The big day – my second post-op doctor’s appointment – came and went on Thursday. There was much anticipation which kinda fizzled out very quickly. First, my wife takes me to the doctor’s office just in time and while in the waiting room, this woman walks in with the brace that I detest the most. I make a small conversation and she indicated that this was her six week appointment as well. I wondered aloud how she was able to wear it for that long. She showed me some pads that she used to keep it comfortable. I could see that I was doing much better than her in terms of walking – may be not using the brace helped my thigh muscles to become stronger! So, I think if one can walk without the brace, one should try (of course, without rushing it) – just my opinion!
Then, I go inside and was itching to see the surgeon and when he did come in, checked the leg by moving it more gently than his usual baseball practice. Said everything looks great and asked me how my ROM is. I went all the way – very very close to normal (like the other leg) and he was a little taken aback. He said it puts stress on the ACL and I should not push it – which was a bummer! Then, he said I could drive which I knew already– just that my wife wanted that reassurance. He said I could walk a mile on flat surfaces, do stationary biking about 10mins or so – I was already at 25mins and his comment was to be smart about this. He also mentioned that the swelling comes and goes. Here was a pep talk – in my words:
When a professional athlete tears ACL, he/she is done for the season/year – it takes that long for the ACL surgery and rehab. The surgery creates major trauma in the knee area and it takes a long time to heal. One has to be smart and not push it. The body takes a long time to accept the ligament and starts growing its own cells and tissue in this ligament. In about a year, the ligament is as good as its own and histology shows that the ACL is no different from other ligaments –meaning the tissue is histologically similar to other tissues in the body, even though the ACL in my case came from an Allograft.
So, I am told that I have to take it easy and let the body heal itself. I was asked to come back after two months and I need to continue my physical therapy twice a week and see how it goes. All in all it was fine but knowing that “it’s like wet cement in there”, I still wasn’t too excited following this visit. Now, I just need to take things slow and focus on other aspects of life – like work and kids schools which starts tomorrow!
Yesterday (Sunday), I went for a walk around the neighborhood (1.5miles) and it felt really good. In fact, when I woke up this morning, the knee felt much better than other days – not as stiff. However, I did notice that the swelling was a little more than usual. I think I am feeling better by the day and I have to be extremely careful not to hurt myself as I am not conscious of my knee as much anymore. Add to that, I am extremely busy with work and other matters. Will keep my fingers crossed and hope the next few months go by fast.
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