6 Months Post-Op

Week 13 Post-Op Visit

To keep the timeline in perspective- this appointment was 4 months ago. My doctor cleared me from Physical Therapy. He said I received full ROM, and that I was free to do whatever as long as I "took it slow." He told me to wear my smaller brace I received at my initial injury 10 years ago when I do athletic activities. He also said I only need to come back and see him if something happens.

What I can NOW do:

- Workout (I do the elliptical and leg/core strengthening)

- Walk without issues (I walk around all day at my job)

- Do some light jogging

- Sit criss cross with my operative leg on the outside

- Sit for longer periods of time without stiffness

- You can actually see some muscle in my quad now

What I still STRUGGLE to do:

- Old workout routines I used to do (there are just a lot of motions that I really struggle to do)

- I don't really feel comfortable fully running.

- I can't sit criss cross like I used to; I used to put my operative leg on the inside, but it hurts to do so.

- My ROM is not where it used to be; I can't bend my knee all the way back.

- I can't sit on my knees.

- My operative quad muscle is still noticeably different than my non-operative muscle. This makes certain motions feel off still.

Final Thoughts

Update on Scars! Looks a lot better!

I am still so thankful to The Lord for healing me, and for allowing me to get back to most of my usual. What a blessing it is to have working body parts. I plan on writing a Year Post-Op blog post when that time comes. Feel free to reach out with any questions! As always, I hope this helps you and your recovery journey.

Comments

Post-Op Week 3

Post-Op Week 3 This picture was taken pre-surgery! Notice how my knee cap is way over to the right! They centered it during s urgery. Overall Feelings I was super excited to ditch the crutches! I could finally use my hands to bring myself a glass of water! Yay! I was hoping I could just start walking at a normal speed without much pain. I mean, I got to a point where I didn't have much pain walking on crutches, so why not?! Sadly, that was not the case. At first, it was painful to walk, and I could only really walk at a snail's pace. It took a lot of thought to just take the next step. I know that my doctor said I could use crutches as needed, but I really wanted to push myself. I think a lot of my pain is coming from the fact that both my knees are having to compensate for my lost muscles in the operated leg while I walk. And walking is a good way to gain muscle! I think it was the right decision to push myself a little bit because by God's grace, ev...

Post-Op Week 5

Overall Feelings Every day I see improvements! What a blessing! This week I got to put my don-joy brace at 60 degrees, which makes sitting a little bit more comfortable. I still like to extend my leg over an extra chair while sitting. However, sometimes that is just not feasible. When I'm sitting with my legs bent for a long period of time, I have found that my knee can get stiff. Getting up ever so often, or even just using my other leg to extend my knee, helps. I think my don-joy brace is what really helps me hit my range of motion goals! It almost forces me to bend it to the degree at which it is set. It might hurt for a day or so, but after that, my knee is able to bend easily to that degree. Physical Therapy We are still doing the same exercises as previously mentioned in "Post-op Week 4." My range of motion seems to increase ahead of schedule, which is spectacular! For example, I wasn't supposed to move my brace to 60 degrees until Thursday, but my PT measure...

My MPFL Reconstruction

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