ACL recovery - 3 weeks post op

I just got back from visiting Jack and his colleague Julia Brasfield at the Cleveland Clinic. The stitches were removed and some new x-rays were taken. Following are some random thoughts I have about the visit and the recovery in general:

#1. I tried to get off the Demerol and Ibuprofen as soon as possible after the surgery. I might have been on the former for about three days and the later for a week? The reasons are a.) I humbly submit I have a fairly high pain tolerance; b.) I believe it can mask other problems, and; c.) I don't like pills, in general.

This being said, there is still some swelling in the knee that Jack said could impede progress in my recovery. So, to get rid of the "boggy" knee and to get it looking like the other one, I will take moderate daily amounts of Ibuprofen for the next two weeks, hit the knee with ice at night, and wear a compression wrap.

#2. I am convinced my diet has and will greatly facilitate my recovery. While I am not nearly as militant as I once was, I still do eat a ton of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and try to avoid junk as much as I can. My friend Sarah Quesen keeps me on the honest path about this.

#3. My PT Rob explained the following to me (I am paraphrasing here). The ACL has been replaced by a tendon. Your body "knows" the purpose of this "thing" is to do the things a ligament would do. Therefore, starting at about 6 weeks, the tendon cells die off, the graft is vascularized, and new ligament-like cells start to grow there. At this point, the graft is at its structurally weakest point. This is despite the fact that I may feel fine, the swelling is down, etc. Evidently, this whole metamorphosis takes several weeks. One false move, one yearning for "just a quick run", could sever the graft and I would be back to ground zero. Again ... Patience ... Patience ... Patience.

#4. My sister turned me onto this next tidbit. It was also independently confirmed by Rob. Taking Vitamin E capsules and rubbing them into the surgical wounds will reduce scarring.

#5. I keep getting little micro-hamstring pulls. The reason this is occurring is because of the loss of hamstring tendons used to form the graft. In effect, the muscles of my left leg have less machinery to do their work efficiently. Jack said the lost tendons will, more or less, grow back with time.

At PT this morning, we bumped up some weights and added resistance to certain exercises. That's all that's on my mind today.