The Waiting Game

I had my follow up visit to the surgeon today. It has been over 5 weeks since I tore my ACL and I was having the visit to see if surgery was destined for me. Well, I still won't know for several more weeks, even months. I go back again to my surgeon in 5 weeks. I still don't have full extension and will continue to do physical therapy twice a day to get full extension and strengthen the quad -- it's amazing how this muscle vanishes so quickly after an injury. I'm still limping a bit and my knee is still swollen.

After full extension, more PT (a few more months) until the knee is nice and strong. Then I can start to do normal activities like running, biking, etc. If the knee gives out, that means one thing - surgery. I could be one of the fortunate few where the knee does not give out and can do most physical activities except "level 1" activities such as basketball, soccer, anything that involves pivoting and stopping and going. I can live without these. Skiing even could be an option but I doubt mentally if I can get back on the slopes. The risk isn't worth it to me. I'm hoping cross country skiing is okay as I love being out in the snow and mountains. If the knee gives out and I don't have surgery, I could make things worse, i.e. tear the MCL and then I'd be in real trouble.

As far as surgery goes, I really, really do not want to have it. Besides the pain and 4-6 months of rehab, there's the inconvenience of not being able to do anything for myself post-surgery. I can be on crutches anywhere from 5 days to 2 weeks or longer. Bending the knee (I still an not able to kneel) will be difficult making ordinary tasks (bathroom visits, feeding the cats) not easy. I won't be able to drive for a month forcing me to depend on people to take me to PT, the doctor, grocery store, etc. The house will be a mess as cleaning will be neglected. And so on.

Then there's the first hand accounts of some folks who have already had the surgery and have shared their experiences with me. Such as:

• "Dr. __ said that if I didn't get surgery I would get arthritis a lot earlier in life and I would have trouble going back to being athletic. The recovery and pain since surgery is probably the most difficult thing I had to do in my life, I'm not going to lie. I was on percocet for a week and then vicodin for about 5 weeks after. It's really a personal choice, I guess. If you think you can do like 5 months of rehab after surgery then go for it."
• "As far as post op recovery, I'm not going to lie--surgery is tough and the first couple of days after are very hard. I pretty much used crutches to get around. By about a week I was down to one crutch around the house and I'd take two with me when I went out or going up and down stairs. It took about 4 weeks till I was comfortable without the crutch at all. I would also have to make sure I iced and elevated extensively after I did any walking or working out--and this will continue for months. At first if I walked for 2 minutes I'd have to ice for 20, then after a week or so I could walk for 4 minutes and ice
  for 15 and so on."

So, that's it in a nutshell. More as time progresses.