Man, what's up with them crazy incisions? They're out to make things harder for ya huh? 
Hope they heal ASAP so you can just ignore them and stick to your routine. I live in North Hollywood, I know what you mean about the rain. I usually don't mind it but now that i wanna take my dog out for a walk and test out the new knee, I can't. Sucks! Happy to hear you're walking now. You're almost out of the "nasty" days. You'll soon wake up and magically feel WAY better than you have. I'm not 100% but I definitely feel better than my first couple weeks. I even feel a lot happier obviously. I hope it's smooth sailing for you from here on out! Hope to hear some good news from ya soon!

DAY 56

So, it's been exactly 8 weeks since my surgery. 

I saw my OS yesterday.  She said my knee looks SOLID (in a good way)!!! yay!!!!
She tugged and pulled and said everything looks good. 

- She's happy with my ROM.
- She's concerned with my quad strength.

She said because I took those 2 weeks off from PT (to let my wound heal from the tape allergy episode), my quads atrophied more than usual... so I have to make up for it.  She wants me to go to PT 3 times a week to get it strong.  ack!  My quads were already weak to begin with because I had to wait a year to have my surgery. 

I asked lots of questions. Here are some of them:

1.  Where EXACTLY are the screws??  - she pointed them out.  Not where I thought they were.  HAHAhahaha

2.  What were the holes for?  Why do I have 5?? - she said 3 for the arthroscopic tools, one to thread the graft through, and one to drill into the bone.  I asked her why some people only have 3 scars... she said different surgeons do it differently.  She said some surgeons stretch certain incisions over and pull the skin over to drill, but that it doesn't always work.  so, i have 5.  She said all her allograft ACLr patients have 5.  *shrug*

3.  What kind of screws were used?  - bio-absorbable.  they'll be gone in 6 months to a year. 

4.  Slight pain below the knee cap when doing certain exercises and sometimes clicking - my knee cap needs to move more fluidly.  This might be due to some of the swelling that's still there. 


Overall, I'm happy with the visit.  I'm happy that she's happy.  I'm happy that my knee is "solid".

_________________

Physical therapy has gone up in intensity, especially when I told him that my OS wants me to go 3 times a week to get my quads back up.

Flexion was at 135 degrees! yay for improvement!  My OS and PT aren't concerned about this.  Now, onto my quads...

He started me on electro-therapy.  He said he was trying to avoid it because it's really uncomfortable and many people find it super painful... but it looks like I'm gonna need it.

SO, I THOUGHT it was gonna be different.  Every time I saw other people using it there, they would lay there with the electro-therapy machine hooked up to them and an ice pack over the area... and they just lay there and let the machine zap them...

I THOUGHT that's what I would be doing.... WRONG!

He had me lean my back against a wall with my legs in front.  He put the electro-therapy pads on my quads.  He turned it on... and made me do squats.  SO DIFFICULT! ACK!!!!!!!  He told me that I needed to be doing something that normally requires the quads to work, and let the electro-therapy machine really fire my quads to let my brain know that that is what my quads should be doing. 

It didn't "hurt" like he said it would... it just felt really difficult to do.  I actually... kind of.... enjoyed it! hah! 


Then, we went through the exercises.... except, starting today, everything was with one leg only. 

- One leg squats (assisted)
- One leg heel raises (assisted)
- One leg scoots on rolling chair - frontwards and backwards
- One leg total gym squats - SO SO SO DIFFICULT
- One leg pilates machine
- Step ups and Step downs - higher step
- Bike - 10 min.

Wow.  Ice felt REALLY nice afterwards. 

At home, I still have to do all the other ones (heel raises, terminal knee extensions, clams, etc, etc etc).

_____________________

I HAVE to get better by July... will probably go to the UK to do a show!  I have to have to have to get better!!!!

Happy new year, everyone.

Lawrence:  Hehe, ya, the electrical stimulation is quite intense.  I think I like it because I can really feel my quads working without my knee hurting.  One of the physical therapy assistants said she's never seen the machine cranked up that high. yikes!!


DAY 56

This week, I've been taking walks holding my baby in a sling!!!  It's the first time since I had surgery!  Since I have to climb up and down stairs to go anywhere, I've been reluctant to take walks with her.... just in case my knee does something weird or if I trip, I won't be able to catch myself.  Anyway, taking a walk with her was one of my goals, so YAY!!!   The good thing is, my knee feels completely normal when I'm walking with her.  Pretty much no limping and no pain!!! My knee doesn't hurt at all and it feels great.

My PT is really cranking up the exercises.  They're getting tough, but I can tell that my quads are finally coming back... FINALLY!!!!  Again, my glutes are SUPER strong. hahaha... i have strong glutes.

I still get SOME knee cap pain right underneath when I do certain exercises.  I'm also still a little bit off from matching my good leg in terms of ROM.  The PT says I still have a little swelling, so once that's gone, he's confident that my legs will match.  Flexion is still at 135.  How can I get this to improve??   


I also have to switch physical therapy locations.  We're moving!! My current PT is referring me since he knows a lot of people where we're moving to.  It's actually one of the other PT's husband's office! hehehe.  They're gonna try and do a smooth transition for me. 

Good stuff! Glad to hear the good news! I think it's safe to say the hardest, most painful part is behind now.

sherwooa - yay heel to the butt!!! I JUST experienced that myself!!! YAY!!!!

Steve - It's been feeling better and better!  Onward to more strengthening!! :p

Lawrence - I'm with a new physical therapist now, closer to my new home... more on that below...

________________________
11 weeks and 1 day

We moved!! FINALLY! yay!!!!  Things have been so busy, I haven't had time to update, but here it is~!

I have a new physical therapist.  My old one referred me to this new guy... my old one was the owner of the other place, and my new guy is the owner of this place.  New therapist is really tough on me.  Says I'm like 5 weeks behind.   He told me that he knows I had set backs (with the tape allergy and not having surgery right away), but he told me it's time to step it up.  He got kind of upset with me when I assisted my bad leg with my good leg underneath (to lift the bad leg).  All the therapists are men, too... the other place had 3 female therapists and 3 female assistants (and 1 male therapist and 1 male assistant).  I kind of wish there was at least ONE female staff person there...

New things I found out from my new therapist:

- My good leg's flexion is 155+. My bad leg is at 148.  I came a long way!!! (He said his leg only goes to 135).  He says I have to work harder than most people. 

- My good leg's extension is close to -10.  What the heck!?!! My bad leg is not even close... not good.  He said people who have a lot of hyperextension are prone to ACL injuries.

- I have discoloration behind my knee.  Why??


So I said that my flexion is at 148.  That was at the beginning when he first measured me.  Then, he did the knee mobilization massages and patellar tendon accupressure massage (OUCH!!!!!!!!!!!! these REALLY REALLY hurt!!!!!!).  After that, he had me lie on my stomach and bend my leg. I felt a deeeep stretch in my quads... and then, I FELT MY BUTT WITH MY HEEL!!!!!!!!!!!!! yay! He was very happy about that. FINALLY, he was happy about something.

He said my quads are very very weak, but I already knew that.  I told him what kind of stuff we were doing with the electrical stimulation at the other place.  He said we might start on something similar next time I see him (which is tomorrow).

He was very displeased about my gait.  We worked on it, and then, like magic, I was walking totally normally. HAH!  weird...

Then, we did a bunch of exercises.... and iced my knee. I was there for close to 2 hours.  I wonder if all the session are gonna be that long...


Anyway, that's the news.  I don't want to make him upset.  We'll see how tomorrow goes....

Oh, and I found the Knee Geeks facebook group page! yay!

Steve:  Yea, I don't mind that he's intense. :p  It's not that he's a male... it's just that there's NO female presence there except the receptionist.  I dunno why but it caught my attention.  I've been working on my hyperextension, but this therapist said I don't have to really worry about it since it'll be really difficult to get to -10 degrees to match my other leg.  He gave me some simple stuff to do at home, though.  I've been doing some stuff that you said, too, and letting gravity do the work.  It's helpful.


WEEK 13

New things in the last 2 weeks

He started having me massage my patellar tendon myself as often as I can during the day.  He showed me how to do it and it is SO SO SO painful.  I can't believe I have to do this to myself!!  BUT the good thing is... in the last 2 weeks, the pain has gotten less and less, which means  it's starting to match my other patellar tendon.

He also wants me to "ice massage" my patellar tendon after I do the painful massaging.  He had me put water in a styrofome cup and freeze it.  Then, peel off the top part and massage my patellar tendon with the corners of the ice.  Does that make sense? Hahahah. 

Both of these things are to help with desensitizing the patellar tendon.  He said as soon as I can get it like my other leg, my quads will come right back.  I can already see the progress from this.  I can FINALLY see my VMO and the rest of my quads come back. 

The exercises have gotten more intense, too.  I'm ready for this!!!

_______________

Oh yea, I got mugged last week.  I was taking a walk with my baby (she was in a baby carrier on my chest) and some idiot grabbed my hand from behind and took my phone.  At 3pm.  With at least 40 people watching him (school just got out so lots of people were walking home).  IDIOT! I'm so mad!  BUT so thankful that he didn't hurt us.  I wish I could have kicked him... that was my first instinct, but I had my baby AND my knee... .boooo!!!!!!

_______________

So, because of this ACL injury, I can't perform this weekend.  What's this weekend, you ask?  My group was asked to perform at the GRAMMY'S!!!  I'm SO SO sad I can't do it.  There's a lot of dancing, bending, jumping, jogging involved... and I just can't do that at this point in my recovery.  I'll be there as a "staff member" instead of a "performer".  It'll be a bitter sweet feeling for sure.  Anyway, if you're watching the Grammy's this weekend, look for us!  and then, think of me backstage and doing my leg exercises. hah!

have a great week!