Day 5 of Rehabilitation

Swelling around the knee has reduced considerably. Bruising is becoming more prominent on my calf. Frustratingly, I still cannot get beyond 90 degrees leg bend at the knee. It is not necessarily painful just feels impossible to go any further. I am slightly concerned that the physio appointment on Friday will involve forcing the knee a bit further. I can put a fair amount of weight on the knee now but still worry about over doing it. Hopefully, my appointment on Friday will clear up a few of these issues.

I actually left the house for the first time today. The girls had a birthday party to go to at the local ball park. As unexciting as that sounds, it was great to get out of the house. It's half-term week, and with the girls being off school, the TV is dominated by Barbie and Disney Princess stuff. Bored senseless, I cannot even choose the viewing material from the sofa.

I am still sticking to quite a strict regime of exercise followed by icing. I hope it is paying off and in a sadistic sort of way, I am actually looking forward to the first appointment on Friday.

Day 4 of Rehabilitation

Not too much to report. Still at 90 degree leg bend. Still very bored but I did have a couple of visitors today. To be honest, I am writing this a day later and the days seem to blending into one so I really can't remember much about what happened....I can safely say that you haven't missed much though!

Day 3 of Rehabilitation

I woke up at about 5:30 but slept really well. Sleeping on my back has done nothing to appease my snoring apparently! Even Jasmine could hear me and our rooms aren’t even connected! Again, with the knee feeling good, I ploughed through the exercises and iced the knee immediately afterwards to keep the swelling down. One thing that I noticed last night was that my heart started racing for no apparent reason and occasionally I felt a little breathless. This has been more noticeable today and despite not being painful, it has concerned me enough to phone the hospital. They said it may be a side-effect of the pain or medication and if it continues, I should go to my GP tomorrow and he may give me an ECG. I layed off the painkillers and the problem seems to have disappeared.

I am feeling quite restless and bored. Thankfully, I had a few visitors today. It’s like waiting for a bus, I even had to turn away some friends today as I already had my mum and dad, and sister-in-law’s family round.

At around 5pm the knee started to become more painful. I decided to take the medication again, but it remained sore for the rest of the evening. Fortunately, there has been no repeat of the racing heart but I’ll certainly be keeping an eye on that symptom. I decided upon another early night. My knee hurts and I’m in a bad mood.

Day 2 of Rehabilitation

Determined to stick to the rehab schedule, I ploughed through the exercises today and made sure that I iced the knee afterwards. Things seem to be going really well. The knee remains fairly painless, I am able to put some weight on it and hobble around on one crutch. Reading about the ACL operation on the internet, I discovered that maybe I should not be pushing myself as much as possible. It is hard not too when it feels good like this. Range of movement is up to 90 degrees and I was able to shower this morning. Went to be early hoping for a good night’s sleep for the first time since the op.

Day 1 of Rehabilititation

The ‘reasonable night’s sleep’ did not arrive. Much the same as the previous 12 hours, I snoozed and woke up on a half-hourly basis. I wasn’t in any real pain but just seemed incapable of falling into any kind of deep sleep.

Dr Ware dropped by at around 10am and suggested that I would be going home today pending a visit from the physio. I had some pain killers at 12:00 shortly before the physio arrived. She gave me 4 simple exercises to perform on a regular basis that would help build up my quadriceps and thus better support the knee. She seemed pleased with the range of movement and the apparent strength of the muscles saying that very few patients could raise their straightened leg from the bed. An ice pack was put on the knee to reduce swelling and I would have to go through one more physio session before being allowed to go home.

Sophia came by at 1.30 and I was hoping to leave with her. However, she had to leave to pick up the girls at 2.30 which coincided with the end of my second physio session. It was fine for me to leave but I still had to get dressed, pack my things and receive my medication; all too much of a rush. Sophia left and I called my dad who was able to pick me up at 4. The second physio session went very well and the stairs were nowhere near as daunting as I was expecting “bad leg down….good leg up!”

I’m feeling fairly comfortable now at home. It is difficult for the girls as their natural reaction is to come and jump on daddy’s lap and I cringe whenever they bounce near me.

Hopefully I’ll sleep better tonight. It is 10pm and I’ve just taken some more painkillers (my last dose being at midday). I’ve taken a picture of the knee to show how swollen and deformed it currently looks. The ice pack given to me by the hospital will ensure that the swelling is reduced as much as possible.

Thursday 12th February - Day of the Operation

Having been thinking about anything other than the operation, the big day has come round pretty quickly. I woke up at 6:22 just in time to be able to breakfast on a couple slices of toast before the 6:30 cut off. Ignorance and my refusal to think about the operation have completely turned around. Now, I can’t get it out of my mind and feel very nervous. I packed my things including my laptop in the vein hope of internet access to relieve my boredom and to write this. Sophia drove me to the hospital at 11 and I’m told that there won’t be much hanging around; the operation is scheduled for 12:30! After signing various documentation and answered many questions the anaesthetist and Dr Ware briefly visited. Within moments it was time to be taken down to theatre.

Previous experience of general anaesthesia still does not prepare you for the bizarre sensation as the ice cold medication courses through your veins. Within seconds you feel drowsy and a further 5 seconds later, you are out cold. Perhaps the most bizarre experience is when you come round from the operation. Flitting from sleep to periods of alertness, you know the operation is over but have little interest in the result. To a certain extent, this sleepiness is somewhat relaxing and it really does feel like a bit of a dream.

At 2.30 I briefly awoke with my dad at the foot of the bed and then after that I drifted in and out of sleep for another six hours. Overcome with fatigue after more than 30 minutes awake, it mattered not who was in the room; Sophia, the nurses, my dad and my poor mum (who had just found out in the same hospital that she had cancer for the 3^rd time in 6 years). It was difficult taking in what my mum was telling me in my confused state.

The pain in the leg is bearable. The knee feels numb and I have more movement than I anticipated. Dr Ware was pleased that I was able to raise my leg without support. Apparently, this is a good sign and he informed me that the operation had gone very well. Fortunately, the hamstring tendons were good and the Plan B – Patella tendon graft was not even considered. As expected, there was cartilage damage which was cleaned up during the reconstruction.

At around 5pm the nagging pain in the leg started getting a little worse and I was given a shot of morphine. The pain soon subsided and it is now 10:30 with the pain still not overbearing.

The biggest inconvenience is trying to urinate. Unable to get up on my feet until tomorrow, using the bottle is proving much harder than it looks. Desperate to go but a mental block allows only a few drops to hit the bottom of the bottle (and this moderate success comes after several attempts and extreme concentration).

I’m hoping that I’ll get a reasonable night’s sleep despite all the snoozing today and look forward to tomorrow to discover what I can and can’t do and whether I can go home.