Has it really only been 3 months since my surgery? Some days, it feels like it was such a long time ago and other days my knee reminds me that I’m still recovering.

Two weeks ago, I graduated from therapy.


It was as big a deal as my Kindergarten graduation (which means, it wasn’t).


I feel great now compared to what I’ve felt like since January. Seriously. Maybe it’s because I am dying to hit the pavement again and run a marathon without even training. Wait. That would be a horrible idea and I definitely don’t want another surgery.

The tightness I still feel in my knee is normal at this point and it’ll probably be another 3 months before the knee is truly feeling normal. I have been cycling a lot and swimming occasionally.


The only thing that has set me back is some pain/pressure underneath my kneecap, which according to the therapist is due to a weak VOM. I think it means that my quad muscle is stronger on the outside than on the inside. Or something like that. 

When I try a deep squat or lunge or any deep bending while putting my body weight (i.e. a lot of pressure) on it, I feel some discomfort under my knee cap. It hasn’t gotten much better since I noticed it a few weeks back but the therapist is pretty certain that over time and with muscle strengthening, I will be just fine and it won’t hurt anymore.


I also went to the surgeon for a follow-up and after seeing me for 37 seconds, he said everything looked good. I’m sorry, but I want a detailed report please. Is that too much to ask? Sigh. 


Hum. If you are still reading this, congratulations for making this far. One other surgery side effect: I have a slight raised bump on the right-ish side of my shin bone, where the incision for my allograft (i.e. dead person’s ACL) was inserted. Since they put a screw there to hold the ACL to a tendon, it developed scar tissue hence the raised bump. It doesn’t hurt but just looks kind of funny and feels weird. Yay me.  

I attempted jogging today for the first time. I figured since I’ve had surgery, it won’t hurt when I run. I figured wrong. So like my physical therapist said before I left, “If it hurts, wait another 4 weeks before trying running again.” Talk about a big let down. Right now, I’m thinking that having surgery wasn’t the best choice ever. My biggest fear going into the surgery (and I asked the question multiple times!) was that I would never be able to run again…and maybe I’m being overdramatic, but right now I pretty much think that I won’t be able to run again without knee pain. 

I’ll let you know in 4 more weeks.