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ACL Recovery Log #10- 5 Weeks Post Op
I’m five weeks post-op already! How time flies. April 1st marked three months since my ACL injury. It feels like just yesterday I heard that horrible pop on the ski slope. Winter has already passed on by. Well, PT has been going strong despite the COVID-19 pandemic. Every week I’m expecting to get a call that they’ve closed, but so far so good. I’m also still working! I just make sure to change my clothes when I get home before heading to PT. They are also keeping everything clean and practicing social distancing as much as they can in a PT office. This week we started working on step ups,…
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ACL Recovery Log #9 – 1st Week of Post OP PT Complete
What a crazy week it has been since my last update. I started PT on Monday, despite most local businesses closing due to COVID-19. I had a slight worry my appointments this week would get canceled, but because it’s a health care office they stayed open. I was feeling extremely guilty for wanting to go to PT during this madness, but I really didn’t want to get behind in my rehab when I haven’t even started yet. I was also told by some friends not to feel bad for keeping medical appointments and typically I don’t see any elderly patients there in the evening when I go after work, which…
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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 Reconstruction Surgery Essentials
Now that I’m 8 days post-op, I figured I’d write about what I used to make recovery from surgery a little bit easier. My initial list has been edited, as I found I didn’t need some of the things I thought I did. For example, I had no need for a shower chair since my shower has a built-in seat. I was worried I wasn’t going to be able to stand up and walk into my shower, but it turns out I was fine (even with crutches) and I was able to stand up in the shower. I also thought I wouldn’t be allowed to get my incisions wet, however…
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ACL Recovery Log #5 – Surgery Prep
Well, today is the day! I need to be at the outpatient surgery center at 11am. I’m not going to lie I’m a little anxious. But physical therapy has been going well and my PT said the quads on my injured knee look strong, which is good since that will help a lot after surgery. I’ve been doing leg raises, squats (!), and range of motion exercises. My knee feels pretty good. I’m curious to know how much my MCL has healed thus far, but I still don’t walk without the brace due to fear of my knee collapsing. I’m getting up and down the stairs a lot better, but…