ACL broken but the spirits are intact
About two months ago - on 21st May 2022, I underwent ACL reconstruction surgery of my right knee.
How did it happen?
While playing football I twisted my knee apparently beyond its permissible limit which broke my anterior crucial ligament. It is known to be a very common knee injury and it is equally import to get surgery done, in order to have a stable knee for the rest of the life.
What was the method used?
The surgeon used the latest Arthrex arthroscopic grafting technique, in which they use one of our tendons from leg muscle to graft and tie the two bones internally using a keyhole drill to stabilize the knee joint.
How was my overall experience and rehab journey?
The overall hospital experience was good, and it was less scary than what I had imagined. The operation theatre was really cold and did make me a bit nervous. At that moment, I had only one option of surrendering myself in the hands of doctors — with full faith. They gave me a lower body spinal anesthesia which made me immobile in few minutes and after that I did not feel anything neither I could understand what surgeons were doing. After few hours, when I was taken back to room its effect started reducing and pain began to overpower. But at hospital, they take really good care of us to cope up with such situations.
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First 2 weeks post-surgery were really very challenging to manage things or do any sort of activity. Even walking using crutches was not easy because the leg gets extremely weak and is unable to bear the weight. Physiotherapists taught some basic static leg moment exercises which I had to do periodically. It is essentially to have some movement in leg otherwise it becomes stiffer. Next main stage was to start doing leg flexion and reach 90 degree and then walking few steps with full weight bearing. And when I tried it for the first time under supervision — I blacked out! Maybe my mind and body were not ready at all, but then we had to keep trying.
To be honest initially it felt impossible to recover, and my mind was like — ‘Will I ever be able to walk again?’ Especially, when you see others walking and running our mind starts playing games. Sometimes, we tend to feel a bit low after such surgeries, as they also have a bit of psychological impact. Mostly, if you are at an age when you love to play sports, travel, trek and do all sort of adventure.
Literally, I have lost my thigh (Quad) muscle completely in so less time! Re-building it would take a lot of time and efforts. These are the moments when we realize how easy it is to lose things and difficult to regain. And that’s how my recovery journey began, I decided to fight back and get on my feet soon. I continued doing rehab exercises along with a good healthy food intake and also ensured good rest or sleep every single day.
I remember my surgeon kept telling me — “ACL surgery is like biting a bullet.”
Which means — Sometimes, it is necessary for a person to do a thing that is either painful or objectionable but must be carried out. I continued to keep up, and that perseverance paid off soon. When I recently went for follow up session, he said — “what most patients can’t achieve (flexion or mobility) in 3 months’ time you did that in 45 days!” I can walk now comfortably without support and take a few stairs also but can’t jog or run.
Maybe few more months, as I can’t afford to loosen the graft that is inside, so taking it slowly along with rehab and exercise with an ultimate aim of getting back on field and playing football again.
