Mallory's ACL

by Mallory
(Mandevill, LA, USA)

I'm 17 yrs old and a high school senior who suffered my ACL tear on September 13, 2008 in a volleyball match. I had my ACL surgery on October 16, 2008 and went to prehab directly after the injury for nearly one month prior to surgery.

Going into surgery, my P.T. described my condition as phenomenal. Because I have a full scholarship to play in college, my Dad set up my surgery with one of the best surgeons in the country. Presently, I'm in my week 8 of rehab.

My biggest complaint is the excruciating pain I'm experiencing under flexion (i.e. bending). I've been told by my doctor that I'm a "fibrotic healer", which has made my rehab nearly unbearable.

For the first six weeks after surgery I was taking Loritab to deal with the pain from rehab. Unfortunately, the pain medication and my fibrosis condition led to my insufficient diet and depression. I've lost 20 lbs (was 140 lbs prior to surgery with nearly no body fat). At my first follow-up vist with my Dr., he took me off the pain medication all together because of my weight loss and depression.

He forced me to go to one crutch and finally none within a week. Because my knee blows up and gets irritated after flexion, my quad shuts down. I've been wrestling with this challenge all during therapy, but have been progressing. I'm about two fingers from touching my butt with my p.t. assisting in bending. This part of therapy is by far the most painful. I wouldn't even describe it as pain, but torture.

I've been working on this at home four days a week and three days with my P.T. I'm riding the bike real well (i.e. about 85 - 90 rpms). I can't wait to regain my full range of motion on my own and hope that nothing is wrong inside my knee. I can only pray that the surgery part of this experience was crystal and that my suffering is related to my body's reaction to all of this.

I've been told that b/c of the fibrosis, that this will be the most difficult challenge that I'll face in life. If I make it through this, I can make it through anything. I'd appreciate your thoughts...