a big deal. He told me to start walking without the brace (no jumping, twisting, hoping, excessive walking, etc.) and to take it slow.

Getting better and better.