Please Get Better, ACL

One Year Since My Second Knee Surgery

2011-09-18T22:32:00.000-04:00

On September 16th, 2010, I went in for my second knee surgery. It was a knee debridement and it was necessary because there was a buildup of scar tissue that made my knee extremely stiff and I could not get full extension. This was frustrating, but after this surgery, I took my rehab very seriously and even though my knee still feels weird, I am stronger and faster than I have ever been.

So where do I even start? I am going to list some physical accomplishments that I achieved recently.

5K Run
28:48 on 7/24/05
23:07 on 4/2/11

Squats (all different types of squats)
Never did heavy squats before my ACL tear (weak legs contribute to tears)

Front Squat: 205 lbs. in May, I know I can do more than this.
Overhead Squat: 125 lbs.
Back Squat: 275 lbs. (breaking parallel)

Deadlift:
345 lbs.

As you can see, I have been committed to strengthening my legs. I have thought about whether or not this injury would have happened if I properly took care of my body, but I guess I will never know for sure. All I know is that this injury focused me on health and fitness. I plan to continue this path for the rest of my life and will hopefully avoid any more injuries.

I leave this blog now as a resource for anyone that is going through a serious knee injury. I have been as honest as possible and this blog was a great outlet for my frustrations, accomplishments and general ramblings. If you have any questions, you may contact me through twitter.

Terrell Owens ACL Tear

2011-06-28T19:03:00.000-04:00

When a big name athlete goes down with an ACL tear, I take notice. The most recent athlete to go down is Terrell Owens. His agent, Drew Rosenhaus, said that TO heals faster than most people. Remember when he came back for the Superbowl after breaking his leg? I do. His surgery was in April (like me) and expects to be playing in August. Wes Welker came back to run routes after 4 months, so anything is possible.

Remember me at 4 months? Probably not. I was not even close to jogging and I still had a noticeable limp. Being a professional athlete is nice; rehab is your job and you heal fast.

Good luck to TO and coming back this season. As I have always said, I would not wish this injury on my worst enemy.

Sore Shoulder

2011-06-23T23:59:00.000-04:00

Health and fitness is my main priority in life. I CrossFit like crazy and I am fairly diligent about eating healthy. A couple weeks ago, I arm wrestled a friend and my shoulder started hurting. It was stupid, I know. Especially because my shoulder had been hurting on and off for months.

It didn't get better, so I saw the doctor. He said that it was probably a torn labrum, so I would need an MRI. I got the MRI done and it turned out that there was not a tear in my shoulder. I got a second opinion and he said it was bursitis, which is basically inflammation. That was really a close call.

After seeing the first doctor, I started thinking about what this would mean. Pain, couch, upset, etc. You get the point. I had even started planning when the surgery would be. It was crazy.

It made me think that I really have to listen to my body. The ACL tear was out of nowhere, but I sometimes kick myself because I did not take my leg exercises seriously. With the shoulder, I got upset at myself for being too competitive and pushing through pain. It is absolutely not worth it. Being fit or in shape does not mean to be stupid. Proper nutrition and preparation will help reduce the risk of serious injury. Taking days off is part of that equation.

Now I am resting my shoulder until the pain is completely gone. I have the urges to do overhead exercises, but I have to think long-term. If the ACL surgery taught me one thing, it is that being patient makes everything a lot easier.

Completing Some Goals

2011-05-15T12:18:00.001-04:00

November 21, 2010 post:

OK, so what is next? Here are a few things I plan to do. First, I want to rejoin my kickball team as a player by playing in the South Florida Kickball Open in February. Next, I want to do all CrossFit WODs as prescribed by March. I also want to run in the Cherry Blossom 10 miler in April and set a goal of an average of 9 minute miles. Finally, I want to complete the Tough Mudder or Warrior Dash.

After completing the Metro Dash yesterday, I thought back on some goals I had set for myself back in November. At the time, I had the feeling that I must accomplish these goals to prove to myself that I was back. I was determined. Over time, I realized that accomplishing these goals wasn't the end all to my recovery, but I still challenged myself.

My first goal was to play kickball in Florida in February. I did that, playing at around 75%, but I still did well and got through the day. I also played in a full day tournament last weekend and played in the field all day. I was sore, but I did well.

CrossFit WODs as prescribed. I do a good portion of them as prescribed, but not all of them. That is probably not going to happen for a long time. Everyone has weaknesses and CrossFit exploits those weaknesses every day.

I did not run the Cherry Blossom 10-miler because I simply did not want to run 10 miles. Instead, I ran a 5K that weekend and ran a great race. I wrote about that in the previous post.

My last goal was to complete the Warrior Dash or Tough Mudder. The more I read about these events, the more I realized I did not want to do them. They just didn't sound fun. Instead, I did the Metro Dash, where you go through 30 obstacles. The highlights of this race were climbing up and over a 15 foot cargo net, climbing up and over an 8 foot wall and climbing up a 12 foot wall with a rope.

Now that I accomplished these goals, what is next? I don't really know. From the day of my injury forward, I have been looking towards what is next. I am happy to say that right now I don't have any grand goals, other than working hard every day to make sure my knee gets better and better. I am not 100% and I don't know if I ever will be, but I am feeling pretty good.

5K Race!

2011-04-02T18:04:00.001-04:00

After I gave my one year update yesterday, I knew I would have another update today because I was running in the Hoboken Pump and Run race. This race was pretty simple. You bench 135 lbs. as many times as you can and for each rep, you get 30 seconds marked off your final 5K time.

I benched 27 times. I had benched 22 the Wednesday what I practiced and was hoping to match that mark. While I was benching, I realized I was going to do better than 22. When I hit 25, I started thinking 30, but 30 was not to be. I got about halfway up to get 28, but I was too tired at that point. I was very satisfied with this rep count, although it would have been nice to hit the maximum of 30 reps.

The real test was the 5K. I had not run much since my surgery and the longest run I went on was 1.5 miles. I did this two weeks ago at CrossFit. I came out on a pretty nice pace and tried to not slow down throughout the race. My knee felt fine throughout and the real issue was my lower back, which was sore from the deadlifts I did on Wednesday. I felt that my pace was great and I was pushing myself just hard enough.

When it came to the last straightaway, I knew it was time to really push it. I immediately heard a couple friends cheering for me and it gave me a little extra boost. I got away from the two people I was head to head with for the last mile or so and finished strong. I had a final 5K time of 23:07, which beat my previous PR of 28:48 that I did in 2005. When they subtracted my time for the bench presses, I had a final score of 9:37. I finished in 42nd place, which was in the top half of the race.

Overall, I am extremely satisfied. This proved to me that my rehab choices have been the right choices. Joining CrossFit was a great decision. My knee felt absolutely fine. I barely run and I destroyed my previous best time, which says a lot about the workouts that I do at CrossFit. My friends at the finish line said I was not limping at all at the end. As I said yesterday, this rehab is far from over, but today was a great day for my confidence.

One Year Post-Op

2011-04-01T18:59:00.000-04:00

This was no April Fools Day joke. I was extremely prepared for this surgery. I knew I had to do it and I there was no other choice. If I wanted to be active again, I needed to have the surgery. Sure, I could get a brace, but I would be taking a serious risk of having long term damage to my knee. A year has passed, so where am I now?

The Good:

I am active again, working out harder than ever
I do not limp when I walk anymore

The Bad:

My knee is still sore sometimes, especially after sitting down for a while
The track of my kneecap is not smooth, so my knee cracks and gets tight sometimes
I limp when I run hard, although I am working on this and not worried

So there you have it. My knee is not 100%, but I am working hard to get there. I have had many obstacles thrown in my way and it has only made me work harder. This rehab is ongoing and although it has been a year since my ACL Reconstruction, I still have a little while to go before I am back at full strength.

In honor of the one year anniversary of this surgery, here I am celebrating...

One Year in Review (since injury)

2011-02-27T13:47:00.000-05:00

This has been quite a year since February 20, 2010. That day started great; I was playing kickball in South Florida and with just one twist of the knee, my life would take a dramatic turn. This has been the most challenging year of my life, both physically and mentally. Now, two knee surgeries later and after many Physical Therapy appointments (somewhere in the low 60s), I am still working hard to get back to what I consider normal.

I could never have prepared myself for what I have experienced. As a physically active person before my surgery, I found it difficult to sit around for the majority of my day. While I was recovering (aka, sitting on the couch), it gave me time to think about what I was going to do when I got better, find some new interests and ultimately learn more about myself. I took a great interest in nutrition and physical fitness. I read blogs, books and spoke to people who were in recovery from major injuries. As soon as I could, I returned to CrossFit to do whatever I could to stay in shape. While people were doing olympic lifts, I kept myself busy with basic bodyweight exercises. I knew that as long as I could drag myself out of my apartment, I would feel better about the recovery.

I eventually decided to clean up my diet by following the paleo diet with the intention of ridding my body of pro-inflamatory foods, which would hopefully help me in the recovery. I did this and lost a significant amount of weight. It didn't actually help the recovery in the early stages, because I needed another surgery to clean up the scar tissue that had formed, but did not give up on the idea of eating healthier, because I knew that the decreased weight would only help my knee over the long term.

While recovering, I religiously attended CrossFit workouts. Doing this was my outlet. The workouts were mostly bodyweight exercises, but doing this, along with the Paleo Diet resulted in dramatic changes to my body. I was significantly leaner and stronger. As my knee got better, I started doing overhead barbell exercises and noticed an increase in strength from before my injury. The pushups, pullups and situps that I was doing worked!

So after this year, I am still not 100%, but last week, I returned to the kickball field in the same spot I injured myself. I was not as fast or as good as I was, but I felt that I gave a respectable performance, all things considered. The team did well; we matched our performance from last year and had two very impressive wins. I said early on that I would return stronger than I was before my injury. I said that, but had nothing to base that on. Now when I look back on that statement, I stand by it 100% and believe that I will be faster and stronger than I was the day before my injury. At this point, I am stronger than I was and as soon as I build the strength back in my right leg, I will be faster than ever. I have absolutely no doubt in my mind that this will be the case.

I am first to admit that I have taken this recovery very seriously. I never thought this would be the case, but I had never experienced a major injury before. I would not wish this on my worst enemy, but at the end of the day, I think this has made me a stronger person. I have a stronger personality now and am more focused on what I want out of life.

I don't expect my knee to ever be the same and that is fine. I am done using my bad knee as an excuse for not performing at a high level or why I am not in a great mood. Any and all shortcomings will be because of a lack of preparation or care that I take of my mind and body. At the same time, I am working hard to not take life as seriously as I have over the past year because taking life too seriously is no way to live. It is all about balance and I am working to find that balance.

Yoga

2011-02-06T12:44:00.000-05:00

I have never been flexible, but throughout my rehab, it has become obvious that this needs to improve. So I am doing something about it; I went to Bikram Yoga and gave it a shot. After the hour and a half session, I decided I would do a one month unlimited membership. I am hoping that Yoga will help reduce the stiffness in my knee and make me more flexible in general.

While in that room, they pump the heat up high. I was sweating a lot within a few minutes. We went through breathing exercises and then went through the poses. Most of the poses were difficult and I looked ridiculous. I knew I would suck and that was ok, I just wanted to give it 100%. There were a few people who would give up easily and just sit on the ground. That is their decision, but I think it shows how some people cannot get out of their comfort zone. Over the past year, I have not been in my comfort zone much at all and maybe I would have taken it easy or not given 100% if I tried this before my surgeries, but all I do now is give full effort into most everything that I do because you can't improve without maximum effort.

Now my month of Yoga will begin. I'm not sure how often I will go, but I plan to do it on Fridays after work and on any rest days that I take. I will probably do it around two times per week. This will hopefully be a great supplement to my exercise program. The ultimate goal here is to improve my range of motion in my knee and improve my overall flexibility.

Walking in Snow with a Recently Reconstructed ACL

2011-01-27T10:35:00.000-05:00

My struggles with getting around New York City is well documented throughout this blog. Although I am feeling better, my knee is still far from normal. I am always a bit cautious when walking, running or working out. This winter has been a challenge because of the snow.

In my first snow experience this season, it was in Ithaca, NY. The only noteworthy experience was slipping and catching myself with my right leg. It was great, I kept thinking about it all weekend. My knee surprised me.

My second experience was walking to work. I was not very smart about walking and wore my suit with my dress shoes. The notable event was slipping with my bad leg and catching myself on that same leg. No fall, it was not as smooth as the last slip, but I was standing. I got into work and pretty much everyone stayed home and almost everyone had two healthy ACLs. I eventually went home regretting the decision to go to work. This was the day of the infamous snow storm where the roads did not get plowed for day.

The day before another snowstorm was coming into town, I told my boss I would take work home because I didn't want to hurt myself. Well, we got the big snowstorm, but it turned out that the sidewalks and roads were cleared early. I came in late that day with no issues.

Now onto today! We got a ton of snow and my office was close. Thank you! This would have been horrible getting in.

Sprinting!

2011-01-15T18:41:00.000-05:00

I did an all out sprint for the first time today. I returned to the sport that I was playing when I tore my ACL, kickball. Yeah, kickball.

All I have to say is that I ran as hard as I could today and it felt great. I wasn't concentrating on form or how my knee felt, I was just busting my ass as hard as I could for 60 feet. I was pretty fast and it felt great. My knee isn't sore and this put me in a great mood today.

That is all!

Good Days, Bad Days

2011-01-12T22:34:00.000-05:00

I am realizing there are some good days and some bad days with my knee. I work hard to make sure I have mostly good days by stretching, exercising and eating right. This weekend, I did none of these things and I paid for it on Monday.

Over the weekend, I went up to Ithaca, NY for my friend's 30th birthday. The weekend included drinking and eating crappy food. It was a great weekend and I really enjoyed seeing my old college town and some old friends.

When I got back to the City on Sunday, I decided to walk about 20 blocks home after I returned the car. I knew that after a 4.5 hour ride, I would need to loosen up my knee. It didn't really help at all and my knee was extremely sore all day on Monday. By Tuesday, my knee was back to normal and today my knee feels pretty good.

I always have to blame it on something, so why did my knee hurt? Here are some reasons: I ate lots of grains, dairy, drank a 4 loco (sugar), did not take any fish oil and I drove 4.5 hours each way. Some people are saying that the drive did it, but it was fine Friday and all day Saturday. Feeling this was probably a good thing because I did a few activities out of the ordinary and I saw how I felt after.

Now onto my next health related activity. My gym is doing a 60 day nutrition challenge. I will be following a strict Paleo diet during this time. We all gave $20 and there will be three winners. The winners are the people with the best improvement in the Fight Gone Bad workout (male and female) and the person who follows the diet most strictly. We are meeting on Sunday to go over all the rules, so the winning criteria may change. This is also a good excuse for me to start another blog! I'll be chronicling my diet and CrossFit WODs on a blog I just made called Hero WOD. I have not started blogging there yet, but will start sometime this week and the challenge starts on Monday.

Two Mile Run...check!

2011-01-03T12:28:00.000-05:00

I always say I hate running, but when you have not done it in 8 months, it's the greatest thing ever. I went out and bought a new under armour shirt, under armour leg tights and nike running gloves. Having a new outfit is actually really motivating.

On Saturday I decided to do a leisurely run from my apartment out into Central Park at 83rd, ran up to 97th Street and then back down to the 83rd Street exit and back to my place. This was not timed, it was just me, the 12/31/10 Phish Show on my iPhone and my new outfit.

After the run, my knee was a bit sore. I iced it and then on Sunday when I went outside walking, my knee was sore again. As the day went by, my knee felt better. Running on the road is probably not the best for my knee, but there are no tracks around my apartment and nothing beats running in Central Park.

I didn't wear the orange shorts or socks, but I thought it would be fun to test out my outfit.

Setting Goals Keep Me Going

2010-12-26T14:27:00.001-05:00

Early goals in my healing were about limiting pain, getting back my range of motion, sleeping a full night and walking. These were basic goals that I worked hard to get. I had to do my stretches and do exercises that most able bodied people would laugh at. I needed to achieve these goals to basically live my life. Now I am setting goals for myself that physically fit people may find a bit challenging.

Yesterday, I went home to NJ to celebrate Christmas with my family. I took this as an opportunity to go to my old high school track and do a timed mile. This is my first timed mile since before my surgery. I wanted to use this as an opportunity to set a benchmark mile, so the next time I go home, I could go back to the track and see how much I improve. I quietly set a goal of an 8 minute mile. I wasn't sure how my legs would feel and had no idea how much my lungs could handle, although I definitely do lung burning workouts at CrossFit, but they aren't ever just straight running. I got to the track in 33 degree weather, stretched for two minutes and then went off running. My first quarter mile was 1:30, a 6 minute mile pace and knew I would not keep this up. I didn't get my second wind until about the half mile mark and I was feeling winded. So I kept going, all with the goal of running my ass off for one mile and seeing how I would do. When I hit the last straightaway, I busted my ass and went into a sprint, which felt good. I finished with a 7:04 mile and I was extremely excited.

After the run, my knee felt perfectly fine. I wore the new knee slip that my doctor prescribed for me and it helped. At one point, I felt a little pain in my knee and the slip gave me a little confidence, so I kept going. After about 10 seconds, the pain was gone and my confidence was high. My lungs are another story because I was winded, but I was determined. I coughed for a while because of the cold weather, but I was so happy that it didn't matter. I consider this the first run of my Cherry Blossom 10-miler training program.

I also achieved another goal; I finally did the 24 inch box jump at CrossFit this morning! My goals now are to sprint as fast as I did pre-surgery, play in the South Florida Kickball Open at a level that will help my team and run the Cherry Blossom 10-miler in April with a 9 minute average pace per mile. In the meantime, I will continue to train as hard as I have been and work to improve my times at the gym.

This is what a 24 inch box jump looks like (this is not me)

Current Status

2010-12-24T16:55:00.000-05:00

Since my Physical Therapy and Doctor appointments are complete, I thought I would give an update on how I am feeling. Every day since my injury, my knee has completely consumed all of my thoughts. I went through every feeling throughout my rehab, including pain, anger, frustration, lots of pessimism and even a little optimism at certain points. So where am I now?

My Knee

It's definitely not great, but not bad either. I lack the confidence in my knee, like most people who have this surgery, but am working hard with my diet and fitness to make sure I can get back ASAP. My knee feels a bit unstable and I take it easy when I turn corners while running or change direction, but I am told that is all my lack of confidence. I sometimes feel a little pain when running, but it never lingers more than 10 seconds after I stop. I now have a pretty sweet brace that I will wear when I play sports. At this point, it is all about strengthening the muscles around my knee and that is what I am doing.

Physical Fitness

I may be in the best shape of my life right now. I am not necessarily the strongest I have ever been, because of my knee, but I am doing things that I never thought I could do. When I joined CrossFit, I did Fran on my first day, which is rounds of 21-15-9 of Thrusters and Pullups. I used a 15 pound barbell and did ring rows. It took me well over 10 minutes. I did this same exercise in the middle of November with 75 lbs. thrusters and real pullups in 8:25. I am hoping to do this workout as prescribed soon, which is 95 lbs. thrusters. I am not running and plan to do my first timed mile tomorrow, which I will use as a benchmark. I have also signed up for the Cherry Blossom 10 Miler in DC that takes place in April. Here is a video of a few people doing Fran who both get a lot better times than I do!

I am pretty sure I was doing a push press in this picture. I hope you like my shoes.

Nutrition

I made a point during this rehab to not be one of those people who use an injury to sit back, relax and get fat. After my surgery, I decided to limit my eating to meals and not snack. Since I had lots of time, I started researching the paleo/primal diet. I read a book called the Primal Blueprint by Mark Sisson and have incorporated his plan into my diet. At the time of my surgery, I was 165 pounds and I hit a low of 144 when the muscle dripped away while I was immobile, but am currently around 152. Keeping this weight off will make life a lot easier on my knees. For those of you I don't know, I am 5'5, so I am not very tall.

What Now?

I will continue the path I have paved for myself. I made a decision before this injury to join CrossFit and get into shape, but never planned to get hurt. As much as it sucks to get hurt, it has given me more reasons to get healthy. Before my injury, I had pretty weak legs. I don't know if that is the reason I got hurt, but I am taking my leg exercises very seriously. When there is a day that we don't work out our legs, I feel like we are missing something. Having strong legs is very important, especially for someone who plays sports. Along with my fitness, nutrition is very important. I am not becoming a health nazi with myself; I still go out for drinks and eat like crap sometimes, but I am very conscious of what is going into my body. A healthy diet is very important to keep yourself strong, because your muscles need healthy food to properly develop.

So this is what I am doing. From all the research I have done, I think this is the way to go about it. I haven't had the easiest rehab and it is far from over, but this is where I stand right now. I hope you all have a good holiday weekend!

Last Doctor Appointment

2010-12-20T21:49:00.000-05:00

So there it is, I have graduated from having my surgeon check on my knee. Everything looked good and he told me to slowly get back into sports. He said everything should feel more normal over time and eventually I should have full confidence in my knee by April (one year after surgery).

I did get a great present; a knee slip for when I play sports! It's called a Genumedi and it's much larger than the knee slips I have seen. I got it fitted and I'll use it for running and kickball.

There really isn't much more to report on, other than I am completely into strength training mode and will continue this throughout this rehab and hopefully my life.

Physical Therapy is Done!

2010-12-17T22:22:00.000-05:00

I had my final Physical Therapy appointment this Thursday. The last few weeks has mostly been strength building and I am doing plenty of that at CrossFit. I have my bands at home to continue doing a few exercises and a strap to get a full flexion without any pain.

Even though my PT appointments are over, I still plan on continuing this journey and will not get lazy. Now that I feel a little better, my workouts are not half-assed anymore. I lift a lot of weight, do the squats and bust my ass. I have been going to the gym about five times per week and put forth full effort with each visit. I feel almost obligated to make an effort to get to the gym and prioritize these sessions over most other things.

I have not had the easiest recovery and know I still have a while before I am fully healed, but I do not want to leave that to chance. I will continue this rehab by not only strengthening my legs, but paying close attention to my nutrition as well.

I have a doctor's appointment on Monday to check out my knee. I am pretty sure this is the last appointment with him and I will have an update on that soon!

Confidence

2010-12-13T21:36:00.000-05:00

People who I spoke to before this long journey told me that the last thing to come back would be confidence in my knee. Early on, walking with confidence was a big milestone. When I got the walking down, other milestones were breaking parallel on a squat, doing weighted squats, jogging, cleaning the barbell, etc. You get it. Now I have two goals I want to accomplish; doing a box jump on a 30 inch box and sprinting.

First is the box jump. This is simple; jump up on the box and jump off. I do this now with a small, 18 inch box. This took a while to build up the confidence to do it and now it's time to move on to higher and harder jumps. I just have a mental block with this, but I want to get this soon.

Next is sprinting. I was at the gym today and did a few laps. One lap was doing high knees, which felt a little awkward, then feet kicking my ass (or close to it) and that felt awkward as well. Next I ran hard back and forth. Whoa! That felt really weird. I noticed I could not stop that fast either.

So what is holding me back from doing this stuff? It is confidence. I know I should do it, but it's not easy to just do it. I look at that box and say "I'll do this tomorrow." This excuse is getting old and I got to just do it. I will do it eventually and I know my hard work will pay off when I get back to my old self. I need to remember that this new ACL is strong and it will hold up.

Oh yeah, I got into the Cherry Blossom 10-miler. It is in April and that is one of the goals I set for myself to complete. I really don't like running, but I am determined to prove to myself that I can do it on this reconstructed ACL.

Moving Right Along

2010-12-04T16:38:00.000-05:00

Strength! That is what I am working on right now. My knee still feels weird and maybe a bit unstable, but this feeling is about 95% mental. With the strength returning, my confidence is getting higher and higher. This past week, I did a CrossFit workout that was my best ever. I did a 135 lbs. thruster, which is a full squat with the bar at a front rack and then when I come up out of the squat, the bar is pressed above my head. I did it three times in a row and it did great things for my confidence.

Today I did Fight Gone Bad. A famous CrossFit workout that involves five stations and you go to each station for one minute. This workout is three rounds with a one minute rest between rounds. It is tough, but one of the stations is box jumps. My confidence left there. I did my first jump and it was fine. On the second and third, my left leg was feeling weird. Almost weaker than my right. I realize that I am favoring my left side on all my lifts, which leaves my left leg tired. So now I have to fully concentrate on treating both legs equally so I do not compromise my right leg's strength gains. So what I did were step ups with my right leg for the rest of the workout. I finished by beating my old personal record in this workout.

As I sat on my couch today after the workout, I realized that my shoulders were killing me. How great is that? My shoulders hurt more than my knee!

That's about it right now. I visit my doctor in a couple weeks to check out my knee and now I am in full strength training mode.

Here is a picture of me in the yellow doing 65 lbs. overhead squats:

No Substitute for Running

2010-11-27T12:37:00.000-05:00

Now that I am well into the strengthening phase of my rehab, my workouts are getting tougher. I have religiously attended CrossFit so that I could stay in shape so that I could come back strong. Ever since I started running, I realized that my substitutes for running were fairly easy. Today solidified that feeling.

I completed a CrossFit benchmark WOD called "Eva", which is 5 rounds of an 800M run, 30 kettlebell swings and 30 pullups. I finished in a little over 52 minutes, dead last. I did most of the workout as prescribed, except I did 1 pood for the kettlebell swings and did ring rows instead of pullups in the last round. My knee held up nicely throughout the workout and I am really pushing myself. The running is slow, but it is nice to be out there.

Now that I am out there, I will have to step up my pace. I am moving at a slow and steady pace now, but the goal is to be stronger than before. Over the next month I will slowly move towards giving absolute 100% effort on all leg related exercises. Hopefully I have one of that "aha" moments like I did about a month ago and feel almost normal. Seriously though, nothing compares to running, so if you want a real workout, skip the biking/rowing/walking and just get out there and run.

What's Next?

2010-11-21T12:12:00.000-05:00

Now that I am into the strengthening phase of my rehab, I am starting to look forward to what I will do when my knee is ready for sports again. Yesterday was a big day; I completed a scaled down version of Murph. This exercise as prescribed is: 1 mile run, 100 pullups, 200 pushups, 300 air squats and finishes with another 1 mile run. This was my first time running outside since my injury and it felt great. I even wore my new inov-8 shoes for this run while trying my best to run in the pose method (video below). I scaled the workout to half mile runs to begin and end the workout. I finished in a little over 44 minutes.

OK, so what is next? Here are a few things I plan to do. First, I want to rejoin my kickball team as a player by playing in the South Florida Kickball Open in February. Next, I want to do all CrossFit WODs as prescribed by March. I also want to run in the Cherry Blossom 10 miler in April and set a goal of an average of 9 minute miles. Finally, I want to complete the Tough Mudder or Warrior Dash.

This injury has given me a new outlook on my physical fitness and goals I have. It has been very tough and I still have a long road to a full recovery. I will remain focused on new goals I have and will work hard to have this focus translate into other aspects of my life as well.

Physical Therapy is a Workout

2010-11-12T17:34:00.000-05:00

Physical Therapy is like going to the gym and getting a good workout in. Here are some videos from today's session. It is nice to be able to do this after feeling completely hopeless for so many months.

CrossFit and Kickball

2010-11-07T11:56:00.000-05:00

This Saturday was a big day. I have been feeling more confident in my knee lately and got the OK to do what I was comfortable with at CrossFit. So I woke up Saturday morning excited for CrossFit and my first Kickball practice since my injury. I didn't go all out in practice, but got some bunting practice in and it felt great.

My knee felt a little weird at CrossFit. While doing air squats to warm up, I moved a little fast and felt something in my knee. It was a little tight and the pressure was relieved in a way that I have not felt before. It wasn't a full crack, it was another sound. I decided to modify my workout to less weight and reps and I still did not finish the workout in the allotted 25 minutes. Not only are my legs weaker, but my shoulders and arms are as well.

At Kickball, I did some bunting and light jogging down the 1B line. I am definitely lacking confidence in my running, but it is better to be safe than sorry. As Jenny said, "if you tear your ACL again, I will kill you" and I immediately responded "don't worry, I am pretty sure I will take care of that before you get a shot at me." So at practice, I did not do anything that required cutting or quick direction changing.

Overall, I see progress. I am excited for PT every week and am feeling more upbeat and happy. This is a long process and it's nice to see these two surgeries and hard work paying off.

Running!

2010-11-03T19:16:00.000-04:00

I ran! This is such a great milestone. I did 12 minutes of two minutes running at five MPH and one minute walking. It felt weird at first, but once I got going, I was feeling good. This not only felt great physically, but it also makes me feel great mentally.

Doctor Appointment

2010-11-02T16:32:00.000-04:00

Short and sweet is a good way to put it. I waited about one minute in the waiting room, walked (did not limp) into the room, waited another minute, the doctor came in and checked on my knee for about 20 seconds. He said "extension looks good", commented on how flexion looks good and said to keep working at it. I told him that the PT said about 2-3 more weeks and the he agreed. I then told him I am going to start running this week and he said that I should "start pushing it now." Then he said to come back in about two months for a final check.

To celebrate the positive appointment, I did Jackie and she absolutely killed me in 13:31!

End in Sight?

2010-10-29T17:44:00.000-04:00

In my last post, I said I was feeling optimistic about my recovery and that is still true. Now I am moving better and even did some jumping exercises at PT. I did the exercise where you put a ball in front of you and you put one foot on the ball, then jump and put the other foot on the ball. I did it for two rounds of 30 seconds and a third round of 40 seconds. This was more of a mental exercise than physical and it felt really good to do it.

Then while talking to my PT, he said my limp is pretty much gone and I can do some weighted squats at my gym. So I went to my gym and did step ups, kettlebell swings, pushups, good mornings and 400M lunges (w/ a 10 lbs. plate above my head) on Wednesday and Thursday. The best news of all is that I will jog for the first time since February 20, 2010 on Wednesday of next week. I did get a little ahead of myself last night and jogged about 10 feet across my apartment because I was feeling confident.

Monday is my six week follow-up appointment with my surgeon. He is going to look at my knee and say there is still a little swelling, but I should start running. He will also tell me that I need to strengthen my leg before returning to sports with no limitations. I will leave there happy and get to work on being strong.

Since this surgery, I have lost about 20 lbs. through changing my diet to paleo/primal and by taking vitamins and fish oil. Doing this is probably due to me not having control over much physically (CrossFit, sports), so the only thing I could control is my diet, but that is for a shrink to figure out. Now it is time to strengthen my legs to limit the chances of injuring myself again while continuing to eat healthy so that I don't become so top heavy (which I think contributed to my torn ACL in the first place). I was never "out of shape", but my definition of in shape and out of shape has drastically changed since my injury.

I'll let you all know how Monday goes!

Traveling After Knee Surgery

2010-10-16T12:37:00.000-04:00

Last weekend I went to Las Vegas, a yearly trip I take with my kickball team for the kickball world championship. At the time of my first surgery, I thought this would be my first tournament back, but because of the second surgery, this was not the case. I knew the flying, walking and partying would take a toll on my knee and it sure did. I decided to post about what to do to help alleviate the pain of a bad knee on vacation.

With the air pressure in the plane, combined with sitting still for so long, I was prepared for an uncomfortable flight. I made sure to reserve an aisle seat with my right leg in the aisle. This helped because I could get up to stretch without climbing over people and I could stretch my leg out if my knee became tight. Also, when I got on the plane, I took a percocet (I have a subscription), to help alleviate any pain I would be experiencing.The flight wasn't so bad!

If you have ever been to Vegas, you know that you will do a lot of walking. This caused my knee to swell up pretty bad. Ice would have been a great decision, but I did not ice my knee for the first two days of the trip. This caused a ton of discomfort. Definitely don't forget to elevate and ice your knee.

One thing I was very good about was doing about 10-15 minutes of leg exercises a day. When I got home after the trip, I did notice an improvement in my flexion. My limp is getting less noticeable and hopefully it will be gone soon.

That's about it. Don't let your knee stop you from doing what you want to do, but don't completely forget about your icing and exercises. I definitely paid for it by not icing my knee. It was pretty uncomfortable for a couple days after I got home. Ten minutes when you wake up and ten minutes when you get back to the hotel is all you need.

When I got home, I literally sat around with my leg elevated and iced a lot. I also took a lot of fish oil pills. From the research I have done, I have seen that fish oil can help alleviate inflammation. Some people say this is a myth, others swear by it. I am not sure if the improvement in my knee since Vegas is due to the fish oil, but my knee feels better right now than it did before I went to Vegas. At this point, I am trying everything to get better and for the first time in a while, I feel pretty optimistic in my recovery.

6 Months Post-Op

2010-10-03T10:09:00.000-04:00

Six months! This was supposed to be when I was given clearance for full participation in sports and anything else I wanted to do. Obviously, this is not the case. The rehab from this surgery did not go according to plan and instead of celebrating with a game of soccer, I am celebrating with more rehab from a second surgery.

There is not much of an update because my situation is very unique. My knee is still a little swollen from the last surgery and tight. It is not the same tightness as before. I can get up from sitting down without pain and my knee does feel a like it has a little more ROM, but it is still sore from the surgery.

I was told that I would need six weeks from my last surgery to get full clearance for sports, which happens to be November 1st. So in the meantime, I am concentrating on my ROM and strength. My leg is weak, real weak. To get back to sports, I need to get my leg strong and ready to take a beating. I have some big things planned for when I can get back to running. I want to do something in the form of an endurance test. I never thought I would want to run as bad as I do right now, but I am working hard to get my knee into game shape and before you know it, I will be back to my old self (I hope!).

Always Listen to Your Body (you know more than anybody else!)

2010-09-22T20:55:00.000-04:00

I have gotten into a habit of just updating you all about my progress and have not reflected on my journey so far.

When I started this process, I came in thinking I would be one of those people that healed faster than most others. Why wouldn't I think that? I am an avid CrossFitter, I eat healthy and I came in determined to get better. I have always seen fast results and I have the ugly (yet faded) stretch marks on my arms from when I started working out in college to prove it! Well, that was never quite the case. I did get a tip early on and that was to listen to my body. If I thought something was wrong, there was probably something wrong. The doctor, the PT and other people will assure you that nothing is wrong, but you are the master of your own body and you know what is going on better than anyone else, even if you don't have the degrees to prove it.

At around 3 months, I knew I was way off track when my doctor said I should start running. The PT said there was no way I should run and I had to lose the limp first. There were two problems, my knee was always tight and I could not get full extension. That is when I started using the dynasplint. Then after a month, there was no improvement at all and I knew that I needed surgery to remove the scar tissue, the next step was to tell my doctor what the next step was!

Now came my next lesson. There are many levels of pain. If I asked you if you were in pain and you were about a 1 on a scale from 1-10, you would say no. When dealing with this, a 1 is pain. That 1, which was the stiffness and the uncomfortable feeling I felt, should be characterized as pain when discussing your surgically reconstructed knee. I felt like I was about to be told to leave the office and that I would be fine when I said I wasn't in pain. Instead, I explained it was uncomfortable and we scheduled an MRI.

I know doctors and PTs should be listened to at all times, but I urge you to make some assumptions on your own based on what you are feeling. Read these blogs, post on message boards, read studies, do what you need to do! I am almost too educated on this, but it's the reason I knew what needed to be done to get better. Now I sit here with some of my ROM back and hoping to make a full recovery. A month ago, I was not so optimistic. This has been a long journey and I know I have a lot ahead of me.

Surgery #2 in the Books

2010-09-20T11:08:00.000-04:00

My second and hopefully last knee surgery took place on Thursday. I felt a little more prepared than last time, which increased my anxiety going in. Between this surgery and the last surgery, I have become an internet expert about knee surgery. So I knew exactly what they would be doing to my knee while I was out. I just kept reminding myself that this has got to be done if I want to be active again.

I was out for about an hour and I was told the surgery went well. The doctor said he got a lot of scar tissue out from behind my knee cap and that he got my knee into full extension while I was out. Getting to full extension with someone pushing on my knee was never the problem, it was keeping the knee in full extension. The stiffness, however, was the real issue. The hope is that this surgery will get me a few degrees of extension back and get rid of the stiffness. The timeline is that I should be going strong at six weeks and back to sports.

The pain coming out of surgery was not bad at all. I was pretty numb for the first day from the local anesthesia. I sat around in my dynasplint all day and was weight bearing. The next day was a little more painful, but definitely not what it was like last time. Now I am just uncomfortable and my knee is really swollen.

So there we have it. Surgery #2 is done and now the real work begins.

Countdown to Surgery

2010-09-12T13:17:00.000-04:00

I don't have an update because I am pretty much in a holding pattern while waiting for Thursday to come. I am still stretching, bending and attending my CrossFit gym.

In other ACL related news: I have become increasingly obsessed with knee injuries. I read about ACL tears or any other minor knee surgeries. I am watching the Patriots and Bengals right now and loved seeing Wes Welker play. In the first drive, he caught two passes, one being a touchdown. Even though I love the Jets, I was still happy to see that.

Talk to you all later this week post-op!

Five Month Post-Op Update

2010-09-01T20:17:00.000-04:00

For my five month anniversary, I scheduled my second knee surgery! I have scar tissue built up in the knee joint, which is making it difficult for me to get full extension and is also limiting my flexion a bit. Surgery is scheduled for September 16th and the doctor made it seem like a very minor surgery.

Overall, this sucks, but I am not getting better and I want to be more active. I really want to run and I want to lose my limp. A lot of people I speak to say they are sorry about this, but at this point, I just want to get better and if surgery is the answer, then I say "lets do it!"

So here we go again!

MRI Result Are In

2010-08-26T19:04:00.000-04:00

I got a call today from my doctor's nurse and as I expected, I have scar tissue built up around my knee and that is what is limiting my range of motion. The only option right now to get rid of the scar tissue is surgery and I am ready for it. I am meeting my doctor on Tuesday to go over specifics, but it looks like the surgery will happen in mid-September.

Another MRI!

2010-08-20T19:29:00.000-04:00

As you know, my range of motion sucks. I am about 3-5 degrees off from full extension and even bending isn't great. When I try to straighten my leg, it is very uncomfortable. Something is not right and I felt that after 4 months, I needed to figure it out.

I visited my doctor and he checked out my knee. It wasn't the usual appointment where he goes into the "plan" and where I should be. He took the time to see how my knee was looking and said that he thinks there may be scar tissue built up around my kneecap, which is making it difficult to fully extend and also why I may be experiencing stiffness as well.

My MRI is scheduled for Monday and I will probably get the results later in the week. At this point, I hope it is scar tissue and I can have my knee cleaned out by arthroscopic surgery. It is too bad that this has gotten to this point, but what can you do?

Is ACL Reconstruction Surgery Necessary?

2010-08-05T18:13:00.000-04:00

I don't think this study proves much at all, but it was in the NY Times and is worth a read. What do you think of this?

Another ACL Comeback!

2010-08-04T20:56:00.001-04:00

Kris Jenkins, who plays on the defensive line for the New York Jets, is back after tearing his ACL last season. He even showed up to camp 34 pounds lighter, weighing in at a little above 350!

Read the story here.

Four Month Anniversary

2010-08-03T18:46:00.001-04:00

I forgot to write my monthly post that I write every month on August 1st. Not much has changed since the three month mark. My knee is still very stiff, I don't have full extension and I am limping. I am using the dynasplint and my knee is definitely sore from the use. Hopefully this splint use results in my knee achieving full ROM, that would be great. In the meantime, I have scheduled an appointment with the surgeon to discuss what exactly is going on. I am definitely behind schedule and I want to know if there is an issue with the tendon itself, which may be too tight. Hopefully I don't need surgery, but something has to change.

My gym has started a nutrition challenge, which I am taking a part in. Nutrition is very important to the healing process and I have done a very good job keeping myself healthy. I have even managed to lose some weight since surgery. The diet I am taking part in is very similar to the Paleo diet, which is also known as the Caveman diet, because you basically eat like cavemen did. I am cutting out sugar, grains, starch and dairy, but I will allow myself two cheat meals per week and one night where I can drink some alcohol. By the way, sugar is in everything! The idea behind this diet is that you will get to the weight your body is supposed to be and you will be a high performer in physical activities. It can't hurt to try something like this. I just want to be in the best shape I can possibly be in to make sure my knee heals.

So this is where I am now. I am frustrated, maybe a little angry, but what is the use to let it ruin my day? All I can do is go hard in my Physical Therapy, my training and everything else I do.

Wes Welker ACL Comeback

2010-08-02T23:26:00.000-04:00

I may be a big Jet's fan, but I cheer for anyone that is working to come back after an ACL injury. Wes Welker is back running routes at the New England Patriots training camp, but he is not full cleared to play yet. I will be keeping up with his progress closely.

This is Welker tearing his ACL:

What is Going On?

2010-07-29T21:40:00.000-04:00

I never started this blog to complain about people, situations or to sound like a cry baby. As much fun as those blogs are to read, I will never be one. I just wanted to use this blog as an outlet and also to give me something to do. This was great for the first few weeks; I was on the computer with my leg up at all times. So I will not be complaining, because I knew this wasn't something that would be easy. Things have just not gone to plan, so it further tests my ability to get through a difficult situation.

I am almost four months out of surgery and still do not have full extension. So now I am using a dynasplint in order to straighten the knee. As hopeless as I felt over a week ago, I now feel better because I am doing something about this. I even increased the pressure to 7 lbs. from 6 lbs. today and I can definitely feel it after 30 minutes. After using the splint, I usually sit on the ground to see how my leg looks fully extended. I am usually a little bit away from full extension at that point, but after some time, my leg goes back to the way it was before using the dynasplint. I was told that this would be like watching grass grow; it would be a very slow process. I keep reminding myself to be patient. I gave my doctor a call today and spoke to the nurse today. She did not seem concerned and kept saying that everyone heals at their own pace. I am definitely well behind schedule, but I am choosing to believe her and go about this very aggressively.

If this isn't enough, I feel like I am running against the clock. I had mentioned in my first post that I hurt myself playing kickball. The competitive tournaments are in full swing right now and I am the captain, so I serve as a coach. It's not so bad because I never expected to play in the tournaments, but my goal has been to play in the National Championship in Vegas.That takes place in October, just after my six months post-op. It won't be the end of the world if I don't play, because I am going anyway, but I really want to play. I know it sounds ridiculous and I am very aware of that, but I miss it.

Basically, I want to get full extension and I want to be active again. I never thought I would say this, but I want to run. I want to run a few miles, I want to sprint, I want to squat a lot of weight and I want to get up from my desk and not feel extremely sore. I really can't wait for that! As the title of my blog says: please get better, ACL.

Dynasplint!

2010-07-24T14:30:00.000-04:00

I got my dynasplint delivered this morning. Basically, it is a brace that pushes your leg to -20 degrees. Your knee does not actually go that far, but it applies 7 pounds of pressure while I sit with my leg up.

This thing is kind of annoying, but after about two hours, I sat on the floor and I was pretty close to full extension. The problem is not getting to this point, it is staying at this point. I was told to get about 4 hours a day in this brace for a month.

Here is what it looks like on my leg...

Next Steps

2010-07-23T22:03:00.000-04:00

I heard back from the doctor's office about my extension, well, lack of full extension that is. I will be receiving a dynasplint tomorrow. It is basically a brace that will hold my leg in full extension that I will use while I sleep. I have absolutely no clue why getting to full extension is so difficult. My doctor says "it will come" and today my PT said that it is probably because I had a meniscus repair too.

I knew this was going to be a difficult recovery, but I never expected to have this much trouble getting back to normal. This is all part of the experience and I hope I can look back at this and smile...while running around like a maniac.

Tough Times

2010-07-20T20:34:00.000-04:00

I have been putting off updating this blog for a while because I have nothing good to report. I am still limping and I don't have full extension. The only positive at this point is that my strength is coming back nicely. I owe this 100% to being diligent about not becoming fat when I was immobile and also religiously attending CrossFit. I am a little over 3 and a half months, so I should have lost the limp by now and also have full extension. I plan on calling my doctor tomorrow to discuss the next steps in order to get better.

This has taken a toll on me mentally. I find myself a little down, but that should be expected from someone who went from extremely active to being unable to do what I did before. The one thing that always makes me feel better is getting a good workout. I can have the worst day and think I should just spend the night on the couch, but when the workout is over, I feel great. I am working hard to get better and I should have an update soon about my conversation with my doctor.

That is me in the middle with blue shorts doing a squat snatch. Still just doing the bar...

3 Month Post-Op Update

2010-07-06T16:55:00.000-04:00

I was away on my three month anniversary of my ACL Reconstruction, so I did not have a chance to do my monthly update. So here we go...

The extension is still about 1-2 degrees off. This is by far the most frustrating part of the recovery. My knee feels tight and when I try to straighten, there is a feeling of tightness and some slight pain. So because of the extension issue, I still have a limp when I walk. The limp is very pronounced while walking downhill or when I get up after sitting for a while. Other than this, everything is going well. My leg strength is coming back nicely and I feel confident while walking. Sometimes I catch myself if I hit a crack in the sidewalk, but for the most part, I am getting around alright. My flexion is at 125 degrees the last time I checked, so that is coming along nicely as well. I have not tried running yet, but I will be attempting the elliptical machine tomorrow!

I was away this weekend and it was my first time traveling since my injury. All I can say is that if you are traveling with a recently reconstructed ACL, make sure you get an aisle seat. Beggars can't be choosers, but I would recommend getting the seat where the aisle is on the same side of your reconstructed ACL. That way you can stretch out and being in the aisle is good so you can get up and walk. On my way back, I did not have an aisle for the four hour trip and my knee felt horrible when I got up.

So now that three months are down, I guess I am halfway back to my recovery. My only worry is that I will not be ready for sports in six months, but all I can do is continue my exercises every single day. This has been quite the experience and I have learned a lot about myself in the process. The frustrations have been often and the victories seem to just be arriving now. I also have much different goals than I did pre-injury. To put it simply, I am working to be in excellent shape.

Doctor Appointment

2010-06-29T21:23:00.000-04:00

I had an appointment with my doctor today. I should start running, the tightness is normal and the bruising takes up to a year to go away. Running should be interesting. I will let you all know how it goes!

Workout!

2010-06-27T22:00:00.000-04:00

I added some light overhead lifting to my workout. This picture is of me doing thrusters with the bar. I did 30 of them.

Still Some Tightness

2010-06-26T08:49:00.000-04:00

I am about three months out of surgery right now. The only thing I can really complain about is the tightness that I feel in my knee. It doesn't hurt at all, it's just tight. This tightness is making it difficult to get to full extension and that then makes me limp some more.

On the positive side; I feel very confident while walking. My leg strength has come back nicely and it is thanks to CrossFit. A lot of the exercises I do at PT are also done at our workouts.

This is not bad for almost three months. I was hoping to be allowed to jog at three months, but I think I need more time. In the meantime, I will sit on the couch with my leg up in the air and do my air squats in the hope that I come back stronger than I was before.

Knee update! Almost there!

Moving Right Along

2010-06-20T10:14:00.000-04:00

As pessimistic as I was about two weeks ago, I am just that optimistic right now about my recovery. Walking doesn't hurt anymore, it actually feels pretty good. I don't experience much pain, I just feel stiffness that loosens up when I walk. The best part of this, however, is that I am doing a lot of the CrossFit WODs with only modifications to the load (weight).

I made a point during this recovery not to check out and let my mind and body spiral out of control. I may not have done the best job staying positive while sitting on the couch for hours, but I worked hard to keep myself physically in shape. As soon as I could, I was back in the gym and just like that, I felt happier and more positive in general.

Now I am a little over two and a half months from my surgery and my leg strengthening routine is in progress. I do pistols with my bad knee (don't break parallel or even get close to it), I do push presses with the bar and I even did thrusters yesterday. I get sore often because I do some pretty intense workouts, but the soreness I feel on weak leg is like nothing I have felt. The knee is not hurting, it is the muscles around my knee. So the goal right now is to have my right leg be as strong as the left.

I talked about pistols, push press and thrusters. Here are a few videos so you know what I am talking about.

Pistols

Push Press

Thrusters

Watching for ACL Injuries

2010-06-16T18:32:00.000-04:00

Ever since this injury, I tend to stare at athlete's knees when I watch sports. Whenever I see an article about a knee injury, I immediately research the person to see exactly what type of injury they had. Today I heard that a Giants WR, Domenik Hixon tore his ACL in a non contact injury at the new Meadowland Stadium. You can read the article here.

I read that this injury was because of soft field turf and his foot got caught when he turned. This was a non-contact injury and he is out for the season. Since this was an injury, he will be paid his full salary for this year.

This stuff drives me nuts. One second he is running on a less than ready field turf and the next he is out for the season preparing for surgery. He will probably be getting the best care that any non-professional athlete will never get, so I am sure he will be back next season. Even though I am a Jets fan, I still wouldn't wish this injury on anyone. I hope his ACL gets better soon!

No More Cane

2010-06-13T16:39:00.000-04:00

I feel like I take great steps forward whenever I let something go in this long process. This time, it is my cane. After last weekend, I felt weirdly confident in my walking. I was still limping, but I was getting around alright. So on Friday, I decided not to take the cane to work. It felt very liberating and made me feel pretty damn good.

So now I am working on losing my limp. I was told this weekend by John that I was not noticeably limping after taking the path to Jersey City, which required significant walking. When I concentrate on walking fluidly, I think my limp is not very noticeable. My leg is still stiff, but doesn't hurt much at all, so in about two weeks I went from being very worried about the recovery to now not feeling so bad.

Also, I did a pretty good WOD (Workout of the Day) yesterday. I did 7 rounds of 250M row, 12 toes to bar (hang from pullup bar and touch the bar with toes) and 30 air squats. It took me 34 minutes and it felt great. I even got the ok to start biking and plan to bike around Central Park to add to my leg strengthening exercises.

Two Month Update

2010-06-07T20:45:00.000-04:00

I missed my two month anniversary on the first, but thought it would be helpful to do a full status update at this point of my recovery. This will be the two month, one week update:

I am walking with a cane whenever I go outside, but do not use the cane inside
Still a couple degrees away from full extension, which is starting to get old. This is by far the most frustrating part of my recovery.
My limp is less noticeable, but it is definitely there
My knee does not stiffen up like it used to, but it is definitely stiff
I am attending PT twice a week and obsessively do leg extension exercises when I am at home
I notice a definite improvement in my knee over the past week, which has helped me to be more confident while traveling and confident in the recovery as a whole

Goodbye Brace, Hello Squats

2010-05-29T13:21:00.000-04:00

The brace was placed in the garbage yesterday. I feel like this was another step forward in my recovery. I was excited to see it go, so I took a picture for all of you followers on here. It's a great sight!

I also finally did a full workout at the gym today. Our workout was called Angie (a CrossFit workout) 100 air squats, 100 situps, 100 pushups and 100 pullups. I placed a box for box jumps behind me for the squats, so I didn't break parallel, but I was almost there. I got through 50 pullups, but had to use an elastic band for my final 50 pullups because I was getting tired and wanted to beat my goal of 30 minutes. I finished in 29:45.

I noticed a difference in my strength when I came back, but I have seen real progress in getting back. When I came back, I could only get through only 5 pullups at a time. About a week later, I was up to 15. I still have a lot to go, but seeing progress keeps me positive. The next step is getting cleared to bear weight on my legs. When I can do that, I will return to running, Olympic Lifts and any other exercises that require me to use my legs. This is when I can see how strong I really am. I'll post a few videos below of exercises I can't do now, but am looking forward to doing. OK, I lied, the first video is what I did today, the rest are what I am looking forward to doing.

Here is what I did today, the name of the workout is Angie

Clean and Jerk

Kettlebell Workout

The Yankees Make My Knee Hurt

2010-05-22T16:17:00.000-04:00

On Wednesday, I went to Yankee Stadium to watch the Tampa Bay Rays destroy the Yankees. I am a huge Yankees fan and I did not enjoy the loss. By the time the game was over, I realized that the walking I had to do to get to the stadium was taking it's toll on my knee.

So I felt a little weak walking home from the game, but overall I was fine. The next morning was a completely different story. I woke up and felt very weak. I could not help but to limp more than usual and was putting a lot of weight on my cane. I limped through Thursday and then on Friday, things were still not better. My calf started to hurt in the morning and that pain stayed throughout the day. My Physical Therapist said I am using more muscles around my knee because I still don't have full extension. I am just a couple degrees off and those are the most difficult to get!

What I got out of this Yankees game was a bad loss and a weak knee. Now, two days later, my leg is starting to feel better and my limp is not as pronounced. I am working hard to lose this limp and I really hope to be able to walk unassisted in a week. This knee problem is so much more than a knee problem. It is also something that keeps you back from what you did when you were completely healthy. I don't mind though, because I would do anything to get back to normal, even if that means sitting on my couch instead of walking around outside.

When People Get Angry

2010-05-18T20:46:00.000-04:00

Knee injuries suck, but they really suck when you have to walk a lot. NYC is not the most handicap friendly city in the world and the subway is very representative of this. When I lived in DC, every metro had an elevator and escalator. In NYC, most subways do not have an escalator and many do not have elevators. When I go up the stairs in the subway, I grab the railing and go up slowly by grabbing the railing and stepping up with my left foot.

My ride home today was no different than any other trip. I was annoyed, a bit angry and refused to move away from the door so that I would be able to get out of the subway car when it got to my stop. I had my headphones on during the trip and it was uneventful, except my knee was a little sore.

When I got to the final steps to go outside, I saw that it was raining. I started with my slow steps and about halfway up, a guy behind me yells, "LETS MOVE IT." So I turned around and asked "are you kidding me?" His reply was "no, I am not." I immediately felt the rage that I felt back when I played high school tennis when I would want to fight people much bigger than me. I heard the woman behind me tell him I had a cane, but he didn't seem to hear her. So I walked slowly and tried to get in his way towards the top of the stairs. The second he saw I had a cane, he apologized and crawled back into his shell. My heart was beating and I felt anger and a bit upset that someone would assume that a person was walking slowly just for the hell of it. I simply stared him down, didn't acknowledge his apology and walked home.

In his mind, what was I trying to accomplish by walking slowly? Was I trying to get him wet? Do I find it fun to walk slow up the stairs? I don't quite understand it. Even in my pre-injury state, I hate to think that I would be annoyed by someone walking slow up the stairs. I would assume there was something wrong, or at least I hope I would. All I can hope for is that this guy feels bad right now and that he thinks before he speaks.

Various Updates

2010-05-16T17:21:00.000-04:00

Work Clothing

One time I left my shoes at work for some reason, probably because I had a soccer game. I felt so self conscious on the subway wearing sneakers with a suit. When I put the suit back on a week ago because I stopped wearing the brace, I was wearing my regular black shoes. It really bothered my knee, so I decided to go back to sneakers. I actually kind of like the look of sneakers with a suit now. So until my knee feels better, I will be sporting sneakers with suit look.

Walking!

When I walk, I can really feel the pressure in the knee. When I go outside, I struggle for about a block and then I feel a groove and start feeling confident in my ability to get where I am going. I am using a cane right now and although it's much harder than the crutch, I know I need to strengthen my leg. Last night I went out to meet with some people from my gym and it was the first time that I would walk a significant distance with a cane. I got about two blocks down the street and really thought about turning around, but since I was halfway to the subway, I decided it would be more work to get home. I feel like an old man, see people staring at a 28 year old with a cane, but they should have seen me a month ago!

Knee Swelling

I ice non stop when I am home, I do about 10 minutes on and 10 minutes off, while also doing quad sets. I am still working on getting that extension to 0, because I am a few degrees off right now. I am also trying to get the swelling down at the same time. It's not half as bad as it was, but I guess you have to expect it to be swollen when the doctor takes a tendon from one spot and ties it into another spot. That is a simplified version of the surgery, but I thought I would rationalize why my knee is swollen. Oh yeah, the muscles atrophied as well.

Doctor Appointment, Leg Extension, WALKING!

2010-05-12T21:30:00.000-04:00

On Monday, I had an appointment with the surgeon to look at my progress. He bent my leg, looked at the extension and basically told me everything was going according to plan. He then said to ditch the crutches and not to baby the knee anymore. At this point, we can assume that the cartilage is all healed and that it is time to really push it. He was not talking about running or anything, he just wanted me to challenge myself to walk.

When I got back to my apartment, the first thing I did was drop the crutches and attempt to walk. I had tried before and it always felt like my knee was going to buckle, but having the doctor tell me to push it, I decided to not be scared and go for it. So I did, I walked slowly across the apartment a few times. The walking is not smooth at all, but it is getting there. Just getting up and being a little normal goes really far in my mood and being more optimistic.

I mentioned this in my last post, but my leg extension has not been so great. I have really concentrated on that since last Friday. I have put a 10 lbs. weight on my elevated leg, I have laid on my stomach on the footrest and my leg dangling off the end and when I have my computer on my lap, I make sure that my leg is elevated with the computer on that leg. I also do constant quad sets, where I elevate the leg, flex my (weak) quad muscle and try to straighten my leg for 10 seconds at a time.

Overall, I am feeling much better about where I am right now. I have even returned to CrossFit Metropolis to start working out again, but I will write about that later this week. So hopefully things will continue to progress and I may even drop the crutches permanently!

Leg Extension

2010-05-08T15:03:00.000-04:00

Leg extension, or lack of it. Yesterday at PT, I had trouble straightening my leg and it looked like I had actually lost some extension that I had previously. So the work included laying on the table with my leg hanging over the end of the table with a weight on my ankle. I also elevated my leg with a weight on my knee. The whole idea of taking a step back in this recovery bummed me out, especially after doing all the exercises each day. So this weekend will be devoted to leg extension exercises. Hopefully after this weekend, I will work up enough strength to start walking without the help of crutches. Wish me luck!

The Challenge of Walking

2010-05-05T07:47:00.000-04:00

Putting weight on my right leg was great, except my right leg was very weak. I thought I would be walking by now because it is one week since I was allowed to be weight bearing, but this has proved to be more difficult than I thought it would be. I have taken about two steps without crutches, but I can get around with one crutch. I have said this before, but getting around NYC on crutches is difficult, so walking may be more critical for someone here rather than someone who can take their car to work. Today I may even take the subway to work, because I have had it with the hour and a half bus rides down to work. This will speed up my commute, but I doubt I will get a seat!

One Month Anniversary

2010-05-01T20:14:00.001-04:00

At this time one month ago, I was on pain killers, my nerve block had still not worn off and I was laying in bed. The novelty of wearing a big brace and getting through knee surgery alive was very exciting for me. A lot has happened since my surgery. I have been frustrated, happy, angry, patient, impatient and bored. Through all of my moods, I have always ended up in the same position; on the couch (most of the time). This has taught me that no matter what mood I am in, nothing is going to get better without some patience and sticking with the plan to make sure my knee heals correctly.

Now that I am a month in, I am finally putting some weight on my right leg. I walked to Central Park today and I was putting a significant amount of weight on the leg. I still used crutches, but I was pretty much walking. My gym had their workout in the Park, so I sat there to watch their workout. I sometimes feel like an old man, because I plan my day to make sure I am entertained. Watching everyone workout really made me want to get back. I am hoping to be doing some modified workouts sometime this week. I even did a few kipping pull ups at the park and it felt really good.

At this point, the recovery half mental and half physical. I know my ACL is there, I know my knee is stable, so I just need to really believe it. Walking and getting back to "normal" is what I want. I find myself looking ahead and hoping that I can workout and play sports at the same level as before this injury, but I got to take it one step at a time.

Happy one month anniversary, new ACL.

Don't Push It

2010-04-29T19:42:00.000-04:00

My first day of weight bearing exercises got off to a rocky start. I went outside to catch a cab and after about a half hour, I finally got a cab. I mentioned this earlier, but people are a lot more helpful and caring than I thought they would be. When I first tore my ACL, I was not excited to get back to New York City, but the people are proving me wrong. A guy saw me trying to hail a cab and said "You want a cab? I will get it." He literally stood in the middle of the street and got me a cab within one minute. This definitely calmed me down and I made it to Physical Therapy, just a little late.

The only new exercises I did was a calf stretch, a move where I shift my weight to the bad leg and some band movement where I straighten my bad leg against the force of a band. The leg felt weak as expected, but I felt good knowing that this was the next phase of my recovery. I felt good, so I asked the Physical Therapist how hard I should push it. He said not to push it at all; just be conservative and put weight down on the leg on my own time, but not to start walking outside.

The rest of my day was filled by sitting at a desk. I was a little on edge because I wanted to get up and walk, but also in some pain. I have my second day of PT tomorrow with these new weight bearing exercises, which is exciting. PT is my new sport. I look forward to it. I like to feel like I am making progress. I know the progress slows around 2-3 month and I am prepared for that, but at this point, I want to and expect to see the progress continue.

Scar update!

Almost Weight Bearing

2010-04-27T20:44:00.000-04:00

Not putting your foot down for a month is a long time. I have been looking forward to the day that I can be weight bearing on my right leg since I came back to the City. I almost look at it as the day when my quality of life drastically improves. When I take a step back, I realize that the first day of weight bearing will not mean I am walking fine, it just means I have entered into Phase II of my rehab. Tomorrow is the great day of being allowed to do weight bearing exercises.

At this point, my short term goals are to walk without crutches and be able to ride the subway, which includes going up and down the stairs. When I achieve these goals, I will return to CrossFit Metropolis to do modified workouts. I hope to return to the gym this Saturday. In a long recovery like this, you have to remain patient and not lose sight of what needs to be done to get back to 100%. I am trying my best to do this and look forward to getting better.

List of What I Have Learned So Far

2010-04-24T15:56:00.000-04:00

1. Patience is important because being impatient won't get you to your goal faster
2. There are a lot more friendly and helpful people than anyone realizes
3. The bus moves slowly through Manhattan
4. NYC is not very handicap accessible
5. Young children walking in the City do not look where they are walking
6. Sleep is very important
7. The more knee exercises I do, the better I feel physically and mentally
8. A backpack is very useful when out of the apartment
9. I will not wish a torn ACL on anyone
10. I have a lot of work ahead of me to being back at 100%

Much More Than a Knee Problem

2010-04-21T20:52:00.000-04:00

I feel like my lack of sleep has almost caught up with me. I try to sleep, but my nights are restless and I wake up early because I need the extra time to get ready. Today was no different than most other days. I got about 6 hours of sleep, which is more than most nights and went to Physical Therapy in the morning. When I got into work, I could not concentrate on what had to be done. I felt like I was in a fog, but tried to push through. Around 2, I knew that I wasn't making it through the day because I had started feeling a bit nauseous.

I almost decided to take the subway home, which would save about an hour on my trip, but I was convinced it was not a good idea. So around 2:30, I left the office to go home on the bus. After finally getting home, I was in bed by 4:15 and then slept until 7.

This recovery is a long process and as much as I heard how important sleep is to this process, I never realized what the impact would be of consecutive nights of not sleeping well. It may not derail anything in terms of healing, but it doesn't help you resume your normal life activities. Resuming a normal life is goal #1. At first I was very concerned about the 6 months off from sports, but at this point, walking normal, being able to take the subway and feeling comfortable are my only concerns. I have a feeling that by mid-May I will start thinking about my return to sports, but that is for me to worry about after I start walking and ditch these crutches.

You like how my ankle is all colorful?

Second Physical Therapy Appointment

2010-04-19T19:52:00.000-04:00

After a weekend of doing all the exercises to gain some of my Range of Motion back, I was ready for PT and I did not want to disappoint. I find myself getting a bit competitive with myself to get my ROM back. Since I can't do much, I literally sat on my couch all weekend with nothing to do except work on my knee. It's not as bad at it seems because I am constantly thinking about my knee, so instead of being out of the apartment just thinking about doing the exercises, I am in the apartment doing the exercises, which I feel is productive.

This morning before PT, I woke up bright and early at 5:45 AM. I am still not sleeping well and the stress of a full week at work and outside of the apartment probably didn't help me sleep either. PT was pretty good though. My knee bent to about 110 degrees, which is up from 92 degrees at my first appointment. I can almost straighten my knee as well. I even got on the bike and was able to fully pedal on the bike, with no resistance, obviously. I am doing PT three times a week for the next two weeks, so hopefully I will make great strides in the first month. Saturday, May 1st is when I can finally start putting weight down on my right leg!

First Post-Op Physical Therapy Session

2010-04-16T19:53:00.002-04:00

Today at 8:30 AM was my first post-op Physical Therapy appointment. I was excited to get the ball rolling with PT and a little anxious because I had not done any PT except the CPM Machine, leg lifts and quad sets. I was not into a routine of exercises, but I was doing these about once a day. When I got in, my Physical Therapist checked out my extension, which was not good. We then looked at my flexion and it was 92 degrees, which she was happy about. I went through the exercises, which included leg lifts, quad sets with stim pads and then she massaged my leg and I stretched my hamstrings. After we went through some exercises, I showed her that I can get a better extension and I was at 5 degrees, which she said was much better. I guess I needed to warm up.

This is a very cool video of the quad sets. Notice my quad go crazy!

After PT, I went straight to work. As expected, the trip to my office was not fun at all. I got a little sore around my armpits and all the muscles involved in holding myself up on the crutches was sore. The day was uneventful because I am still not sleeping well, so I felt sluggish; I have not slept more than 4 hours in a night for the last few days. Sitting at a desk all day made my knee feel tight, but I threw in a few quad sets and was sure to bend my leg every hour or two. The day ended with an hour and a half bus trip back home and I took a cab from the bus stop because I didn't feel like walking about 8 blocks, which includes two avenue blocks. The picture here to the right is the bus I took home.

Goodbye Beard

2010-04-15T21:49:00.000-04:00

I got back to the City last night and used today as a transition day. I worked from home again, which proved to be difficult due to my lack of sleep. I am still getting no more than 4 hours of sleep a night, which makes my day drag on and on. While sitting here in a stupor, I decided I needed a change. Since I am going back to work tomorrow, I decided to shave my ACL Beard. It was fun while it lasted, but it is nice to have a clean start and head to work tomorrow all clean shaven and ready to tackle whatever comes my way.

I even got out of the apartment and went over to Central Park for my kickball team's game. I took a cab to the field and even went to the bar after the game. I got down the stairs without having to go down on my butt and took the crosstown bus home. The worst part was crutching home from the bus stop, I had to stop about 5 times to rest. Tomorrow, however, is the real test when I travel to PT, then to work, then back home. If today is any type of preview of what will happen tomorrow, it should not be bad because I did not experience much, if any pain in my knee today.

RIP, ACL Beard

Doctor Appointment Update

2010-04-13T18:55:00.001-04:00

I went to the doctor's office yesterday to get my staples removed and we went over pictures from my surgery. Removal of the staples was fairly easy; she placed a tool in the middle of the staple and it bends the staple out so that it can be removed easily. It took about one minute to remove about 15 staples and then we went over the pictures. She then showed me how my meniscus was torn and explained why they stitched it together instead of removing the torn piece. It turns out that most people have a slight tear, which can easily be shaved off. My meniscus was torn more than just a slight tear, so instead of removing a large portion of the meniscus, which would increase my odds of developing arthritis in my later years, he stitched it together, which is why I am not putting any weight on that leg for a month. I pushed back on that one month time limit and she confirmed that I must give it another two weeks because the stitches need more time to heal. I was then shown my new ACL, but that was more according to plan, so I did not have many questions about the ACL.

I start Physical Therapy on Friday and return to my apartment from my parent's place in NJ tomorrow night. It will be interesting navigating around the city on crutches and to make things more exciting, my subway stop on the Upper East Side does not have an elevator, so I will be taking the hour and a half bus ride all the way downtown, just like I did when I first injured my knee. I will be sure to update you all on how I get around as soon as I experience it.

Today was also a big milestone; I put together a shower bench and took a shower!

Enjoy this picture of my beat up leg...

Tough to Sleep

2010-04-12T07:39:00.000-04:00

I have addressed this in a post before, but haven't gotten into much detail about it. Sleeping is very difficult with a recently reconstructed ACL. I spend a while trying to find a good position to get to sleep, wake up often at night and eventually give up and stop trying to sleep when the sun comes up.

Just yesterday, I woke up early, ate breakfast and when I laid back down, I slept for about 3 hours. I must have been extremely overtired, because that was the best sleep I have gotten since surgery. This morning was no different; I woke up around 5:30, watched SportsCenter and am now working on the CPM Machine before I get to work at 9. I get the staples removed today, so hopefully this will relieve some of the uncomfortableness I have been experiencing.

The discoloration is not only on my ankle, but also now on my thigh

Feeling is Coming Back!

2010-04-10T22:40:00.000-04:00

I am getting some feeling back in my knee area because it is getting very itchy and the funny thing is that I did not notice the lack of feeling in that area because I have had no reason to touch the staples or holes around my knee. So today I was itching and noticed that my ankle is a little black and blue, not dark enough for a picture, but there is some light discoloration in the area. This is not something to worry about, because I immediately made sure this was normal by reading WebMD about what to expect after ACL Reconstruction Surgery.

I have mentioned that this process can get depressing. Sitting around all day doing nothing except watching TV is a depressing life to live and I am proud about how I am a productive member of society when I am healthy (I like to at least think I am productive!). During this time, however, I always have someone to hang out with while I am sitting around and doing nothing. His name is Jazzy and he is my family's dog, who came into the family long after I had moved out. He may be a little hyper when you meet him, but he sure keeps good company. When I first came home, he slept on the couch next to my bed and whenever I move around the house, he comes by to say hi, or at least beg for a treat. He always wants to lay next to me or stare at me while I watch TV. I realized today how he has been the one constant since surgery and wanted to give him a shout out on here. The little things have helped me through this and Jazzy is one of those things.

This is Jazzy laying next to my leg brace while I was laying in bed

Staple Pain Gone?

2010-04-09T20:35:00.000-04:00

The pain from the staples in my knee has seemed to subside a bit. I now notice the dull pain in my knee that has probably been the case for a week now, but have not noticed because I was consumed with the pain of the staples. I got a much better night's sleep and did not wake up in the middle of the night in pain like I have since surgery. Not much to really add to this, except I got up to 95 degrees on the CPM Machine and feel like I can do more once the staples are taken out on Monday.

Back to Work (from home)

2010-04-08T20:04:00.000-04:00

I started working from home today, which was more difficult than I anticipated. I woke up around 8:30 after a bad night's sleep. I woke up in the middle of the night and my knee was hurting more than usual. When I got up to go to the bathroom, I felt horrible. Each step on my crutches and each time I got up a step (I go upstairs on my ass), I would feel those staples against my skin tingle, but not the good type of tingle, the type of tingle that is followed with pain.. After a curse-filled bathroom trip, I decided to ice my knee, take a percocet and play an Iphone game. I eventually got to sleep.

I set up my workstation at 9 and got right to work. I went through my emails, responded to everyone that required a response and then got to my tasks. After about an hour, however, the pain in my knee was just too much to handle, so I had to go to bed to work there. I got some work done, but the pain really eats up the time. The most simple tasks take much longer than they did when I was healthy. As usual, I sprinkled in some time with the CPM Machine and started using the ice machine again.

I mentioned yesterday that I was growing a beard in honor of my surgery. There have been requests to post a picture of what it looks like now. I last shaved on the Monday before surgery. Below is a picture of me today...keep in mind that I am not the cleanest person because I have not showered since my surgery, I can shower on Monday when the staples come out.

Getting Out of the House

2010-04-07T18:38:00.000-04:00

As I said I was going to do, I went to Starbucks this morning. It may not seem like much, but it took a lot of effort in order to get out of the house. Just getting up hurts a lot; the pain shoots right to the skin of my knee. It is definitely the staples that are bothering me the most. I got ready pretty quickly because I can't shower yet, so getting ready just consists of brushing my teeth and changing my clothes. Shaving is not necessary because I am growing a beard in honor of the surgery and I cut my hair short because I knew I would be in bed for a while.

Nothing exciting happened at Starbucks; the real magic happened when I got home. I plopped myself onto the couch and decided to do my taxes. When I got up after about 15 minutes to get my W-2 form upstairs, I felt a shooting pain right on the skin of my knee that was worse than it has been before. I blame it on moving around this morning, which is probably the case, but getting out actually made me feel a lot better, maybe even a little productive. If drinking my iced tea wasn't productive enough, I even did my taxes and I am happy with my return.

To deal with the pain, I took a percocet and got right into the CPM Machine for about two hours. I got up to 90 degrees again and then iced my knee. Things are moving along and I am looking forward to returning to work tomorrow. I will be working from home for a week. I have taken a peek into my work email and am ready to tackle the tasks I have. Taking care of yourself mentally is just as important as taking care of yourself physically through this process, which is something I have learned quickly. You can only feel sorry for yourself for so long, but eventually you got to deal with the pain, get off your butt and work to get back to normal or at least change things up in your day. Today is the last sick day I am taking because of this surgery and I am ready to get back to being productive.

Below is a picture of my knee, more specifically, the staples.

Monotony of the Day

2010-04-06T19:20:00.000-04:00

The monotony of this process can bore even the most easily entertained person. Today I woke up and used the CPM Machine, ate breakfast in bed, fell asleep for a couple hours because I didn't get a good night's sleep, moved myself over to the couch for a few hours and then went back to the bed to use the CPM Machine. Throw in a turkey sandwich and going upstairs to go to the bathroom and that is my day. Oh yeah, moving is pretty painful too, but the boredom can drive you nuts.

I understood going into this rehabilitation that it would not be easy, but I completely forgot about boredom. So now I am going to mix things up a bit tomorrow. Routine is good, but I need a change of scenery. Maybe I will go to Starbucks, a Northern NJ destination and people watch. I am about to download season 3 of The Wire, a show that I have recently gotten into.

Now onto the accomplishment of the day...

90 degrees on the CPM Machine! I feel like staples when my leg gets to about 75 degrees; it tingles a bit. Is this normal? I am looking forward to get these staples taken out on Monday, because I start PT after that.

This is my typical day.

First Doctor Appointment Post-Op

2010-04-05T13:50:00.000-04:00

I met with the Physician's Assistant today to go over my X-Ray and check out my knee. I was a little nervous to see it, but the anticipation of seeing it as they unwrapped my many layers of gauze and wraps was exciting. My knee didn't look at bad as I expected it to look. There is a line of staples down the middle of my knee where they took out a part of my knee tendon and some holes around my knee where they did the arthroscopic surgery to install the new ACL.

I was then taken into the X-Ray room where they took the X-Ray. We went over the X-Ray and everything seems to be going to plan. I won't be starting PT until the staples are removed next Monday and I will continue using the CPM Machine. I was told to unlock the brace during the day, so I can bend my knee freely. I will not be able to put any weight on my right leg for a month because the doctor stitched my meniscus together instead of removing a piece. This will be interesting to not be able to put weight on the leg, so I hope not to lose too much strength. This was probably the better option, because by removing the meniscus, it may lead to more knee problems in the future.

Everything seems to be going according to plan at this point and I hope for this course to continue.

This is my leg right after the wrapping was removed.

Easter in Bed

2010-04-04T21:01:00.000-04:00

I had high hopes to get out of the house today for Easter, but I decided it was better to be miserable at home than it is to be miserable away from home. It wasn't bad today though, I did not experience as much pain as yesterday. I got up to 85 degrees ROM on the CPM Machine and I was hooked up to the ice machine whenever I was laying down, which is most of the day. I find myself getting very attached to this ice machine. It may be mostly mental, but I feel like if I am not doing anything, I need to be hooked up to this machine. It's probably not a bad thing though, because this machine was made to not over ice the knee. I also flex the quad a lot, but find leg raises to be extremely painful at this point.

I have been trying to keep myself entertained, but I can't handle SportsCenter more than two times in a row. I have been watching The Wire, listening to talk radio and playing Iphone games. I am going to start reading the magazines I got and may even find a new hobby while I am laying here. If you have any ideas of what I can do to entertain myself, please let me know.

Tomorrow I see my doctor so he can check out my knee and put some new bandages on. I am a little excited to see what my leg looks like, so I will be sure to get some pictures of it. I also start PT on Tuesday, which I am not really that excited for, that is why I am working to get my ROM back.

Please get better, ACL.

Nerve Block Gone = Pain Starts

2010-04-03T14:14:00.000-04:00

When I woke up the morning after my surgery, I had some serious pain. When I stood up, I could feel the pain go straight to my knee and just laying down was not comfortable. The CPM Machine made my stitches feel like they were about to pop out, which is definitely not a good feeling. I never expected this to be easy, but the night after surgery, I started thinking that maybe I just have a higher pain tolerance than most people and that is why the pain is not bad for me. I was wrong; I had a nerve block that had not worn off, I took a time release pain killer and I was numb from the anesthesia. It is actually funny that I thought this, but the laughing will be delayed for a few weeks.

I did about two and a half hours of the CPM Machine yesterday. So this morning I felt that I needed to catch up. I have two hours down on the CPM Machine and got my range of motion up to 82 degrees. 80 was my goal, but I knew I could handle the extra two degrees, so I went for it. I will probably get up to 85 degrees by the end of today and 90 degrees tomorrow. Easter is also tomorrow, so hopefully I will feel confident in my ability to get out of the house and I can see some of my family.

I took some video of myself on the CPM Machine. It is really boring, but thought I would post anyway.The machine may not look like it is moving, but I can feel every single degree that it moves.

Surgery and the next 24 hours

2010-04-02T11:50:00.001-04:00

I arrived at the surgery center at 8 AM yesterday. I was anxious, nervous and even a little excited to get this over with. I was quickly sent into the prep room and changed into my hospital gear. I spoke to a couple nurses who all confirmed it was my right knee. They apologized for asking which knee was going to operated on, but I didn't mind their due diligence one bit.

The anesthesiologist came in next to explain the process and told me I will not feel a thing. He had a personality and put me at ease. Next came in the surgeon to confirm the knee that was being operated on and he told me they were sterilizing the room. Before I knew it, I was being rolled into the the Operating Room. The room was very intimidating and all I really remember is being buckled down, getting some stuff that made me feel high and I tried asking a couple questions. The next thing I knew, I was in the recovery room trying to wake up.

The doctor told me that my meniscus was torn more than what showed up on the MRI, so instead of taking a piece out as planned, he stitched it back together. He also said that he was happy with how the surgery went. I will not, however, be able to put any weight on my right leg for a month because of the meniscus being stitched back together.

The rest of the day was spent just laying down in my parent's living room. I was hooked up to an ice machine that cycles cool water into a pad that was put under my brace after surgery. I also used the Continuous Passive Motion (CPM) Machine that moved my leg back and forth for an hour. I got up to 60 degrees on the CPM Machine.

Today when I woke up, I felt the pain. The stitches on my knee were bothering me and the knee hurt in general. I used the CPM Machine for an hour after I woke up and got up to 70 degrees. The bending itself isn't painful, it is the stretching of the skin on the top of my knee that is bothering me a little bit. So for now I am going through the motions and am more ready than ever to put in the hard work necessary to get back to 100%. Below is a picture of the CPM Machine.

This is my leg when I first got home. The tubes sticking out are connected to the ice machine.

Last Doctor Appointment Before Surgery

2010-03-30T22:44:00.000-04:00

I had my final visit to the doctor today to make sure my knee was ready for surgery. After bending my knee, extending my knee and making sure the swelling was down, he said I was ready. He then asked if I had any questions and I had a few. I actually wrote down these questions at work today. Here they are...

Q: Can I get a PT prescription for a doctor in NJ? (fyi: I am staying with my parents in NJ for a week or two)
A: Yes

Q: How long before I start PT after surgery?
A: Tuesday of next week

Q: What does the timeline look like for recovery? Ever faster than 6 months?
A: It used to be a year and a half, then it was a year, now it is 6 months. Did you hear about Jerry Rice and how he came back from surgery quickly? (fyi: Jerry Rice hurt the knee that the graft was taken from in his first game back after coming back after 3.5 months)

Q: Any anti-anxiety medication when I get to surgery?
A: Tell the anesthesiologist and he will take care of it.

Q: When can I do squats?
A: After 4-6 weeks, we want to get your Range of Motion back quickly.

So there it is, surgery on Thursday. Talk to you all after the big day.

Finding Time

2010-03-28T13:37:00.000-04:00

I am someone that has a routine that I follow most days. This injury has given me the opportunity to change things up. I have been working on my knee every day...at my desk, at home in front of the tv and even in bed before I go to sleep. I am using every second of the day to make sure my range of motion is almost equal to my healthy knee.

With work getting busy, my schedule has not allowed me to get to Physical Therapy. I can see how life literally gets in the way of this recovery. It is not only my schedule, but also the Physical Therapists schedule that must be free as well. So I am working to make sure I jump right into PT after surgery with my knee's health being my first priority.

Onto more good news...I can bend my knee a lot more than before. I keep up with the stretches and I am into the home stretch. My surgery is in less than a week and I have everything set up with working from home and preparing my parents for an immobile person to be in the house. This is going to be an interesting ride.

Range of Motion

2010-03-23T23:08:00.000-04:00

At my PT appointment yesterday, I saw that my range of motion is up to about 115 degrees, which seems to be alright, but my Physical Therapist didn't seem too excited about it. She bent my leg more than she has at either of my appointments before this one. It hurt a lot, but when I walked out of the office, I felt much better when I was walking back to my office. It seemed like something broke loose in my leg and walking felt a lot easier and my limp was less noticeable.

Tuesday is my pre-op appointment with my doctor to see my knee one last time and check out my range of motion. This really puts the pressure on to make sure my knee can bend more than 115 degrees by then. My only fear is that the doctor will say my knee is not ready to be operated on and that I would have to reschedule my appointment.

Working Against the Clock

2010-03-21T19:09:00.000-04:00

There isn't a lot to update on my progress at this point. I have had two PT sessions and then another two before my surgery on the first. I am still attending my gym about four times a week as well. Walking has gotten a little easier and my leg can bend pretty far, but not all the way just yet. Extending my leg is getting a little better, but I am working on it. I have been diligent about doing my stretched and exercises because the last thing I want is to make the post-surgery recovery any more difficult than it will be. I have been walking without a cane, but when I walk for about 10 minutes, my knee still feel tight and I need to sit down.

While I am working to get my knee in good shape for the surgery, I feel like I am working against the clock to make sure my knee is good to go for surgery. This may be my competitive nature that makes me do my stretches at the same time every morning and every night, because I like to see progress in the way I walk and the degree in which I can bend my leg. I understand that there is a month or two during the recovery where I will not see much progress, but I have to remind myself that this is part of the process. I am determined to make sure I am back sprinting by September, which is the full 6 month recovery that I am told my new ACL will need. I wouldn't mind five months either, but beggers can't be choosers.

I am getting way ahead of myself, surgery is next, then I can worry about recovery time.

Right Anterior Ligament Reconstruction with Bone Petella Bone Autograft and Arthroscopic Partial Medial Meniscectomy

2010-03-16T22:42:00.000-04:00

I received a letter from my doctor's office today and the title of this post is the name surgery I am receiving. I had no idea that the name of this surgery was so involved. No eating or drinking from midnight until after the surgery and no advil for 10 days prior to surgery. This seems simple enough.

I have done more research on this surgery than I would like to admit and with each article I read and each person I speak to, it actually prepares me well for what I am about to get into. I even read an article about someone who was ready to get his shoulder operated on and decided he wasn't getting surgery as the IV was being put into his arm. That level of anxiety is very high and I wonder how often that happens, especially for elective surgery, although I don't feel that ACL reconstruction surgery is elective for an active 28 year old.

Everything seems to be in place for surgery. I have my pre-op PT appointments scheduled , my pre-op doctor's appointment to make sure I am fit for surgery is scheduled and my pre-op orthopedist appointment for two days before surgery has been scheduled to make sure my knee is fit for surgery.

Now I am just going to go with the flow until surgery and then the painful/hard work will officially start.

Keeping in Shape

2010-03-15T22:20:00.001-04:00

When the shock of being hurt finally wore off, I started thinking about how I would keep in shape with a bad knee. About a month before my injury I had started working out at CrossFit Metropolis, which is part of the CrossFit movement. This workout combines Olympic Weightlifting, gymnastics and running. I emailed my trainer and told him the situation and he recommended that I read an article from the CrossFit Journal about working out while injured. This article was motivating and it even used an example of someone who had knee surgery and what they did in the CrossFit gym.

Since I have been hurt, I have been eating well and working out about four times a week. I work mostly on the rings, which works my upper body and I also do one legged squats that are called pistols. Going to the gym not only makes me feel better physically, but helps a lot mentally as well. My knee even feels better after I work out and that's what I want. I plan to continue working out throughout my rehab, except for maybe that first month after surgery. Below are some videos of the workouts that I have been doing, none of these videos are of me, I found them on youtube.

I did this for the first time today by hanging from the rings. I am still hesitant to hang from the pullup bar because I don't want to come down hard on my bad knee.

I do this by holding onto the rings so I don't fall.

First Physical Therapy Appointment

2010-03-13T09:15:00.001-05:00

I had my first Physical Therapy appointment yesterday. I asked many questions about my torn ACL that I knew the answers to, one being "how far did my knee actually slip out of place when I tried to get up after I heard the snap?" She assured me it did not move very far or at all. What I think happened and what actually happened are two completely different things. She also told me my knee will be back to normal before the surgery, which is a relief. I honestly am more concerned with just feeling normal than getting back to sports at this point.

My range of motion is 96 degrees and -12 degrees. She said it wasn't bad for my first appointment. I got a soft tissue massage, learned some stretches, got some electric stimulation on my knee and was out of there in an hour. The knee movement was a little painful, but will not match up to what I is going to happen post-op. Now the work starts, I will go through these stretches once a day until I am told otherwise. These PT appointments will take place about once a week until my surgery.

I took a picture of the exercises I will be running through everyday so you can get an idea about what I am doing.

Surgery: April 1, 2010

2010-03-11T20:33:00.000-05:00

I received a call today from the doctor's office to schedule my surgery. She gave me my choices and I told her that April 1st would be the best day for me. This is good for two reasons: the quarterly meetings that I run end on March 30th and it was the earliest of the choices. As nervous as I am about going into surgery, the last thing I want to do is to is put the surgery off.

Towards the end of my conversation with the scheduler, she asked who my primary care physician is so the doctor can receive clearance for me to have surgery. This was a tough question because I haven't had a checkup since I was 18. I struggled and just named my old pediatrician, who happens to be my friend's father. This was fine, but I would have to travel to NJ for my appointment in a pediatrician's office and I am 28. So I did the responsible thing; I asked a co-worker for a doctor I should go to, made an appointment and will be taking an hour off from work to get my clearance for surgery.

Pending clearance from my new doctor, I will be heading into surgery in April 1st and tomorrow I start Physical Therapy. These may be little steps, but it feels good to be heading in the right direction.

Kickball Injury...Really?!

2010-03-11T00:25:00.000-05:00

I play kickball, but not the kind that you played in elementary school. I somehow found a group of people who love to win in a recess sport. On February 20th, we were playing in a tournament of 31 teams from all over the country for a cash prize of $6,000. Everything was going great, until that one foul ball.

We finished first in our pool, were up 13-3 in the round of 16 and I was having a great tournament. I play catcher, which includes taking a running start on each pitch to make sure I can scoop up those bunts and throw the kicker out. Sometimes the kicker fouls the ball and I catch it. This play was just like the play that I have made many times. The foul ball hits my hand, it goes up in the air and I catch the ball. Well, this time it did not happen exactly like that.

The ball hits my hand, I look up and see the ball, I move to get in position for the routine catch, shift my body, hear a snap, go down and knew my day was over. I convinced myself that I could get up when I had both teams huddled around me, so I ask for some help standing. When I tried to get up, I felt my knee move in a way that it has never moved before and fell right to the ground. Three of my teammates picked me up and placed me in the front seat of the car and I was off to the ER, where they gave me crutches and a knee stabilizer.

After getting back to NYC, I saw an orthopedist and about a week later, I had the MRI, which confirmed that I had a torn ACL and meniscus. Right now I walk with a cane and I start my pre-op Physical Therapy on Friday. I don't have the surgery scheduled yet, but it will be in about a month.

The picture to the right gives you an idea of what it looks like when we play. That is a picture of me playing catcher in Vegas for the kickball world championship. Notice how I am running up with the kicker.