The ACL Repair Blog Firsthand accounts of ACL surgery and recovery

This has come up a lot in this blog in the posts and comments.
What is better autograft (hamstring or patella) or allograft (from a cadaver)?
As a biology graduate student I have access to scientific publications and some experience in assessing the published information. There are no official published guidelines for doctors, just scientific articles. Here [...]

As my physical therapist sees me getting stronger and stronger, my exercises seem to be getting more and more ridiculous, mostly in the name of ‘balance’. I have thrown a ball repeatedly against a bouncing backstop while standing on one leg an a tippy board. I have done squats on the Total Gym standing on [...]

Maybe I complain to much, but PT is in some ways torture. Unlike Henry, I am still going to PT twice a week, often for an hour and a half of hard work. Because I was using one crutch for 6 weeks, my left leg is noticeably thinner than my right and definitely weaker. It [...]

Between the holidays, travel, work etc i’ve been a horrible blogger.  Many, many appoligies.
So, recovery in general is going quite well.  Between christmas and new years i spent a week in Mexico swimming and walking on the sand.  My knee was feeling quite strong and I’ve been ditching the brace when I’m inside.
However, I’m now [...]

Guess I’m feeling better. It looks like Henry and I haven’t written in awhile. Today, I stopped using my crutch. The Doc said I could have stopped last Tuesday, but I waited until today (Sunday) because most internet info recommends 6-8 weeks of 50% weight for microfracture surgery and tomorrow is 6 weeks. (Other doctors [...]

Maybe its just a holiday funk, but it seems that my ACL recovery is depressing me a little. Its not that I haven’t made great progress. I ride the stationary bike for a half hour each day (getting a free bike the day before surgery was the best thing I could have done), do leg [...]

I mentioned that 1 week after surgery I was allowed to shower and go down to one crutch.
What could I do this week (day 14) that I could not do on day 7? (some things were probably more avoided for pain reasons than actually precluded)
actually use 1 crutch to get around 
ride a stationary bike (although [...]

My second post-op appointment was today, two weeks and a day since the surgery.  First the doctor cut off the dressing and removed the sani-strips that had been on the incision since the surgery. He said the incisions were looking good, let me snap a picture and (most excitingly) told me i could start showering.  [...]

Couldn’t sleep this morning between my girlfriend’s coughing and the neighbor’s dog barking so I went for a walk.  It’s a cold morning in Seattle but it felt fantastic to be moving around outside.  I couldn’t help but think of the days of summer when I was up early every day for a run before [...]

I apologize deeply for my lack of posts, between an increasingly busy work schedule and my “get well soon” gift to myself (a shiny new …. er old … bass) I haven’t had a lot of free time online.
I walk freely now with now pain, but still get pretty stiff at work.  I’m a software [...]