ACL/Meniscus Recovery Update: Week 23

- October 23, 2023

I have not been great about updating y'all on my recovery! So much has happened in the last 12 weeks, and I am better than ever. I only have a tiny bit of soreness in my left knee when I get up in the morning, which is AMAZING. The knee pain first thing in the morning was super annoying.

The only issue that I can complain about right now is my knee's new occupation. My left knee is a straight up meteorologist now. A cold front with rain came through last week, and I had sharp pains all day. I asked the other girl in my office if she experiences the same thing post-surgery, and she said 12-years post-surgery she still gets weather related pain.

Week 12

The flexion in my knee in week 12 was at 125 degrees. I was assigned new exercises to build my hamstring strength. My PT had me do 220 lbs on the single leg press movement, and exclaimed, "Damnnn Cordova, I wouldn't want to take you in a fight." I was finally able to do a 50 lbs single leg curl without pain. My PT and I talked BYU football and told him I was in a group project with former QB Tanner Mangum. I also shared my traumatic note taking experience for a kid that was on the BYU basketball team.

Week 13

My PT started off the session singing "Peaches". Then he sang songs from Moana and quoted Rio 2. He was really on one that day. He pushed my knee back (causing a lot of pain for me) and I finally reached 130 flexion. He wanted me to do pistol squats on the Bosu ball to test my balance. I tried to figure out how to do it on my own, but I was struggling. "I don't want your help", I said to him. He responded, "Well, I don't care. You're going to get my help." I was exasperated and said, "No! I'll figure out how to do it myself". Then he helped me figure it out.

I got off the baby bike, and now I'm on the bike people use for stuff like spin class. By the end of the session, I was dripping sweat. I was out of breath as he bragged about his 46 bpm resting heart rate. 🙄

Week 19

I am so close to being done with PT. He said that I can move my appointments from once a week to once every two weeks. My PT said that it is super important to do my daily exercises to build my hamstring and quad strength. After the test he found that my left quad is 12% away from being equal strength to the left. My hamstring needs a lot more work. My left hamstring at 28%. I almost cried when I had to do arched heel slides. (I hate heel slides) He started singing JT's "Cry Me a River". (rude)

He was ON ONE throughout the session. Part-way through I turned to him and said, "Damnnn why are you so freaking sassy today???!" He was like "I have a headache and I'm tired." He never should have let it slip that he doesn't like water, because then I went full Mexican mom on him. I put my hands on my hips and said, "You have a headache because you don't drink water." He sputtered, "But, I had a Rockstar and a Celsius! They have electrolytes." I shook my head and said, "My guy, that's not water. Do better."

At the end of the session he said, "You're actually doing really well, Cordova. I am hard on you because I want you to get better." I said, "Um. Okay thanks. I actually like that you're mean. I think it's funny."

Week 23

So I went from busting up my knee (falling off the treadmill) on Labor Day to running a mile a few weeks later! Progress has been insane! I ran a 15 minute mile, sat in the car for 4 hours, stood up for a few hours to volunteer for a marathon, and hiked!

One day post incident.

I had my strength test again last Wednesday and I am so excited to share what my PT found out! In the last month my left leg extension (quad) is 11.9% strong on the push/pull motion, and 12.9% stronger on the sprinting motion. My hamstring had the most growth in the last month. I am 58.2% stronger in the push/pull motion, and 21.2% stronger won the springing motion! That means my quad deficit is only at 8.9% and 13.4% compared to my right quad. My hamstring is only 11.2% and 8.0% deficit when compared to my right quad.

I almost cried when I saw so much green on the report!! I do PT every single day, religiously, and it was so nice to see that I have made significant progress because of my consistency!

My PT told me that I am doing a great job, and added jumping exercises to my daily PT exercise list. He said I only have my jump test left, and then I'll "graduate" PT. If y'all have any ideas for a good gift to give him when I'm done with therapy, let a girl know!

I finally got to go on a hike! I took my little brothers to Green Canyon on Saturday. We also went to the 40th annual pumpkin walk in North Logan. It's crazy to think that a few months ago I was on crutches and couldn't walk more than a few feet without getting exhausted!

I am so happy with my progress, and it makes me so grateful for my PT for helping me through recovery. I am so grateful for my parents and all their support throughout this ordeal. I know it's kind of crazy, but I am grateful for everything this experience has taught me. I have worked out or been the gym every day for 161 days. I have never been this consistent with a workout routine, and I have so much more energy!