I'm Baaaaaaaaaaaaack! And Not in a Good Way... [36 days pre-op]

When I went down with this injury, I knew it was bad. I expected the worst, hoped for the best and... Well... Ended up somewhere in between.

In my much-anticipated reunion with Dr. Shapiro I told him I was afraid for the "jiggle test" he'd do on my newly injured knee... I remember from last time that it was none-to-pleasant and the Doc promised he'd "be gentle" this time, though I assumed you can't exactly be gentle when you have to check for torn ligaments inside the knee.

To my surprise, he was more gentle. But unfortunately, this gentleness was a result of my knee being so loose that it didn't require much effort for him to know that both my ACL and MCL were torn. In hindsight, I wish the jiggle would have hurt just to prove the tendons were intact!!

The expected occurred... The tears came and I stammered about how I had a 9.5 mo old baby girl at home that I need to chase around and there wasn't a good time to be laid up due to surgery. Dr. Shapiro kindly handed me the generic box of tissues as I collected myself and tried to reassure me that I've been through this before and did very well -- so I can do it again. He encouraged me to schedule the surgery sooner-than-later because there was nothing to gain in putting it off.

Due to the MCL injury, surgery could not be scheduled for at least 4 weeks to give it time to heal (because apparently it's not a completely torn MCL, but a stretched or partially torn tendon that will, over the next 4 weeks, regain it's tightness/elasticity). We put July 17 on the books and in the meantime, scheduled my MRI for the next day to determine if there was additional damage.

Still, I was outfitted with a fancy leg brace that goes mid-shin to mid-thigh that will support my leg (keep it from the lateral slip that caused this in the first place) so that the MCL heals correctly and I don't do any further damage between now and surgery. I've never been one for accessories but am getting used to the brace now, after only 4 days of wearing it.

This morning I went over the MRI results with Dr. Shapiro and luckily we learned that there is no damage to the meniscus (which, actually is rare to not have damage, so this is good news) and aside from some bone bruising, the injury is exactly what Dr. Shapiro had expected.

Between now and surgery I will do some exercises at home to strengthen the muscles around the knee and maintain maximum range of motion (ROM) as the swelling subsides from the initial injury. I spoke with my good man, Drew (who was my best friend/worst enemy as my physical therapist last time) and told him to expect me back in mid-July.  After the initial, "What did you DO?!"  and exchange of pleasantries, I realized I'm still uneasy with my leg in his hands and that's going to be one disadvantage to the therapy after surgery this time -- I know what to expect, and I know at times it's going to hurt like hell.  Luckily I documented my previous recovery with this blog so I can follow along and try to keep pace with myself!

I also know in the end it will be worth it, because I have a baby girl I plan on chasing around for many years to come, and hopefully I won't have to hang up my own cleats / turf shoes / tennies just yet...!