Good morning :)
I forgot to say that yesterday at the Raleigh Orthopedic Clinic they gave me a new brace. It is specifically for knee stuff, and can lock on the sides to keep my knee from moving. It works realllly well. But it took a while to get used to. It's a lot heavier, which means more work (but that's great in the long run). And yesterday, while working at trying to bend and straight lift my leg, I felt like I was doing it safely.
There's only one thing that really gets to me right now. That even if I can eventually walk without my crutches this or next week, it won't matter--I'll have surgery and have to start over again. This stuff really tears you down and builds you up multiple times I'm finding. I had to cry again yesterday some because it was like taking a couple steps back in what little progress I had made. Although, I will say that it's good in the sense that I'm building up my left thigh. I'm favoring the right leg (duh) which is already bringing strength away from the left. And I need my left leg to be as STRONG as possible. And that means working with it even if that effort won't show later, you know? So right now, I'm sliding it closer and farther from me at NCSU, since I have over an hour to kill before class starts. And then I can lift it again.
People who might be going through this now or later (I hope not for anyone, but life does cheery things like this), push through the pain. Seriously. Be a beast and be stubborn. Let your body say when you've had enough, but push through. And be prepared to work on your people skills/being social in elevators and while waiting for the car to pull up. People look at me and look at my leg, and that spurs me into small talk. And no worries--it's not like you don't have a story to tell ;)
This torn ACL is going to work on a lot of things for me... confidence, strength, pride, social skills.. and of course, being able to move again!
Oh, and I'm excited about using the Wii Fit once I can stand because the balance games will help to show how badly I'm favoring the good leg. That'll be SO great during therapy. Yay :)
Onward! I hope everyone else is doing better than me lol.
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2 comments:
Hey, this blog is a GREAT idea! I know you were probably getting tired of telling your lengthening story over & over! Question: did the orthopedist say to "push through the pain" when you are exercising? Just a concern that you might do more damage to possibly torn ligaments/tendons since you won't know what the damage actually is until after the MRI and assessment. Love you! Mom
Yes, the doctor said to do as much as my knee can handle because I've got to have it as strong as possible for after surgery.
I was also worried about doing extra damage, but with the brace, they said that I should be fine.
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