I mean, I'm grateful for having full ROM back. I'm thankful for not having put on extra pounds (well, one too many buffets this weekend, but other than that...)
Most of all, I loved the look on Dr. K's face two Fridays ago!!! At the beginning of that visit, the nurse strapped me in to a KT1000 Arthrometer and measured both knees' laxity--the displacement of the shin relative to the knee joint. This is essentially a carefully measured version of the Lachmann Test for ACL injury. the KT1000 gives 3 different tones throughout its range corresponding to three amounts of force the clinician is pulling on it with.
So...what were my results? At the three different pulling forces, my good knee was 4, 5, and 7mm of displacement. My operative knee was 4, 5, and 6mm! Technically tighter than the non-operative knee, but for all intents and purposes they are about even. Cool.
Dr. K said I can start the slow kicks planting on my good leg, including ankle weights, but nothing involving planting my operative leg right now. Apparently at this phase, the ACL will be at its weakest, about 20% of final strength. Ah, well, I'll take what I can get!
The weather has finally broken with a threat of springtime, and I'm really looking forward to it. This morning I got back on the PT wagon and strapped on the ol' ankle weights for some 5-pound lifts of fury. Gotta work up to 30 reps @ 10 pounds!
I am resolved to alternate days of running, ab core and pushups with days of exercise bike warmups, leg lifts, various tugs and squats, and lots of stretching everywhere.
Oh, and here's a relatively current photo. No, the fuzziness isn't my camera out of focus, it's my hairy-ass legs:
Speaking of which, a piece of advice for men getting ready for ACL reconstruction: Shave the surgical area. I had a particular knob of scab that didn't want to let go--turns out it was tethered by hair that was sewn into the wound...
3 comments:
It was good hearing about your continued progress. My new ACL also measured stronger than my good knee. I was surprised by the results.
Enjoy your slow kicks!
I still haven't been strapped into the KT for this round. My PTist tested my leg on week 3, he said everything felt tight but no numbers.
I would highly suggest everyone shaving. Not that my first 2 nurses didn't have bedside manner. But one was done when I was out and the other was a very quick hack job. Neither of them turned out nice. I personally used a creme (similar to Nair) before my third and got the whole area nice and smooth.
Glad you're doing well. I didn't get all the high-tech fun you're getting in your recovery, I never had an Arthrometer strapped on.
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