I used my hamstring to replace my completely torn ACL on July 1, 2009. I am not sure exactly what Dr Robert Jackson did differently but he told me that it was a new technique that I was going to love. This was my experience: Surgery on Wednesday July 1st. On Friday July 3rd, I went to rehab. I took my first and last pain pill before I showed up because I heard it could get pretty crazy in there.
I told the Rehab guy that was my first pain pill and he told me that I would really regret it if I didn't stay on top of the pills. I usually listen to people but I didn't have any pain so I decided that I would wait until the pain kicked in before I took the next pill. I never experienced any pain so I never took any more pills. My knee throbbed when I was on it too long but I wouldn't consider that very painful. I took ibuprofen, iced and elevated my knee VERY often to keep the swelling down.
The first visit to rehab on that Friday the 3rd I had around a 95 degree bend. On the 13th I had a 140 degree bend and then on the 20th I reached my goal of 150 degrees which is exactly the same as my good knee. The rehab team was very impressed with how fast I had come around. They actually went and talked to Dr Robert Jackson to see what it was that they did differently in my ACL surgery because the results were so awesome.
Dr Robert Jackson said that he used my hamstring and did some sort of bundle which is very common now. The main difference in my surgery had something to do with the angle in which he fastened the new ACL graft.
Anyway, I took pictures almost every other day from my surgery until I was released from rehab 3 weeks later. I also kept a little bit of a journal on what went on each of those first days:
Sunday, July 26, 2009
June 31st
The hospital called. They were suppose to call and tell me a time for the surgery but all they did was tell me to call them back at 10:00 am the next day to get a time for the surgery.
July 1st
I called the hospital and they asked me if I could come in at 11am. I was very excited and told them that I would be there. They called back when I was in the shower and told me that they would not be ready for the surgery until 1pm. I had my friend drop me off at the hospital at 1pm and checked in. They put me in a room where I changed into their robes and a guy came in and shaved my leg.
They had me write yes on the leg where my surgery was going to take place. My Mom showed up around 2pm and waited until they took me away at around 3pm for the surgery. Dr Robert Jackson came in the room with a big smile and checked my leg again and then initialed it next to the Yes that I had written on the leg. Next the anesthesiologist came in and told me the different options that I had. I told him to just do whatever he thought was best.
Next thing I know he is injecting some sort of red colored liquid into the IV in my arm. He said, hmm I think I'll do two of these and that is the last thing I remember. I started coming to in some sort of recovery room. I wanted them to know that I was coming around so I thought it was a good idea to start whistling and taping my chest. I think it would be a pretty cool job to be there watching all the dumb things people do when they are waking up. It was probably around 5:30 when they wheeled me into my new room where my mom was. The nurse brought me some food which I was glad to eat because I hadn’t eaten since around 11 pm the night before. I felt nauseous eating so I took my time with the pudding.
Dr Robert Jackson came in and told me that the ACL surgery was a complete success. He told my mom to keep my knee iced and elevated and to get some ibuprofen along with the other pain killers that he prescribed (oxycodone). We left the hospital and headed to Harriman UT where my parents live. We stopped by a wedding reception on the way there but I stayed in the car while my mom said hi to some relatives. We made one more stop at Wal-Mart to pick up some pills and then headed home. I slept pretty well that night.
They had me write yes on the leg where my surgery was going to take place. My Mom showed up around 2pm and waited until they took me away at around 3pm for the surgery. Dr Robert Jackson came in the room with a big smile and checked my leg again and then initialed it next to the Yes that I had written on the leg. Next the anesthesiologist came in and told me the different options that I had. I told him to just do whatever he thought was best.
Next thing I know he is injecting some sort of red colored liquid into the IV in my arm. He said, hmm I think I'll do two of these and that is the last thing I remember. I started coming to in some sort of recovery room. I wanted them to know that I was coming around so I thought it was a good idea to start whistling and taping my chest. I think it would be a pretty cool job to be there watching all the dumb things people do when they are waking up. It was probably around 5:30 when they wheeled me into my new room where my mom was. The nurse brought me some food which I was glad to eat because I hadn’t eaten since around 11 pm the night before. I felt nauseous eating so I took my time with the pudding.
Dr Robert Jackson came in and told me that the ACL surgery was a complete success. He told my mom to keep my knee iced and elevated and to get some ibuprofen along with the other pain killers that he prescribed (oxycodone). We left the hospital and headed to Harriman UT where my parents live. We stopped by a wedding reception on the way there but I stayed in the car while my mom said hi to some relatives. We made one more stop at Wal-Mart to pick up some pills and then headed home. I slept pretty well that night.
July 2nd
The anesthesiologist placed a hip blocker that stopped all the pain from my leg. I started to regain feeling in the leg and around 3pm I could tell that the hip blocker was pretty much all gone. I wasn’t sure what was going on but I still didn’t have any pain in my knee. I could wiggle my foot just fine and felt like the leg could probably support my whole weight. I didn’t’ want to push it so I stayed off it and kept it elevated the whole day. My mom brought me around 6 meals and kept ice in the little cold water circulator cooler (not sure what its real name is) . I only got out of bed to use the bathroom which I had to do often.
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July 3rd
I took my first pain pill around 6am then I went to rehab around 8am. They took off the brace for the first time and got rid of the gauze. They told me I looked pretty good as far as the swelling goes. They started to have me tighten my quad and try to push my knee to the bench I sat on. I did two sets of 20. They then had me do strait leg lifts. These were difficult. I felt like I was missing a lot of muscle in the joint area and found it was tough to keep my leg strait while I lifted it.
Next they had me bend my knee. They placed a board with a towel on it and had me use some webbing to start moving my knee back and forth to work on the flexibility. This wasn't fun but it got easier as my joint warmed up. Next they had me get up and take a few steps with the crutches. They wanted me to step with my bad leg and the crutches at the same time. I felt like after two or three steps I might be able to drop the crutches but they told me that my knee could buckle at any time and that they wanted me to keep the crutches there just in case. We walked over to a squat machine.
This machine positioned me on my back and I didn't use any resistance other than my body weight. I did this for around 5 minutes. I felt really good like I could do a lot more. They then moved me to another one legged squat machine that had some sort of rubber bands set up as resistance. I did 2 sets of 15 on this with one leg. They were all really impressed with where I was and decided to have me walk on the treadmill for around 5 minutes. I did that without any problems so they tried to have me walk backwards for a couple minutes which I was also able to do. I felt something being stretched on the inside of me knee. Overall it was a very productive first day at rehab.
When I got home I found that my knee was starting to stiffen up. I went back to my room and laid in bed with my foot elevated for the rest of the day. I would get up to use the bathroom but that was about it. My leg was very sore around the joint the rest of the day. I iced and elevated for the rest of the day. I had around an95 degree bend
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Next they had me bend my knee. They placed a board with a towel on it and had me use some webbing to start moving my knee back and forth to work on the flexibility. This wasn't fun but it got easier as my joint warmed up. Next they had me get up and take a few steps with the crutches. They wanted me to step with my bad leg and the crutches at the same time. I felt like after two or three steps I might be able to drop the crutches but they told me that my knee could buckle at any time and that they wanted me to keep the crutches there just in case. We walked over to a squat machine.
This machine positioned me on my back and I didn't use any resistance other than my body weight. I did this for around 5 minutes. I felt really good like I could do a lot more. They then moved me to another one legged squat machine that had some sort of rubber bands set up as resistance. I did 2 sets of 15 on this with one leg. They were all really impressed with where I was and decided to have me walk on the treadmill for around 5 minutes. I did that without any problems so they tried to have me walk backwards for a couple minutes which I was also able to do. I felt something being stretched on the inside of me knee. Overall it was a very productive first day at rehab.
When I got home I found that my knee was starting to stiffen up. I went back to my room and laid in bed with my foot elevated for the rest of the day. I would get up to use the bathroom but that was about it. My leg was very sore around the joint the rest of the day. I iced and elevated for the rest of the day. I had around an95 degree bend
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July 4th
My knee joint is feeling a lot better. Yesterday I could hardly move it onto the pillows myself but today I feel like I can get in and out of bed without too much trouble. I am going to a family picnic at noon. I realize this probably isn’t the smartest thing to do but it’s the 4th of July.
July 5th
I had my friend drop me off at my house on his way to church. I couldn't fit my church clothes over my strait leg brace so I decided to skip and just drive up to SLC. (I iced and elevated before I left). In order to drive I took of the brace and drove the 45 minutes to my parent’s house with my left foot. I feel like I was pretty good driving with my left foot. It was nice to get back to my mom's cooking and pampering.
July 6th
I had my 2nd rehab appointment this morning. It went really good. They did the same warm up stretches with me and had me try to take a step. I pretty much didn't have any problems walking. I felt like me knee was a little stiff so it was hard to walk without a limp. The best news was that there wasn't any pain associated with putting weight on it.
They had me go over to the squat machine and do some warm up squats with my body weight for 5 minutes. Then they had me go over to the squat machine with resistance. It was pretty easy. They had me do 2 sets of 15 with light resistance. Next they had me walk backwards for like 6 minutes and then they had me bike for 6 minutes. I finished and they said that we have to remember that you had surgery 5 days ago and we have to take this really slowly.
They told me if I wanted to I could walk around the house without my brace and without my crutches. I took them up on that. Later that day I drove myself from SLC down to Provo and went to FHE. I still wore my brace and crutches because I was outside.
I spent the night at my place in Provo and stayed there and worked until my appointment the next day. I spent the night down in Provo but I didn't have any food so I decided to go shopping. I went to the grocery store but left my crutches and brace in the car. I was going to take the electric wheel chair around but smith's chair was out of batteries so I pushed a cart. I got the essentials: cereal and milk and bananas.
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They had me go over to the squat machine and do some warm up squats with my body weight for 5 minutes. Then they had me go over to the squat machine with resistance. It was pretty easy. They had me do 2 sets of 15 with light resistance. Next they had me walk backwards for like 6 minutes and then they had me bike for 6 minutes. I finished and they said that we have to remember that you had surgery 5 days ago and we have to take this really slowly.
They told me if I wanted to I could walk around the house without my brace and without my crutches. I took them up on that. Later that day I drove myself from SLC down to Provo and went to FHE. I still wore my brace and crutches because I was outside.
I spent the night at my place in Provo and stayed there and worked until my appointment the next day. I spent the night down in Provo but I didn't have any food so I decided to go shopping. I went to the grocery store but left my crutches and brace in the car. I was going to take the electric wheel chair around but smith's chair was out of batteries so I pushed a cart. I got the essentials: cereal and milk and bananas.
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July 7th
I had my follow up with Dr Robert Jackson. While I was waiting for him to come in I took off my brace and ace bandage. When he entered the room, I was sitting there with my knee bent to around a 90. He was very impressed with where I was and told me that the surgery couldn't have gone better. He told me that I should be good in a couple of months to start jogging but that I shouldn't do any sort of quick lateral movements or any sports until 6 months. He said what is happening is the hamstring graft currently still has capillaries running through it but that they are dying and as they die the graft gets weaker and weaker. It takes any where from 3-6 months to have new capillaries grow through the graft and once that happens the graft regains about 20% of its strength. He told me that I no longer needed the crutches or the brace for my day to day activities.
July 8th
My one week anniversary. I went to rehab today and they were all really impressed again. My bend is only around 110 degrees but the strength of my muscles is doing great. They had me doing all the same stuff again but once again told me that I needed to hang back and let things heal up a bit more before I pushed it very hard. I drove back to my parent’s house after the visit.
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July 9th
Walking is becoming easier every day. I am still wearing my ace bandage, ice and elevate my leg as well as take my ibuprofen. The big thing now is to keep the swelling under control. I try not to stay on my feet for longer than 10 minutes because I feel like when ever I was up longer than that my knee would start swelling.
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July 10th
Everyday I am feeling better. I am keeping the maximum amount of ibuprofen in my system along with elevating my leg constantly. The PT guys said that is probably one of the reasons that I am doing so well. One of the biggest things with getting your range of motion back is keeping the swelling under control. I went down to Provo again and felt like I was doing really good.... I started walking down stairs without having to lead with my bad knee. I was able to alternate feet as I went down the stairs.
July 11th
I iced and elevated the knee most of the day. I went out that night on a HOT date to Pizza Factory. Right before desert my leg started to throb. I had been sitting down way too long. I faked a bathroom visit to get up and walk around. We went back to my house and watched a movie. After the movie was over I couldn’t get her to stop talking so we hung out until like 330 am. My knee was throbbing a lot but it was worth it… She’s a cool girl.
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July 12th
I went to church today but only stayed for the first meeting. I came home and iced and elevated and then drove to SLC to my parent’s house for dinner. My knee and everything were looking really good and feeling pretty good too.
July 13th
I switched rehab locations. They checked me out and were impressed with where I was for only being out of surgery for 12 days. They measured my bend before they started warming me up and I was at about 120 degrees.
This place had me do quad sets and then they placed a pillow under my knee and had me do more. Next they had me do strait leg raises and then they had me go over to this NuStep machine. I was on that for like 10 minutes at level 7. This machine is basically like an alternating stepping machine that has you sit on your but and press your legs down one at a time.
Next they had me bike for 20 minutes. They started me at a 7 but I bumped it up to a 9 within a minute and then Jim Anderson came by and told me I could bump it up more if I needed. I pushed it up again to an 11 and gradually made it up to a 15 by the 10 minute mark. I maintained a 15 for the 2nd ten minutes. I was sweating like crazy but it felt great.
They then took me over to the treadmill and had me walk backwards up a 15% incline fro 8 minutes. Next they took me over to the squat machine. I did 3 sets of 20 without too much resistance. It was pretty easy. When I was done with this they measured me at a 140 degree bend and then I iced down. Things were going really good. This new place was awesome!
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This place had me do quad sets and then they placed a pillow under my knee and had me do more. Next they had me do strait leg raises and then they had me go over to this NuStep machine. I was on that for like 10 minutes at level 7. This machine is basically like an alternating stepping machine that has you sit on your but and press your legs down one at a time.
Next they had me bike for 20 minutes. They started me at a 7 but I bumped it up to a 9 within a minute and then Jim Anderson came by and told me I could bump it up more if I needed. I pushed it up again to an 11 and gradually made it up to a 15 by the 10 minute mark. I maintained a 15 for the 2nd ten minutes. I was sweating like crazy but it felt great.
They then took me over to the treadmill and had me walk backwards up a 15% incline fro 8 minutes. Next they took me over to the squat machine. I did 3 sets of 20 without too much resistance. It was pretty easy. When I was done with this they measured me at a 140 degree bend and then I iced down. Things were going really good. This new place was awesome!
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July 14th
Everything is going great. Nothing to really report. I still haven't felt any pain and I still go out with my ace bandage on because it feels like the swelling will kick in more if I'm on my feet without it.
July 15th
Same old stuff nothing new… Each day I wake up and my knee feels pretty stiff but as soon as I am on it that feeling goes away. I can tell the night rest really makes a difference. I go to bed and my knee is starting to get worn out but when I wake up in the morning it feels great (once I warm it up)
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July 16th
I did rehab again today. I came in and warmed up with a few stretches and quad sets . They heated my knee to get it warm and then I went over to the new step for 15 minutes. I kept the machine around a 7 for the whole time with the steps around 100 steps per minute. I maintained that pace for 15 minutes.
Next they took me over to the treadmill and I walked backwards for 8 minutes again with a 15% incline. Next I went to the bike. I biked hard for like 10 minutes on level 16. Then they measured me and I was at a 140 degree. Jim was so impressed with me that he decided to ask Dr Jackson what he had done differently with my surgery. (I had mentioned to Jim that Dr Robert Jackson told me he had done something a little differently and that he thought I would love the new surgery). Jim Anderson came back and explained how the new ACL was attached in a slightly different place as well as doing multiple bundles. This is supposed to cut down on the arthritis that lot of people experience.
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Next they took me over to the treadmill and I walked backwards for 8 minutes again with a 15% incline. Next I went to the bike. I biked hard for like 10 minutes on level 16. Then they measured me and I was at a 140 degree. Jim was so impressed with me that he decided to ask Dr Jackson what he had done differently with my surgery. (I had mentioned to Jim that Dr Robert Jackson told me he had done something a little differently and that he thought I would love the new surgery). Jim Anderson came back and explained how the new ACL was attached in a slightly different place as well as doing multiple bundles. This is supposed to cut down on the arthritis that lot of people experience.
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July 17th
Things are basically normal. I find that if I lay on my back and bend my knee so it is next to my chest the bad knee is only about an inch and a half away from where the good one hangs naturally. I am hoping that I will have the 150 degree bend my three week anniversary next Wednesday. Biked again today
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July 18th
Same old stuff… Feels better every time I wake up. I do wake up a bit earlier than I’d like because of the throbbing. This morning I actually woke up and stretched a little bit. I stopped that right away as I felt my hamstring curl into a knot. Sometimes I feel like if I flexed my hamstring I could actually tear the whole thing. (Don’t do that) I biked 20 minutes along with one legged squats and hamstring curls.
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July 19th
I got up and went to church early so I could head to my parents house for a family lunch. I sat next to this girl at church that totally distracted me the whole meeting. I left after Sunday school and went to my house to ice and then left to SLC. I think icing before I drive the 45 minutes helps.
July 20th
Rehab today… I went to rehab and did everything that I normally do. Warm up my knee, Bike, walk backwards, and do one legged squats. After I was done they measured my bend at 150 degrees. That’s 100%. Jim came over and said that he was really happy with where I was and that the next trip in the office would probably be the last.
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July 21st
Pretty happy with where I am. Tomorrow should be my last rehab session. I am walking around without too much of a limp and things are good. I biked and did upper body work out today
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July 22nd
I went in to rehab and warmed up. I did the bike for 22 minutes and then walked backwards. I was dripping sweat from the biking. Jim Anderson came to me and we talked for a bit. He told me that at this point there really isn’t much that he can do. My range of motion is 100% so all I have to do is wait for the tendon to strengthen and keep doing my rehab stuff on my own in the gym. He told me that I could come back if I wanted but all it is now is expensive baby sitting. I have my follow up Doctor’s appointment on the 6th of July which should be my last appointment.
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