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.
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| Knee flexion is flexing ;) |
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
