Back and sort of rolling.

I had knee surgery on June 30th. ACL reconstruction and fix (clean up) of a meniscus tear on my left knee. I had intentions of writing about it sooner, but it was one of those things that was easier to think about than to act on it. The pain meds I was one just wore me out and made me sleepy, so I spent a lot of time sleeping.

Overall, the surgery went well, or so they say. I'm starting physical therapy this week. Hopefully that goes well. I'm still on crutches. Hopefully I'll be off them soon. I need to be able to hold my leg out straight before I can do it. Getting close, but still not there. Amazing how something that used to be so easy is now so difficult.

This was my leg after surgery. The blue tube like thing is actually just an ice pack. They sent me home from the hospital with a cooler that attaches to my leg to keep it consistently cold. It was sort of loud and annoying, but very functional.


I had my post surgery doctor check up today. He gave me a smaller ace bandage to wear and shortened the brace a little. But I still have to wear it till the end of the month.


Let's just say, I'm looking forward to August. And well, 2011 in general when I'll *hopefully* be cleared for all of my regular activities again. With a modified activity brace of course. I'll be brace bound for running & soccer for quite a while. It really makes me wish I hadn't been thinking "it's so nice to get to run without a knee brace" the weekend before I crashed. I was out for my long run and was thinking about my previous knee injuries and how annoying they had been. Well, it's been a fun year brace free. At least my right knee hasn't been giving me any trouble for a while, otherwise this whole fiasco could be a lot worse.

I'm just trying to stay positive and keep looking ahead toward recovery. Its really the only way to go about it. So, here's to the future and hopefully a knee-brace free August.

ACL.

The diagnosis that I've been hoping not to get was confirmed today.

I tore my ACL and meniscus in my left knee.

I'm waiting to get a surgery date, but looks like it will happen either the end of June or early July. I'll have a brace for a month after surgery. I should be able to run 6-8 weeks after surgery with a full recovery date of about 6 months. It seems like 2010 has taken a turn for the worse. I'm already anxiously awaiting 2011, because it's got to be a better year than this is turning out to be.

Historically May is not a good month for me:
May 14, 2009- I got laid off.
May 15, 2010- I crashed a motorcycle.
May 16, 2011- I will probably not leave my house.

The confirmation of my injury has put me in a pretty foul mood. While I didn't have many plans, and certainly not a bucket list, but I did want to do all of the things that I did last summer. Long bike rides, long runs, soccer games. I just want to be myself again and being myself means being active. This is going to be a long mental journey for me and I'm going to try to stay positive, but for now, I'm going to feel sorry for myself.