Overall Rehab Process
I got an opposite side patellar tendon graft, meaning that they took part of the patellar tendon of my good knee (my right knee) and grafted it into my left knee as a new ACL. As a result, my right knee's patellar tendon was made very weak, and I have to rehab the tendon to cause it to grow back and be as strong as it was before. This means that my left knee, which was the knee with the torn ACL, is actually stronger than my previously uninjured right knee. However, it is still tighter than my right knee, and maintaining full flexion and extension of the knee is a top priority in my rehab, as it gets tight quite easily.
My rehab right now includes a lot of strength training, mainly for my quads, which haven't been seriously used for months. At my two month mark, my doctor told me to begin to ease back into athletics, saying that this is the point that he would clear athletes to begin things like shooting around a basketball. Right now, I neither have the confidence or physical ability to do much athletically, but I have started throwing around and doing some very light jogging on the treadmill. The biggest milestone for me so far is when I discovered last week that I can comfortably and confidently skip! I've been showing this off to everyone around me, so don't mind me if you see me publicly flaunting my ability.
Current Rehab Routine
The following is the last rehab session that I did today. I've been increasing resistance, time, and weight on each exercise as I feel my legs getting stronger.
25 Minutes Stationary Bike - Resistance 9
5 Minutes "Jogging" on Treadmill - Speed 4.8
Seated Leg Press (one leg at a time) - 3 sets of 15, 40 pounds
Leg Extensions (one leg at a time) - 3 sets of 15, 20 pounds
This was a pretty short post, so here's a treat that I've been saving.
Before: Sheepskin padding for the CPM Machine
After: Costume for Warrior Mrs.Lee
I showed the above picture to my physical therapist, who laughed and responded with amusement, "Does she know that your dirty, unwashed leg was in there for two weeks?" Good times.
Congrats on gaining back the ability to skip, Caleb! Haha! Glad to hear that you're making some progress. And it's okay if you're not comfortable to up the ante with athletics. Slow and steady could help you're rehab. Hope everything's going well. :)
ReplyDeleteGreat post! Been reading a lot about back health recently, so reading through your blog is very interesting, Thanks for the info!
ReplyDeleteDana Point Back Surgery Post Rehabilitation