Shiv's 1 week after ACL reconstruction (success)

by Shiv
(Sydney, Australia)

I ruptured my ACL and tore my MCL in a football tackle exactly 4 months ago. Before this incident, I have had a perfect medical history - my most serious injury was an ankle sprain and I'd never seen the inside of a hospital.

I was told to get an ACL reconstruction. I found the best orthopaedic surgeon in Sydney and had my operation (hamstring graft) 7 days ago.

Since that date I have been doing 20 mins of my prescribed 'closed chain exercises' every 1.5 hours during daytime and applied ice for 20mins 3x a day. I have also taken an anti-inflammatory pill every day and taken no painkillers whatsoever.

Today (1 wk later) I can walk around with no problems - I'm going to the city tonight for new year's eve. I can also climb stairs (slowly). All is well. My leg is basically at full extension and about 10 degrees short of full flexion. A few months of gym n physio - and i'll be sweet as..

The op was a success. The credit goes to the champion who fixed my leg. You might think that your knee is gonna end up the same no matter who operates - but different surgeons have different techniques and it's no secret that some are better than others.
A good surgeon will be able to perform surgery using either patellar/hamstring/donor graft depending on your lifestyle - each method has it's pros and cons.

So my advice is to find the best surgeon, stay positive, do your rehab religiously - and you'll have no dramas..
Oh, and if you play sport make sure you have private health insurance. I didn't and had to pay $9000 for the op. I'm an idiot..

All the best

Shiv