My Knee- First Surgery and Therapy

So after finding out I had a torn ACL and a possible tear in my meniscus, and some other tissue damage, it was determined that I would need surgery. It was going to be relatively easy- arthroscopic so I would only have two tiny incisions on my knee. They were going to go in and clean up what was getting stuck in the knee (including part of my meniscus). They were not going to repair the ACL. Due to some miscommunication, I did not realize that until after surgery.

Surgery itself was not bad at all. It was on St. Patrick's Day, so I wore my shamrock socks. The only small issue was that they couldn't put the IV in my hand, where they prefer. But other than that I was just really hungry after surgery. I don't even remember there being too much pain.

The worst part about after surgery was the compression socks I had to wear. They went up past my knees, were always rolling down, and were so tight. I think my legs hurt worse then my knee did. I think I had to wear them for a week or two.

A few weeks after surgery I started physical therapy for the second time. I went to the same facility, they are convenient for getting a ride to and from, and I just really liked them there. I did get a new therapist though. She was (and is) fantastic and for awhile I was doing better and getting stronger. Then my progress seemed to slow down, then stop. My knee wasn't hurting too badly, but it was still feeling pretty unstable. I guess that through therapy some people can do fine with a torn ACL or even no ACL. I am not one of them.

After talking to my therapist, and my doctor it was decided that I should probably have the ACL reconstructed. There was only one problem. My orthopedic surgeon at the time does not do ACL reconstructions (another thing I did not know), nor does anyone else at that practice. I got a few recommendations from there, which I took to my therapist to see if she knew anything about those doctors. One was ok, one she didn't say much about. And then she gave me a couple more suggestions. One surgeon in particular she really recommended. Having patients of his before, she said they seem to have easier recoveries in general. So I was off to surgeon number 2....

(to be continued some more)