After tearing my ACL in basketball, it came time for the surgery. Funny enough, I was more worried about the surgery itself than what was to come after. This seemed to be the opposite of what many people were telling me to focus on, many friends and family heavily focused on how long the recovery time is. I was so nervous about having the procedure I felt like whatever happened after was going to happen either way. It was not until after the procedure that I realized I had so many questions about my recovery and no solid answers from anyone or anywhere.
I was told that some people walked the day after surgery without crutches, and this was the best news for me since I just wanted to get back to “normal” life as fast as possible. I researched a lot the day before and the day of surgery and found that there will be a lot of physical therapy and a long slow recovery timeline. Getting back to my 100% would take close to two years. Still, I knew the sooner the surgery, the sooner I would be back to working out and being with friends normally.
Then came the day after surgery, and I in fact could not walk without crutches. Even now at the two-week mark, I still can’t. This was a huge mental weight on me, thinking that I was weak and behind on the timeline knowing other people could walk. You get put in a straight leg cast after surgery and have to be in this cast without bending it for 2 weeks, at least that was my order. This prevented me from walking like normal since I had to hinge at my hip instead of bending my knee. At some points, I totally forgot how to walk and would stand with my crutches crying confused about how my body forgot something so normal, so fast. They give you a lot of medicine and order you to take it on a schedule until you feel as if you no longer need it. Luckily after about 5 days, I felt good enough to stop taking them all; except for aspirin, which you must take for blood clots. While the pain was gone, I would say the worst feeling was the pressure from the cast and ice pack.
I ended up coming to school on the 5th day as well, thank goodness for friends, family, and the accessibility van UMass has since it made getting around a lot easier. While having to have my leg elevated on plastic uncomfy chairs was not ideal, it helped get my focus off of my leg and on other things.
Unexpectedly, my PT did not start right away. My straight leg cast was on for two weeks until my post-op appointment, and I got my PT assigned at this appointment. The straight leg cast is probably the worst part of it all, with having to get in and out of cars, being forced to sleep on my back, and keeping it elevated at all times. Another thing I did not expect to be so painful was my compression socks after surgery. I had to keep them on for a week to prevent blood clots. After just a few days they started getting itchy and irritating my skin. Luckily it is only for a week, but it was something that I did not know would be an issue.
After talking to those around me, everyone’s experience is different, and having expectations for yourself can make you feel disappointed if you are not where you think you should be. It is a hard experience no matter what, but always looking at the bright side can help. Getting support from friends and family was something that felt surreal to me, how much people will go out of their way to help you, even those I did not know. For example, people would wait to help open doors, offer to move things, carry things for me, or just wish me a fast recovery. My main piece of advice is to give yourself time to heal and don’t go by any timeline other than how your body is feeling.
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