ACL Recovery Log – 4.5 Months Post Op

Well, it’s been a while since my last update! At the end of June, my PT office closed and I had to find a new facility to finish out my rehab. I started going to a place in Albany that has an alter-g, an anti-gravity treadmill. The treadmill is great for rehab since it removes some of your body weight to take the impact off your joints. I imagine it’s what running in space feels like! Every time I go to PT I get to do a run/walk session on it. This will hopefully make my transition into regular running easier.

My new place is pretty nice, but I do miss the other therapist that I had been seeing since before surgery in mid-February! I have 2 weeks left of rehab since my insurance is cutting me off at the end of July. I have mixed feelings about that. I know I won’t feel 100% ready to be done, even though my new therapist said I’d be more than ready. And I always have the option to pay out of pocket or go back in a few months if my knee gives me any problems.

During my first eval at the new facility, I did a 150 lb single leg press on my surgical leg, which was almost if not equal to my good leg! Since then I’ve started working both legs equally during all my workouts. I’ve been continuing the leg press, hamstring curl, hip and glute machines, along with agility and balancing exercises.

As for other activities, last weekend I did my longest post-op bike ride yet: 35 miles! I decided I wanted to ride from my house to my parents via three different bike paths: Latham to Cohoes, Watervliet to Albany, and Albany to Voorheesville. It was a success! It took me about 4 hours (including stops), mostly because it was extremely hot and I was carrying extra weight from my rear rack and panniers.

July 4th weekend, Jordan, Brendan and I did a short hike up in the Adirondacks. We hiked to a lean-to near a pond and had lunch. We had the option of hiking one of the easy firetower hikes but my knee wasn’t feeling up to it, so we made it a short trip. The hike was about 4.5 miles total.  It was great just to be back in the ADK again!

Knee Update

On Friday I’ll be 20 weeks post-op (4.5 months). My knee still has good days and bad days. The last few weeks were a little rough, as it felt pretty tight and stiff, but this past week it finally started feeling as close to “normal” as it could feel. I still do my leg workouts 3-4x per week. In 2.5 weeks I have my next (and probably last) follow up with my surgeon, which is exciting. This recovery journey has been a long one and I’m ready for it to be over.