First Game of the 2013 Season.....10 months post surgery

It's been 10 months since Kaitlynn's surgery and she just played in her first official HS game since that surgery. She played in some summer scrimmages, but those weren't as intense as the real deal. She did well and even scored a goal. Her coach has her playing at mid-field instead of defense. She called a pass back and immediately shot it in over the goalies head (with her left foot even! She's right footed and her right leg was the injured one). She played a strong game and only had one moments hesitation when she and another girl hit legs, but she recovered quickly and rocked the field. I'm proud of how far she has come! She's a solid player with a passion for the game and her teammates. She is also playing with her little sister for the first time ever, which I love.

Back at it

It is now 9 months post surgery and Kaitlynn had HS soccer tryouts this week and finished in the top 5, actually she was #2. Not bad for having surgery 9 months ago. I am so proud of all the hard work she has done and all of the fears and insecurities she has overcome in regards to her injury to get to where she is at today. She will continue to wear her brace for protection and she continues to do vital warm up exercises before every practice and game to continually strengthen her quads, hamstrings and knees. We are looking forward to an amazing season.

Again, stay pro-active...and if something is bothering you don't hesitate to ask your doctor or PT. There were a few times when her knee swelled up and we weren't sure why. Turns out it was simply scar tissue continuing to break up. It takes time. When they began tryouts she was more sore than usual, but those muscles were continually being worked more and more. It's a journey and one they say isn't truly over until 12-18 months post op. It almost seems like it never happened, but it did and boy was it a journey those first several months. One I hope we never have to go through again.

Cleared for Sports

It has now been 8 months since ACL surgery and I'm happy to say that Kaitlynn has now been cleared to play sports at full participation. Yay!! She worked so hard on her recovery. She was cleared to golf back in March which wasn't too hard because it wasn't on the leg that would take most of the stress from golfing. She did well, even making it to state. She did get tired quite a bit at first from all the walking but it was good for her.

As her muscle became stronger and the PT thought that she had developed it enough for an ACL brace, she had an appointment for a measurement to get it ordered. When she brought it home I about fell over..the thing looked like a bionic attachment. Bright yellow and big (in my mind). I told her that if anyone hit her, they would be the ones hurting, not her.

She worked out with it and became used to the feel of it on her leg. She only wears it when she plays or does activities that could compromise her knee. She is still being smart with it as full recovery usually isn't expected until one year after surgery.

I am so proud of her recovery. If you are in the situation of needing ACL surgery, I really want to stress the importance of being pro-active and disciplined in your recovery before and after surgery. It makes all the difference in the world.

I may post again as High School soccer gets underway and post on how she has done, but I believe her recovery is really complete.

I encourage you to do your research when it comes to all aspects of surgery, from insurance to procedure method, to recovery. Be patient but be dilligent.

I'll post a few pics from her recent soccer scrimmages.

 Made it to state in golf this year which was awesome since she hadn't been able to play for so many months.

 Even did some quadding (wearing her brace of course)

 Her second summer soccer scrimmage since being released. Her HS team coordinates some of these during the summer to get the girls out on the field. She did awesome. 

Since this scrimmage she has had 3 more and I have seen her confidence rise with each one. There is always a bit of a hesitancy at first, almost as though a protective mechanism turns on and needs to be forcefully turned off. There's wisdom in that though. She is not going to do something to compromise her knee no matter what the result might be. Her coach is experimenting with some different positions. She typically plays a defender (which she likes). We will see where she ends up come time for the season to start.

I will still attempt to get some videos up here of her PT sessions, it just takes time and that's something I don't always have big chunks of...too bad we didn't get a heavy snow last winter to snow me in.

Bad, Bad Me

Well, I did it again. I failed to keep updated on this lovely blog here! Though I'm not convinced anyone has read it so I don't feel too bad. Now, had someone left a comment saying "hey, where's some updates, I probably would have updated it sooner. I still haven't finished working on videos to upload, but I will do that....I hope.

Recovery is going awesome. We are now 6 months in to it. It seems like an eternity ago that she had the surgery. She pretty much has followed the same routine with PT, going once a week and working out diligently on her own the other days of the week. Every few weeks they would add a new and harder exercise to do. The first time they had her jump on a box she said it really was a battle of the mind to get her body to do it. Her quad gradually became stronger and muscle returned to it.

 In March she began jogging. Slowly at first and in intervals of jogging and walking, gradually increasing. She is now running 1-2 miles at a time. So far her best time for the mile post surgery I believe has been 8:27. Not too shabby. A few weeks ago she was fitted for her ACL brace, which she will wear when she begins soccer again. In March she was cleared to play golf for her HS team and has done well. Initially her leg would ache and be sore but she overcame it and actually qualified for state. We did have one moment of time when her knee swelled up quite noticeably. We took her in and the doctor reassured her it was nothing but just continued scar tissue breaking up. She is looking forward to summer and starting up training for soccer. We'll take it slow and as the doctor and PT advise her.

Hopefully it's not another 3 months before I post again. One thing I would encourage anyone with is to NOT slack off on your recovery and PT but stay diligent and after it. It really makes all the difference in the world.

Post surgery exercise Video

I am attempting to figure out how to create and post videos here on the blog. This first one...should it work, is days 3 and 4 post surgery. These were exercises that the surgery center and her PT's advised her to do. It is important to get movement back in her leg and knee. Her goals by the time she went back to see the doctor were to get her leg straight and also to get her knee at a 90 degree angle. Keeping in mind she didn't see her doctor for a week and a half after surgery.

oh, look I did it!!! Yay me! I will be working on more videos of her PT sessions. At least the first few. I'm not sure how many Kevin recorded. She used the sock on one foot so it made it easier for her to slide her foot.

Below is a scanned photo of the actual surgery if anyone is interested and not squeamish. I tried to include the notations...I'm hoping this is okay to do...if not someone let me know so I can take it off.

The Journey Continues....

Well, we have all three done terrible at keeping this blog updated. It seems I'm the one who really loves blogging so I will keep this going to the best of my ability. I'll try to backtrack and get caught up on the recovery so that if anyone happens upon this blog you will have an idea of how things have gone. I am also going to attempt to upload some videos of her PT appointments. I'm about 2 1/2 months behind in posting...yikes. That was NOT the plan! We just got so busy with healing and getting things going, that it just slipped my mind. I'll try to remember!


NOVEMBER: Lots of compassion and patience are needed. The pain killers will definitely affect their emotions as well as taking away the pain. I noticed that the pain meds (generic vicadin) caused Kaitlynn's emotions to pretty much flat line, but then at times she would be overly emotional. She had a hard time focusing and just couldn't quite articulate or think through what she needed or how she was feeling. I really felt for her. Let's see...she went back to her college classes 11 days after surgery. We scheduled it so she was only missing 2 classes and she was able to make them up. Obviously having surgery wasn't in the plans when we signed up for college classes. We had to drive her to classes 3 days a week until she could drive again. For the first several weeks she had her crutches so we would park and help her up to class. They gave her a temporary handicap permit since trying to find parking could prove for a long walk. She saw the doctor the week after thanksgiving and he was pleased with how things were looking. She saw the PT the following week. Most ACL patients will see their doctor shortly after surgery and will start PT right away but because of the holidays we weren't able to do that. However we did have her working on some things that they suggested she do and that the doctors office said to do. There was to be no full weight bearing for a few weeks. She did very well with her PT though we had to remind her to do her exercises. I believe within 2-3 weeks she was walking without crutches at home and only used them in places where it wasn't as "safe". We were staying at Kevin's parents for the first week because they don't have stairs and we do. Once we came home, she slept downstairs for another week on a recliner until she felt like making the trek up our stairs. The ice machine has been great. I highly recommend it. We do some outings but nothing too long since she gets tired with the crutches and can't quite walk completely on it.

After we took the bandages off. The T was the initial of the Dr. also, our last initial.

I read this article title to Kaitlynn a few days after surgery. I said we needed to try that trick.

DECEMBER: We keep using the essential oils and she stops using the pain meds after the first week of surgery. We keep using the ice machine a few times a day. She seems to be healing very well. One thing we have noticed is the right side of her knee hasn't quite gained feeling back (as of Feb. 5). She tell someone is touching it but it doesn't feel the same. Apparently this can be normal when using the Patella tendon. She continues to go to therapy 3 times a week, but towards the end they cut it down to only one day to try and reserve the number of visits she gets. Also because she is doing well with being motivated to do her exercises at home. She is having trouble getting her quad to activate though so we borrow a device (I believe it's called a TENS machine) that she hooks up to her leg to stimulate the nerves so that she can then activate the muscle in order to lift her leg. We continue with the supplements and oils which I think have helped alot. Also making sure she is eating foods that are high in nutrients to keep her inactive (more so than usual) body healthy. She is now without crutches completely and doing very well. She starts driving by Christmas. She is also making great strides with the PT and doctor feels like she is doing well and probably will even be able to golf come end of February. The other thing that had to be worked out a lot was the scar tissue. That was uncomfortable but necessary. The PT worked on that each visit and she worked on it at home as well.

JANUARY: Continuing to do well. We laugh though at how much smaller her right quad has become compared to her left. She has begun to go to the gym to use the treadmill, bike and do her other exercises. She is only seeing PT once a week because she is doing so well on her own. They have her increasing her walking distance and speed. The doctor and PT are pleased with her recovery. Her gait is almost back to normal, but not quite 100%.

Okay, I think I'm caught up...I will try to stay up to date as well. As always, please feel free to ask questions. Below are some pictures that were taken shortly after surgery, once we removed the bandages. I am working on putting together a few videos from her PT sessions.

 Christmas morning...this is the TENS machine she used to help stimulate her nerves.

We discovered these crazy bruises a few weeks about a week after surgery. She thought it was stains from the surgery. Nope, bruises.