MY ACL STORY: The Week When I'm Discharged....

I love this a lot!

Hello Everyone :)
Week 12:
This week just kept getting better and better as the days went on; in terms of recovery, revision and being a fan of a particular band ;)
So if you couldn't guess already, I finally had some more physiotherapy (in fact 2 rounds of it) and they both went well, and then I went to a concert WOOP WOOP! But there will be more on that later, and maybe even a whole other post dedicated to it - who knows hey?
I also had another exam this week which was English Literature, and I know that I messed up on one of the questions but I managed to remember all of the quotes I needed to, and I'm done with this subject forever so I am very happy!
3 down, 2 more to go :)

I'll start with the physiotherapy.
So the first round happened in the beginning of the week and my physio was finally back and I was more than ready to get going again.
This week I tried some new exercises that revolved around the exercise ball. The first new exercise was more of a re-work of one that I had already been doing. Firstly, you put your feet/ankles onto the ball and lie on your back. Then you roll the ball in slightly towards your bum with your feet, and then lift your bum off of the floor and hold for about 5-10 seconds. This exercise is great for working the hamstrings and you can really feel the pull that it gives you.
The second new exercise was a completely new one. First you sit on the exercise ball, then you have to roll off of it until only your head/neck are resting on it. Your knees should be bent at a 90 degree angle and the rest of your body should be resting in the air. You then hold this position whilst holding your arms up in the air and bring one down to each side. This should be done for about 20 seconds. This really works your core muscles and the hamstrings again.
After doing these exercises my physio told me that he could see how much progress my knee had made and how much stronger it had gotten since beginning physiotherapy, so that made me very happy! Although after this session, I did feel an incredible amount of pain in my knee and muscles in my leg. But once I'd had some ibuprofen and some CyroCuff time, the pain soon went away.

I seemed to find my second physiotherapy session this week a lot harder than the first, as I nearly fainted. I was doing a lot of steps and squats with weights and after abut 10 minutes I started to feel very light headed and dizzy so I took some time out and had some water. I did this for about 5 minutes and then I was ready to go again. This feeling may have come from being stressed from exams or maybe just exhausted as I am pushing myself very hard with exercises and revision at the same time.
But despite this, my physio remained positive and told me that he thinks I'll do really well in the ACL class (which I'll be starting next week) and that I may show people up in it haha! So that definitely cheered me up after the bad start.

My (close to) 3 month post-op appointment was this week too! I was really nervous about it, but I think that may be more to do with the fact that I don't like hospitals, rather than being worried about my knee.
Once I was called into the room with my surgeon, he got straight to work. He brought me up onto the chair-bed thing and tested out my new ACL (for those of you who have been through this, you know the kind of tests I mean!). So I had to bend my leg - as far as I was comfortable with - then he sat on my foot and pulled against my bent knee. Straight away he noticed how much stronger it was as my knee didn't really give - if that makes sense? Like it put up more of a fight? Anyway, then he felt all round my knee and normally on my right side (where I had the meniscus damage) there would be a lot of pain, but there was absolutely no pain!

You can see the staples really clearly and a screw in the
right of the picture.

He then sat me down and showed me the pictures from the actual surgery and from my X-Ray and they were SO cool! They took pictures before and after putting the new ACL in place and it really is so amazing the things that surgeons can do nowadays! I was also shown a picture of the meniscus that had been repaired. It wasn't a total rip in it but they thought that they may as well repair it whilst they were in there, so that was also cool to see.
Then he asked me if I planned on going back to gymnastics, and I said yes because it is a massive hobby of mine. But then he told me that if I go back there is a 50% chance that I'll do it again in either knee in the first 3 years. So obviously that terrified me, but it's given me a lot to think about. He then told me that I need to wait 9 months from my surgery date anyway to go back to high impact sports, so that can be my thinking time.
However, after all of this, he then discharged me properly and fully from the hospital for my knee surgery, wooo hooo :D

This week I also went to go and see 5 Seconds of Summer in concert, and they were so so so so amazing!!! I'm not going to go into too much detail about the concert as I plan on doing a post all about that, so you have that to look forward to ;)

The AMAZING 5 Seconds of Summer in their element :)

So this week was probably one of my favourite weeks (ever) as I finished learning about Wuthering Heights, I got to see one of my favourite bands live, and I got discharged from the hospital..... So it was all in a week's work ;)
I would also just like to point out the fact that ONE DIRECTION FINALLY ADDED NO CONTROL AND 18 TO THEIR SETLIST!!!!! I have been waiting for this day ever since the On The Road Again Tour started and that day finally arrived and there was so much happiness!
If you would like to read my experience of my other weeks post-op, then you can find those blog posts here. 
Feel free to leave me a comment if you've been through this (because I could use all of the advice and knowledge), or if you just feel like leaving a comment :)
Stay positive and keep on being you x

MY ACL STORY: The Week When I Exam....

Hello Everyone :)
Week 11:
This week I have been incredibly boring (yet again), but it's the middle of exam season and all of my time is spent either revising, rehabbing my knee or sleeping, so please forgive me!
There was no physiotherapy this week either as my physio was away from work, but that doesn't mean that the exercise stops :)

Something to remember when going
through this process!

First things first, this week wasn't all smiles :(
I went round to my friend's house one evening this week and she has dogs - so I was already skeptical about going round in case they jumped up at me or something like that. But things were going fine, until another one of my friend's started playing with one of the dogs. She had a bone and was trying to throw it in the opposite direction but it hit my knee instead! And then the dog jumped up at my knee, resulting in me crying from all the pain.
It was lucky that I had brought round the CyroCuff to give me some sort of relief, but my oh my did that hurt!
I guess it was the scar tissue complaining again - as it always is!

I also had my first A2 exam this week, which meant that I have just been revising like crazy!
The exam was Media Studies which is probably my best subject and the one that I felt most confident with as I have already achieved a grade A in my coursework meaning that I would have to screw up pretty badly in this exam to not pass overall!
It went extremely well and I managed to remember everything that I needed to, result! I love it when you feel like all of the revision that you did actually paid off :)
2 exams down, and 3 more to go.

The beautiful Hayling Island :)

So this week is a very short post as I really didn't do much worthy of writing about!
The physio exercises are going well, and I'm really trying to work my knee as much as I can to get something from all of the workouts, so that includes upping the reps and adding weights to certain exercises to build up the muscle and strength.
I also took a walk along a (pretty much) deserted part of the beach on Hayling Island whilst the sun was setting. It was truly beautiful, and it felt good to be able to walk all of that way and feel almost no pain - although I must add that the stones were very difficult to walk on but I gave it my best try!
If you would like to read my experience of my other weeks post-op, then you can find those blog posts here. 
Feel free to leave me a comment if you've been through this (because I could use all of the advice and knowledge), or if you just feel like leaving a comment :)
Stay positive and keep on being you x

MY ACL STORY: The Week When I Have Some Accidents....

Hello Everyone :)
Week 10:
As I am writing this post (incredibly behind schedule, I know, but I'm trying!) I am currently watching Gossip Girl...... and OMG - it has changed my life. I've been watching it since the end of May and I'm on season 5 already, and it has taken over my life. It is literally all I think about but I guess that's when you know you've found a goodun!
This week there was no physiotherapy's I had 2 rounds of it last week, but I made sure I stayed as active as I could despite the lack of gym time. There were also a few slip ups this week that will be explained later on :(

My final ever A Level exams are fast approaching and that means that I am spending my life revising and stressing! (this is why the next few posts are slightly behind schedule) I can't wait until they are all over and then I can fully focus on rehabbing my knee and continuing to make it stronger, without having to feel guilty that I should be revising.
I think that's one of the worst things about college; the feeling of guilt you get when you're not revising or doing some sort of work for college. It holds you back from doing so many things, and also it makes you feel like poop. *sigh* Rant over.

This week I had a few slip ups, and by "slip ups" I mean stupidity on my behalf :(
The first mishap came when I was carrying something down the stairs and my foot (on my good leg) slipped off of a step, which resulted in me slamming my other foot (on my bad leg) down to steady myself. This ended with me sitting on the stairs in tears from the pain that was caused. I guess that it was just such a sudden movement that my knee wasn't prepared for and it was just my body's reaction to put my foot down - even though it would be painful. I did, however, get over this pain after having some Ibuprofen and rest.
The second mishap happened when I was round my friend's house and eating breakfast. I wasn't too used to the surroundings, and I stupidly hit my bad knee on a table leg. And you know when you get that sort of pain that winds you for like 5 minutes? Yeah, this was that type of pain! I hit it right on a scar and the pain was unbelievable. So I then spent the remainder of the day with a bag of frozen sweetcorn on my knee. I think it hurt so bad because it was right on a scar, where the tissue is still trying to heal itself - so it may have just upset that a little bit.

On the plus side, my 5 Seconds of Summer tickets arrived :D With 11 days to spare the tickets finally came through! It'll be a nice outcome after all I've been through this year.
I have also emailed the venue to see what they can do about moving my seats, as they are extremely high up - with little leg room - and I would actually like to be able to see without having to stand up the whole time aha! So I'll have to wait and see how that all turns out.

So this week has been a slow week in terms of progression with my knee. But not all weeks are going to be an uphill climb, and I think that is so important to remember when going through something like this. Just because things haven't gone so well one week, it doesn't mean all weeks will be like this. And "things get worse before they get better" :)
If you would like to read my experience of my other weeks post-op, then you can find those blog posts here. 
Feel free to leave me a comment if you've been through this (because I could use all of the advice and knowledge), or if you just feel like leaving a comment :)
Stay positive and keep on being you x

MY ACL STORY: The Week When I'm 2 Months Post-Op....

Hello everyone :)
Week 9:
Where have these past 2 months gone?! I always thought that recovery would be like the night before a concert that you've been waiting months for, and time just goes so slowly. But surprisingly, it's gone pretty quickly!
Despite this quickness in time, it has been no less of a struggle! But I truly believe that staying positive is the key to a healthy and happy recovery.
It's been a good week :)

Okay, so first things first, I finished college for good this week (apart from exams). This is probably the most exciting thing that has happened in quite some time haha!
Finishing college meant that it was time for my Sixth Form Leaver's Ball. It is a dance type thing that happens at the end of the year to celebrate the end of college, and people dress up all fancy and it is an evening to be enjoyed by all. However, despite wearing flat shoes (and most others wearing heels) and taking it as easy as I possibly could, I still ended up sitting out the majority of the night because my knee was just far too painful. I got up to dance to "Don't Cha" by the Pussycat Dolls (let's face it, who doesn't?!) and that was it, my knee was done for the rest of the evening. This was extremely frustrating and I wanted to enjoy it more than I did but there was nothing I could do about it at the end of the day.

I had 2 rounds of physiotherapy this week, and I felt that both of them were victories in the recovery department.

Knee flexion is flexing ;)

In the first session I had my knee flexion and extension measured for the first time since the day after my operation. I have gained 30 degrees in flexion and my knee extension is nearly at 0, so I'm very nearly back to my full range of motion in my knee! This was such great news and it put me in the absolute best mood ever :D
The proper full range in the knee is around 135 degrees in flexion and 0 for extension. So I am so very nearly back at the full range of motion.
At this physio session I also went on the rower for the first time post-op. It felt super weird at first but after the first few rows, and going quite gently, I got into the rhythm of it and built up the right amount of momentum. I love adding new exercises or pieces of equipment to workouts because it makes me feel as though I've progressed enough to be rewarded with a new exercise, and that makes me happy.

In the 2nd session of physiotherapy, my physio measured my flexion and extension again because he forgot to write it down the first time - how professional?! Anyway for 2 months after ACL reconstruction, the knee flexion should be at 120 degrees, but I'm at 130 degrees. So when he told me that it made me extremely happy because it means I'm further on in my recovery than I should be, and further on than most other people.
I also started doing some leg stretches this week. This included sitting on my legs, so that they were bent underneath me. I couldn't get my bum to sit directly onto my feet, but I was really close and it was a good attempt for the first time trying it. I then tried standing up and holding my foot where the shoelaces are and pulling it up behind me - so pulling it towards my bum - whilst balancing on my good leg. Both of these exercises felt very relieving once I had completed them, almost as if I had needed to do them for a while.

So this week has been very productive, recovery wise.
In the gym at physio, there was a woman who was wearing the clunky knee brace that I had and could barely do anything. And whilst I was doing all of these crazy (well crazy for me) new exercises, I watched this woman and it really made me appreciate just how far I had come in terms of my recovery! Going from being bed ridden and barely being able to walk, to 2 months later and I'm relatively back to normal. Life is crazy :)
If you would like to read my experience of my other weeks post-op, then you can find those blog posts here. 
Feel free to leave me a comment if you've been through this (because I could use all of the advice and knowledge), or if you just feel like leaving a comment :)
Stay positive and keep on being you x

MY ACL STORY: The Week When I'm Boring....

Hello everyone :)
Week 8:
I'm not even gonna lie, this week has been proper boring, and I sincerely apologise for this post because it may bore you to tears.
Anyway, the reason for this boringness is because I had my first exam of the year, so all I have been doing is revising like crazy! The exam was AS Ethics, which I was re-taking from last year because I did awfully. And it went surprisingly well, so I was glad that I did spend a lot of my time revising as I felt like it actually paid off and wasn't all for nothing.

This week I had another physiotherapy session where I progressed to some exercises using props. Last week I was doing the same exercises but just on their own. So I was doing the bridging exercise on its' own. But this week I did it with an exercise ball under my heels/legs. This meant that I could really work my hamstrings and could work on my core muscles to keep the ball in place - without moving it too much.

Great things take time :)

Another exercise that I did last week without a prop was balancing on my operated leg. But this week I balanced on my operated leg whilst holding a football in my hands, with my arms out straight. I then had to lift the ball above my head, then back out in front of me, and then I had to turn to the left and to the right holding out the ball - whilst balancing on my leg. I had to repeat this 5 times. I also did this exercise on a blue foam block - so the surface was uneven and really tested my balance! By the 5th time, my leg was quite wobbly but at no time felt like it could give way.
The third, and final, exercise that I did last week without a prop was the sit-to-stand. But this week I was given a 1kg ball to hold out at arms length in front of me. This was so that my muscles really started to work again in my legs. By the 15th time doing this, my legs and arms were shaking like crazy!
In this session my physiotherapist kept saying to me "this is too easy for you", and then he'd find a way to make it harder. This made me feel as though I was really trying to push myself, and as though all of my exercise at home was really paying off.

I went out on a few outings this week, these included going to see Pitch Perfect 2 (which was amazing - maybe better than the first one?!) and going with my friend to get her nose pierced.
On both of these outings I wore a knee support to compress my knee and to help me feel some sort of comfort. I found that wearing this made me feel a lot more confident when walking - with it still feeling quite wobbly.
Walking is still quite difficult, and I'm still slow, but I know that with more time spent on my knee it will get back to normal.

I told you that this week would be incredibly boring *yawn*, and if you made it this far then I applaud you!
I'm not taking as much Ibuprofen anymore because there isn't as much swelling or pain in my knee, which is amazing! The only time I feel like I need it is the day after physio when I feel some muscular pain from the strain in my hamstrings.
If you would like to read my experience of my other weeks post-op, then you can find those blog posts here. 
Feel free to leave me a comment if you've been through this (because I could use all of the advice and knowledge), or if you just feel like leaving a comment :)
Stay positive and keep on being you x

MY ACL STORY: The Week When I'm Free....

Hello everyone :)
Week 7:
I'M FREE.......
I ACTUALLY DID IT!
As you may be able to tell, I am pretty darn excited and happy this week. I love weeks like this, they really make you appreciate your progress and show you just how far you have come since the first day of recovery when you couldn't even walk. I also have the truth about what happened in last weeks blog post which you can read about later on.

I'M FREEEEE :D

This week (if I didn't make it clear already) I GOT MY FRIGGIN' BRACE OFF :D I'm also crutch free too! It feels so good to not be restricted by the knee brace anymore, and to be able to feel normal again, despite the scars all over my knee. I'm not getting so many stares when I'm out and about, but I'm really slow at walking, so people are getting frustrated because it looks like there is nothing physically wrong with me, but there is :(
Oh well, I'm just so happy with my progress to this point to actually be able to get it off. I was always told by my surgeon that I would need it on for 3 months, but the fact that my physiotherapist didn't think that was necessary makes me insanely proud of myself; as if I'm further on in my recovery than they thought I would be.
Freedom has never tasted so sweet!

At physiotherapy this week I used the trampette for the first time post-op. I only did gentle - almost stepping - from one foot to another, and then landing on my left leg in a bent position and holding that for 5 seconds. Adding new exercises to my workouts always make me feel like I've made a bit more progress so I can add something new.
He also told me that he believes my consultant at the hospital will be really happy with me and my progress when I see him in June - which, again, made me really happy!
Ok, now for the truth about my wobble last week. I asked my physiotherapist what he thought it could have been and he said that he thinks it may have been the scar tissue in my knee still healing, and by twisting it a little bit, I may have just pulled it almost. It is nothing to worry about, and it happens, he said that there was no way I could have torn the ACL again just by walking.
So that put my mind at rest and made me feel so much better.

After this physiotherapy session, getting the brace off, and no longer using the crutches, I may have pushed myself a bit too hard. So rather than taking it easy for a few days (like I was told to do), I carried on as usual. This led to me feeling an immense amount of pain in my hamstrings and bum, I was also quite wobbly when walking - which is one reason why I was walking slower than normal. Stairs are also an issue again as lifting my legs and putting all of my weight onto one of them to get up and down is hard, but I want to push myself to make sure that I get this skill back again as you can't avoid stairs in life.
I only have myself to blame for this pain, and it's like they say "no pain, no gain"!

Indeed.

So this week has been incredibly eventful and full of happiness and smiles, hooray for progress! 
I managed to have my first bath post-op this week (I know that you can have one 48 hours after getting staples out, but I was just incredibly nervous that the wounds would open up - which they didn't). I obviously still had showers, but having a bath is so relaxing and it's something that I've missed greatly in the past 7 weeks. 
I also managed to go back to my own bed this week :D Because my bed is a cabin bed (so my wardrobe and desk are under my bed), I couldn't use the ladder with the knee brace, so I was sleeping in my dad's bed. But I'm finally back and it's never felt so good!
If you would like to read my experience of my other weeks post-op, then you can find those blog posts here. 
Feel free to leave me a comment if you've been through this (because I could use all of the advice and knowledge), or if you just feel like leaving a comment :)
Stay positive and keep on being you x

MY ACL STORY: The Week When I Wobble....

This is probably my favourite quote that
I've found from this whole process :)

Hello everyone :)
Week 6:
Recovery is hard..... It just had to be said.
Honestly, I have never been through something as physically and mentally challenging as this. But every week that I get through is like a huge pat on the back for me, like a "congrats, I know this is hard, but you're getting through it" type thing. It also makes me feel really good when I think that I can't do something, and then I push through and do it. It's true what they say "My knee may never be the same, but neither will be determination"....

This week I had my first physiotherapy appointment with the new physiotherapist, who deals with the ACL patients. He had me on the wobble board (for the first time post-op, hoorah!) which was incredibly difficult at first, but once I got into it my balance seemed to improve - which may be my gymnastic skills slowly coming back aha! My physiotherapist was really impressed with my balancing and thinks I'm doing really well with my recovery. I also continued with my strengthening - gentle - exercises. I was informed that for the first 12 weeks this is all we can do, as before that time is when your body is still getting used to the operation, and is still adjusting to the new ACL. So the heavier exercises (like running and jumping) will come after that time, just to be on the safe side.
He also told me that my recovery may be a bit slower than other people's because of the tear in my meniscus that had to be sorted out, which is frustrating but it has made me even more determined to prove him wrong.
My brace should be coming off next week too, and I am very very excited about this! I'll finally have freedom :)

However, despite the positives, I also had a bit of a wobble this week. I was in town shopping, with my brace on and using my crutches, when I felt a sharp pain go through my knee. I'm not sure if I stepped funny or twisted my knee a little bit, or something like that, but I suddenly felt A LOT of pain.
I then had to stop for a few minutes and gain my strength back (and calm myself down as there were a few tears), but then I got going again but didn't put so much weight on my left leg.
I'm still not sure what exactly happened, but it did put a downer on my recovery this week as I've been trying to take it as easy as possible to not aggravate my knee :( At my next physiotherapy session I will ask if he knows what could have happened.
I know that I won't have torn my ACL again as it would take much more than a little twist when waking to do it, but you can't help but have a fearful mind, especially being so early on in recovery, that you've done it again.
Hopefully I'll be able to shed some light on this in next week's post.

This week also saw one of my favourite bands, 5 Seconds of Summer, begin their first headline arena world tour (I know, what a mouthful) *sounds of me sobbing from being so proud*. You may be thinking "what the heck does this have to do with your recovery?!" Well this first show brought about 5SOS' new song "Permanent Vacation" - which may I add has been on repeat for days. And this new song is bloody great to do physio exercises to and I would recommend it to everyone. It is incredibly catchy and sounds brilliant live. The chants throughout the song make it an absolute anthem and get everyone so hyped when listening to it. I love it!
It has also got me super excited to see them in June :D

5SOS in Lisbon.

So this has been a pretty calm week (apart from the wobble when shopping) in terms of recovery and progress being made. I'm still taking Ibuprofen regularly for the swelling in my knee, which tends to be worse after any exercises, and I'm still using the CyroCuff for this reason too. But things are still going well and I can feel my knee and muscles getting stronger every single day!
If you would like to read my experience of my other weeks post-op, then you can find those blog posts here.
Feel free to leave me a comment if you've been through this (because I could use all of the advice and knowledge), or if you just feel like leaving a comment :)
Stay positive and keep on being you x

MY ACL STORY: The Week When I'm 1 Month Post-Op....

Hello everyone :)
Week 5:

This is a good inspirational quote
for me for this year :)

I can not believe that this week was 1 month since I had my surgery. It has actually gone so quickly! The first few days of recovery were extremely hard and long, but once the hard days were over and the recovery got properly going, the days just flew by. And seeing the difference in not only my knee and the strength of my muscles, but in my mindset and the way that I'm thinking about everything. Before surgery I thought I would be the most miserable person ever, and that I would try and hide away as much as possible. But I've surprised myself by the amount of strength and determination I've shown through all of this past month. I honestly believe that if I wasn't as positive as I am being about this recovery, then I wouldn't be as far as I am.
Hoorah for speedy recoveries and positive thoughts :)

This week I wore trousers for the first time post-op! That sounds absolutely ridiculous and not something to be essentially excited about, but this made me very very happy.
For the past 5 weeks I've been wearing shorts and playsuits, no matter what the weather (which in the UK is not always great). I wore clothing that didn't cover my scars so that they could get some fresh air and it was easier to apply the CyroCuff. But this week I decided that enough was enough and I wanted to at least try and wear some trousers.
So, I wore some tracksuit bottoms (yes, they were baggy but that doesn't matter!) and stayed happy for the whole day aha! The fabric felt weird on my scars at first because I still had some scabs left on the staple holes, but apart from that everything was fine. I've missed wearing trousers (I never thought I would ever say that aha).

I also started taking some Ibuprofen for the swelling in the back of my knee this week. For a few weeks now, I haven't been taking any medication for my knee as there was no pain so I didn't see the need to. But the swelling in the back of my knee just wasn't going down, despite keeping it moving and icing it.

The cuts just look like pen now :D

So I did some research into taking Ibuprofen just for swelling, even if there was no pain in the area, because I was scared that it wouldn't work or it would be like insanely bad for me. But after researching and speaking to my mum about it, I found out that it was in fact ok to take the Ibuprofen for swelling.
And after taking 2 before bed, I woke up to a much less swollen knee! Normally when I bent my leg, all of the swollen skin would bunch up and would prevent me from actually bending it. But when I woke up the next morning, I was able to bend my leg much more without the bunch up of swollen skin. I'm going to continue icing my knee multiple times a day and taking the Ibuprofen at least 2 times a day for the best results.

So, this week has been a lot of firsts and experimenting for me. But with this whole recovery I think its all about finding something that works for you.
I'm still continuing with my exercises from physiotherapy twice a day and they're going really well, I'm also still on 2 crutches when I'm out of the house but none inside - so there's no change there really.
If you would like to read my experience of my other weeks post-op, then you can find those blog posts here.
Feel free to leave me a comment if you've been through this (because I could use all of the advice and knowledge), or if you just feel like leaving a comment :)
Stay positive and keep on being you x

MY ACL STORY: The Week When Things Get Back to Normal....

A little quote to brighten your day :)

Hello everyone :)
Week 4:
I love the fact that every day I wake up, I can feel a difference in my knee. It's always so motivating to carry on once you've already seen such a difference, it's very addicting aha! This week, things seemed to - more or less - get themselves back to normal. I started back at college again, after being off for nearly 4 weeks due to the surgery, and I got back into the gym at physiotherapy again. I never expected this recovery to get going as fast as it has done, I'm honestly so proud of myself :)

So first of all, I started back at college this week, and to say it's been stressful would be a  MASSIVE understatement. Not only am I still on crutches, but most of my lessons include going up stairs, which is not an easy task to undertake when there are 100s of people around. But thankfully I was given the key to the lift to use and abuse, and it is fabulous!
By the end of the day I can definitely feel the strain on my knee, and my hamstrings too. It'll be when I'm sat on a chair (which in a sixth form college, they are not the most high quality of chairs, let's be honest) and I'll feel a twinge in the back of my thigh and I then have to reposition myself on the chair, all whilst trying to still pay attention. *sigh* Here's hoping things get easier soon.
My teachers and fellow pupils have been really supportive though, and have been an incredible help, so that makes things easier :)

This week also saw my second physiotherapy session (to read about my first, click here). I knew from my last session that I was going to be in the gym this time, so I was a bit apprehensive about it as I was worried that it would be too much pain to handle. But everything went great, woo hoo!
I started off by doing 10 minutes on the exercise bike (which is something that I struggled to do before surgery), and then I moved on to do some stepping exercises onto a box. This then progressed to almost lunging off of the other side too. The lunging hurt my knee slightly but the pain is different to the pain that I felt pre-surgery, as that wasn't helping anything, whereas this is a "no pain, no gain" type thing aha!

Balance-y, Balance-y!

I was then asked to balance on my bad leg, which even my physiotherapist wasn't sure I'd be able to do, but I DID! The amount of pleasure you get when you do something that people don't think you can is unbelievable aha. I was a bit wobbly at first, but after the first few times my leg was really strong and stood well on it's own.
The next few exercises were mainly conditioning and strengthening, which I was also told to add to my exercises to do at home.
I also learned some more about my meniscus tear, in the fact that it was a lateral meniscus tear which would explain why I felt more pain on the right side of my knee than anywhere else after injuring it. And I was also referred to a new physiotherapist for my future appointments who deals with the ACL patients post-op, so he can point me towards the right direction of where I should be.

So, this week has been the week of getting back to normal, and it feels blimming good to be back there!
I'm now down to no crutches in the house, and my leg is feeling strong. I'm still using 2 outside the house though as I'm still quite cautious of other people, but that is getting better day by day too.
If you would like to read my experience of my other weeks post-op, then you can find those blog posts here.
Feel free to leave me a comment if you've been through this (because I could use all of the advice and knowledge), or if you just feel like leaving a comment :)
Stay positive and keep on being you x

MY ACL STORY: The Week When Things Get Going....

Hello everyone :)
Week 3:
(I am warning you now, this post will contain some gross images, so if you are sensitive about wounds/healing skin then I would skip this one!)
So this week has probably been the best week of my recovery so far! I had my staples removed (YAY!), I had my first physiotherapy session (YAY!), I "attempted" to do some college work (boo!), and I went for a few outings to try and get my leg moving some more. Life feels good right about now :)

The largest of the incisions that were made.

I'll begin with Wednesday when I got my staples out. Leading up to this day, I was extremely nervous as I'd never even had staples before so I didn't know what to expect. I was worried that it would hurt, but then I kept thinking that it can't hurt as much as having them in, right? So I had a bit of a google to see how other people found it. And the majority of people said that there was -almost- no pain. And then there were a few others who said that it was very painful (but I chose to ignore them).
Around 30 minutes prior to my appointment, I had some paracetamol (as this was something that quite a few people suggested) to help with the pain during. I took it more as a "just in case" type thing.
Once in the treatment room at the doctors, I was put straight on the bed and was asked to remove 2 straps from my brace. The nurse took the plasters off of the wounds and just checked that they were all healed and free from infection - which they were HAZAAR! I had a little look to see what they looked like and instantly regretted it, I'm quite squeamish when it comes to things like this.

The three small incisions on my knee cap.

The doctor could tell that I wasn't having the best time so she just explained what she was going to do and then got on with it. She used the clippers that I got given from the hospital to unpick the staples from my skin. At each staple I felt a pull at the skin and then a little sting, but honestly (coming from someone with quite a low pain threshold) it was not as bad as I thought it would be! Well compared to everything else that I have been through, pain wise, this was nothing. I could also hear a little ping as the staple came out of the skin which was quite amusing.
After the nurse had removed all 9 staples from my knee, she reapplied some plasters and I was all good to go. I had a few questions regarding exercises and such. But she reassured me that my wounds had healed extremely well and that there was no chance of them opening, no matter what I did. She also reassured me that doing exercises should be a lot easier now as I won't be restricted by the pull of the staples - which is something that I found.
It feels good to be staple free!

My nasty bruise :(

The next day I had my first physiotherapy session since the operation. Again, I was nervous but very excited to get the recovery ball finally rolling!
My physiotherapist checked my flexion and extension and was very impressed, she told me that I'm doing better than before I'd even had surgery, which is amazing! I showed her the exercises that I had been doing at home during my first 2 weeks and she was happy for me to move onto some more strenuous exercises (let's just say, they are exactly that!). These exercises included gentle squats, lifting my leg in a locked-straight position laying down, and a lot more bending of my knee in different positions. And I am now down to just 1 crutch in and around the house, but still 2 when outside.
My physiotherapist told me about a nasty bruise that I did not know I had on the inside of my knee. It's not painful in any way but it doesn't look very pleasing!
Here, I learnt that as well as having my ACL reconstructed, I also had my Meniscus sorted out whilst they were fiddling around in my knee - but I was not told this in hospital which I was quite annoyed by. I'm not sure if it was just a partial tear, or if it was completely torn, but it was sorted out nonetheless. I am happy that it was sorted out while they were already doing stuff, but it would have been nice to have been told.

Going out and about with the plasters off of my incisions now, I notice a lot more people tend to stare at my knee. It was bad enough with just the knee brace, but I have noticed it get progressively worse. And I get it, it's not something that people see everyday and obviously people will be inquisitive and want to know what has happened. I'd much rather people ask me what has happened, rather than just staring! But hey, it happens.

This week I also got the news of my follow up appointment.....in just under 3 months time :( Which is extremely infuriating because my physiotherapist wanted my brace off in 6 weeks, but I think they need the permission of the hospital to be able to do that. And because my appointment is in just under 3 months, it looks like I'm gonna be stuck with my brace for a while longer yet :(

So, this week has been the week of new beginnings and finally being on the mend!
If you would like to read my experience of my other weeks post-op, then you can find those blog posts here.
Feel free to leave me a comment if you've been through this (because I could use all of the advise and knowledge), or if you just feel like leaving a comment :)
Stay positive and keep on being you x

MY ACL STORY: The Week When I Escape....

Hello everyone :)

My delicious "escapee" Oreo and Nutella
ice cream

Week 2:
I know that I'm still meant to be on "bed rest", but can you really blame an active 17 year old girl for getting bored of just staying in all day everyday?! So this week included a few outings; such as going to the cinema, going to my grandma's for a shower a few times (which I finally managed to do!), going to Church, going out for dessert (twice) and then a few trips to asda too. However I did restrict myself a little bit as I wasn't allowed to venture out to London to see McBusted on their UK tour :( Which I was deeply saddened by, but you know, you've got to pick your battles.

This week I was finally able to do the final exercise that I was given! Which was an incredible feeling, to finally not feel the horrible pain of straining my muscles - but almost feeling comfortable in the position. The final exercise that I am referring to is the one where you have to sit with a rolled up towel (or anything that can be rolled) under your heel/ankle. You then tense the muscle on the front of your thigh and push down with your knee.
On the topic of exercises, because I am now past the first week, I only have to complete the exercises 3 times a day, rather than every hour. I feel that this is a lot more manageable and allows you to really appreciate the exercises when you're doing them.
So I am very proud of myself for how hard I have worked this week :)

The shower bag on my leg

I also managed to shower for the first and second time this week. Now, this sounds gross but I have been washing with a flannel everyday, but having a shower seemed much too difficult for the first week. At my house, we do not have a shower so it meant I had to go to my grandma's house (but grandma's spoil you so...). Once there, I had to cover my leg so that the wounds and plasters would stay dry. I used an actual shower bag, that you can get from any supermarkets or chemists, and it had draw strings at the top and bottom to help keep all of the water out. This helped a lot! And my leg came out completely dry.

After escaping to have some dessert with friends, I was feeling happy and full up of ice cream and I decided that I wanted to try and take a few steps without my crutches.
I was quite nervous to try it, but I ACTUALLY MANAGED TO DO IT! I walked with a limp, but there was no pain whatsoever. I'm still meant to walk with 2 crutches at all times but knowing that my leg feels strong enough to stand on it's own made me so incredibly happy.

This is what I missed out
on :(

Although, this week wasn't all smiles and happiness, because I did have to miss out on going to see McBusted :( Because I still have the staples in and I still have the brace on (and I'm only meant to be partially weight bearing), it just wouldn't have been ideal for me at all.
I got the tickets for my sister for Christmas and kept it a complete surprise. When I found out I was having surgery the week before the concert, she had to find someone else to go with her as I just wouldn't have been up to it.
But my sister and her friend both had a great time, and it turns out that McBusted were filming that show for a live DVD, so I can at least pretend I was there!
 And my sister bought me a T-shirt and a wristband, so I was extremely pleased with those.


So this week has been a little bit mismatched, but I think it was spent being quite chilled out still. Hopefully next weeks post should start to get this recovery ball rolling!
If you would like to read my experience of my first week post-op, then you can find that blog post here.
Feel free to leave me a comment if you've been through this (because I could use all of the advise and knowledge), or if you just feel like leaving a comment :)
Stay positive and keep on being you x

MY ACL STORY: The week when I'm lazy.......

Hello everyone :)
Week 1:

My leg, with the knee brace that had
just been put on.

Welcome to my first weekly update that was discussed here. This week included my stay at the hospital, my first day at home, and then all of the days that followed which were spent being incredibly lazy..... But hey, it's what the doctor ordered ;)

The last thing I remember before being put to sleep was an Eastern European anaesthetist saying "Sweet Dreams" to me before I completely blacked out - talk about terrifying! However, the actual reconstruction of my ACL went really well, and the surgeons were really happy with how everything turned out. Although, there was a tiny mishap with a needle being pulled out of my knee and some of my blood splashing up onto a surgeons face (#TypicalJess, it could only happen to me!). And so I had to have a blood test to check me for any diseases, just to be sure for the surgeon's safety. But it was all fine and he lived WAHEYYY!

My first week of recovery has been.....challenging, to say the least. I was only in hospital for one night, so once I was able to walk safely with crutches and bend my leg I was ready to come home on the Thursday. I went on a walk around the hospital on my crutches and my physiotherapist said to me "We can get a wheelchair for you on the way back if it's too much?". But I absolutely refused, I was determined to walk on my own aha! I was then given the all clear to go home and endure 2 weeks of absolute nothingness, oh how tragic.

I was on quite a lot of strong meds, so once I got home I just slept until Friday. The worst one was definitely Tramadol! Now I had never heard of this before, but once I started getting some dodgy side effects I decided to have a little google (as you do) to see how other people found it. And most people had the same sort of problems as I did; nausea, dizziness, drowsiness etc. So I immediately stopped taking this and just got by on Paracetamol - it didn't take away all of the pain but it was much better than all of the side effects I was getting from the Tramadol.
The worst part of the pain was the staples, even when I was just lying in bed I'd feel a big pain in my leg and it was from the staples - and then the more I thought about them and pictured them, the more it all started to hurt. Let's just say I can't wait to get these babies out!

Exercises.... This was where the real recovery began!
I started doing my exercises every hour from Friday, although not the one where I had to rest with a tensed leg for 10 minutes with a rolled towel under my ankle, as I attempted and failed, and ended up in a fit of tears. The other exercises were going really well though, and the bend in my knee is getting progressively better! My knee brace is now squeaking with every move I make, so I guess that could be a sign of confidence?? Or maybe moving ahead?? I don't know, but I'm quite proud of my squeak for now aha!
After the exercises, I like to put the CyroCuff onto my knee. Now, the CyroCuff is one of the world's best inventions, let me tell you! It is full of icy water and it gets placed in the fridge, and then it is ready to use whenever you feel like it. The main use of this is to keep the swelling down, which it is slowly but surely doing - I can now start to see my kneecap! But yes, the CyroCuff has been a great relief of pain too.
I also thought that stairs would be an issue but they're probably the easiest part! I was shown a safe way to use crutches on the stairs and I'm only supposed to be up and about when I need the toilet anyway. So I'm not using them too much, but they are relatively easy!

So this week has just been a lot of bed rest, sleep, movies, little exercises and kitten cuddles (which can help anything!). Hopefully after the first few weeks, my recovery will be coming along thick and fast and there'll be no stopping me!
Feel free to leave me a comment if you've been through this (because I could use all of the advise and knowledge), or if you just feel like leaving a comment :)
Stay positive and keep on being you x

MY ACL STORY

Hello everyone :)
Around 7 months ago I tore my ACL and ever since then I sort of focussed on the negative points, and almost scolded myself for being so stupid on hurting myself on such a simple skill. So I decided that after surgery I would document my experience of the rehab and try to focus on the positive things that are happening with my recovery. I thought it would be good to look back on the good things from this whole ordeal, and also I thought it may help some other people who are going through this too, as I wish I had something like this to look at to reassure me that things were going to be ok.

Ok, so going back to the beginning:
I've always been an avid gymnast, ever since I was around 4 years old. I used to compete in competitions and I was actually quite good at what I did. Sadly, my local club shut down and I couldn't attend gymnastics anymore, this was when I was 10. It was only in 2012 that I got back into it all and it felt incredible to be back. Things were going so well and I was getting really stuck into what gymnastics was all about again.
However, back in August last year I had a bit of an accident! Whilst doing a pike jump off of the springboard, I was not quick enough to land in the correct landing position (with bent legs), meaning that I landed with straight legs *ALARM BELLS*. Instantly, I felt/heard a popping noise in my knee and I fell straight to the floor, and I knew from then that things were not good! I couldn't even look at my knee because I thought that I'd broken it or something.
One of my coaches ran over to me right away and started putting ice on it, but I was in such shock that I almost passed out - it was all very dramatic and extremely painful.

Me, 6 days after!

From that day, and for about 2 weeks afterwards I was in immense pain, and after seeing multiple doctors and nurses and receiving no answers, I was sent to physiotherapy. Here I worked on the flexion and extension of my knee and trying to get it back to normal. I was on crutches for about 2-3 months as I just couldn't trust my knee. From this point, I was constantly in and out of seeing my physiotherapist and my consultant. It wasn't until November that I had an MRI scan to see if they could find out what was happening, and it was in December that I finally found out I had torn my ACL. When I found out, I was more relieved than anything else because after 4 months of waiting and being told different things by different people, I finally had my answer and I could move forward. Of course I was extremely scared and nervous, and it was ok to be at this point. I'd never been to hospital for myself before so obviously I was bound to be nervous!

I was then referred to the hospital to have an appointment with a surgeon in January, and here it was confirmed that I would definitely be needing the ACL reconstructive surgery - but there was more waiting (surprise surprise), and this time it was just over 2 months. In this waiting time I was released from physiotherapy, and so I attended the gym at college once a week and I went for bike rides twice a week to get my leg muscles in the best possible place before surgery to ensure a more speedy recovery afterwards. And after just over 2 months of waiting my surgery was booked for Wednesday the 25th of March.

After receiving the date I was seen straight away for my pre-op assessment, where I was asked a million questions about my health and such. Following this I had a meeting with my surgeon for a final briefing and I also had to "sign my life away" (well not really, it was just to say that I understood all that was happening, but you know...). And then it was sorted and I was due to have my surgery on Wednesday.

This is just a bit of a background as to how I actually tore my ACL, and also it gives you more of an insight into the waiting times and how the process actually works. My next post will include the surgery and how the first week of recovery was, from the perspective of someone who actually went through it.
Let me know if any of you have ever torn your ACL, or have had any sports related injuries in general?
Stay positive and keep on being you x

It's Been A While......

Hello everyone :)
So after an extremely lengthy break, I am officially back and I promise to update this blog a lot more than I have been recently. As usual life has happened and I've barely had a chance to keep up with everything. There have been tragedies, injuries and a very *traumatic* ordeal with a certain boy band member leaving along the way. But I feel now is the perfect time to be more active on my blog.

You can expect a weekly blog post, on something that I won't say until my next post (purely to keep everyone on their toes!), so you have that to look forward to from me.

Sorry that I have neglected this blog so much, but I am back now! I hope you're all well :)
Stay positive and keep on being you x