I was planning on updating this blog every day, but, as I often do, I fell a bit behind. Lemme fill you in my last few days of recovery.
<——Pic Note: Me, 3 days post-op, watching my beloved Warriors crush the Blazers. Ladies, you may now form a single-file line — the dirt-stache is ready for visits!
Ok, days 2 and 3 were when the real pain set in. Anytime you have (relatively) major surgery, there will obviously be pain involved, but my bilateral post-surgery pain has been totally tolerable. Just from talking to friends who have had other sports-related surgeries, the pain that you often deal with after an ACL injury is very, very manageable. Not too bad considering the surgeon drilled holes in both my knee and shin bones! That said, in the first few days, it really must be managed. Though you may not be feeling pain at the moment, it is important to stay on the schedule of the pain pills, because, as mentioned before, if you fall behind the pain (especially on recovery days 2-4), it is a bitch to catch up. As I am typing on Sunday, I haven't taken any Percocet and am not planning to tonight.
After a drugged-out, fairly painful Wednesday and Thursday, the pain really tapered off after the third day post-surgery (Friday), and it was quite mild on Saturday and Sunday. As far as putting weight on the legs goes, I am trying to go very slow, and, while I can now walk without crutches for short distances without feeling any pain, I am trying my best to use the wheelchair and keep off it as much as possible, especially until I have my first physical therapy session on Tuesday (a week post-op). Also, over the weekend (4-5 days post-op), I was comfortable sitting down and having some people over, which was a nice change from the first four days that I spent almost totally on my back playing FIFA and the like.
As far as the rest of my life goes, it's all about getting through it. I fucking hate sitting around all day, but I am coming up on one week post-op and am only a week off my next visit, where they will hopefully remove my sutures, allow me to get rid of the wheelchair/ice machine, and let me go back to showering. While I am probably still another two weeks away from going back to work and moving back into my apartment, it's all about baby steps at this point and every day marks one step towards having my life back. Though the last week was definitely difficult at times (and I am sure there will be more tough times coming), I am still happy that I got them both done, and I would highly recommend those in a similar situation to do the same. I have managed to stay very positive with the help of my family and friends (and my new friend, Percocet!).
To all my (er) hoards of readers (Hi Mom!), I will try to start updating this daily in the coming weeks, not only to expose you to my riotous wit, but more so to better explain the rehab from this type of surgery.
Dan
Daniel, I first off must commend you on the tremendous resilience you show in what must be a frustrating recovery process. It gives me hope to think that, if Dan can get through another day marooned to his lonely couch, not able to even bathe his increasingly "Dan-smelling" body, then perhaps I too can keep a positive attitude in times of pain and frustration.
ReplyDeleteSecondly, I'd like to express interest and anticipation of hearing about your personal results (as they continue to come in) in "relearning" your day-to-day life. I found, after I had my eye surgery, that I had to become much more aware of a lot of very basic activities that I'd been able to do somewhat on auto-pilot since I was a child. Slowly regaining the ability to write my name, to read a book, to drive a car in a straight line (whoops): each required a level of conscious effort and focus that changed my perception of how simple each of these things is to do, even at full strength. Obviously, my recovery had predominantly to do with my vision, but I'd be interested to hear about this process from someone who has to relearn and build up a new trust in his basic mobility functions.
Anyway, keep up the good work, and I look forward to seeing you get back to the explosive, high-flying, rim-rattling athlete you once were.
You're my hero.
ReplyDeleteYou look just like I looked. Circa 2000. Although you have one more busted knee than I did. Same couch tho. That was some nice couch.
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