I am two weeks after the injury today. I am getting around much better than I was even just a week ago. I have been going to PT 2-3 times a week and been doing pretty well with my PT at home. I have made a point of going to the crappy gym downstairs at work to jump on the bike for 10-15 mins just to get it moving around.
My hamstring actually bothered me more than my knee for a couple of days. Probably just a result of my muscles tensing up to try and supplement the lack of a knee. Danielle introduced a few new exercises this past week. The old ones that I hated where I tried to pull my foot to my butt is getting easier and less painful. There is this new choreography one where I am on my side and butterfly my legs and then extend my bad leg. That kills my knee on either side of my kneecap. It is kind of a weird feeling.
My ROM has improved and my swelling has gone way down. Starting out my leg was lacking 8 degrees of extension and my flexion was at 118*. I am now back to full extension and to 136*. I guess the goal is to go into surgery in a few weeks with my full ROM back.
I can put all of my weight on my bad leg. My stride is getting closer to normal but I still have a bit of a c-walk. Tony's wedding is next weekend and I'd like to be able to lose the limp by then and be able to be up on it comfortably for most of the night. If I haven't said it before on here, I love wedding receptions!
I have a few PT appts this week to work towards getting back to normal before they totally wreck my knee in a few weeks. I am looking forward (I don't know if "looking forward to" is the right phrase) to the couple days after the surgery. I feel like now I am just trying to get strong before I have a major setback. It will be a good feeling to know that after surgery, I am getting better and working towards getting back to normal and being able to play tennis and football and walk the dog and everything else.
More in a week or so...
Sunday, March 29, 2009
Saturday, March 21, 2009
Week I
This first post will be a long one to try and summarize all that has happened the past week -
On Sunday, March 15th, a couple friends and I wanted to get together and do something, anything in the afternoon. In the spirit of the NCAA selection show, we decided to go to the local rec center and pay the $7 and play some basketball. Once we arrived, we shot around for a while and then joined in on a full court 5 on 5 game.
About 5 minutes into the game is when it happened. I came down with a rebound and at the same time someone from the other team crashed into the outside of my right leg at the knee. I fell back and to the right. When I was going down to the ground, if my knee had knuckles, it felt like I popped every one of them. I immediately grabbed for my right knee. I had never injured my knee before so I had no way of knowing what a serious injury felt like. I was more scared than anything that it wasn't going to be pretty.
I left the rec center and was dropped off at the ER which was probably a waste of time looking back on it. I was x-rayed and their diagnosis was a sprained knee. They advised me to go get looked at by a specialist.
It was difficult, painful and scary to get around the house. It is probably more psycological than anything but it it just felt like the knee was going to give out. I was able to get in and see an orthopedic specialist the next day who was reccomended by my wife (who is a PT and I know will be a huge help through this process). The ortho asked that I get an MRI that night.
Tuesday (the morning after the MRI), I got a call at work from the ortho office to make sure that I was on my crutches.....probably not a good sign. I met with the ortho again on Wednesday. Going into it, I was encouraged because I felt like I was able to put more weight on the knee and was walking less like Frankenstein. The swelling had gone down and I was getting some of my lost range of motion back. But the Monday appt with the ortho and the MRI didn't sound very promising.
I got my diagnosis Wednesday morning.
*Complete disruption of the ACL
*Grade II contusion of the LCL
*Grade I contusion of the MCL and PCL
* Possible Meniscus tear and bone fracture
Not good news... I have surgery scheduled for April 23rd. I want to get going on this as quickly as possible. I started PT with my wife :) on Friday. Although, she would probably rather be playing tennis or riding bikes with me than seeing me as a patient. I think it will be good to have her work with me as we will be able to work on some stuff at home and at the gym.
I guess the focus is to get better and get stronger in time for 4/23. I have a friend's wedding on 4/4 that I would like to be able to walk around for without the aide of a brace or crutches if possible.
On Sunday, March 15th, a couple friends and I wanted to get together and do something, anything in the afternoon. In the spirit of the NCAA selection show, we decided to go to the local rec center and pay the $7 and play some basketball. Once we arrived, we shot around for a while and then joined in on a full court 5 on 5 game.
About 5 minutes into the game is when it happened. I came down with a rebound and at the same time someone from the other team crashed into the outside of my right leg at the knee. I fell back and to the right. When I was going down to the ground, if my knee had knuckles, it felt like I popped every one of them. I immediately grabbed for my right knee. I had never injured my knee before so I had no way of knowing what a serious injury felt like. I was more scared than anything that it wasn't going to be pretty.
I left the rec center and was dropped off at the ER which was probably a waste of time looking back on it. I was x-rayed and their diagnosis was a sprained knee. They advised me to go get looked at by a specialist.
It was difficult, painful and scary to get around the house. It is probably more psycological than anything but it it just felt like the knee was going to give out. I was able to get in and see an orthopedic specialist the next day who was reccomended by my wife (who is a PT and I know will be a huge help through this process). The ortho asked that I get an MRI that night.
Tuesday (the morning after the MRI), I got a call at work from the ortho office to make sure that I was on my crutches.....probably not a good sign. I met with the ortho again on Wednesday. Going into it, I was encouraged because I felt like I was able to put more weight on the knee and was walking less like Frankenstein. The swelling had gone down and I was getting some of my lost range of motion back. But the Monday appt with the ortho and the MRI didn't sound very promising.
I got my diagnosis Wednesday morning.
*Complete disruption of the ACL
*Grade II contusion of the LCL
*Grade I contusion of the MCL and PCL
* Possible Meniscus tear and bone fracture
Not good news... I have surgery scheduled for April 23rd. I want to get going on this as quickly as possible. I started PT with my wife :) on Friday. Although, she would probably rather be playing tennis or riding bikes with me than seeing me as a patient. I think it will be good to have her work with me as we will be able to work on some stuff at home and at the gym.
I guess the focus is to get better and get stronger in time for 4/23. I have a friend's wedding on 4/4 that I would like to be able to walk around for without the aide of a brace or crutches if possible.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)