About six and a half years ago I tore my left ACL in my knee running-out a grounder playing church-league softball. Since then I have used various excuses not to get it repaired (job, money, insurance, moving, child, wife with cancer, etc.)
Well I finally broke down and scheduled the surgery and It has been two days since I had my ACL surgically reconstruced by Dr. Brad Bruns at The Surgery Center of Scottsdale. I arrived at 6 a.m. and was prepped for surgery. Around 7 a.m. I was brought into the surgery room and got on the operating table and the next thing I knew I was waking up with a nurse asking how my pain was on a scale of 1-10. After I said “eight” I received some pain killers and about thirty minutes later was cleared to go home. Melissa and I stopped at Target on the way home and she ran in while I waited in the car to grab some ice and perscriptions. Since then I have been holed up on our bed with the TV, laptop, and cell phone. I have to do six to eight hours per day on the CPM (Continuous Passive Motion) machine, which helps me get my leg back to bending the way it is supposed to. I do the ice machine for 20 min on/20 min off to keep the swelling down. I’m not really sure what it looks like under the brace and all the dressings though, I’m not allowed to remove anything until I see the surgeon again on Wednesday. It is after that appointment that I expect to get clearance to start physical therapy. Until then I need to keep my leg elevated and not put any weight on it. I have a nice pair of crutches to help me around the house. I will venture out briefly today for Chris and Amanda’s wedding ceremony but then back to my spot on the bed. I would like to especially thank my lovely wife for taking great care of me, Brian for “babysitting” me last night while Melissa had to be gone, and Jim and Andrea for letting Colby sleep over last night. Hopefully, in about nine months I will be able to exercise and play sports the way I have wanted to since I tore my ACL almost seven years ago!
