2.26.2010

P.S. [1 yr after initial injury]

March 1, 2009.



That's when I heard the *pop*.


Here we are, just shy of my 1 year injury anniversary. Even my fellow ACL rehabber, Wendy, so kindly reminded me of this with a cute e-card! But in all honesty it makes me look back at the whole process and my comeback trail and smirk at the ups and downs it created for me. As I've said before, prior to that, I hadn't had so much as a stitch (ok, I admit... a cavity) and the surgery and rehab was like nothing I'd experienced before. That said... I am grateful for it. Going through a physical (which becomes mental) challenge, no matter how small, lets you learn something about yourself. How do I handle pain? Goals? Setbacks? Rehab? I'm not saying I wouldn't have done a few things differently, but I know myself a little better now, and can pass any knowledge and experience, however trivial, to people who are going through the same thing.


And now... to cross the 1 year post-op anniversary...! (And when in the heck am I gonna play volleyball again?!) ;)

Tearin' it Up (The Good Way!) in Tahoe [10.5 Month Post-Op]



I had the pleasure of being able to go to Tahoe for 4 days of snowboarding last weekend, and just in time for some fresh powder to plow through! I had gotten back on my board in December for a few hours in up north Michigan, but that was no indication of how hitting the slopes for 6-7 hours per day would treat my surgical knee!

Let me take away the suspense and say... it was a GREAT SUCCESS!! Prior to the trip I thought of bringing an ice bag or extra motrin (even some leftover vicodin, in case??) but I threw caution to the wind when packing and figured I'd just play it by ear. In the end, while my body did get exhausted over the trip (as a high elevation, shreddin'-up-the-mountain-all-day-long kind of trip will do!) but I never felt like my knee was the cause of many aches or pains, specifically.

One real worry of mine was being partially strapped into my board when heading for a lift or traversing a flatter trail. My surgical leg is my lead leg, so it was the one that was still strapped to the board. This meant as I "skateboarded" along, my surgical leg was sideways (outside of the foot headed forward, toes pointed right) while the rest of my body wanted to face entirely forward and then push along on the board. This meant extra twisting in my surgical knee and if, god forbid, I lost my balance or caught an edge of the board and took a spill, this knee I've worked so hard on could take the brunt of it. Luckily, nothing of the sort happened, despite the handful of spills I did take over the course of the trip!

There were a few times when I thought my knee was getting tired or twisted too much; even the weight of the board hanging from that leg as we rode lift after lift seemed a little bothersome after a while! But in the end there was no additional soreness or swelling to make me believe that what I *thought* was a little extra pain was probably just the same 'ol feeling.

All this said, here's a little entertainment, and one of the times I was grateful for a few inches of fresh powder to break my fall.... ;)

I guess I can check another fave activity off the list of things I've yet to do post-op. Hooray for a reconstructed ACL!

2.01.2010

Less Blogs = All is Well! [9.5 Months Post-Op]

When you're not breaking through milestones every day, (or even every week) it is hard to find the time and make the effort to blog! Sometimes the 14th of any given month will come and go, and I do think "I should blog with a 'x month update'" but in all honesty, I don't have much new news to share!

I can say that I have gotten very comfortable, and between that, being busy with wedding planning and not having access to a gym, my only 'workouts' are a few soccer games here and there. Even my last post suggested I'd be hitting the slopes hard and give my knee a real run for it's money, but out of the 3 day weekend, we probably snowboarded for about 4 hours, and I spent lots of time on the bunny hill trying to teach my girlfriend Jess! [note to self: snowboard instructor may not be a career choice for me!].

However, as per tradition, we still have our one big ski trip of the year coming up. Last year, it was Salt Lake City and 1 day after I got home was when I tore my ACL playing flag football. So, this will be a triumphant return to the slopes as we head to Tahoe for 6 days, 4 of which we'll be snowboarding!! Hopefully I'll have something blog-worthy (in a positive way...) after our trip at the end of February!

Otherwise, the knee is holding up well, and with the exception of a little 'pop' sometimes when going from a flexed (straight) leg to slightly bent, there's no daily reminder of my reconstructed ACL!