ACL REHABILITATION

Having referred to this site for the last 2 years and read through all the comments, blogs and advice given on this site, I have finally decided to write my own blog.

I have seen all episodes of the inbetweeners, read two dan brown books, seen 3 really bad films, and was thinking of seeing 24 (I must be the only person who has never seen it before)

I am 2nd day post my ACL operation (Hamstring Graft). My knee is starting to get a little bit better after 2 days of uncomfort..Its been a bit of journey to get here.

It all happened in 2007 (I was 29 years old) playing football...I went to strike the ball with my left leg planted firmly on the ground.  As  I was about to strike the ball with my right leg someone went into my left leg. It was the slightest touch, but my leg popped and gave way. I moaned in agony.Even though I am not the bravest footballer on the pitch, I am one of those people that dont roll around for half an hour once I am tackled.

Everyone knew that this was a bit serious so I was lifted off the pitch.

I managed to get home, but my knee gave way as I got out of the car and onto my drive. I went straight to the hospital as I knew something was wrong. I then got an x-ray which confirmed that nothing was broken.

THIS WAS MY FIRST MISTAKE- Now instead of coming back to the hospital for a MRI, I left it. Why? well because I have been injured several times before and the standard routine has been totake a break, wait for the healing process to take place and then return to the beautiful game..

After 3 months of healing, I decided to play again but my knee was so weak. Again i decided to rest it again. I took another 3 months off trying to build the knee up, but it did no good.

As I could not even run, I decided enough was enough and went to see a physio who told me i need to get an MRI as it looked like I had torn my Meniscus..

Couple of weeks later It was confirmed that I had torn my meniscus and would need keyhole to clear it up. In 2008 I had keyhole and the consultant confirmed everything was ok and that I continue my physio..For 3 months I tried to build my knee up..it still did not feel right.

I went back twice to the consultant who gave me 2 cortisone injections.I continued the physio and it started to feel like it was working..I returned back to football in early 2009. In my 2nd game back, my knee went again.

I had run out of ideas and spoke to my physio who recommended I get a second opinion. I did my research and was recommended a consultant from the Windsor Princess Margaret Hospital. After another MRI, he was unable to tell me the extent of my injury. The symptoms were that of a torn acl but the remaining part of my acl had reattached itself to the bone so it looked like i may not have torn my acl.

In April 2009 after the 2nd keyhole surgery, it was confirmed I had torn my ACL. I decided not to hang around and did some further research before deciding to have the ACL surgey on the 8th September 2009.

I was a bit nervous, but to be honest, its been an iritating 2 years without any real sport or running so just wanted it over and done with. Post operation my knee has been sore and i think the first 2 days are the hardest once you leave the hospital. The main reason is that you dont have a drip with lots of painkilling drugs going into you.

I have my follow up with the Dr next week, so am doing the exercises the hospital physio gave me. The dr visited me briefly after my operation and said it all went well and i should hopefully not require any further operations. I hope not as in his previous letter to my gp, he mentioned that if the pain remains after the acl operation, I may need a meniscus, patella transplant..Fingers Crossed

Anyway, I will continue updating this blog with my recovery. In all honesty, I am not bothered if I ever return to playing football as  I really don't want to go through this again. As long as I can run with little pain, I will feel that this surgery was worth it

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Gaj_01
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