Day 13

Today I had another PT session. He had me stand up for the first time today with no brace or crutches. I did some basic standing exercises that will make my knee and quad muscles stronger. You don't realize how much you use your quad muscles for walking until they're gone! Astonishing!!  Also, he measured my knee and the swelling has gone down an inch, now only 2/5 inch left to go until my knee looks normal, minus the scars of course. Even though he didn't measure it, my range of motion seems to be at about 130ish degrees. I started at 145 degrees before surgery, so, almost there!

- Pain -
At almost 2 weeks post op, my pain is totally gone during the day. However at night I tend to wake up around 4 in the morning with pain on the scar site. It then becomes difficult to sleep again. I try to take Advil at night before the pain comes, but it doesn't usually work. When the pain is there, I elevate it with a pillow or the CPM machine and it tends to go away. I think the only way to ensure the pain doesn't come is to set an alarm before the pain comes. Don't be alarmed when you wake up with a REALLY stiff knee. Just try and stretch your hamstrings in the morning and that will help a lot. Also, when doing PT training at home, do one in the mid morning, to ensure comfortable walking during the day. I then do a second/third set at night right before I go to bed (it makes falling asleep a little easier).

I also just want to point it out that my recovery will not be the exact same for anyone else. For athletes, it might look similar, but for those who tore their ACL later in life, it may be harder to get your range of motion back so quickly. But, don't be discouraged and just keep working.