I easily walked 2 miles today, without soreness or pain. Why, you ask, would that be a big deal? Mostly because I just had ACL replacement surgery (as well as other work) in my right knee just 3.5 weeks ago.
That’s right. Just 3.5 weeks ago. In surgery involving cutting a “new” ACL, threading it, screwing it in, and closing me up.
After 2 years of working out on an injured knee in Tae Kwon Do and other various activities (including getting through my 1st and 2nd degree black belt tests), I finally decided to get it fixed on August 12th. I had been made to understand it was quite a mess, including an ACL and menisci tear, as well as some bone spurs.
Let me tell you that I’m no stranger to knee injury! I had my other ACL replaced in 2005, and had to get some meniscus work done in that knee earlier this year. So I knew exactly what to expect from surgery… I had a great, quick recovery (I was back to TKD in 8 weeks last time), I figured with the mess in there, recovery would be a bit longer this time.
I’ve totally proven myself wrong, and I should again be back in TKD by October.
Here’s the timeline thus far: The day after surgery, I dumped the Percocet (hate that stuff, I’ll never go more than a few doses of it in the MOST dire of emergencies) and switched over to ibuprofen (Advil). 48 hours after surgery, I dumped the immobolizer and the crutches, and used a cane… for about 24 hours. Then I dumped that, too. When I went to physical therapy 2 days after surgery, I got grief for not wearing the immobilizer (my response was, “Well, the doc told me that I only had to wear it until I could bear weight on it… and I can do that fine now!”). However, surprise surprise when I could bend my knee to almost 100 degrees – which is typically the goal 2-3 weeks out! At 1 week, I wasn’t even walking with a limp anymore… and a bend check measured me at 123 degrees, with almost complete extension already (I will also note here that my doctor told me that I may not ever get full extension in that knee again… proved him wrong! ). At my 9-day follow-up with my surgeon, he was (and I never use this word) absolutely tickled about my speedy recovery. Now I’m at 3.5 weeks out, and I’m on the elliptical (no resistance), starting to walk/jog again, working out on the Wii Fit, and actually did weapons practice for about an hour-and-a-half yesterday — with no pain (I was just a bit tired last night!).
So, am I lucky? I would say that’s part of it. I have always been a quick healer. Also, I hate going to doctors, but my orthopaedic surgeon is 3 for 3 successful surgeries with me and my knees… therefore, I would recommend him to ANYONE who needs ortho help (here’s his info: Dr. Derek Reinke, Cary Orthopaedics: http://www.caryortho.com/physicians_sms.html#06).
But I believe there’s a LOT more than luck to it!
I continue to be amazed at how absolutely wonderful I feel just 3.5 weeks out from surgery, as are most people I know (including my orthopaedist and physical therapist). I had a quick recovery last time, but I remember still having a lot of soreness (there’s VERY little right now) and swelling (nonexistent today!) at this point for the first ACL. I’ve reflected A LOT as to what’s helping me along on this recovery, and I’m going to tell you what I think – what I know – directly contributes to this amazing story… first reminding you that I’m 40 years old, not a professional athlete, and regardless of my healthy habits, do (thanks to my aging metabolism) need to lose about 20 lbs:
- Eat natural, organic, and healthy. I REALLY started looking at food labels about 7 years ago, when I needed to find the cause and solution for migraines. In that process, I learned that migraines are often tied to digestive sensitivities and toxins built up in your system. So, I did a real detoxification with a naturopath (another wonderful pic: Dr. Maurice Werness, http://www.wernesswellness.com/). A note: You know all those “magical lose-weight detox shakes” out there? Don’t use them without going to an integrative Western physician or naturopathic physician to work out a personalized program for you. Otherwise, you’re wasting your time and money. I did a full detox program for my system, and it was long-term and worked wonderfully – without risking my health. I also found out that part of my problem was due to sensitivity to cow dairy, especially in combination with other protein foods.I know everyone hates to hear this, but we (meaning I did this with my husband and two kids as well — because I love them) cut out the junk, and really just went back to basics. By junk, here’s what I mean:
- NO “STANDARD” FAST FOODS. We don’t go to McDonald’s, Burger King, Wendy’s, Hardee’s, or Jack-in-the-Box. We just don’t do it. If we must do fast food, we’ll go to a sub shop, get it on whole wheat, and stay away from the fatty subs… as well as cheese and mayo (though I will get “a little” of the lite mayo). Don’t tell me that kids can’t live without fast foods — mine won’t eat them anymore, because the last 2 times they had food from one of those places, they had sick stomachs for the rest of the day… and at 11 and 13, have no desire for it!
- No high fructose corn syrup. There is the occasion when we have absolutely no choice, but otherwise, it doesn’t exist in our household. We only get 100% fruit juices, watch the labels, and we shop at Trader Joe’s and Whole Foods — stores that don’t allow it as an ingredient in the food on their shelves.
- No partially hydrogenated oils. Ditto above.
- No “whites.” We don’t eat white rice, white bread, white flour, or use granulated (white) sugar. Whole grain and unrefined are key, and are so much healthier for your longer-term energy. My kids are so used to this, that when they go over to other people’s houses and have white bread – or even the commercialized “honey wheats” that are out there – they tell me that the bread is nasty and has no taste to it. We even use sweeteners that are more natural – raw, unrefined sugar or dehydrated cane juice, or raw (unprocessed), local honey.
- Watch what’s put into the meat you eat! I would never tell people that vegetarian or vegan is the only way to go — I love my meat too much (as does the rest of my family). However, know what the animal was fed or given! Free range, grain fed and NO HORMONES, if you can possibly help it! I know the beef is more spendy with that requirement, but folks, FYI, it’s illegal in the United States for poultry to be injected with antibiotics or hormones (all that labeling you see? Marketing!).
- Eat colorful foods. Eat fruits and veggies. Period. No way around it! If you really can’t seem to get the 7 servings per day that you’re supposed to, take a supplement made from fruits and veggies (NOT chemical substitutes), like Berry Green powder (http://www.4allvitamins.com/product_info.php/products_id/408%7B1%7D4) and/or JuicePlus (https://www.juiceplus.com/nsa/content/Home.soa?site=gw44091). Also, I’m going to say this again: Go natural/organic! No man-made, dangerous chemicals or pesticides.
- Choose your vices, and do the best with them that you can. I love ice cream, period. Due to my cow dairy sensitivities, I don’t drink milk anymore (I love almond milk, though!), or eat a lot of standard cheese (I love goat cheese, though, which doesn’t cause me problems). However, I really, really love my ice cream! So, though I’ve just had to accept the fact that I will never give it up, I do the best I can: we make our own ice cream with our awesome Cuisinart ice cream maker — and we use organic cream, 1% milk, evaporated cane juice sugar, and organic/natural ingredients. Still a vice, but not AS bad!
- Exercise! Turn off the TV and DO something! You don’t have to be a martial arts freak like my family and me, but even if you talk a 30-minute brisk walk every day, they’ve shown that it does a lot for your overall health. Take the stairs instead of the elevator. Park further back in the parking lot, instead of vying for a space up front. Also, since our kids were little, we just don’t have the TV on during the day. At all. OK, on the weekends, we’ll watch a movie if we’re home, but we find plenty else to do otherwise. We never allowed video games until this past year, when we got the Wii, but even most of the games we have for the Wii make you have to DO something — like the Fit, Outdoor Adventure, and Sports Resort. It also keeps us doing stuff together.I partially attribute my quick bounce back from surgery to the long-term development of my muscles from the Tae Kwon Do and other activity built into my everyday life.
- Do what you can to put only natural and healthy things onto and into your body; minimize the manmade chemicals! Try eco-friendly, natural soaps and detergents… and try to get organic materials when you can. If you look at a lotion bottle, and half the label consists of 12+ letter chemical words on the ingredients list, use something else. The skin is the largest organ in your body, and absorption through the skin is one of the most direct ways of getting something into your bloodstream, meaning bad chemicals aren’t just applied to your skin… they are absorbed directly into your bloodstream (think DEET in most commercial bug sprays!!). Keep that in mind! It takes some research, but there are plenty of other ways to handle different skin situations (including bug repellants – try rubbing some fresh rose-scented geranium leaves on your skin, which smell a lot better and do just as good a job) — even sunscreens!
- Watch it with Western pharmaceuticals. My naturopathic doctor put it really well in a conversation we had once: Holistic medicine – which is the philosophy of Eastern medicine, and has been around for thousands of years – is great for the equivalent of 0-60 mph. It’s preventative, and allows the body to deal better with the shock of something above that 60mph mark – where Western medicine has a definite stronghold. So keep that in mind when dealing with today’s Western medicine. There are too many doctors out there today who would rather just put a Band-Aid on a symptom instead of fixing the cause. Only take what you have to, and watch carefully for over-medication! For example, I went to a quack of a dermatologist several years back when I was on the tail end of an allergic hives rash. I know that when I do get those rashes (I have sensitive skin), they’re usually gone in about 2 weeks. It had been 7-10 days since the outbreak. Even with the rash fading, she prescribed an outrageous amount of Prednisone, and also told me to take a Zyrtec in the morning and an Allegra at night. A bit overkill, wouldn’t you think? I never used anything but a few Allegra, and the rash was still gone in a few more days… without other side effects.
- Be in control of your situation… vs. letting a situation control you. Do the best with what you have, and always strive for something more. If I would have just accepted what the doctor told me when I originally had my first ACL replaced, I wouldn’t have pushed myself so hard to get back to TKD. I faced the soreness and discomfort by working on it constantly during recovery. Even this time, the day after the surgery, when I had the immobilizer on (basically, a full ankle-to-hip splint), I was lifting the left myself in the immobilizer to move, to adjust, to get onto and off the bed/couch. When my physical therapist told me to do 3 reps of 15 of a certain exercise at home every day, I’d do 4 reps of that exercise… and 2x/day, if I could manage it. I quit taking the narcotics the day after surgery, and instead used ibuprofen to deal with discomfort and swelling… and I think my body adjusted more quickly and I was able to cope better mentally in a shorter period of time because of it. I self-monitored the dose, lowered it as I could, and by this past week, when I hit 3 weeks post-op, I stopped taking the Advil altogether. Only on days like yesterday, when I could feel the achiness settling in (after overdoing it a little bit), I took a few to cut that off at the pass.
- Learn to listen to your body, and find the natural bodywork that works for you. I started craniosacral therapy shortly before I worked with a naturopath on the detoxification to naturally combat migraines without having to pop pills for the rest of my life. I’ve gotten so much more out of it than the original intention! My craniosacral therapist (another wonderful practitioner… Lisa Werness, http://www.wernesswellness.com) has been able to help me combat my joint injuries from the Tae Kwon Do, and really has helped with my body alignment to minimize pain from those injuries and prevent others. Also, I don’t get migraines anymore! I used to have one every other week or so… I’ve been seeing her for about 7 or 8 years now, and in that time, I think I’ve had 2 migraines through that whole period! I also get regular massages (which relax the muscles – and mind - while helping to detoxify your body of built up toxins), and I’ve recently discovered the wonders of acupuncture (another great plug here, for my awesome acupuncturist: Fran Ammons, LAc http://www.acupuncturenc.com), for everything from rashes to bad bruising to minimalization of discomfort and sickness.The point is, there are many, many non-prescription options to dealing with your bodily woes. And yet, there are times when you must take pharmaceuticals. Just find a healthy balance of how to use the best of both Eastern and Western medicines to keep your body in the best shape possible.
So, there you have it. I’ve wanted to write this blog for awhile, because I’ve had so many people ask me why I thought I’ve had such an awesome, quick recovery thus far. But beyond this surgery, I look at my family’s overall health — looking at our habits, and how we really focused on healthy diet and living for the past 7 or 8 years, and I will say this: The best testament is every year when my kids go to their pediatrician for their annual checkup, and the doctor looks at the charts and says, “Well… I haven’t seen you since this time last year.”
Enough said. Can you put a dollar amount on that kind of quality of life? Think about it!
I’m sure this all seems like a lot to take in. Many people might say, “This is SO MUCH… how could I even start?” Well, we did. Little by little. We just made a conscious effort to do SOMETHING today. It’s just baby steps… and a decision to make it better (whatever that is). Because that’s the only way we, as a society, will get ourselves back to better health… and a better planet!
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