Week 2.5

So the doctor’s appointment went really well. They were surprised at her minimal bruising and lack of swelling. Three people told us it was really good sign that she was already at full extension. They took a couple of x-rays, which looked great. And they removed her dressing. The incision sites looked fabulous. They took out the stitches and the rest will dissolve.



He told her that she could start weight bearing and could come off the crutches when she was ready. Evidently, she was ready as we were walking out of the doctors office… But her leg was not. She wobbled a little and almost fell down. (Really Liz??) I cursed and she giggled and said, “Oops, that didn’t happen.”

We went straight to therapy. It’s sort of mixed bag of tricks for her injury. The protocols for ACL are not at all the same as the protocols for the meniscus tear.

She could do most everything the therapist asked, the one thing she couldn’t do was a straight leg raises in supine position. The therapist had to help her. On Saturday, so did I. But by Sunday morning, she could do it 30 times by herself.

On Saturday she went to her soccer game and Coach #4 gave her a clipboard and asked her to keep stats. The girls won! Some of us went to lunch afterwards and there were a lot of laughs. But when we got home the swelling was the worst I had seen it. She admitted to being in pain, so we elevated and iced for the rest of the night and Sunday morning, it was looking good again.

After Sunday’s game, (another win! Cha-Ching), she said that her knee really hurt and again the swelling was bad. We didn’t time the pain medicine well. (Rookie mistake.) And she was so tired. Four weeks ago, she could play a 70-minute soccer game and now, she gets tired after watching one.

I was afraid to send her to school the next day – but I did. She went to therapy that Monday too. She could bend her knee to 60 degrees and her balancing wasn’t great. Her therapist said, "If you don't get that knee to 90 soon, I'M going to have to get it there." EEK.

By Tuesday, she was off crutches! (As long as she wears her brace.)



At Wednesday's therapy session, she was at 78. Much improved!

This past weekend, the team had two state league games. One tie and one loss.
On Saturday, the girls owned that team. They just couldn't get it in the net. The Sunday game was brutal.

Yesterday at therapy, her PT added several new exercises. Liz said it was painful. BUT, she made it to 100 degrees and full extension! So the home exercises are working.


Physically, she's doing great. Mentally, the last couple days have been challenging. She wants to play soccer.

We found another blogger (www.runharperrun.com) that had ACL surgery two days before Liz. I was messaging him today and he said he was "trying to stay focused and positive, this injury is more mental than physical I believe."

Believe that.

And one last update... Calf comparison photo. (Taken today) You don't have to be crazy to see a difference this time.