A full recovery!

at 5 months post op, I have made a full - and I mean FULL - recovery.  I am riding hard every day, wearing out my horses, and the last two nights in a row we were out until late in the night bucking 100lb hay bales to get them stacked and in the barn before the rain comes.  Lifting them was harder on my forearms than my knee... in fact, it never even gave a little.  I forgot I even had a bum knee... well, It isn't bum anymore!

I have to just say, that my dr did the most fantastic job.  When I prayed and asked for a good surgery, I never anticipated my knee could come out of it in pre-injury shape.  But that is just what has happened.  And I thank God for it every day!

4 months post op

I am feeling great!  I can run 30 minutes easy.  I have been having some pain / issues with my tendons, but my physical therapist says its because they are so weak.  I have to rub them down and ice them and then stretch alot to get the pain to go away.  But running feels amazing.  I am able to run the look on 105th now, and I like to go in the mornings.  It reminds me so much of running in Mexico for miles and miles and miles and miles.....

2 months

2 moonths post op, and I am doing fantastic!  Last weekend, I rode a trail ride, and Iwas so sore on my inner thighs!  It hurt so GOOD!  I can do walking lunges to strengthen my hammies, and I can spin on my bike any time Iwant.  It is so excellent!  I can't wait until I can run!  No pain, no swelling.  I feel better and better every day!

Six weeks tomorrow! Out of the woods!

Tomorrow will be six weeks post op.  My knee is doing great!  I am walking around, spinning, going up and down stairs, and yesterday we had our Trail Clinic at the ranch to raise money for the hospital bill. 

Here are the "goods"

•  I can sleep without a brace, with no complication!
• I can go up and donw stairs while in a brace
• I can use the spin bike (30 minutes wears me out!)
• I can do all the necessary barn chores, with no problems
• I can longe my horse and ground drive him
• The numb spot on the front of my knee is getting smaller

Her are the "bads"

• Sometimes when I walk I get a sharp stabbing pain right in the bone where it was drilled through
• I am tired of babying my knee, and my mom (although it is with love) is annoyingly cautious
• I can't run yet
• My quad is very very very small, so I don't have the control yet to go without a brace
• My inner thigh muscles are deteriorating due to the lack of riding.

But all in all, I am doing great.  If anyone is reading this (and I doubt they are) and is going to have the same surgery, IT IS WORTH IT!  I feel better every day!

5 weeks post op!

Yesterday I went down a flight of stairs, and then back up, and her is the catch - WITH NO PAIN!
I am still wearing my very expensive, very large knee brace, but since my swelling s gone, it slides down to my ankles and ges incredibly annoying.  So most of the time at home or at work I take it off.  I religiously wear it outside and at the barn though, I just crank the straps as tight as i can. 
I am spinning about 30 minutes a day, sometimes twice a day, and incorporating mild stretching and ab work.  It is hard to know how far to stretch, i get this weird fear that I might just stretch my ligament right out of the bone.  Yuck.
I also have a piece of string sticking out of the incision site on  knee, and I have no idea what it is and it is weirding me out beyond belief.  I get this feeling of fingernails on a chalkboard every time I think about it.  God, what the heck is it connected to on the other end??  EEW!
All in all, I am doing FABULOUS!  I feel better than I did pre-op.  The doc was right!  Short term pain LONG TERM GAIN! 

One Month Post ACL Recunstruction!

Tomorrow is the one month mile stone!  I am feeling fantastic!  Honestly, I feel better now than ever!  At Physical Therapy, I spun for ten minutes (and that may not seem like a lot, but trust me, its awsome!)  I am now walking great with no pain what so ever.  And, they told me today that in 2 - 4 weeks, I'll be able to ditch this huge nasty $800 brace for a smaller sports brace!  Granted, I stil wont be able to ride my horse, run or do any stairs for a while. (6 months for riding and running.)  But hey, it's fine!  I CAN WALK!  So at least that is some good news :) 

I did however get a bill a few days ago from my insurance company.  Well, not a bill per say, but a letter saying that they arn't paying out.  So now I have to get on top of that one, and find out why the heck they arn't paying.  Stupid insurance.  I mean, seriously!  Why rape me for all I have?  I'm a poor young fresh out of college kid!  Geesh!  Tax return is spent, paycheck is spent... what else can I spend?  I guess I could have a bake sale or something. lol.

3 weeks 5 days post op

Yesterday I got out of bed and felt like a human!  I could walk with my big brace on with no pain.  I walked all day, and still had no pain.  On friday, during my PT, I got the go ahead to spin on a spin bike!  It was amazing!  I spun for 8 minutes at PT, and was already sweating!  Im sooo out of shape.  I have been trying to find an affordable one somehwere, but everyone wants 400 dollars for them USED!  Its rediculous!  So I can't work out at home yet, until I find one.
The incision sites are pink and gross looking.  I can't wait until they dissappear!  I hope that soon they at least turn white.  Pink is just nasty.
Other than that, I feel amazing.  I feel better than I did before surgery.  I feel steady, square, and my shin bone isn't flopping to the inside.  It feels so good to feel steady!
I have flexion to 118 and full extension!  Thank God our bodies heal!