1 Year Post-Op (Surgery #2)

[..Also, 4+ years post-op from surgery #1!...]

It's hard to believe a year has gone by since my ACL reconstruction surgery on my right knee.  I had the pleasure of getting back to indoor/outdoor soccer, indoor volleyball, flag football and softball too! I feel confident on the field (er-well, as confident as I did before) once I got over the fear of the first few games of soccer, which was the worst on the knees out of all of my activities.

There were a few plays in flag football where I had to cut side-to-side to keep the other team's QB from getting around me, and I told my team I needed to move to another position, because I remember those exact same motions were how I tore my first ACL, and I just can't "turn it off" when I'm in the middle of a play!

Otherwise it's been back to normal, even though I wish I would have committed more effort to my rehab the second time around. Part lack of effort, part full of excuses, I found having to entertain a toddler during some of the critical rehab times would easily distract me from what I really needed to be doing.  Luckily I think I had a good enough start to the rehab, I did not lose range of motion (ROM), but perhaps just don't have the muscle I once had.

The good and bad of having 2 ACL reconstructions on opposite legs is that if one quad was smaller before, now they're pretty much back to even! I have not felt that whatever muscle I might be lacking from before has been a handicap in my activities, so I must have done something right to get back to a confident level.

That being said, I was happy to be a part of a championship volleyball team, a runner-up flag football team and currently on a softball team that is running away with the #1 spot with a landslide! (Thank goodness for athletic friends to support these endeavors!)

05.20.2013 Indoor Volleyball CHAMPS (with our camping chair prize!)

I'm hoping I won't have to frequent this blog again, but I encourage anyone who's followed it or found it (and has been or is going through an ACL reconstruction) to not be afraid to get back out there and do what you love!

The *POP* [44 Days Pre-Surgery]

We're 2 minutes from the end of the second half of our flag football game. The other team hikes the ball, and their QB is weighing his options.
“ONE-lite, TWO-lite, THREE-lite, FOUR-lite….”
There is no way this QB is going to get past me if he tries to make a run for it. In an earlier huddle, Rachel (teammate on the co-ed indoor team Eric and I are playing on) said she overheard the other team’s player say that I was our teams ‘best player’ (Hey, I made a few good catches!) and that makes me want to do even better!
“Five-lite… GO!”
The rush count is up so if this QB doesn’t throw the ball soon he’ll probably try to run by us. I listened to Jack (our QB and captain), so I’m not going to rush this QB, I just will move side-to-side and not let him past the line of scrimma.....
*POP*
Ahhhh! My left knee! What the heck was that sound? That feeling?! Their QB threw the ball anyway, and no one else is around me. Jesus, I hope it’s nothing bad. Let’s see. I can bend it (mostly) and straighten it (mostly)… and the kneecap seems to be in place. OK! *Whew!* Let’s just sit here a second, make sure it’s all good. Yep, feeling kind of … different… but, no sharp pains, and nothing hurts enough even to bring tears to my eyes.

“Are you OK?” Rachel is probably the only one who notices I went down and stayed there. Everyone else was focused on the ball and when the play ended, they all went to the line of scrimmage. Slowly a few people start to realize, including Eric, and came over to see what happened.

“Yeah, I think I’m OK. I just heard my knee POP and felt it too. I can bend it and straighten it, it just feels kind of funny.”

“WHAT HAPPENED?!” Eric runs over just a little after Rachel, and I explain. I start to get up and Eric is clearly in protective mode, as he says, “No! Don’t move it!” and yells to Erin, the league coordinator, that we need an ice pack.

So, I sit for a minute, and the ice feels good but my knee feels… stiff. The only injury I can compare to is rolling my ankle, which I’ve done both ankles one or two times. A similar ‘pop’, a similar ‘stiff’ feeling and my brain has kicked in, not wanting me to move or jar the joint in any way. We’re winning the game so I am OK with sitting out these last 2 minutes (yes- the game was almost OVER!) … and I go to stand up.

“STOP. No. We’ll help you...” Eric insists on helping. I’m up and I start to hobble out-of-bounds, trying to put a little weight on it. Eric doesn’t like it, but it’s all I can do to think that maybe it’s nothing, just a simple slip in-and-out that created the POP, and since it doesn’t hurt that much, it can’t be anything serious… Can it?