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

Remember this!

Hello Everyone :)
Week 13:
I've actually done it.....
I've finished college for good.....
I had my last 2 exams this week, and they didn't go too well but I'm just so thankful to finally have college out of the way - especially after the year I've had! Now I am free to spend my summer as I wish (which will consist mostly of sleeping).
Recovery wise things weren't too great this week, but I'll explain later on in this post why.

I started at the ACL class this week. This is a special class where all of the ACL patients at my physiotherapy place come together for an hour and work on their recovery together, whilst listening to some "hype" music. The room is set up with 10 different stations, ranging from the cross trainer to balance boards and all that comes in between, and we then go round in a circuit spending 3 minutes on each station.
However, because my physiotherapist was ill this week, I was left with another physio who ran the class too - but he didn't know what I was good at or what I struggled with. So he basically just observed me the whole time, rather than helping or encouraging me. So I didn't really enjoy it too much as I feel like I work better with a bit of encouragement.
Also my knee was super wobbly this week. No matter what I did it just wobbled like crazy! It was incredibly frustrating, especially when it came to doing the jumping from side to side and then balancing on my operated leg on the trampette as it was too wobbly to even balance. Also when I was doing the step ups and step overs on the step box my leg wobbled and ached so much. The physio seemed to think it was because my knee was tired which would explain the wobbling.
After this session, I had quite a lot of pain in the muscles around my knee and it ached really bad. Hopefully next weeks session will be better because right now I'm not too keen on this new class. I'm not sure if it's just because I don't like change (and this is a big change for me), or because my knee was tired, but I'm really hoping this feeling goes away for next week.

This is going to sound so random, aha, but this week I had a dream that I could run - like a full on sprint! But when I woke up and I still couldn't run I was so so upset :(
It'll happen soon, I just wish it would hurry up. I haven't been able to do it for around 10 months (since I first injured my knee). It's funny because before the injury I was never that fussed about running, but I think it's that thing of whenever someone tells you that you can't do something, and it just makes you even more determined to do it. I think running is like that, because I'm not able to do it and now I would do anything to be able to.
But I will get there!

My scars poking through my ripped jeans aha ;)

So this week was another boring one because I spent a lot of my time revising and trying to get my last 2 exams out of the way, but now they are so hopefully I'll start being a lot more active and fun aha ;)
This week I also wore jeans for the first time since the operation woo hoo! I probably could have started to wear them a while back but I love my jeans to be super skinny, which then requires the skinny jean dance (girls, you know the one...) But I finally did it, I'm getting back to normal, slowly but surely!
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

The 5 Seconds Of Summer Experience

The fab 4

Hello Everyone :)
(If you haven't read about my experience at Wembley Arena leading up to the concert, then I suggest you read that one first here - also the show I went to was the 12th of June 2015)

WOW OH WOW
I think this is the most excited (and nervous - I don't know why ok?!) I've been to write a blog post ever ;)
Just to give an overview, 5 Seconds of Summer are the most incredible performers and you can tell that they give 110% into all that they're doing and that is so refreshing to see, despite them having performed these same songs night after night.

Firstly I would just like to start by saying that 5 Seconds of Summer create such an amazing and hyped up atmosphere before the show has even started with the songs that they play in the arena. With songs such as Back in Black by AC/DC, Never Gonna Give You Up by Rick Astley and The Final Countdown by Europe, it helped to build up all of the excitement that every single person was feeling in that one place.

The support act "Hey Violet" weren't really to my taste, but I will give it to them, they got the crowd going and extra excited for 5SOS. I think they're just not for me - but each to their own :)

AND THEN IT WAS TIME

As soon as the lights went out and the countdown began, the arena erupted into a sea of screams and excited faces (me being one of them). Countdowns at concerts always add to anticipation - after waiting 337 days for this concert, we're now down to the final 60 seconds and nothing else matters in this moment apart from this.
And then that first guitar strum was heard and I've never heard screams like it.... And then the first drum beat was heard...... And then Ashton appeared..... And then the other boys did too..... And then fireworks and pyro started going off left right and centre..... And then they started playing End Up Here and everyone lost their chill.....

The first few songs were full of energy (such as the oldies but goodies Out Of My Limit and Heartbreak Girl), and the 5SOS lads' enthusiasm completely matched the crowds' - we built each other up and it was a beautiful thing to watch!
Then came the new song "Permanent Vacation", and I swear in that moment I had never been so hyped up. During this song 5SOS like to split the crowd into 3 different sections to get the chants and claps going. My side was Michael's section, with him calling us "my babies - my children", the middle section was Luke's and the other side was Calum's. Together, we were one mighty noisy beast.

Little Lukey

After a few more songs came Long Way Home, which is one of my personal favourites from the album. For this song Luke came forward to the little bit of stage that comes out - and the other boys were in complete darkness, it was little Lukey's time to shine! Here, he got the crowd to help him sing the opening of the song, which he then stopped singing and just let the crowd sing. And the look on Luke's face was so special, he looked so proud of the crowd for helping him out.

Rejects comes next, and if you are familiar with how a 5 Seconds Of Summer show goes, you will know that this is the part of the show where they bring a fan up on stage to play guitar. So someone from the floor section was chosen and she took Michael's guitar and began strumming. She claimed it was meant to be "You Give Love A Bad Name" by Bon Jovi but I would have to disagree haha! Although it was very entertaining and made me extremely jealous when she got a sweaty hug from all of the boys :(

Then after my all time favourite 5SOS song (Heartache On The Bug Screen) came the emotional section.... This section included Wrapped Around Your Finger, Amnesia, Beside You and Everything I Didn't Say.
The first time I ever listened to Wrapped Around Your Finger it was raining heavily outside, I was laying on the floor and then this song started playing. And I just started crying out of nowhere, and ever since that day this song has been one of my favourites and I always hoped that they would add it to the setlist AND THEY DID! This song was probably the one I was most looking forward to hearing live because of the emotion it has, and the guitar in it is so incredible. When doing it live, there are also a few note changes (my personal favourite coming from Luke) which add to the hype of this song, and also Michael's guitar solo is one you must pay attention to!

The muscles *insert heart eyes emoji*

Amnesia was also one of the songs I was most looking forward to hearing live because I feel like it sounds so much better live. I find that I can't even listen to the studio version of it because it just doesn't live up to the live version and I'm left disappointed (but I do love the song!). During this song, the crowd typically put the lights on on their phones and hold them up in the air and it creates the most amazing atmosphere. The crowd were also insanely loud at this show so they sang the lyrics back wholeheartedly! They kept stopping singing to just listen to us sing their lyrics back to them. It must be the most insane feeling.
And the harmonies in Beside you and Everything I Didn't Say were enough to make my whole body feel like jelly. Also Calum's bass solo in the beginning of Everything I Didn't Say was the most adorable thing because he just looked and sounded so vulnerable.

Also, Pizza happened....... That is all.

The 5SOS lads also did an awesome cover of Green Day's American Idiot. It really shows off all of their musical talents individually, with drum, bass and guitar solos. I don't think I've ever seen a crowd as excited as they were during this song.

Next was Kiss Me Kiss Me which is a song that I was never too keen on from the album (I know, shoot me). But hearing it live has completely changed my opinion of the song, I can easily listen and enjoy it now and that is the power that hearing a song live has! Just before the breakdown of the song, or as Michael described it "We're about to go full metal on your ass", Michael also told the crowd to jump and go crazy, and asked "can you do that?". But with me being crippled for this concert, I screamed back "NOOOO" and I recorded it and it makes me laugh every time haha!

Then came She Looks So Perfect, which they tried to make out was their last song, and some people did believe this as they attempted to leave but then they came back out aha!
This song is always a goodun live because it's the one that everyone knows and everyone gets involved with, and it's just a great environment.

Encore time!
Good Girls came first and it was just as energetic as if it was the first song that they had performed of the night - that being extremely energetic!
Finally, the song that everyone had been waiting for was performed which was What I Like About You. Honestly, this song is the most lively song I have ever seen live! Everyone just went crazy and partied like there was no tomorrow.

The final bow :(

Then it was time to come home :(
And everything sounded like it was underwater and I couldn't talk just over a whisper as I had sung/screamed so much, but that is when you know that you had a great time ;)

Michael doing his thing

And here are just a few added extra details for you all; this show was filmed for their DVD which added to everyone's excitement as we all wanted it to be the best show possible (even though Calum still forgot the lyrics to Don't Stop...).
Niall from One Direction was at this show too, but I found this out when I got home, and he was stood like directly under where I was sat, but it still made me happy because he loves 5SOS and they love him - it's a beautiful friendship!
At one point in the show, Ashton asked everyone to hold up their banners and "art" as he called it. So I lifted my knee/leg into the air and waved it around because my surgeon did a damn good job on sorting my ACL out and I wanted them to know hahaha, I am so weird.
Finally, at so many points during the show Michael would look out into the crowd with so much love and awe in his eyes that it made me feel so proud of him. It was almost like he couldn't quite believe that this was his life, and that made me feel really happy because we (the fans) had put him on that stage and had made him feel that way. It just makes me feel good :)

So I had one of the best nights and it was all thanks to the lovely lads that are 5 Seconds Of Summer. They just put so much effort into each song and it makes everyone in the crowd so pumped and ready for the next song.
This is my experience of my 4th 5SOS show, you can leave me a comment about your experience of seeing 5SOS, or if you're going to see them soon leave me a comment of when your date is, I would love to hear from you :)
Stay positive and keep on being you x

A Concert With A Knee Injury

The limited edition poster for the
Wembley shows

Hello Everyone :)
For the readers that are familiar with my blog, you will know that I had knee surgery in the last 3 months, but for those of you who aren't too familiar I'll give a little bit of background information.
So about 10 months ago I tore something called the ACL. This is the Anterior Cruciate Ligament and it basically prevents over-rotation in the knee, and allows you to be able to run, jump and change direction suddenly. After an accident at gymnastics, I tore this, and 3 months ago I had surgery to fix it. The rehab process is rather extensive and takes around 9 months to just about get back to normal - so going to a concert, I was obviously very sceptical!

5 Seconds Of Summer are one of my favourite bands ever and they've put on a damn good live show every time I've seen them - which is 4 times now ;) They are just so energetic and excited on stage that the audience vibe off them, and have the best night ever!
And this time was no different....

Ahead of my attendance at the concert, I emailed Wembley Arena (where it was being held) about potentially moving my seats. This is because my seats were incredibly high up in the arena - and as I was going to be on crutches, I needed lots of leg room, which would not have been possible in my original seats.
They got back to me and told me that I had to print off the email and then on the day of the concert report to the Box Office to see what they could do. As this was left on rather an ambiguous note, I wasn't sure what was going to happen, but I knew that I obviously had to go!
I left that whole situation alone as there was nothing more I could do for now, so I started to prepare for the concert!

My VERY excitable countdown ;)

Once the day had arrived (the 12th June 2015), it was like a dream come true! After 337 days of waiting, the day had finally arrived and I was very blooming excited!
I spent the day in and around London as I had some time to kill and the weather managed to stay dry *hooray* so that was a bonus. Although the tube was rather difficult at rush hour and with me being on crutches, people weren't always the kindest...
But this couldn't dim the amount of excitement that I had for what was to come.

Wembley Arena :)

On my arrival at the venue (which is bloody beautiful, may I add), we headed straight to the Box Office - I got there about 1 hour before the doors opened just to give myself enough time to sort things out. Here, I showed the woman the email and she took my old tickets and exchanged them for brand spanking new ones.... WHICH WERE MUCH CLOSER THAN MY OTHER ONES AND I HAD LOADS OF LEG ROOM, HELL YEAH! We were also at the front of our section, so it meant that no one would be in my way of seeing the 5SOS lads if I needed to sit down. I was honestly so so thankful that it actually worked out for the best, and I'd be able to get a better look at 5SOS ;)
All hyped up and happy, I then crutched my way over to the merch stand (which was outside), where a woman who worked at Wembley told me the queue inside was much smaller and it may be easier considering I'm on crutches. So inside I went, and I got all of my merch and whatnot, then me and my sister sat down until the doors were open.
Once we had sat down another woman who worked at Wembley approached us and asked us if we wanted to go up to the Rewards/VIP lounge for free as they had some upgrade tickets left, and it may have been more comfortable for my knee. So of course we said yes! This woman was super nice and she showed us where we'd have to go in to the arena, and was asking us about 5SOS too and how to pronounce their abbreviated name aha ;) The lounge was super nice and comfy and it was great to be away from all of the madness!
Then 6:30 came along and it was time to take our seats in the arena....

Living that VIP life ;)

Ok this post turned out to be way longer than I anticipated, so I'm going to split this post into 2 halves ;) This half is more of an appraisal to Wembley Arena as they were so lovely to me and really catered for my needs so that I could have a great night. I'm honestly so thankful for their service and kindness! But the next post will include LOADS more about 5SOS and the actual show itself, so look out for that!
Leave me a comment if you've been to see 5 Seconds Of Summer before, or if you're going to see them because I would love to hear about it.
Stay positive and keep on being you x

I'm Back....Again!

Hello Everyone and Happy New Year :)

Well look who's back....
It's been quite a while since I last posted on this blog, and to tell the truth I have missed it dearly! But this post is just to quickly say that I am back and that I have some plans for this next year (and onwards, if all goes well haha!)

The next few posts from me will be pretty old, as they are ones that I've had drafted for over a year but just haven't published yet! So I want to get those out of the way first, before I move on to the new ones. 
I am also hoping to give my blog a new look at some point as well, just to keep it looking fresh and a bit more modern.

So this is it, I'm back! And it feels SO good.
Keep an eye out for my next few posts.
And stay positive and keep on being you x

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