Week 5!!!

 Hello, cool brace!
Week five was a good week. I went to the physical therapist for my first visit and got my new, cutsom, awesome,smaller brace. It makes such a huge difference! For the first day after I got it, I was advised to go back to two crutches, but as of today (9/20- end of week 5) I am pretty much crutch - free except for stairs!!! It feels soooo good! I can really feel my leg getting stronger every day.


Thanks to my wonderful insurance, I was able to get a custom-made brace. I was even allowed to pick out the color. I could have gotten this:

...but I went with metallic black. I'm not that girly. These DonJoy people are so sure I won't re-injure my acl while wearing their brace, that they pay me if I do. Hardcore. I look like a football player with it on.
So my first physical therapist's appointment was great. He said my straightening and bending were both great - in fact I was a couple weeks ahead of schedule according to my dr.'s protocol. If I wasn't doing well I would have been very surprised because I have been busting my ass on these exercises for four weeks!! The pt made an interesting observation when looking at both of my legs straight. He asked if I played basketball or soccer and I of course said no. He said that if I had, I would have torn a lot sooner because my legs are regularly so hyperextended. Thank you, swimming. Most swimmers I know who swam their whole lives have legs like this. But this has helped me get my bad leg get back where it needs to be so its a good thing.
I was told to stop all my exercises. He gave me three (the easiest three) to do this week, but I wasn't allowed to use a weight and I was to cut back on the repetitions. I was already where I needed to be, so he didn't want me to put unnecessary trauma on the knee. He said this past week and the week coming up, I really should just take it easy and let it heal. Watch some movies, he said. So my dad's new running joke this week was, "Sarah, you'll be fine- just rest and watch some movies!" I mean what pt tells you that? I was expecting to get beat up and bent and stretched in there, but I guess I had been doing that to myself, so there was no need for the pt to do it. He seemed a little disappointed, actually.
So Sunday morning(9/18), I was feeling great and decided to try driving over to my apartment (maybe a mile from my parents' house). I was so happy to be home that I cleaned a bit, thought I could take a shower standing up and drove back. Not a good idea. None of those were good things. My knee throbbed the rest of the day and I pretty much stayed in bed with ice all day. Thank goodness for football. So I'm still at my parents' -I don't want to be stuck alone at my apartment. At least there are nice people here who will help me. And I don't mind their company much either...:)
Looking forward to tomorrow's pt session. We are going to see if my knee is just as straight and can bend just as far after easing off the exercises. I'm sure it will be fine. I'm hoping for a massage...do they do that at pt?

Goodbye, hot, uncomfortable, forever falling down (but very supportive) whole leg brace!!!!!