The Rehabilitation of my left knee is going very well! I’m a extremely motivated and compliant patient. Both Steve Crowell, my PT and Dr. Brian McKeon, my orthopedic surgeon feel I am on track, if not a little ahead of where I should be at 8 weeks post-surgery.
It’s not easy being a patient, going through a process until March I did not know much about. I do specialize in musculoskeletal injuries, but do not know much about post-surgical rehab. I’ve since met dozens of people who have had ACL surgery, all have told me it is a long road and if you do the work, the outcome is excellent. My goal is to get back to the high level of activity I engaged in prior to my injury. I also know that it will be 18 months before I can play tennis again, which is important to me. In the meantime I stay focused on the goals and expectations that have been explained to me.
I remind my patients that healing takes time and it is hard to be (a) patient. The analogy I often use is that since both sets of my daughters’ grandparents live out of state. Especially when they were younger and their grandparents would see them every few months they would be amazed on how much they grew since the last time they saw them. That’s how I feel about my knee. Day to day there are frustrations and slow progress, but over time I have made huge leaps. Just this weekend I was able to walk down stairs “normally”, without favoring my left leg! Wow, that’s a breakthrough. Getting reality checks and having my knee range of motion measured every week and seeing improvement has been reassuring and empowering.
Lucky the use of pain meds and then NSAIDs are long over. I am still icing as much as possible. I always advise my patients that “ice is nice”. Ice is the safest, least expensive and effective pain-reliever available. It is easy to use, is local to the source of pain and has no side-effects. This advice which I have always taken to heart has proven to be immensely helpful in my healing response!
Stretching, strengthening and balance are also a big part of my rehab now. In the gym, most exercises work on 1 muscle, or a specific group of muscles. In the real world we use all our muscles simultaneously as we express ourselves through motion. “Life is motion” is another one of my mantras that I tell my patients every day. Most of my exercises are dynamic. I’m balancing on unstable platforms often on 1 leg while, going from sit to stand or throwing and catching balls. The purpose is to get my muscles strong, to work in a coordinated fashion and respond quickly to demand. At first it was very difficult to do many of these activities. As they have gotten easier to perform, my PT throws in additional “twists” to make the movements more challenging and real life.
The benefits are starting to pay off! Over the holiday weekend I was able to plant flowers. After that I started trimming and pruning bushes. As I was standing on a wall about 2 feet off the ground I reached to get to a branch, lost my balance and fell forward, landing 1st on my left (surgical) knee. Amazingly enough it held!. I got nervous and felt a sensation of pain, but looking back I think it was more that I was scared of potentially re-injury. Luckily I was fine and the dynamic ‘real world’ exercises I have been doing are paying off.
Not bad for 2 months. I know that it will take 6 to 9 months before my grafted new ligament becomes integrated into my body, but I am now able to get a glimpse of my future potential and look forward to continuing this process so I can get back to doing all the activities that I did before this injury.
When asked, which is often, what I am learning from this injury, mythen answer doesn’t change. By being a patient, I am learning how to see the rehab process through the eyes of a patient. This is making me an even more empathetic doctor, and I have a great appreciation for what it takes for my patients to follow-through on my recommendations when they come to me with their health issues.
Enjoy the beautiful weather, stay active, and remember to stretch before and after activities (and yes that includes yard work), be careful and stay healthy!