Tomorrow, Tomorrow, I love you tomorrow-- stitches come OUT!

   It's now been 11 days post surgery and let me just say, I've never been so happy for a Monday filled with doctors appointments. First I head to my ortho surgeon, Dr. Wilckens, to have these dreaded bandages and stitches removed. Then I am treating myself to a solid dose of physical therapy with the amazing Physiotherapy team. Lindsay, to be exact. Lindsay is nothing short of amazing... she worked with me pre surgery to get my knee and quad muscles ready for this so I would lose minimal muscle mass and range of motion. Lindsay will also kick my ass throughout this recovery but I know it's all worth it so I'm happy to comply. I don't exactly know what to expect; I know it's not going to be oh it's a miracle I'm perfect, but I'm hoping to start at least making actual progress.
   The past 5 days have been much of the same. Lounging like a lump, watching sons of anarchy and being waited on hand and foot. Sounds great right? Not for me. While my parents and uncle did an amazing job taking care of me, I hate being an obligation. I don't know how anyone recovers from this surgery on their own, there's no way I could have done it without them. They haven't even muttered one complaint, and I owe them big time.
   Things that have changed: I can see my ankle bone! The swelling in my ankle has finally localized to just being a large bruise.

My cankle that I had for a week. Sexy, right?

Bathing was no small feat. Definitely not relaxing!

I've gotten better at sleeping and moving around on crutches.I've gotten better at bathing, but it's still an ordeal and since you only get so gross laying around, I only bothered with it 3 times. I cannot wait to shower, let alone on a daily basis again. I also can't wait to do laundry and clean my room. I'm crazy, I know this.
   Things that have not improved: I still can't do a leg raise. My quad muscle can contract, but that causes mild pain. The worst times are in the morning and late at night, and standing up.
   It's worse in the morning because my muscles naturally want to stretch and move, especially since I can't roll around like I usually would. My quad can't fully stretch but it keeps trying, meanwhile I'm not awake enough to stop it and it causes mild discomfort. Standing sucks because the heavy, steel enforced brace pulls down on my bandages and stitches. The only upside to this: waking up in the middle of the night, pain makes you alert real quick. At night it's no party because you have to lay down, and stay there. No wiggling into that perfect position. I have to actively try to fall asleep. Benadryl and zzzquil help. I've also found I can lay on my side (good leg down, pillow supporting bad leg) but if I want to shift, I have to wake up to do it.
   Things I've found to help! I take the big brace off when I'm in bed. It's heavy, it's uncomfortable, and it  makes my stitches hurt. I still sleep with it, and if I crawl up or downstairs of course I put it on. I stopped taking my pain meds a few days ago,but I still take ibuprofen and while I still have pain, it's not enough to constitute narcotics, at least not to me. Having a support team is also a huge help, and I don't just mean good doctors. I've had friends check on me everyday, and they haven't complained about my incessant whining on the bad days.
   Every surgery is going to be little different, and each doctor follows their own protocol for what they think is best. I just hope this blog helps at least a few people who may not know what to have expected going into ACL reconstruction surgery. I'll keep you posted how phase two of recovery goes!