Day 9 - Post Surgery

Yesterday, I had a follow up appointment with my surgeon.  He had fabulous things to say.  My incisions looked good (they took out my stitches).  My quad muscle looked good.  I am able to extend and straighten my leg completely (which is difficult and extremely important in ACL surgery recovery).  He said my healing was ahead of schedule.  I left there feeling really good--like all my hard work and determination is actually paying off.  

Now let me clarify something for you:

When I fell on the ski slopes in Lake Tahoe and tore my ACL and MCL, I did not shed a tear.

When I had to wait five hours in the ER before getting any pain medication, I did not shed a tear.

When I began difficult physical therapy before having my surgery, I did not shed a tear.

When I came out of surgery and begged for something to stop the pain, I did not shed a tear.

When my anesthesia and nerve block wore off and I felt the pain in my knee and hamstring, I did not shed a tear.

When I went to physical therapy and worked really hard the day after my surgery, I did not shed a tear.

Last night, when my husband and I were watching TV, I stretched my leg out over the arm of the sofa so I could press it against the arm to work on my leg straightening while I was icing my knee.  I do stuff like this throughout the day, in addition to the hour of physical therapy that I do every day.  (I haven't missed a single day of doing my therapy yet.)

My husband leaned over to me and said, "I'm really proud of you, you are doing so well with all this.  You are one tough chick."

For some reason, at that moment, I found myself blinking back tears as I tried to focus on the TV.

I never thought of myself as "tough" before but I've found strength that I never knew I had.  Maybe sometimes things really do happen for a reason.  I guess if we are never faced with adversity, we'll never really know the level of our strength.  

This experience really sucks, but I sure am learning a lot about myself in the process.