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