It has been 19 days since I got surgery to replace my ACL by a cadaver graft and I got myself a “zombie knee”. It is weird how easily you can procrastinate when you don’t have much time on your hands but as soon as you are on forced rest it gets boring really , really fast.
The doctor had asked me if I wanted to take a month off work to recover and thankfully I didn’t as after 5 days of being at home, I could no longer bare it. I went back to work with my new 2-wheeled friend. This nice little treat from the hospital got us some good laugh at work.
Ten days ago, I met the ortho surgeon for my 1st post-op check-up. The graft took really well, and everything is healing nicely. He removed the stitches and freed me of my deambulator. It might not seems like much but it was enough to cheer me up and being able to walk on my own, even though it looks like I’ve a peg leg, is pretty liberating.
I still need to be careful and wear a rigid brace to keep the knee stable. I can’t bend my knee more than 70° for the next few days not to damage the anchors of the graft.
So far I can bend it at 65° and when I fully extend it, it’s still a bit tender. I have to re-train my quads by tightening them as often as possible.
I already had five sessions at the physio rehab and I’ll be going for th third time to the gym today. I can’t wait for the draining hole from the artroscopic surgery to be fully heal up so I can go to the pool.
Racing season is starting and you start seeing all those race reports from Enduros, it generates mixed feeling on my part as I’d love to be part of it but on the other hand, as I’m not allowed to race until mid-June, nobody will expect me and it gives me some extra time in my preparation.
I can’t wait to be able to get on the road bike though and go for a stroll outside. I’ve been able to walk around the house without my knee brace. Those are baby-steps but it feels so good.
Mary Moncorgé 
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