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