tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33292292011-04-21T18:53:14.653-05:00Because sometime you just have to laugh through the pain. And if you can't do that, <a href="http://www.rockwoodcomic.com">laugh over here</a>. You can't lose, really.Rockwoodcomichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06506916323179718519noreply@blogger.comBlogger241100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3329229.post-1120111732333607922005-06-30T00:07:00.000-05:002005-06-30T01:13:42.483-05:00

12 MONTHS. THIS IS THE END...Beautiful friend, the end. Yes, now that it's been a year, I'm officially bringing the Rockwood ACL Repair Fun Page to a close. For all intents and purposes, my life and my knee are pretty much back to normal. Pretty much. Here are the details...The Bad:1. My left leg is still slightly atrophied. I will confess this probably has to do with me not staying on the

Rockwoodcomichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06506916323179718519noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3329229.post-1113370829625448522005-04-12T23:14:00.000-05:002005-04-13T00:49:50.483-05:00

TEN MONTHS.It's been so long...So, in the past four months since my last update, what have I been doing, knee-wise? Well, a little bit of slacking off, a little bit of hard work. First of all, the weightlifting.When I last posted, I was pressing 260 pounds with both legs, or 180 with my right and 80 with my left. My main goal then was to get up to 300 pounds by the end of December. I actually

Rockwoodcomichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06506916323179718519noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3329229.post-1101796965330012422004-11-29T23:42:00.000-06:002004-11-30T00:42:45.330-06:00

SIX MONTHS. So, which will happen first? Will I completely recover from an ACL reconstruction surgery or will Ken Jennings finally lose on "Jeopardy!"? I'm betting someone will beat Ken first, but I can remember --in what seems like an eternity ago-- sitting on the physical therapist's table the week after surgery watching Jennings kick some major brain. At this point, I'm beginning to wonder

Rockwoodcomichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06506916323179718519noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3329229.post-1097128864445946132004-10-06T23:04:00.000-05:002004-10-07T01:01:04.446-05:00

WEEK 17. So a week ago, (week 16), I went to physical therapy for the last time! Yay! My PTist said that my therapy was going well enough that she didn't see any reason for me to keep coming back, so I'm free unless something weird happens now that I'm on my own. However, this doesn't mean that I'm not still doing the therapy, it just means I don't have to pay someone to watch me do it. New

Rockwoodcomichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06506916323179718519noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3329229.post-1094449813468310452004-09-05T23:06:00.000-05:002004-09-14T02:30:36.810-05:00

12 WEEKS. Yeeee-haa! I'm now three months out. And since I haven't posted for the last three weeks, here's a list of everything I've been doing that's different... ...*... ...so, THAT was pretty boring, wasn't it? As I stated last time, my PT got cut down from once every week to once every two weeks. This all meant that I didn't get any kind of input from either my PTist or Dr. Don, so all

Rockwoodcomichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06506916323179718519noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3329229.post-1092369630664667072004-08-12T22:12:00.000-05:002004-08-12T23:00:30.663-05:00

WEEK 9 Today I... Wait, I didn't tell you about what happened on Week 8, did I? Well, let's go back to that then... WEEK 8 (belatedly) So, on Week 8 I went to both the doctor and the PTist. Doctor first. Dr. Don did his checkup and said that everything looked pretty good about my knee except for the swelling. So for that, I got more drugs (prescription Naproxen--essentially, an expensive

Rockwoodcomichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06506916323179718519noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3329229.post-1091508177285808282004-08-02T23:42:00.000-05:002004-08-02T23:58:47.436-05:00

WEEK 7, DAY 4. I don't really have a whole lot to add today. I did ask my PTist last week about swimming laps and she said "only if you don't use your legs to kick." Arms-only swimming? I'll pass. I'd be thinking about it so much I'd probably sink. My flexion is now at 120 degrees. I was pleasantly surprised by that. I was worried I wasn't making any progress at all, so having quantified

Rockwoodcomichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06506916323179718519noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3329229.post-1091082940064684192004-07-28T23:19:00.000-05:002004-07-29T01:35:40.063-05:00

WEEK 6, DAY 6. Tomorrow it will have been seven weeks, which means I'm over halfway to being allowed to run (12 weeks). However, last week it didn't seem like I'd get there at all. I don't know if I was overexerting myself on the PT or what, but my hamstring was KILLING me. Plus, it was bruising. But since I don't spend a lot of time looking at the back of my thighs, I didn't know (and still

Rockwoodcomichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06506916323179718519noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3329229.post-1091081931366552402004-07-28T23:00:00.000-05:002004-07-29T01:18:51.366-05:00

Did I mention in the last post that I had increased to 111 degrees of flexion at week 5? I didn't think so. Well, I've mentioned it now.

Rockwoodcomichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06506916323179718519noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3329229.post-1090211070395187252004-07-18T22:58:00.000-05:002004-07-18T23:24:52.880-05:00

WEEK 5. Ow. Ow ow ow ow o-o-o-o-ow! So PT is really starting to hurt (could you guess?). It's not a sharp pain, though, more like a I-need-to-do-HOW-many-more-exercises kind of hurt. Last Thursday's workout lasted almost two hours. Added to the fun recently: Mini leg squats: Loop a rubber band around a table leg, then do short squats with the loop going around the back of your knee, so

Rockwoodcomichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06506916323179718519noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3329229.post-1089273286232545812004-07-07T23:35:00.000-05:002004-07-08T02:54:46.233-05:00

Oh yeah, I almost forgot. I got my car back this weekend! Yayy! No more automatic for me! Is it comfortable driving with a clutch and a bad knee? Not for the first minute or so, but after that I loosen up enough where it's all right. So, the car tally: Days 1-4: Drive a car? Riiight! Day 5: Okay, I'll drive a car, but only if it's an automatic and only if I can push the seat waaaaay

Rockwoodcomichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06506916323179718519noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3329229.post-1089272265283063652004-07-07T23:30:00.000-05:002004-07-08T02:37:45.283-05:00

WEEK 4. Okay, technically, week four doesn't start until Thursday, but that's close enough for government work. And, it's close enough for Dr. Don to call it four weeks, and he's the man in charge. So, what did he say? As it turned out, not much. This is a good thing. What you DON'T want to hear in situations like this are things like, "Hmm...that's interesting," or "Oh boy." He had me

Rockwoodcomichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06506916323179718519noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3329229.post-1088545598730629312004-06-29T16:18:00.000-05:002006-03-29T06:09:53.880-06:00

WEEK 2, DAY 5.There's not a whole lot to report on now. The exercises are getting easier--which is good--but I still walk funny. Of course, less than three weeks out, I expected that. However, now I can at least walk around the office and around the house without having to use the crutches. After a couple of weeks, your hands start to hurt from using them, so it's a relief to not have to do

Rockwoodcomichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06506916323179718519noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3329229.post-1088053346655258122004-06-23T23:36:00.000-05:002004-06-24T00:02:26.656-05:00

I know what you're thinking. "What exciting new methods of torture has your physical therapist come up with this week, Brian?" You're one sick little puppy. But I have the answers... 1. Standing on one leg. Sounds easy, doesn't it? Well, with a swollen knee, not so much. Actually, standing on one leg is good exercise for old folks because it requires that you use all of the muscles in

Rockwoodcomichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06506916323179718519noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3329229.post-1088051730909944492004-06-23T23:04:00.000-05:002004-06-23T23:35:30.910-05:00

2 WEEKS POST-OP. Yay, me. So, some of the things I've learned in the past two weeks. 1. You know all of that complaining I did about the drugs? Although I didn't care for them at all, in retrospect, maybe spending the first two or three days in kind of a haze isn't all that bad of a thing. I still think the femoral block got rid of most of the pain, so the painkillers might never have

Rockwoodcomichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06506916323179718519noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3329229.post-1087538584867731402004-06-18T01:02:00.000-05:002004-06-18T01:05:19.916-05:00

PHYSICAL THERAPY. Or, for short, PT (which can also stand for "physical torture"). Anyway, I went the day after surgery and was so out of it mentally that all I remember for sure is that my physical therapist was asking me to do things that I know I couldn't do. But, for a quick rundown, after session one, I was supposed to be attempting, on a daily basis: 1. Quad extensions. 2. Straight

Rockwoodcomichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06506916323179718519noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3329229.post-1087530914857959282004-06-17T22:43:00.000-05:002004-06-17T22:55:14.856-05:00

Heyyyy.... arthroscopic knee surgery? A great big knee brace? Heh...it looks like Britney and I have more in common now than just a birthday.

Rockwoodcomichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06506916323179718519noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3329229.post-1087246608315519552004-06-14T15:48:00.000-05:002004-06-14T15:56:48.316-05:00

So, for tomorrow... I revisit physical therapy. I haven't told you about the first visit yet, mainly because the oxycodone made me so loopy that I couldn't write. Hopefully, I'll even have some pictures posted of the exercises they're having me do, as well as the bulbous knee itself. Heck, maybe I'll even have a new cartoon posted sometime tomorrow. Don't count on it, but it's always a

Rockwoodcomichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06506916323179718519noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3329229.post-1087246007825320242004-06-14T15:29:00.000-05:002004-06-14T15:46:47.826-05:00

HYGIENE, PART 2. You, my fellow human being, are a filthy, filthy animal. And no, I haven't been snooping into what web sites you've been surfing, although I'm sure that doesn't make it any better. The plain fact is, that after a few days of not showering, you don't smell good. Even if the extent of your activity is, say, reading and watching TV, you smell BAD. Why don't you go take a shower

Rockwoodcomichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06506916323179718519noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3329229.post-108724473591301602004-06-14T15:04:00.000-05:002004-06-14T15:25:35.913-05:00

HYGIENE, PART 1. Supposedly, the number one question astronauts are asked (after "why did they fake the moon landings," of course) is how do you go to the bathroom in space? After all, there are no trees to go behind. This is also a legitimate question in the ACL repair world, as well. The best answer I can give you is "painfully." Now, this isn't to say that the act itself is painful. The

Rockwoodcomichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06506916323179718519noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3329229.post-1087241387421380342004-06-14T14:07:00.000-05:002004-06-14T15:28:24.956-05:00

DRUGS. For some reason, this seems to be one of the first things that everyone asks about. As in, "Well, dude, I'm sure it hurts, but at least you get some pretty good drugs, right?" Well, Spicoli, the truth is, it doesn't hurt that bad, and the drugs suck. As surgeons get more experience with ACL reconstruction, they've become more aggressive with the pain treatment. Yes, I did get

Rockwoodcomichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06506916323179718519noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3329229.post-1087240042093673832004-06-14T14:06:00.000-05:002004-06-14T14:07:22.093-05:00

Allllllrighty then. It's been a few days since I posted anything--mainly because I've been so out of it that it didn't seem feasible-- but now I've got a couple of things to share. Ready? Of course you are...

Rockwoodcomichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06506916323179718519noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3329229.post-1087012743721386392004-06-11T22:46:00.000-05:002004-06-11T22:59:03.720-05:00

Okay... so I'm out of surgery and everything's fiiiiine. And no, that does not mean they have me on some weird drugs. That's not to say that they haven't given them to me, I just haven't really taken any of them yet. Because of the severe nature of the surgery, the surgeons opted to give me what's know as a "femoral block," which means my entire leg is STILL numb now at 10:49 pm on Friday from

Rockwoodcomichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06506916323179718519noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3329229.post-1086841362830879632004-06-09T23:20:00.000-05:002004-06-09T23:22:53.106-05:00

So, the big secret? Waaay back on March 25 (before I moved into the new house), I was teaching tae kwon do class and I decided to do a jump front kick. Now, I've done these literally thousands of times will no ill effects. Of course, other people have done them thousands of times with no ill effects as well, but yet now we share the same injury. Long story short...I landed and my left knee

Rockwoodcomichttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06506916323179718519noreply@blogger.com