3-month Post-Op

August 10, 2009 marked the 3-month mark from ACL post-op. In my personal opinion I couldn't have asked for a better rehab. All the way along I have felt like I'm further along than where I should be and I continued to push myself more and more each physical therapy session or every time I worked out my legs.

For my 3-month test I tested out better anyone ever has at LOPT and in the top of what my surgeon has seen, including his time with the University of Wisconsin football team. My bad leg was within extension strength was within 15% during the entire test, but 6% stronger at peak strength. These are numbers most people see at the 4-5 month mark. The average person is around 40%, and average athlete is in the 30% mark right now. The doctor couldn't have been more impressed with the return to strength. But still wants me to be cautious

For weight lifting exercises I'm stronger than I was pre-op and have fully returned to my regular leg workouts - squats, leg extension, leg curl, leg press, straight legged deadlift. I continue to bike and run on the ellipitical, I found running on hard surfaces (treadmill, sidewalks) very uncomfortable, with both knees.

Both the doctor and physical therapist said it was ok to start running 3/4 working my way up to full speed in a straight line over the next couple weeks. I've been doing box jumps, 4 square jumps, 3/4 speed shuttle runs, lots of 1-legged hopping/jumping, continue 1-legged balancing exercises. I'm supposed to start 45 degree and 90 degree cutting at half to 3/4 speed working my way up to full speed over this next month.

For leg numbers:
Squat: 225 x 25 reps, 275 x 12, 315 x 7, 365 x 3
Leg Press: 640 x 25 x 2 sets, 710 x 20 reps

Week 7 Recap

Week 7 Recap

Big thing for me is I'm starting to gain weight back. Before injury I was 187 lbs and around 6% body fat. 4 weeks post surgery I dropped to 175. I'm back up to 181

The start of the week started off great. Knee felt stable and strong. However, the upper outside of the knee (IT Band) remained inflamed and hurt all week. Working out and riding a bike wasn't an issue once I was fully warmed up and stretched. The pain in the IT band was worse in mornings or walking up steps. This pain continued all week.

Workouts were extremely strong this week. Rode a stationary bike for 25 minutes Monday morning and had a strong physical therapy session in the afternoon. Physical therapy was more of the same from previous 3-4 weeks, but working out/riding bike in morning made a difference and leg was already tired. It forced me to push myself even more and I really felt like I had a great PT session.

Tuesday evening I decided to go for the first very light jog on grass to see how knee would respond. We ended up running 2 laps around a football field, and 8 down and backs across width of field. Swelling and pain was very, very minimal.

Thursday evening's workout started with a 15 minute stationary bike ride and about 5 minutes on the elliptical. I ended up squatting with free weights for first time since weeks prior to the injury. At first I was pretty scared of putting any weight on the bar, fearing knee wasn't stable, legs were weak, and balance wasn't there. However, after a few warm up sets, everything felt normal. No pain, no weakness, no balance issues. I ended up doing sets of 225x25 reps x 2 sets, and 275 x 10 reps.

40-50 miles of stationary bike
15-20 minutes of light jogging
squat 225x25x2 and 275x10
golfed 18 holes
2 sessions of physical therapy
4 upper body work outs.

Physical Therapy Week 5

Week 5 PT Recap - Feeling like progress is being made

Monday still continued my normal physical therapy exercises and knee felt stronger and more stable vs previous weeks. Limp in walk is gone, except after sitting an extended period of time it takes a few steps for it to loosen up. I reached 136 degrees of bend on Monday. Big increase from the previous week (122 Monday, 131 Friday).

Wednesday I worked with the head physical therapist for the first time in 2 weeks. He was extremely impressed of the leg/knee strength, balance, and my willingness to work hard through physical therapy. He said I was easily in his top 5 all-time for recovery to this point and well ahead of nearly all patients to this point. I'm not sure if he says that to commend the hard work, or if he truly means it. I feel like I'm well ahead of where I should be at this point.

Today we started jumping rope for the first time. Normally this is reserved for at least week 8 and I'm starting it at week 5. It was one of those moments where I knew that the hard work is paying off. I really want to come back from this injury stronger and faster than I was before. Knowing I'm well in front of most at this point is really helpful and motivates me to continue to push to a fast full recovery.

Day 30 - Gym Workout

Day 30 - Gym Workout

I had physical therapy in the afternoon and knee felt strong. So I decided I'd push it a little more than normal at the gym. After a warm up on elliptical, I squatted 5 sets of 20 reps. final two sets were 2o reps at 225 lbs and it felt amazing and strongest it's felt since surgery. I could have gone up in weight, but I didn't want to put too much weight on it the first time squatting.

4 weeks from surgery date

May 15, 2009
4 Weeks From Surgery Date

Wow, can't believe it's been 4 weeks since my surgery. I'm actually a lot further along in rehab than what I expected. Pre-surgery I talked to dozens of people who had ACL reconstruction and rate of rehab was a wide range. I was expecting to be in full leg post op brace for at least 4-6 weeks and on crutches for at least 2-3. By the end of day 8 I was off the crutches with brace unlocked. By day 13 I was out of my full leg brace.

Day 6: Stopped using crutches
Day 10: Unlocked knee brace
Day 13: Stopped using knee brace
Day 14: Working out on elliptical trainer
Week 4: 131 degrees of bend

Day 26 - Gym Workout

6/13/2009
Gym Workout

Had a chance to catch up on some much needed sleep this Saturday morning, and headed to the gym motivated and eager to work out. The workout started out my best since the surgery. I was focused, motivated and was having a great work out. About 45 minutes into my solid workout, it quickly shifted to the most down about the ACL surgery since it happened. I tried to regain focus several times, but eventually broke down completely and had to take a good 10 minute break because I couldn't hold back the tears.

Today was supposed to be one of the most active and busiest days/weekends of the year. We were hosting our annual fast pitch tournament and we had a football game vs. the Columbia Trojans at night. Sitting around between sets really got me thinking about what I'm missing this weekend. Playing in the two sports that I love most.

After the break and some encouraging words from a couple different people I regained focus and had THE BEST workout since the surgery. I incorporated all kinds new leg exercises, balancing, and working on range of motion.

Day 23 -Physical Therapy and Gym Workout

6/10/2009
Day 23 of Physical Therapy - w/out knee brace

Today the knee felt great going into Physical Therapy, probably the best it's felt since surgery and the results from physical therapy proved it. Started out by riding the stationary bike for 5 minutes for a warm-up and then went into stabilization and one-legged balancing exercises. We did some new balancing exercises of throwing a ball back and forth while on one leg on a foam board. At first it was difficult since this was new to me, but after a few throws back and forth the balance started to slowly come back.

We continued onto the regular exercise ball squats, one-legged leg press (100 lbs - 30ish total reps), and then went to another new exercise with resistance bands. First, we did two 20-yard high knee walks while the physical therapist provided resistance with the elastic bands. Then we followed this up by a side-step, squat, side-step exercise for 20-yards, turned around and did it back. This exercise really encouraging knowing that side to side movement was beginning to come back without pain or any give in the ACL.

Finished up the session with wall slides (128 degrees of flex), weighted leg raises, and extension stretching (0 degrees extension).

Day 23 Working Out - w/out knee brace
Followed a great day of physical therapy with a great work out in the evening. I started out on the elliptical for 12 minutes running forwards and in reverse. Elliptical has become a favorite of mine, I really feel it in the quads and hips without impact on the knee. This was the best sweat in over a month and a half. I continued on to do some very light, high rep lower body circuit (leg extension, leg press, smith machine squats, wall sits). I'm really concentrating on low-weight, high reps just to build endurance back into the leg muscles, while working on flexibility. Finished out with some upper body lifts since this was my 4th time in the gym in the last 4 weeks (none in last 12 days).

Day 16
June 3, 2009

Today was a little rough at physical therapy. When I arrived it was stiff and a little sore. After a slight warm up, I was able to flex the knee 120 degrees and hit 0 degrees extension.

Took the brace off for good

Day 13
May 31, 2009

Today I took off the brace and haven't used it all day. Knee feels good, still a little swelling in the joint, but feels stable walking without the brace.

Day 11
May 29, 2009

Today was my first visit to the orthopedic surgeon since the surgery. He gave the ok to unlock the brace (although I've had it unlocked for a few days), and gave me permission to wean myself off the brace as I see fit, which really surprised me. Doing a lot of reading and asking others about their surgery, I found most people were in their brace for at least 4-6 weeks, if not longer. Knee was solid and he was happy with my progression over the first 11 days.

May 27, 2009
Day 9

Physical therapy felt great today. I was able to bend the knee 98 degrees on wall slides, but still not 0 degrees on the extension. We did a lot of stretching working on flexibility trying to increase that range of motion.

Day 3 Photos

Reconstruction/Surgery Day

May 18, 2009

Today is the big day. I slept better than what I thought I would and wasn't nervous about the surgery. I arrived at the hospital at 5:00 am in good spirits and joked around with the nursing staff. I spent 2 hours in pre-surgery prep where they shaved, cleaned, and prepped me for surgery. In the pre-surgery room I started to get a little nervous only because every nurse had several questions and explained what their role was in the whole procedure. All I really wanted was to get it over with.

I don't remember much going into the surgery room or in the post op room. In the surgery room, I remember rolling into the room, looking around briefly and then the I was out from the anesthesia. In the post op room I woke up to a conversation of a nurse looking to buy a house. I tried to sell myself to her as a REALTOR, but I was so drugged up I'm sure it didn't make sense.

The surgery itself took less than an hour an a half. I elected to have a hamstring graft done to reconstruct the ACL, had some lateral meniscus removed, and MCL patched up.

When I arrived back to the room I was wide awake and hungry. There was zero pain or discomfort from the surgery, mainly from the nerve block and morphine still in my system. I pounded some graham crackers and apple juice. I was released about 12:00 in the afternoon.

Returning home I was wide awake all afternoon. I had zero pain due to the nerve block still blocking the pain. Sleeping the first night was a little awkward with the large post op brace, but I was able to get a good nights sleep.

I had a wonderful girl take care of me all day. She woke up early to get me to the hospital, took me home, bought me groceries and made my meals for the week. She truly was a life saver.

The MRI Results and weeks leading up to surgery

May 4th - May 18th (pre op Doctor's visits, MRI, ect)

During this time I spent time researching who to go see for the diagnosis. I elected to go with Doctor Harris at Nebraska Orthopedics. He was highly recommended by several people that I talked to, even though he's been at Nebraska Orthopedics for less than a year. My MRI came back with a complete tear in my ACL, a tear in MCL, and cartilage damage - there was too much swelling to confirm.

After lots of research, asking various people, and discussing with the surgeon, I elected to go with a hamstring graft. Recovery begins a lot faster with a hamstring graft and it came recommended from the doctor.

I wanted to get into surgery as fast as possible to help with the post surgery recovery. I wanted my quad and hamstring to still be in good shape going into the surgery. We set surgery date for May 18th at 7am.

How It Happened

May 2, 2009

Today was the first game of the football season, we were playing a pre-season charity game in Platsmouth, NE against the Omaha Raiders. Everything was going great, felt fast, conditioned, and happy to be playing the game that I love most, but haven't played in a few years. Returning to the football field has been a dream, a goal of mine since the day I quit at Northwest Missouri State. I was taking full advantage while it lasted. But that dream to return was really short lived, all that hard work for the year was down the drain in a matter of a couple minutes into the 2nd quarter.

I was returning a punt from the far sideline back to the middle of the field. As I reached the middle of the field I went to spin running full speed. My foot stuck into the ground as I planted, my momentum & weight shifted over the knee causing it to buckle. I felt and heard a pop followed by a sharp pain in the knee. It was probably the worst pain I felt in my life for about 30 seconds to a minute. I laid on the ground wanting to get up, but couldn't. The coaches and trainers came out to assist, but by the time they got out there the pain was gone. The adreneline had kicked in and I didn't feel any pain. After getting checked out on the field I jogged off to the sideline, thinking I might be alright.

I sat out a few series, running and cutting on the sideline, without any problems. I was beggining to think nothing was wrong, and I'd be fine. First play back was a passing play and I felt full speed without any pain in that knee. However, the next play was a different story. I went to block and as I slowed up the knee buckled on me and at that point I knew there was major damage.

Knee a few hours after injury:

Pre-Injury

Before the injury, at age 27 I was in the best shape I've been in my life. I was 5'10" 187 lbs with 6% body fat. I felt the fastest and quickest I've been since my early 20's. Leading up to the football season I did a lot of conditioning, weight lifting, and preparing myself for the long season of football and fast pitch softball ahead of me. I was squatting 405 x 5, benching 355x3, and was at all-time highs in all my lifts.

Ever since I quit football at Northwest Missouri State I've wanted to get back playing the game I love. That has been my biggest regret in my entire life, and I never forgave myself for that decision I made when I was 22 years old.

I've played flag football for the previous 4 seasons, but it still meet the joys and highs of full contact. I found the Nebraska Renegades by luck from a flyer posted in a downtown Lincoln bar. Using the fact that I wanted to use this opportunity to forgive myself for quitting college, I worked harder than I ever had in my life.