sleeping alligator
Went to Florida, saw lots of 'gators.
At the end of Week 18, as the knee was very irritated and swollen due to the treadmill work, I’d determined to take a week off rehab. The timing coincided with a week’s family holiday in Southern Florida, so this seemed a good opportunity for down time.(1) That plan was partially realised.

I tried rest week during Week 19, but the knee was very stiff and sore, e.g. lots of pain when getting out of bed or after sitting. Mobility is the only thing that helps, so did a little fast walking on the treadmill and then two sessions of ‘aquafit’ in the resort pool with the snowbirds, which wasn’t sweat-inducing but a great 90 mins of mobility and functional fitness which helped a lot. Indeed, introducing aqua fitness classes this week; these should be more vigorous at my gym and inject some much appreciated variety into the gym diet.

Weeks 20 and 21 got torpedoed. Got off the plane from Florida with a nasty head cold that took me out of action for a week. It moved into my chest a bit and took almost a further week to clear. I was able to hit the pool for a decent half an hour of swimming at the end of Week 21 and expect to be much more on target over the coming 3 week physio cycle; due to vacation and illness, meeting with Physio was rescheduled and we’ll be consulting this week. Suspect the down time has led to some back sliding, but that can’t be helped and consistency over the longer term is more important.

Week Physio Milestones
19 Rest week fail, but kept it light with walking and aquafit classes. Got up close and personal with wild ‘gators, snacked on ‘gator tail and felt my roots with some real pizza.
20 Taken out with cold; physio appointment rescheduled. Had to sleep in sitting position, so knee rehab wasn’t on the radar.
21 End of week recovery from cold meant return to the pool. Back to business as usual, but no gains or changes to report.

Disclaimer

Every ACL op and recovery will be particular to the person. The thoughts and experiences recalled in this series of posts is in no way intended as medical advice or as a replacement for seeking medical attention for any injury. This information is presented merely as a record of one person’s experience with ACL operation and recovery.

(1) If you’re in Fort Lauderdale (or Pittsburgh), would highly recommend Primanti’s, a pizza joint transplanted from Pittsburgh. If you love yourself some proper Rust Belt pizza, this is what you need; the memory of it will sustain me until my next trip to Upstate.

/ /