Day 4

Today was a slow day. Since I did so much yesterday, I opted to stay home today. I've been a little more sore today. I have had my leg propped in the air with ice most of the day. I showered again this morning and it was wonderful. Mom and I played Wii for a while when she came to see me and then I napped for quiet a while. Tonight my friend Heather came over and lent me some Wii games, ate pizza (thanks Julie) with me and hung out for a while. It's nice to have company.

I'm really looking forward to my appointments on Monday. I feel like there is more I should/could be doing and I'm really tired of having my entire leg wrapped from my toes to my thigh. I want to get after this whole healing thing. I know I'm supposed to be really careful for at least three months, but this is bugging me.

Day 3--first day out

Last night I showered. That is a lot of work. It involves a giant garbage bag and some plastic wrap. It felt sooooo good to be clean, but it is so much work! I was about worn out by the time I was dry and dressed again.

Today, my mom took the day off work to hang out with me. She came over and helped me get ready . Then we went to Wal-Mart to pick up a couple of things.After that we picked up lunch and went to my sister's store, Chameleon Arts & Ice Cream, to eat lunch with my sister, brother-in-law, and aunt.

After that I was still feeling pretty well, so I decided to work on the plate that I've been painting. I think it's going to turn out pretty well. It was a bit of fiasco though, because my bro-in-law gets on these cleaning kicks and just throws EVERYTHING away. This time that included the plate I was working on. Once it was rescued i did a really cool stensil on it. I'm excited to see it.

In terms of my knee, I may have overdone it a little today. I have had only two doses of pain meds today; once when I got up and just a bit ago when I got home. I was up moving and without ice on my knee for several hours. I felt alright until I stopped moving and now I'm stiff and sore. The only place that really hurts is along the inside of the back of my knee. There are several other places that feel sore sometimes, but that is the only place that I would classify as hurting.

Tomorrow my friend Heather is planning to come hang out for a while I think. She will probably kick my butt all over at Wii. I feel like I'm consistently getting better...stronger... PT starts on Monday, so I'm anxious to hear what they have to stay, although apprehensive as well. I also have my post-op appointment on Monday, and I'm interested to see what my knee looks like. I have a pretty good idea where some of the incisions are but I'm not sure about others.

On to the weekend! Not that it's that different for me at this point.

Day 2

Today I'm feeling a little more human. I seem to be staying awake a little longer at a time so far today. I have three exercises to do until physical therapy starts. The first is ankle pumps, which serves a dual purpose: first, to keep away the dreaded blood clots; and the second: to keep some sort of tone to my calf muscle. Second, there are straight leg raises. These are not a lot of fun and I can only do about 10 before I'm to tired to go anymore. The third are the worst. I'm not sure what to call them so I'll describe them instead. I prop up my heal and let my leg sort of hang unsupported for thirty minutes three times a day. These are the only ones that really hurt.

I'm still a big fan of pain killers. I don't want to chance going off them at this point although I think I will reduce my dose. I'm anxious to see what my knee looks like under all this wrap. I think I may try to talk my mom into helping me take a shower tonight...I can't get my leg wet until after monday, but I feel gross.

Day 1 Post Op

I had PCL reconstruction surgery yesterday. Woke up feeling really good due to the epideral that I was given before surgery. Shortly thereafter I got sick a few times. I got home around 11pm and slept about 2 hours at a time all night long. It is now quarter to 8am and I'm sleepy again.

As far as my leg goes, the front is still numb but the back hurts pretty good. Partly it's from being kept still and straight I think. It is wrapped from the toes to mid-thigh with an elastic bandage, over that is a cryocuff and over that is a brace. The brace allows me motion to 60 degrees, which surprised me given what I've read. It is probably partly because I went with an allograft instead of my patellar tendon or hamstring.

I go to the doctor and start PT on Monay.

I kind of keep dozing off so I'll sign off for now and write more tomorrow

Less than a day left...

I had my preop appointment today. My doctor says that I'll be able to bend my knee a bit before I leave the surgery center tomorrow night. I begin physical therapy and have my postop appointment on Monday. He said I should be on crutches for 10-14 days and out of work for three weeks or so. Not as bad as everything I've been reading so I feel a little better about things. I'm still not excited about any of this and I really think the girl who CAUSED the wreck should have to deal with some of this. I go in tomorrow for surgery, but not until afternoon, so that kind of sucks. Now that it's time, I will try to do updates every day or two.

Anxiety

Surgery is on Tuesday. I'm pretty worried about it. To the point that if I think about it I get sick to my stomach. Maybe I'm making the wrong choice, but I can't see dealing with this forever if I don't have to. The mean time is where my thinking breaks down. I am soooo not excited about not being able to walk for what seems like forever. I am not excited about PT, as I've done it before with my shoulder and it sucks. I really wish all this had never happened.

One week

I have one week left of being able to walk on two feet for a while. I'm beginning to keep myself awake at night thinking too much about things. I'm not excited about surgery. Even less excited about after...