ACL Update: 5 weeks post-op
(Last Updated On: April 17, 2009)
As of yesterday, I was 5 weeks post op. I saw the doctor earlier this week. She said recovery seems to be going well, which I already knew. She did the ACL test, so yes, my new ACL is working. And she approved me to ride outside on my road bike or on my mtn bike on dirt roads. For now, I’m supposed to stick to mostly flat terrain, eventually working up to hills. But, she squashed the idea of riding single track or getting on skis any earlier than 6 months post op which for me would mean mid-September. I pretty much knew she would say that though. It all just goes back to the fact that I have an allograft instead of an autograft and allografts take a bit longer to heal. I started asking her about it and she didn’t really give me a good explanation. She said something about that my cells begin integrating themselves into the foreign tissue and we are just waiting for more of those cells to be mine. She said something like it really takes a year for the tissue to be 100%, but that it’s usually strong enough to do stuff by six months post op.
At any rate, I’m going to play it conservative. If I can’t really be on a mountain bike this summer, than at least I can road bike. My real passion is skiing anyway, and it’s most important for me to be ready for next ski season than to be on my mountain bike this summer. I don’t want to do anything to jeopardize my knee so that I can’t ski next year. I think I would lose my mind if that happened 😉
Before I left, she gave me copies of the xrays they took during my visit a few weeks ago. Here’s one of them. You can see the hardware in my femur. The new ACL travels diagonally down all the way through the femur, through my knee, and then all the way through my tibia. A plastic screw is used in my tibia. Since it’s plastic, it doesn’t really show up on the the x-ray. But, it’s there.
Overall, recovery is continuing to go well. My ROM is at 138. My walking continues to get smoother. I have a few more exercises added on to my PT but generally it’s staying the same. I’m working my hamstring muscles more though and beginning to do lunges. I’ll be happy to begin riding outside again. But, a trip to Ohio to visit my family and being overwhelmed with work will prevent me from riding outside until the beginning of May. But, at least I have something to look forward to!
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