August 2011
10 posts
flying after acl reconstruction surgery
so i was cleared to fly from nyc to houston (a 3.5 hour flight) by my doctor three weeks after surgery. i’m sure when you’re cleared to fly depends on your doctor, the amount of swelling, how far along you are in recovery, and how long the flight is. though it wasn’t the most pleasant thing, it really wasn’t too bad.
couple of tips that would have helped me:
make sure the...
physical therapy
im back to physical therapy, which is a great step. the therapist was so impressed with my surgery that he called all the other therapists over to look at how small the incisions were, and how far my range of motion is (essentially zero degrees extension and 135 degrees flexion).
we essentially skipped the first month of exercises (i’m one month ahead of schedule after only 3 weeks...
atlantic city
finals are finally done and my first semester of bschool is over. i would highly recommend not having to deal with a knee surgery when you are just starting school, but sometimes life happens.
when my doctor said i was doing well, but i should do PT exercises, rest the knee and ice it when possible, i dont think he meant: hop a car to AC immediately after finals, stand at a craps table for a few...
weight loss
weighed myself for the first time since surgery and ive lost 8 pounds. i have been burning more calories using crutches, and i have been trying to avoid junk food since ive been stuck at home. on the other hand, it could be just be due to muscle atrophy in the right leg.
regardless, if atrophy was inevitable, then i guess its better to have lost weight than gained weight from eating junk and...
stairs!
i can now walk up and down stairs! stairs have by far been the most annoying part of being on crutches. with my brace on, i can carry my crutches in one hand, hold the rail in the other, and walk up and down relatively normally, such a relief.
also, those muscles in the right leg all of a sudden have work to do. every time i take a step i think “oh, that’s what it feels like to use...
2 week post-op doctor's visit
saw the doc yesterday and took off the waterproof wrap and gauze covering my incisions, most of the scars should nearly completely disappear. have to admit, a bit disappointed, i kind of wanted some serious acl scars, but its probably for the best.
i’m also cleared for physical therapy, which is probably good since the leg extensions and straight leg raises have gotten really boring, even...
can't only take steps forward without at least one...
surgery was 10 days ago, and before today, each day was better than the last. strength coming back, actually taking the subway, better mobility, less pain, etc. but i guess it cant always be good news.
today was the first day the knee was worse than the last day. sadly more pain and swelling than yesterday. definitely upped the cryo-cuff, decreased the strength exercises, and did my best to...
kbhembree asked: what graft did you use for your new ACL?
subway "courtesy" rankings
for over a month now, i havent left my apartment without either crutches or a cane. and though my taxi/car service use has increased, public transit is still my primary form of transportation. so here’s my down and dirty rankings of riders willingness to give up their seat for someone with a cane/crutches.
DISCLAIMER: i ride some lines more often than others, so some are based on tiny...
July 2011
23 posts
the freedom of being trapped at bschool
made it to class on saturday (with lots of credit to adam and his dog for driving me in the morning) and it was glorious. probably wasn’t the best for me to be moving around that much, and not doing my exercises, but the bschool staff were extremely helpful providing me with ice throughout the day. the knee held up pretty well with minimal (i mean, how hard is it to sit in a classroom for 3...
day 3 update
it gets better every day. as you can see, i can walk now, albeit extremely carefully and slowly, the freedom to have 2 hands to carry things to and from the kitchen is fantastic. the pain has been very manageable. only once did i feel it hurt to the point of being uncomfortable, and it turns out it was because i forgot to take my painkillers on my regular schedule.
big step, i removed the...
“when you’re hobbling around after knee surgery, you actually appreciate...”
drugs
one of the first comments i get with this whole acl mess, after “im sorry” and “how long are you out” is “at least you’ll get some good drugs.”
truth is, other than whatever drugs they pumped into me during and right after surgery, i have managed the pain with only tylenol and aleve.
im not trying to be all “holier than thou” and say...
“q: how’s the recovery going?
a: slow and annoying… kinda like the...”
Shower!
i took a shower! it was quite an episode.
first off, for those who had to visit an un-showered eric, im sorry.
but i am quite happy with my successful shower. it required wrapping a towel around my brace and bandages, sticking my leg in a huge trash bag, and tying it tight around my atrophied thigh with a thera-band (i knew those things had other purposes than PT torture). then i proceeded to...
Day 1 Update
yesterday, in addition to the general anesthesia, the docs also gave me local anesthesia, a femoral block, that made me numb above the knee. its been slowly wearing off and i’m kinda terrified that its going to start hurting a lot. still, ive been disciplined with my painkillers and sticking with just aleve and tylenol, and avoiding the vicodin.
appetite is coming back. last night i...
staying positive
it really sucks hurting yourself, especially if you like being active. so it is tempting to be down and depressed because you can’t do what you want to do. but you have to resist. well, it’s impossible to fully resist. i gave myself a day to be depressed, right after i got the mri results saying my acl was torn. i was really annoyed, was short with people who talked to me, and just...
the surgery and post surgery thoughts
the nurses and staff at midtown surgery center were awesome. every nurse went out of her way to take care of me.
turns out i knew my anesthesiologist (of course i did), which was kinda funny and completely random. definitely made me more comfortable having someone i knew doing that.
i was really only awake for a couple minutes in the surgery room. i wish i had more to add here, but there were...
Final thoughts
Guess it is a little scary and I’m a bit nervous. Anytime youre put under, its never pleasant knowing you’ll not have control of your body for an extended period [insert joke about my saturday nights here]. But I guess all you can do is trust you prepped properly and have faith in your surgeon and whatever higher power you believe in.
surgery time
timeline 1030 arrive at surgery center in midtown 1130 go under 130 have a new acl 300 sak picks me up and somehow gets me back to the apt
my backpack which i stole from bret, has a hoodie (i think the surgery room is cold), snacks, painkillers, insurance card, water, and a cell phone charger (in case i have to kill time in recovery room). i’ll also carry my crutches with me. kinda sick...
“Is it weird I have an urge to call it express anesthesia? As in not local...”
pre-surgery exercises
the fantastic team at ICE physical therapy made me aggressively work on my leg since the injury. i now have almost perfect extension and am only a few degrees off in flexion. my swelling is almost completely gone. but i’m most proud of how hard i’ve worked my hip and quad. here’s what i’ve been working on this past week.
90 minutes a day of exercises 1. leg extensions 2....
last day of freedom
my knee gets cut up tomorrow. i took today (monday) off so i could take care of a few last minute things.
cleaning its not gonna be easy to move around, let alone clean things. gonna try to tidy some stuff up. im gonna spend a lot of time in this apartment, might as well make it slightly livable
buying stuff lots of OTC painkillers. i am gonna try to avoid the vicodins since i have a paper due...
