Woaaa!! Huge fan of Kinesio Tape everybody. I highly recommend it for anybody that might have a nagging injury or just needs relieve from pain or swelling. Kinesio Taping gives support and stability to your joints and muscles without affecting circulation and range of motion. It is also used for Preventive Maintenance, Edema, and to treat pain.
I have been getting taped by my therapist over at Howard Head Sports Medicine. There is for sure a “method” to applying this tape so don’t just go throwing this tape on your injury. Check out a youtube video for some methods for applying this tape.
Week 9!! Going well. Rehab rehab and more rehab. Range of motion is almost back to normal. Still have to be patient with attacking it in the weight lifting department. Although the swelling is minimal and my knee feels great, the graph is still very weak!! Cant wait for the doc to give me the ok to start pushing it.

Been taking it easy this past week. Really focusing on my Range Of Motion. I can see why the doc has ordered me to take it easy on the PT these next few weeks…. I pushed it the other day and was extremely sore right where the new graph is. Yup, back it off a bit.
Thanks to my newest supporter, Burts Bees!!! Got a bunch of product the other day from the boys over at Burts. Dig the lip balm for sure.

This was a good day.
Thanks Josh Cooley for showing me one of your hiding spots. (and for the sweet shot)

OK- it has been 7 weeks of straight rehab. The last two weeks have been quite encouraging to be honest. I have been visiting a massage therapist, (Rachel, over at Simply Massage in Breck) and wow… big improvements in my Range of motion. I jumped practically 30 degrees in no time. It is incredible how massaging the muscles and tissues around my knee opens up passages for the swelling to dissipate. No swelling means more mobility for the knee. With the swelling minimal and my ROM improving, I have been inspired to step it up in my rehab. More weights, more reps, more miles on the bike….. NOPE!!!!! Well, I had a visit/checkup with the doc today and he informed me that I am at a crucial time right now. Apparently my new acl graph is at it’s weakest point and now is NOT the time to push it. But rather slow it down. He explained that this is a very popular time for ACL patients to reinjure themselves because they are 8 weeks out, feeling good, no swelling, walking normally and ready to do something stupid cuz they dont feel the symptoms they have been feeling the past 8 weeks. Dr. Hackett, I will trust ya on this one. Would hate for that new graph of mine to be stretched out doing something foolish.
This will be an interesting week as I got the nix on pushing it in rehab…..time to work on the core. Got the ok to some core workouts as long as my lower body is stationary. Time to become unchubby.

Week 5 is over and done with. I am learing very quickly that this rehab process is full of ups and downs. I have awesome days where I see great improvement and then other days when I see no progress at all.
This past week, we really focused on my range of motion. Due to all the constant swelling I am struggling to progress with range of motion (ROM). Kind of bummer, but I am still stuck at 120-130 degrees. But there is hope….I will be heading to a friend of mine who is a massage therapist where she will be working on my knee/leg 4 times a week. I went to her a few days ago and wheewwweeee she freed up some passages up on my upper leg for the swelling to disappear too. Haaaaah.. Apparently opening up the quads/hamstring/hips passages really help the swelling move away from the knee.
Kinesio Taping!! Wooaaa. Yes, I am fan. Kristen over at Howard Head threw on some Kinesio Tape, basically holding my knee cap up a bit. Ahhhh… Its Awesome. Would definetely recommend it.
Got in the pool in Week 5!! Probably my first time ever breaking a sweat in a pool. Yea, they, and they being Barb (my other therapist) worked me!!

So it has been four weeks since I was wheeled out of surgery in Vail at the Steadmans Clinic. The past week was a rough week for the knee. I had a wedding in Boston which meant that I had to fly. Ahhh, airplanes and surgical repaired knees are not a good match. I am sooo greatful for my awesome therapist Kristen, who demanded me to make sure I was to call the airline prior to my flight and get myself a wheel chair and a seat on the plane with extra leg room. The wheel chair, yaaa, kind of lame I know being wheeled through the airport… but extremely helpful.
Besides the flights, just getting off my normal 3 times a day of rehab was hard to keep up on my progress.

After 5 days away at this wedding it was time to get back to rehab at home. I actually did not degress in my rehab but not much improvement was charted either. Time to hit it hard in week 5!!!

Ok… here we go… week three. Over the past two weeks I did a great job babying my knee. No weight for two weeks kept the swelling down to a minimum. I Managed to get around pretty good on crutches over the past few weeks…. but now it was time to say goodbye to the helpful sticks under my arms. I hit up thereapy at the great Howard Head physical therapy center at the beginning of week three. My two therapists Kristen and Barb, basically slapped me upside the head and asked me why I was still using cruthes with NO weight on my bum leg. Hmmmmph…. Apparently I was allowed to put 50% of weight on “Rolley” (Rolley is my knee, I named it). Did not know that I had the OK to put weight on my knee around mid way through the 2nd week. So skip the 50% weight bearing stage and let’s just jump into 100% weight on Rolley, and heck why don’t you try walking. Kind of scary…. but after the muslces remembered their role I was limping around the PT clinic.
My instructions for the next few days where to use one crutch opposite of the bum leg and work on full extension while I step out. Tough task ahead me I came to realize quite quickly as my kinked leg liked it current position.
The goals for week 3-
1. To obtain 0 degrees while sitting on the floor. (basically to have full leg extension completly straight while at a resting sitting position on the floor.
2. To get my range of motion to approx 120 degrees.
3. Reduce the swelling.
4. Walking without a limp.
The problem- Very quickly I became mobile with 1 crutch and 3 days into week three no crutches…..but with the mobililty I gained, also brought a ton of swelling. Huge problem. With the swelling I was unable to progress with my range of motion and full leg extension. I actually degressed within just a few days of being 100% on my leg. Kind of bummed me to be honest. Quickly I tackled the swelling, tons of ice and basically stayed off it for two straight days. Tons of PT, ICE and Rest put me right on schedule as far as my progress goes. (Oh, I also did a ton of massaging to my own knee cap to break up the scar tissue, very helpful)
Happy to be where I am at right now but I did learn the hard way from my AMAZING therapist, Kristen, who quickly put in my place once I lost control of my swelling and my range of motion degressed. I will be sure to stay on top of it this week and hopefully the weeks to come.

The second week after ACL surgery was basically all about Physical Therapy. A typical day consists of: Morning PT for about 45 minutes, which consisted of massaging my knee cap (which breaks up scar tissue), quad raises, the dreaded wall slides (working on extension and range of motion) and finally some light squats. After I finish my exercises, ICE!! Then I usually wait 30 mins and ICE again. I have come to the conclusion that ICE and elevation are extremely essential to my recovery. I notice a huge difference with my swelling level when I skip an ice session. I repeat these steps approx 3 to 4 times a day. When it’s time to hop in bed….I hook up the CPM machine (Continuous Passive Movement) and rock it through the night. The CPM machine, a component that you strap your whole leg in… and it moves your leg from a straight position to a bent position. Back and forth, and back and forth. There are different speed and flex settings that you can adjust the machine too. Not my favorite part of the day.
Towards the end of the week I had a visit my therapist. NOT GOOD! My therapist took one look at my knee/leg and I knew I was in trouble. Yup!! She whooped me into shape pretty quickly. Apparently I was not pushing it hard enough in my PT at home. My range of motion was only about 90 degrees where it should be 110 degrees by the second week. Also I was not able to extend my leg into a straight position (0 degrees). I was not happy. Especially since I have been doing PT 3-4 times a day!! What the…Two main reasons why I was not at 110 degrees and not able to have a straight leg: I was not pushing through the pain in my personal PT, and second, I become much more mobile the second week and was on my feet which resulted in swelling in the knee. I walked out of PT and was pissed. I took the next two days off from being on my feet and basically PTed around the clock. No worries….125 degrees in 36 hours. Back on track and hopped on a bike today.
Words of advice- You will not hurt yourself, PUSH yourself in the PT!! And ice, ice and ice!!

The first week after ACL surgery was quite the roller coaster. Having NO idea what to expect, all considering it went ok…. not good but rather just ok. Bam…. next day I was off to rehab. I had a thousand questions for the therapist and surprisingly left there feeling good. OF COURSE I felt good, it was the fact that I had a nerve block tapped into my femoral artery that distracted me from what my body should really feel. The nerve block’s purpose is basically to limit the amount of feeling from the groin down. Leaving the hospital with a little fannie pack filled with anesthesia that was on a drip to my femoral artery was unexpected…. in hindsight…. a gift from heaven. BUT.. beware future ACL surgerical repaired paitents, once your fannie pack of anesthesia is gone, typically 3 days after surgery, your’re in for a rude awakening. I took a look at my little anesthesia ball only to find it was empty which meant it was time to remove the IV from your femoral artery. Seems scary and a little bit unnerving, but not a big deal. The IV is a little bigger then your floss you use at home and it simply just slides right out and you feeling nothing. Once my nerve block was removed, pain, pain and more pain. Time to up the pain meds. I am not a huge fan of the heavy pain realivers, but became one for a few days.
I was told to keep up on my pain meds religiously. If you skip a dose or are late even by a half hour…. plan on pain. I learned real quick to keep up on my pain meds the first few days. Once the nerve block runs out, expect more pain. I actually ended up giving my doc a shout on the phone and he gave me the OK to up my pain killer dose.
OK!! As much as I loved the pain meds… ON day 5 the pain disappeared and in came the nausea. To my knowledge the pain meds made me sick to my stomach. Ahhhh it was awful. Day 6 was the last day I took a pain pill.
I want to throw out a thank you to my 2 sisters and brother in law. The first week I was completly laid out and not able to do anything on my own. It is pretty crazy that your once powerful leg turns complety into just a slab of meat. Literally my awesome sister’s and bro had to physically pick up my leg and move it every time I had to move. There was no way the first week that I could use my own leg muscles to move my leg. Thank you fam. If you are going to have ACL surgery or already had it and have questions, post a comment and I would love to get back to you.
Tommy Gogolen