Slow Progress is still Progress

I'm officially 6 weeks post from acl surgery #2. My knee definitely needs more, to around 125-130 degrees flexion and between 2-5 degrees extension. My life revolves around pt, stretching, strengthening, and hoping for nice weather. 

Some of the best helpers have been super long static stretches: I contort myself on the couch, grab a book, and keep that knee bent at least 10 minutes. I slowly uncurl, and then switch to extension. I do this everyday for 20-60 minutes. 

I might as well be Lance Armstrong for how much time I spend on the bike. Every day, without fail, at least 20 minutes. I've also incorporated the treadmill and elliptical back in as well. I do light strengthening exercises, and various stretches. 

I got a deep tissue massage. While it hurt like hell, it was worth it. I woke up the following morning and everything hurt BUT my knee. I'm also giving heat when I I wake up a try and I'm still icing as needed. 

I have a LONG way to go still, and until I can hit 135 degrees of flexion and 0 degrees extension actively- I'm not good enough. Dry needling has resumed and I have more deep tissue massages scheduled! I stretch 3+ times a day, and I'm still taking Valium at night to help the muscles relax. My knee joint doesn't hurt. It's the lateral hamstring tendon that's unhappy as well as surrounding muscles. Putting pressure or direct weight on my knee is tender, but daily scar tissue massage done by yours truly has significantly helped. I'm cleared to try jogging so I think that I might attempt that next week! 

Doing the child's pose stretch hurts but it's easy to gauge progress and allows you to use your arms to push back. Breathe! Go slow and allow gravity to help. 

A yoga rope, foam roller, and my cousin to help push me into a deeper stretch have definitely been a huge help towards recovery! 

Bending and reading! Can also be done while watching TV or relaxing. Bend every chance you get! 

Manual Manipulation and Debribement; Post op: 2 weeks

   So last blog, 2 days out, was a bad day. My first week out of surgery was pretty rough. It had to be. We had to keep that knee bending. Sorry for the lapse in updates, but the first week post op was pretty much a lot of the same.
   Week 1: work on ROM. Bend. Straighten. Scream. Breathe. Repeat. I slept, a lot. I spent a lot of time in my CPM machine. I ate a lot of really healthy, healing promoting foods. I got out of the house in small doses and I kept my spirits up. Huge thanks to Claire, my cousin and caretaker through this 2nd recovery. She has been the upbeat attitude I need most when I struggle with my knee and she is always willing (maybe more than willing) to lend a hand and force bend it when I was being a baby about it.

Claire took great care of me!

    I was off crutches after 2 days. We really just needed to make sure the nerve blocks wore off so I wouldn't tumble down. I was doing stairs pretty well and getting around quickly enough 3 days post op. I was not babying my knee this time around! This was also a much less invasive surgery. But, still surgery nonetheless. If I wasn't sleeping, eating, stretching, or at PT, I was icing. Ice is nice. Always. I stopped all pain killers after 4 days, and just went to ibuprofen for pain.

Steri strips and bandages off; 5 days post op

    Week 2: back to work! I can walk, without a limp! Which means my extension has improved greatly. My leg would get stiff as the day went on, but I kept on moving it. I woke up at 4am to use my CPM before work, crawled back into it after work, and again before bed on top of my manual stretching.
   My follow up with the surgeon was 10 days post op. My knee mechanics are good, it's my muscles having the trouble. I still have trouble with flexion but it gets better every day. I still have to take a muscle relaxer at night because I have mild tendonitis of the hamstring, and my muscles just don't relax otherwise. I take that, let it kick in, and stretch the hell out of it before I fall asleep.
   I was also cleared to start doing quad strengthening exercises. All in all, things are looking up! My knee still gets stiff at the end of the day but it feels like it wants to bend, where before the mere thought of bending my knee made me cringe.  No more CPM either!

They went in through my original ports; no extra scars!

Flexion in January vs. post op #2!

I can also now walk a mile faster than 20 minutes. Every time I walk, I cut my mile time down and I feel more stable. I also went back to yoga. I still have to modify a lot but hey, something is ALWAYS better than nothing! I still live off my foam roller, it's the best thing ever. I finally have hopes for this recovery!