Week 1

So, today is day 9 of post acl reconstructive surgery. I had my post op appointment last yesterday, where my wounds were cleaned, and the stitches were removed. This has been my first surgery, and for it to be a major reconstruction of my left knee, it was a pretty scary thing to deal with it. I am 27 year semi professional quarterback from Dallas. For those who are wondering that actually means, here it is. Our league is made up of 8 to 12 teams from the local DFW area, we have players from different levels, some played high school football, some played college ball, and some well, never played before at all. In December I was participating in offensive drills with the team trying to get the offense clicking. One of the drills, I came took off on a run, and had a collision with one of our LB, My knee was caught in the turf, and my body was pushed in the opposite direction. I heard a small pop, and some sharp pain, and that was it. My knee did not feel right, I was not in pain, but I had some soreness. After a few unsuccessful attempts at trying to re-hab, I suffered some real instability in my knee. Now, I do alot of researching online, so I had a feeling my ACL was no more, but being the optimist, I tried to re-hab, and tried to keep going on my knee, till one throwing session, I planted on my left knee, and it buckled on me. So, I made an appointment with Dr. James Walters in Plano Texas. One Lachman test later, I was on my way to an MRI exam. Here is where it gets tricky, my MRI exam report showed my ACL to be in tact, and found defects in my meniscus. So, it was back to Dr. Walters office for further examination. Now, after the follow up with the good doc, he re-confirmed that his diagnosis was correct, ACL tear, and recommended surgery... My family was really weary about surgery, I had no doubt in my mind, I was going under the knife, so I made my appointment and was ready for it. The day of the surgery, I arrived at the hospital at 6:45, my procedure was to start at 8, being a big gym rat, It was hard for me not eating anything the night before, I have a workout routine of 2 hours a day, and then have protein after my workout, so this threw me off a bit the night before. After visiting with the doc one last time, the drug doctor shows up, and injects some anti nausea meds into my system. Then I was wheeled into the OR, and was put on a table, all I remember from there was being told to breathe. I woke up with a sore throat, and a nurse asking me if I wanted ice chips. The procedure was 3 hours long. I hung out in recovery for 1 hour and was allowed to come home, with minimal pain. The next week was frustrating, with some pain, and agitation. I was used to working out daily, but could not, getting around on crutches was a nightmare, because I was so worried about ruining my surgically repaired graft. I decided to go with the patella graft, since it was explained to me as being the gold standard as far as grafts. So, the pain was a bit more than for those who do hamstring grafts. Nonetheless, here I was laid up on the couch for a week, all I could do was place my leg in the kinetic machine 6 hours a day, and having to put my leg in the full brace to get around, I could not get what I wanted or needed on my own, and to top it all off, I had really bad sinus pressure. So, I slept alot, and researched alot. One of the things that helped me out alot, was putting a stem machine on my quad as often as I could. This helped my quad fire faster. That is the biggest issue with walking with out crutches, after surgery, your quad, and hamstring are not firing, so, being able to walk is tough when your upper leg is not working. That and religious use of the kinetic machine is what I credit to being able to walk with out crutches in seven days. I am lucky to have people around me that care about me, and will put up with my stubborn ass, but after my follow up visit I made a appointment at the rehab center, and began my first upper body workout in 8 days, it felt great. I can't also help to think that a good diet, and exercise plan before and after the procedure helps your body get back to normal. I still have 4 to 8 months of grueling rehab work to do to get back to running the 40 in 4.6, or throwing a screaming laser down the middle of the field while being rushed, or throwing a 75 yard bomb down the field, but I would not think twice about ACL surgery if I had to do it all over again. Over the next year, I will try to keep up with this blog, answer questions for those who have questions about this procedure, My intention is to help motivate, and help as a support system for those athletes who are worried about this major surgery.. Till next week

Fernando Zavala
#5