Sunday, November 30, 2008

Day 38

Day 38

During my physical therapy on Friday, I was able to bend my knee to 112 degrees. It took a while to get it to 112 because I was incredibly sore and stiff and I think it was due to 3 servings of turkey and extra gravy and a plateful of mashed potatoes, stuffing, rolls, cranberry's, casserole and mashed sweet potatoes and of course some champagne and wine! The swelling has gone down a lot which is a great sign but there is still room for improvement. I'm looking forward to go back to school in order to get my brace unlocked so I can bend my knee when I walk. Sometimes while I'm just in the house I don't wear my brace at all. I don't have any pain walking around and only very minor pain going up stairs and a bit more pain going down stairs but everyday has been getting better.
It has been a great week in Chicago and I'm not too excited to go back to school and take my final exams before the holidays but only 2 weeks of school before I'm a senior in college and about a month until I'm 21 years old!

Tuesday, November 25, 2008

Day 33





It's now day 33 and Ive done a lot over the last 2 days in physical therapy. Towards the end of my workout my whole leg is shaking from fatigue and I start to break a small sweat. The left side of my butt is on fire from all of the exercises. I reached 110 DEGREES today so I'm pretty pumped that I'm starting to catch up to where the protocol says I should be in terms of range of motion. I tried to do a really light jog today and think I could. I plan on asking my physical therapist tomorrow after my session if I can go to the rec center and do some forward running in the pool. I'm going to try and show you the progression of my knee from day 1 until last night, but I'm not sure it's going to work out how I want it to.

Monday, November 24, 2008

One Month Post-op



Its been a full month and I can start to see my knee healing. There is still a lot of swelling but I have much more control over my knee. I can walk around the house with no pain, except when I'm going down stairs. When I do exercises to stretch my knee and gain more range of motion I feel less pain and can do more such as walking up stairs at ease. This week they are going to unlock my brace so I'm not locked in a straight leg. I think when I'm in my brace locked out my leg becomes stiff from not bending for the whole day. I'm excited once they figure out how to unlock my brace. I'm doing leg press at 70 pounds with just my left leg and doing a lot of balance and strengthening still.

Friday, November 21, 2008

Day 29

Day 29

Its almost been a month and it has been a roller coaster. I flew home yesterday for thanksgiving break and started physical therapy with the Illinois Bone and Joint Institute and the session today went great. Sometimes getting a perspective from different physical therapists is good because they have different ideas of how to do things and its another observation on the mechanics of your exercises. I have been doing a lot of different exercises since I last updated. I started doing different types of mini squats, leg press, weight shifts, cup walking, knee bending, knee extensions, and balance. I started to walk in an underwater treadmill as well. Most of my exercises are to strengthen my quadricep as well as bend my knee. The good news is I started walking about a week or so earlier than my protocol calls for, however my range of motion is not where it should be. Today I was able to bend it 90 degrees which is good because about a week ago I could only bend around 65 degrees. The bad news is that I should be around 110-120 degrees in my advanced recovery. I know all people heal differently, however it's still disappointing. The doctor said it is due to a heavy build up of scar tissue under one of my incisions so I started to do ultrasound over that incision as well as an intense massage with lotion to try and break up the scar tissue. The physical therapists lay me down and bend my knee for me and I'm basically moments away from tears for about 5 minutes while they bend my knee. The good news is I should be able to unlock my brace and be able to bend my knee while I walk anytime in the next week or so. Also I found out that I should be able to start light running at the end of January which is 3 months post surgery. I still have small pain in my upper calf as well as extreme pain where my incision is when I bend my knee as far as I can go which is 90 degrees. I'm excited to be back home in Chicago for some good food.. pizza, hot dogs, Italian beef, chipotle, and of course thanksgiving. It's good to come home for a week and have mom cook me up scrumptious meals instead of ramen, easy mac and taco bell. Anyways Have a great weekend and I will start updating more often with more pictures.

Friday, November 14, 2008

Day 22




Yesterday and today have both been really hard sessions of physical therapy each lasting about 2 and a half hours each. I have began to do new and more intense exercises in order to increase the strength of my quadricep as well beginning to learn how to walk again. The physical therapist has started to bend my knee for me to increase my range of motion while I lie on my stomach and it is by far the most pain I've ever been in. Although it hurts, it has started to pay dividends as my range of motion was only about 65 degrees 2 days ago and now it is above 75. I am no longer on crutches and my leg is getting smaller by the day. I found out good news that I should be able to start running by the end of January. The bad news is that my leg is suppose to be swollen for another 6-8 weeks.

Wednesday, November 12, 2008

20 Days and Counting

Today is day 20 post-op and things are starting to get better. I still have a lot of swelling in my knee but the scars look good. I wasn't suppose to be off crutches for 4-6 weeks but I should be off of them some time this week. I have been walking around my apartment and around campus with just my brace on, which is still locked out at 0 degrees. It is very hard to go up and down steps when you cant bend your leg. I go to the training room to meet with my magnificent 3 athletic trainers that work me 2 hours a day 6 days a week. My physical therapy has increased in difficulty as now I rock back and forth on a bike for 10 minutes, leg press, mini squats, and new ways to do knee extensions and other activities. I can bend my knee 65 degrees but I'm a little worried because I'm suppose to be somewhere around 90 in about a week. It hurts to bend my knee and I feel much more comfortable walking around with my brace on. The pain in my calf has vanished but recently came back in a different place but not nearly as bad. I have LOST 12 pounds in my leg, which is a stick or more like a twig. I will begin walking in an underwater treadmill as well as some new exercises this week. I'm happy that I can walk and get around without my crutches and drive again, however its disappointing my knee is still huge and I can't bend it as much as hoped. I will update pictures soon.

Saturday, November 1, 2008



Day 9

It has been a long week and some change but I'm starting to see improvements in my knee. I have 8 incisions and 25 staples in my knee. I'm in a knee brace locked at 0 Degrees. My knee is locked out straight for a 4-6 weeks which means I can't walk or drive for that time. I've never had to use crutches before so it took a couple days to learn and get used too ( looks fun but it sucks!) and also trying to sleep on my back. The first week I was fighting a fever, chills, and cold sweat. I'm also equipped with a game ready, which is a device that you fill up with ice and water and you put a sleeve around you knee and it pumps ice cold water ( usually 38 Degrees) and pressure. I'm allowed to put 50-75 percent of my weight on my left leg but i can't totally stand on it until at least 4 weeks. The first couple days I couldn't move my leg in any direction. I began rehab and now I can see the swelling go down and much more movement in my leg. I will try and explain what exercises that I'm doing but I will also post my recovery protocol so you can follow along or in case you are about to undergo surgery and want to see what your limited to for the next 6 months or so. At day 5 I could bend my knee 49 Degrees and my excercises include leg raises, ankle pumps, quad sets, bending my knee, knee cap movements, knee extensions and stepping out with my leg and bringing my hips over my left leg to put weight on it and also sliding sidways. My knee has minimal pain, however I have terrible pain in my calf and shin.
Pre-Surgery

My name is Charlie and I play soccer for Virginia Tech. It was a disappointing season this year because after finishing 3rd in the nation last year and making it to the final four, I tore my PCL in the second game of the season. I'm first going to explain my injury plagued month. In early August during preseason for the upcoming soccer season, I developed a sports hernia on both sides of my groin (bilateral sports hernia). A sports hernia is a little bit different than an inguinal hernia as it deals with a split of the muscle instead of a gnenetic weakness in your body. However I decided to try and play through it. During our second game of the seaosn against the University of Washington in late August I had a blow to my knee in a slide tackle during a wet game in Portland, Oregon. My knee blew up with swelling and the cross country air travel didn't help. I had my knee drained and the team doctors suspected minor PCL damage but nothing too major. I did rehab all week and played in the next game a week later and while jumping over a slide tackle, the opposing players head struck my knee and my knee was reinjured. The following day I fell while walking down the stairs when my knee gave out and broke my wrist and fractured my elbow and also falling on my knee. I then got an MRI and it revealed a complete tear of my PCL. Now after doing a number on myself my medical transformation began. I was in a sling for my elbow and a cast for my broken wrist. I underwent surgery on both sides of my groin. This was terrible pain for 2 weeks. I couldn't cough, laugh, walk upright, basicallydo anything for 2 weeks. I underwent PCL surgery on October 23rd, 2008. And after 8 weeks in a cast I got my cast off my wrist and put into a splint.