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My ACL Reconstruction Log
| Title | Note | Week/Day | Date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| I am going for prehab to strengthen my muscles prior to operation. | W-2 | |||
| I am now doing all the exercises by myself everyday prior to operation. I followed this guy’s guide: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Czx6LUnG1cs | W-1 | |||
| Surgery day | I was put to mild sleep, then after an hour, it’s done, good shit! I feel weird that everything is okay, I can do ankle pumps but not quad sets but nothing hurts, I was waiting in a room and feel like I can go out and pee by myself. | D0 | 09/09/25 | |
| Ever since I came out of the operating room, I’ve had my ankle propped to a pillow and my leg straight. | D1 | 09/10/25 | ||
| It’s now starting to hurt. | D2 | 09/11/25 | ||
| TENS finally came! I can now start working my quads. | D3 | 09/12/25 | ||
| First check up | Finally got to talk to my doctor, I’ve got all the worries out of my head. He’s a good doctor and it’s the hospital that’s fucked me up. They overcharged me and never gave me post-op instructions. That’s really an awful experience. Never again to VRP. | W1/D7 | 09/16/25 | |
| A lot of accomplishments today | 1) I can now move around with crutches without much hurting. 2) I can now be by myself without help. 3) I was able to take a bath, change, without help, by myself | D11 | 09/20/25 | |
| QUADS | I can now flex my quads, FINALLY! | D13 | 09/22/25 | |
| Hematoma? | This is not a good day, I didn’t sleep well and the upper-inner part of my calves hurt. It’s painful to walk with crutches. I’ve checked ChatGPT and it said that it’s blood that’s why it’s hard and sore. I’m trying to massage it a bit, and I think it’s helping. | W2/D14 | 09/23/25 | |
| I can now be on my side when in bed with a pillow between my legs! I still can’t sleep on my side though, it’s getting numb. | D15 | 09/24/25 | ||
| 2nd check up | Went to the doctor today and he’s removed my stitches. He said it will take about a day for it to completely heal. I should be able to take a bath without leg cover, NICE! | D16 | 09/25/25 | |
| First bath without leg cover | I just got the bandages removed and it feels good. Sometimes I can feel it hurt in the biggest stitch. The doctor said I should be able to take a bath without covering the wound. But I’m not so confident yet, so covering it for today. NOPE! I just took a bath without the cover and it’s fine. It feels good! | D17 | 09/26/25 | |
| I am trying to force flexion and it bit me in the ass. It’s gotten swollen to the point that it’s uncomfortable. I’ve iced and elevated it but it’s still there. SUPER UNCOMFORTABLE. I thought everything’s okay already. Looks like I have to deal with this for more. | ||||
| I’m trying to not take my pain reliever as much as I can. I thought I can handle the pain but it’s still getting on to me. I’m trying to preserve it just in case I need it in the future. I might need to ask my doctor if I can buy more. | D18 | 09/27/25 | ||
| The area around my knee is still swollen but now manageable. I guess I’ll stop with the flexion for the meantime and just do quad sets with EMS. | ||||
| First rehab | Feels super good! 123-degree flexion, and almost a full extension, LFG! I think it’s not a full extension yet because when my leg felt super numb a few days ago, I had to flex it for a bit a time. Good results nevertheless! | D20 | 09/29/25 | |
| First own rehab | I did the rehab by myself. Feels good but I got it a little bit more swollen than when I’m supervised. | W3/D21 | 09/30/25 | |
| Really long walk | First time going for a really long walk. The convenience store nearby was close so I was forced to go to the next one. First time going up and down the stairs as well, not a lot, but still progress. | D23 | 10/02/25 | |
| Second rehab | I’ve improved my extension again and flexion from 123 to 129 degrees. It’s also now easier to walk with one crutch. | D24 | 10/03/25 | |
| Single crutcher | I can now just use a single crutch! HUGE! | D25 | 10/04/25 | |
| First basketball court visit | I am the commissioner of the special season and today I am the camera man - for 4 hours. I went back home and just noticed that my knee is all swollen and painful, I went to sleep and did the rehab by myself. Feels better now. | D26 | 10/05/25 | |
| Third rehab | Flexion has improved from 129 to 138! I thought I finished it already since they told me that the norma flexion is 135, but we measured my uninjured leg and it looks like my normal flexion is 150 degrees, I need 12 more. | W4-D28 | 10/07/25 | |
| First time cycling in the gym and taking a bath while standing | Lots of progress today! Strava Activity | D29 | 10/08/25 | |
| First month | Just cycling but I feel some locking and pain in my hip at a certain angle. It looks like it’s overcompensating. I need to increase the bike height next time. | M1-D30 | 10/09/25 | |
| Fourth rehab | 144 flexion out of 150. Extension is at 0 after all the exercises. Same as when I’m at home, I’m having trouble extending fully until it gets warm, like an engine. | D31 | 10/10/25 | |
| Cycling in the gym again. I got to walk for 2 minutes without crutches, PROGRESS! I just looked at the bruise behind my knee and it’s still dark. I thought it subside a bit but nothing has changed at all. | D32 | 10/11/25 | ||
| The busiest day | I went commuting by the train to the basketball court then to the mall then to the other mall. This is the farthest I’ve walked on a single crutch - 4k steps total. I felt confident from time to time to just walk without the crutch. It’s the first time I tried walking backwards a bit without crutch. Progress! First time shooting the ball in the court, I missed doing it but it still feels weird. I’m still afraid to dip down and extend my injured leg, resulting to missed shot since only the left leg is working LOL. I managed to make one though, out of 8, I think. | D33 | 10/12/25 | |
| Fifth rehab | The usual, just with more PTs, they are swarming me! Most importantly, I did all the standing exercises without the crutch, HUGE! We also did one leg balance with a ball, it’s the first time I played with the ball like that and it’s amazing. I can feel myself going back, I’m so happy! | W5-D35 | 10/14/25 | |
| Back to the gym with the uppers | First time doing upper body workout post-op, feels good! What I’m doing are rehabbing my patellar tendinitis on the left leg with isometric leg extension, doing it lightly on the right - but full range of motion (I was only able to do it once LOL), cycling for 20 minutes (variation in strength but trying to maintain 60 rpm), then the upper body workout. I did push today, tomorrow will be pull. | D36 | 10/15/25 | |
| Gastrocnemius restriction | First time doing pull workout. I did the usual left leg isometric and added a few reps on the injured side. I’m so happy I did 12 reps on the lightest weight. I can’t even move past halfway yesterday. Huge progress! I just don’t want to overdo it, I don’t want to tear it again, I’m not sure if it will tear but I’d need proper guidance. I’ve been walking with a crutch outside but I’m consciously just using it as a backup just in case I slip or feel like falling down. I’m just lifting it up and not putting any force down, just like walking but with something in my hand. I’m just not comfortable walking without it outside. Inside our house is different. I’ve been walking around without crutch and it’s good so far. I noticed that I can’t flex my leg backwards while standing, something on top of the gastrocnemius is restricting the full range by itself. I need to ask my PT this. | D37 | 10/16/25 | |
Rehab
Extension - weight in the middle, tens in pain
Knee ems - same as below, same height it’s okay to not lift the leg yet, add something under the knee to raise
Knee raise - try to lift the leg, try to go higher each time, ems in quads
Ball in between the knees - contract on ems
Hagod/lymphatic drainage - to remove the fluid, baby oil or lotion, ankle prop
Knee cap - straight leg, side to side, up and down, 30 times
Check hamstring tightness
Missing something
Knee and but on wall - pull leg to ass, record progress, goal is 135 - 3 by 15
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Ankles pumps with resistance - 2 by 15, heel prop
Reverse ankle pumps - same
Outer pump
Inner
Banded knee lying on side - hold 7 sec times 1
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Standings
Weight bearing - 7 seconds by 10
High knees - 10 each leg
Move forward and backward - 10