I have two knees!

I am finally done with the last knee surgery. 9 months after I tore my ACL, its finally over!

I was pretty nervous going into this surgery. It was the 3rd surgery on the same knee, and the 2nd one wasn't very easy, so I was fearing what it would be like when I woke up in the Post Op bed. And after about 2 days, it wasn't that bad.

This surgery was the 2nd half of my ACL revision surgeries. The first surgery was to fill in the tunnels with bone grafts and remove the torn ACL. This surgery was to re-drill the tunnels and repair the ACL using my hamstring tendon. So, I've already had this surgery... kinda in my first ACL reconstruction.

For the last 6 months, I've been rehabbing the knee from the last surgery. It took over a month to walk again, but then progressed quickly after that. In the last month and a half before this surgery, I was able to go riverboarding, so I did... quite a bit. I was at the gym, on the river or in the pool 6 days a week, which was awesome. The hardest part about it was that I didn't have an ACL, so I was really limited in the things I could do. After this surgery, the sky's the limit.

Surgery date: 6/25/09.... the day Michael Jackson died.
During surgery, Dr. Roberts put a drain in my knee so the excess swelling would drain out. The day after surgery, I had to go to Physical Therapy and get it removed. I met my awesome PTs Chris and Steve and did some quad sets and range of motion bending. In my first ACL surgery I was immobilized for 3 weeks, so to move it right after surgery was weird... but good.













I got my brace unlocked after one week, and another week later I got my stitches out. After the stitches were out and most of the steri strips gone, I could see and feel the full potential and range of motion of my knee.



All this time of course, looking hot and stylish in my sexy white compression stocking.







This pic is from my first shower, 3 days after surgery. I've still got Dr. Robert's initials on my leg. I have one new scar on my outer knee and the vertical scar on the middle of my knee is longer. All the other scars are old news, just pinker and fresher now. My knee was pretty swollen after surgery. It doesn't really look like a knee in this pic. I think this is the most swollen it's ever been. It might have been around the same size as it was when I injured it in September.




I had a little bit of compartment syndrome on my shin area, leaving it with pitting edema. It was pretty disgusting. Pitting edema is when you press on the swelling and it leaves an indent in the tissue. It's pretty much totally disgusting and extremely painful. I found these 2 pics entitled "fun with pitting edema" online. I did not have fun with pitting edema. To do what they're doing in the pics would be incredibly painful. *insert vomit noise*












The pitting edema went away within 2 weeks or so (thank God) and left a super awesome yellow bruise for a while.


The bruising wasn't as bad as the PTs said it would be. Just some deep bruising near where they took the hamstring tendon, and on the other side, where they put the large metal pin into my knee. Those points are still pretty tender to this day.


This is a pic of when I got my stitches out. I've got some awesome bruising around the scar where the pin went in. Good times.










I got the super awesome Game Ready machine again. I can not say enough good things about this machine. It pumps ice water and air into a sleeve around your knee. So it gives ice and compression at the same time. It is the nicest thing EVER after surgery or anytime I'm in any kind of pain. Instantly relieved. Right after surgery I was in it all day. Now I'm just in it once or twice a day whenever my knee is bugging.



So, things are on the up and up every day. I'm amazed at how more things are easier every day.
More super awesome updates to come.....