The Big Day

I've decided to chart my progress of recovering from an ACL reconstruction, with the goal of getting back out on the slopes to ski in February 2010. My original injury, described towards the end of this post, occurred on February 13, 2009.

Anyhow, the big day has started off on something of a sour note. I woke up in the middle of the night last night and took forever to get back to sleep. My wife, understandably enough, therefore let me sleep in a bit this morning. Unfortunately, I slept past my cut-off point for eating anything, and I'm allowed only one glass of water at 10.30 this morning before I check into the hospital at 11.30.

I suppose I am feeling a bit apprehensive, which I guess is natural. When I was a kid, a torn ACL spelled the end of an athlete's career; while the techniques have improved dramatically since then, the thought of getting holes drilled through one's femur and tibia and having a hamstring tendon stuffed through 'em is still not a particularly pleasant one.

Perhaps most of all, it is a bit of a downer to go back to where I was physically at the time I injured the leg- on crutches, with a largely non-bending leg, and a steady level of discomfort.

I think the early stages of rehab will be the most difficult- returning a basic range of motion to the joint- though I am quite looking forward to the later stages of rebuilding the quadriceps and hamstring muscles.

In any event, this little journal will hopefully provide me with a roadmap of my progress and provide some pyschological support when I see the progress that I've made. To get a more in-your-face measure of progress, I've had all my hair chopped off (#3 all over) and have vowed not to get a haircut again 'til I am cleared to play sports. We'll see what the missus has to say about that in a few months...