Hi there,
This is message to encourage everybody to keep going with the tedious rehab!!
It was two years since my operation last week. Until September last year (18 months post-op) I cannot say that I felt fully recovered, but since then it all has just got better and better.
I have been very thorough with my exercises all the way, making sure that my quads were strong enough to release my knee from hard work and unnecessary strain. I tried to be patient, as I wanted to go back to my usual activities badly (including kung-fu). I went back to kung-fu for a few months last year, enough to make me feel good that I was able to. Then had to stop for reasons non related to my knee. In January I started practising yoga, which has done so much good to my knee!! When I feel lazy about going to the gym, I think of my knees and how important it is to keep my leg muscles strong, and I go. Thorugh my hard training at the moment I have managed to get fitter than I have ever been!
I am so grateful to both my knees for putting up with all the hard work I make them do!! It is amazing what my operated knee can do now, when I think about how bad it was before surgery. I was also lucky that my sports private physio has worked with me to get my knee back to its full potential (my NHS physio told me at one point that I would always need to wear a brace for the rest of my life!! and I stopped seeing him).
Guys, hang in there. Rehab is sooo important. And it will pay off!! It feels like a very slow process, but you will suddenly find yourselves back to your usual activities...that is priceless!!
All the best with your knees!!
Lolalee