I've learned a lot since my surgery, but one really important thing is that I will not ever be addicted to pain killers. As I mentioned in an entry below, the pills I've been having to take for pain make me sick. I usually take an anti-nausea pill along with my pain pill, but for some reason, on Sunday morning I forgot.
Everyone in my church has been extremely supportive and helpful since we found out that I was going to have surgery. My parents both wanted me to go to church on Sunday to thank everyone for their prayers (and of course to thank God for how well the surgery went).
When I arrived at church, my stomach started to hurt a little bit, but it usually did if I did not take the anti-nausea pill. The medicine I was on never actually made me throw up, so I did not think too much about the nausea. Anyway, I was really happy to see all of my church family and I think/hope they were excited to see me too! Someone in our congregation mentioned my presence in church that day as a praise, and my pastor even mentioned me by name in our opening prayer.
As you can tell, I had a lot of attention on me, but I just was not feeling good. The nausea was getting worse, and my mom said I was as white as a ghost. I finally told my parents that we needed to leave. Unfortunately we picked a really awkward time to depart. At my church, unless you've graduated from high school, you're expected to go to the front of the church for the children's sermon. We decided we would leave during this part. It's too bad that when I got up to leave, our preacher's wife (she's in charge of the children sermon) thought I was trying to come down to the kid's sermon. She called my name. I had to awkwardly hurry out the door with my parents following.
Once we were on the front church steps, I started to gag. Mom rushed back in to get a garbage can. The garbage can arrived in time, but I missed it once, leaving throw up all over the front step of the church.
After I stopped vomiting, Dad had to clean my breakfast up off the steps! It was really really really not a fun experience. Thank goodness it rained before church let out cleaning up any remain debris.
My advice for people going through this: DON'T BE LIKE ME!! Take all of your medicine! Especially the anti-nausea pill right before church!
Thursday, July 25, 2013
Friday, July 19, 2013
Physical Therapy
Day 1 (Wednesday)
I'm one of those odd people who loves to exercise, so I was pretty dang excited to go to rehab on Wednesday (the second day after my surgery). I was pumped. I was feeling better. I had gotten much more sleep than the night before, and I was ready to get out of the bed! Changing clothes and showering were only minor obstacles I had to face. I had been doing quad lifts in bed. I was going to take physical therapy by storm.
Once I got to therapy, my therapist Jessie took of my brace and other bandages off for the first time. Not going to lie - I was pretty disappointed. I went through a good deal of pain, and most my stitches are on the inside. This makes them not even look tough. Anyway, I got to see how truly swollen my knee and ankle were. My knee reminded me of something like a cantaloupe. My ankle was huge, and I still did not have feeling in my foot. Plus, some of my swelling was pushed to the left side of my leg. It looks like I have a bone out of place!!
The first exercise Jessie did with me was knee bends. I was confused because I thought this would tear my ACL again, but Jessie obviously knew what she was doing so I kept my mouth shut. I could not bend it on my own that day at all, but with Jessie helping me, I could bend it to 82 degrees. She told me that I was doing good because most doctors do not even allow their patients to go to therapy until a week after their surgery. That's one reason why I really liked my doctor. Everyone says he is more aggressive than most surgeons. Back to the knee bends, we made the goal that I would have 90 degrees with no help by Friday. I must have agreed to this while my knee was bent. Once she started helping my straighten it back out, I was in more pain than I had ever felt in my life. We had to do knee bends three more times, and it was MISERABLE. I think if I'm ever in agony, I'll think back to that day and I'll just be thankful that I'm not going through the first day of rehab after surgery again.
Day 2 (Thursday)
I was dreading going back to that awful place that I had to call physical therapy. I love Jessie and all the other ladies there, but I am a tough chick. Yet I wanted to cry like a baby when I had to straighten my leg after bending it. There really wasn't a chance that I was going to skip or complain to my parents. I just kept the bad feeling in the pit of my stomach to myself.
We did the same things we did on day one: quad exercises, muscle stem machine, and knee bends. I improved on every exercise that day. On day one, I couldn't do all my quad exercises by myself. I finished them all that day. My therapist even raised the amps on my muscle stem machine too.
In therapy, the amount of degrees you can bend your knee to is a really big deal. Like I said earlier, our goal was to get my leg to 90 degrees by myself by Friday. Jessie told me I had to do ten knee bends (keep in mind knee bends are what killed me the day before). I went up for my first one pretty hesitant. Surprisingly, when I went down to straighten it, the pain was hardly noticeable! I wanted to start screaming with excitement because that meant I wasn't going to have to feel what I felt Wednesday anymore! After doing knee bends ten times, I passed my goal a day early. I got to 96 degrees by myself and 106 degrees with Jessie's help!
Day 3 (Friday/Today)
Today I was back to my usual excited to be at therapy self! We had already passed our goal for the week. Jessie and I decided that I would get to 115 degrees by myself and 120 with her help. It was a little painful, but we reached my goal!
When Jessie said I would get to ride on the bike today, I was pumped. I got to ride it for three minutes today. It wasn't the easiest thing I'd ever done, but it wasn't even close to the hardest. Riding on the bike involves moving your knee to 105 degrees. I can do this but I can't do it fluently or without pain yet. I might be getting too eager, but I'm thinking once I can bend my knee to 105 degrees easily, I can start using the bike as a way to get back in shape. Fingers crossed!
Overall, I had a really good few days at physical therpy. My advice to anyone who goes through this surgery would be: Don't get discouraged on your first day. It only gets easier, and its only going to make you stronger.
I'm one of those odd people who loves to exercise, so I was pretty dang excited to go to rehab on Wednesday (the second day after my surgery). I was pumped. I was feeling better. I had gotten much more sleep than the night before, and I was ready to get out of the bed! Changing clothes and showering were only minor obstacles I had to face. I had been doing quad lifts in bed. I was going to take physical therapy by storm.
Once I got to therapy, my therapist Jessie took of my brace and other bandages off for the first time. Not going to lie - I was pretty disappointed. I went through a good deal of pain, and most my stitches are on the inside. This makes them not even look tough. Anyway, I got to see how truly swollen my knee and ankle were. My knee reminded me of something like a cantaloupe. My ankle was huge, and I still did not have feeling in my foot. Plus, some of my swelling was pushed to the left side of my leg. It looks like I have a bone out of place!!
The first exercise Jessie did with me was knee bends. I was confused because I thought this would tear my ACL again, but Jessie obviously knew what she was doing so I kept my mouth shut. I could not bend it on my own that day at all, but with Jessie helping me, I could bend it to 82 degrees. She told me that I was doing good because most doctors do not even allow their patients to go to therapy until a week after their surgery. That's one reason why I really liked my doctor. Everyone says he is more aggressive than most surgeons. Back to the knee bends, we made the goal that I would have 90 degrees with no help by Friday. I must have agreed to this while my knee was bent. Once she started helping my straighten it back out, I was in more pain than I had ever felt in my life. We had to do knee bends three more times, and it was MISERABLE. I think if I'm ever in agony, I'll think back to that day and I'll just be thankful that I'm not going through the first day of rehab after surgery again.
Day 2 (Thursday)
I was dreading going back to that awful place that I had to call physical therapy. I love Jessie and all the other ladies there, but I am a tough chick. Yet I wanted to cry like a baby when I had to straighten my leg after bending it. There really wasn't a chance that I was going to skip or complain to my parents. I just kept the bad feeling in the pit of my stomach to myself.
We did the same things we did on day one: quad exercises, muscle stem machine, and knee bends. I improved on every exercise that day. On day one, I couldn't do all my quad exercises by myself. I finished them all that day. My therapist even raised the amps on my muscle stem machine too.
In therapy, the amount of degrees you can bend your knee to is a really big deal. Like I said earlier, our goal was to get my leg to 90 degrees by myself by Friday. Jessie told me I had to do ten knee bends (keep in mind knee bends are what killed me the day before). I went up for my first one pretty hesitant. Surprisingly, when I went down to straighten it, the pain was hardly noticeable! I wanted to start screaming with excitement because that meant I wasn't going to have to feel what I felt Wednesday anymore! After doing knee bends ten times, I passed my goal a day early. I got to 96 degrees by myself and 106 degrees with Jessie's help!
Day 3 (Friday/Today)
Today I was back to my usual excited to be at therapy self! We had already passed our goal for the week. Jessie and I decided that I would get to 115 degrees by myself and 120 with her help. It was a little painful, but we reached my goal!
When Jessie said I would get to ride on the bike today, I was pumped. I got to ride it for three minutes today. It wasn't the easiest thing I'd ever done, but it wasn't even close to the hardest. Riding on the bike involves moving your knee to 105 degrees. I can do this but I can't do it fluently or without pain yet. I might be getting too eager, but I'm thinking once I can bend my knee to 105 degrees easily, I can start using the bike as a way to get back in shape. Fingers crossed!
Overall, I had a really good few days at physical therpy. My advice to anyone who goes through this surgery would be: Don't get discouraged on your first day. It only gets easier, and its only going to make you stronger.
Wednesday, July 17, 2013
Hospital Stay
Oddly enough, staying in the hospital was very enjoyable for me. The nurses waited on me hand and foot and the bed was extremely comfortable. The food was pretty good when I got to eat. I only had a bite of anything that was not a fruit cup because my pain medicine that went through my IV would make me nauseous. The IV system was really what caused my mother and me the most problems. If I was reading this blog before I had ACL surgery, I would want someone to be honest with me, so I am not going to leave out the bad stuff.
After surgery, I was taken to a post-op room until the hospital has an available room for me. I wrote earlier about what happened when I first woke up. The second time I woke up, I thought my ankle was broken. I had no pain in my knee, surprisingly, but my ankle was a whole other story. It felt on fire. They had to give me extra numbing medicine, which still two days after surgery hasn't completely worn off. The nurse thinks that I had such bad ankle pain because during my surgery, the doctors had to manipulate my foot into odd positions during the surgery.
Once I got into my room after surgery, of course I had to pee. My nurse (another one of my favorite people) told me I could either use a bed pan or crutches. There was no way in heck that I was going to use a bed pan. I mean those things are for old people. I'm only fifteen! Anyway, getting out of the bed for the first time was flat out hard. My physical therapist did a good job with causing me the least amount of pain, but there was only so much she could do. Walking on crutches did not hurt, but sitting down, standing up and moving my knee even the littlest bit felt like wildfire.
Unfortunately for my mom (someone had to help me get out of bed), the IV made me have to pee every hour! I felt so bad for her. She was already sleeping in a chair and then she litterally had to get up every sixty minutes to help me get out of bed. My whole night and day just went in this cycle: use all my energy walking to the bathroom, take an hour nap, and repeat. On the bright side, later on into the night, I was able to lift my leg into and out of the bed all by myself. This seams really simple but it was a HUGE deal for me! I was tired of feeling so helpless!
After surgery, I was taken to a post-op room until the hospital has an available room for me. I wrote earlier about what happened when I first woke up. The second time I woke up, I thought my ankle was broken. I had no pain in my knee, surprisingly, but my ankle was a whole other story. It felt on fire. They had to give me extra numbing medicine, which still two days after surgery hasn't completely worn off. The nurse thinks that I had such bad ankle pain because during my surgery, the doctors had to manipulate my foot into odd positions during the surgery.
Once I got into my room after surgery, of course I had to pee. My nurse (another one of my favorite people) told me I could either use a bed pan or crutches. There was no way in heck that I was going to use a bed pan. I mean those things are for old people. I'm only fifteen! Anyway, getting out of the bed for the first time was flat out hard. My physical therapist did a good job with causing me the least amount of pain, but there was only so much she could do. Walking on crutches did not hurt, but sitting down, standing up and moving my knee even the littlest bit felt like wildfire.
Unfortunately for my mom (someone had to help me get out of bed), the IV made me have to pee every hour! I felt so bad for her. She was already sleeping in a chair and then she litterally had to get up every sixty minutes to help me get out of bed. My whole night and day just went in this cycle: use all my energy walking to the bathroom, take an hour nap, and repeat. On the bright side, later on into the night, I was able to lift my leg into and out of the bed all by myself. This seams really simple but it was a HUGE deal for me! I was tired of feeling so helpless!
Tuesday, July 16, 2013
Surgery 7/15/13
Yesterday morning at 4:20 a.m., I got out of bed with the fear that I would not wake up after my ACL and meniscus surgery. I was scared up until I was given an IV which my nurse told me would make him look like Johnny Depp. Before I was given the IV, my preacher, my parents, and I all bowed our heads and prayed to God asking him for my safety during surgery and a speedy recovery. This was probably about the ninth time I had prayed in the last five hours (I did not sleep the night before), but I am so glad I kept praying.
Once I awakened after surgery, I tried to remember what had happened before I had been put to sleep. However, all I could recall was telling the doctor "This isn't how it looks on Grey's Anatomy!" After I collected my thoughts and realized that I had in fact woken up from surgery, I asked the nurse how it went. You can only imagine how extremely excited I was when the nurse (who was my favorite person in the world at that moment), told me that my meniscus was not torn when they took a closer look! That basically means that my rehabilitation can go much smoother than we originally anticipated! I honestly don't think that I had ever felt as blessed as I had that very moment.
I just thought I should share with everyone what I wrote on my leg before surgery! Unfortunately, my doctor did not find it as funny as all my friends did! I really did not want them to cut into my good leg too!
Once I awakened after surgery, I tried to remember what had happened before I had been put to sleep. However, all I could recall was telling the doctor "This isn't how it looks on Grey's Anatomy!" After I collected my thoughts and realized that I had in fact woken up from surgery, I asked the nurse how it went. You can only imagine how extremely excited I was when the nurse (who was my favorite person in the world at that moment), told me that my meniscus was not torn when they took a closer look! That basically means that my rehabilitation can go much smoother than we originally anticipated! I honestly don't think that I had ever felt as blessed as I had that very moment.
I just thought I should share with everyone what I wrote on my leg before surgery! Unfortunately, my doctor did not find it as funny as all my friends did! I really did not want them to cut into my good leg too!
Sunday, July 14, 2013
How It Happened
I am one of those players who never gets hurt. The worst injury I have ever had was a sprained ankle. I never really thought I would ever get hurt because I had gone so long without a broken bone or any serious accidents. Because I had this mind set, I might have been a little blind to realizing that I had torn my ACL. When it happened, my high school team and I were at the Southeastern Louisiana University Team Camp. As a whole, our team had played around eleven games in two days. Unfortunately, the competition at the camp did not even come close to competing with our team, with the exception of the last team we played. I was excited for that game. We were finally getting to play a really good team - they have a girl who is being recruited by Stanford. We hung with them for a little bit too! Anyway, we were within the first two or three minutes of the game when I went for a steal and jump stopped. I am not too sure how it happened, but I think one of the opposing teams players hit my leg or my knee just kept going when I stopped. I fell to the ground, not necessarily because of how much pain I was in, but more because of how scared I was. I had never had knee problems before. After I walked off the court (without any tears I might add), I sat on the bench then tried to go back in the game. Unfortunately, my knee didn't agree with that idea. Our football coach then took me to the trainer, who told me I had an LCL sprain. He was way off, but it's really hard to tell without an MRI. I rehabbed my "LCL sprain" for two weeks. After those weeks were up, I went with my AAU team to play in Dallas. The first play of the first game, I went to cut and my knee made an awful crunching sound. After hobbling off the court, I went back in during the next time out. I played for a couple of minutes and did some positive things. Next thing I know, my knee has buckled and I've fallen on the floor. After that, my dad and I went to visit the trainer. He told us I could have possibly torn my ACL even though I had no swelling around that area. That was the first time I really realized that this could be happening.
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