ACL Reconstruction recovery journal

Tore my ACL while playing badminton. An awesome jump, delivered a smash at a impressive angle. On landing I slipped twisting my ankle and entire weight of my body fell on the right knee. After 15 minutes I was walking out of the club with the idea of a 10k ride (cycle) back home. Probably I was high on adrenaline/endorphins. But as soon as walked 20 meters, I couldn’t take another step.

Friends helped me out. Few days later a MRI confirmed the ACL tear. Sought opinions from 3 surgeons. A day later I was scheduled for ACL Reconstruction.

Day 0 : Wheeled into surgery. Got shots of anaesthesia in my spine. 5 minutes into the procedure I started feeling my knee again. Then some new shots to my neck and i’m out for next 4 hours. Woke up in recovery room. Crying with pain in my thigh and knee.

Day 1 : High fever. Unable to move my leg. Felt like a dead log.

Day 2 : Realised that morphine (a better refined form .. Fentanyl ?) is being pumped in to me 24 hours.

Day 3: Fever continues. Unable to therapy. But was on CPM.

Day 5 : First time moved around 10 meters (felt like 5 km) to physio rehab. Was able to walk holding support ramps. Did some weight excercises. Morale boost.

Day 6 : Fever started fading.

Day 7 : Discharged from hospital. Realized I lost so much muscle mass. Right leg is very lean.

Day 8 : Woke up at brother’s place. Good food. Ate like a hungry pig.

Day 11 : Regained some strength in the thighs. Able to move around confidently with support.

Day 16 : Moved back to my own place.

Day 17 : Afraid to bend my knee. Looks like I’m resisting to bend the knee.

Day 18 : Able to sit with around 90 degree bend in my knee. Noticed some muscle development.

Day 19 : 90 Degrees knee bending

Day 21 : Mental battle is tougher than actually bending the knee.

Day 22 : Walking without support (crutches). Yay!

Able to handle stairs without support.

Day 25 : 95 – 100 Degrees. Moving to Squat exercises.

Started riding on a stationary bike. Able to walk  small distance with little limp.

Day 31 : 115 Degrees. Knee feels stronger.

Day NN : Recovery still continuing. Yet to build muscles. And regain those remaining degrees. But I’m confident now that i would be back to 110% in few months (yeah .. months!).

I should confess that I’m not a very fit athlete. I’m just a ordinary clumsy guy who started playing a bit. So this is my recovery timeline. Rehab is the tough part. Painful and needs a good amount of will power to keep doing it. It is going to take a long time to get back to my running (hopefully a marathon!). Can’t wait to get back on my bike (cycle).

One thing I kept remembering was this “Pain is temporary. Quitting lasts forever” (Lance Armstrong). In this case it is literally true.

Notes :

• Do research. Learn about the injury and the procedure before you go in. Helps a lot. Realize that you have options on the graft being used.
• Ice is the best pain management you got. I personally don’t like pain killers.
• Most of the online materials on this subject give times lines for fit athletes. So don’t get discouraged if you are not. Keep at it.
• Mail from nice people at Bangalore Bikers Club

Misc :

• Fun when you are on a stretcher and pushed around. Profound
• Scary part was not the surgery, but the catheter in my arm. Got over it after a day.
• Enjoyed the royal treatment. People always around you. don’t have to do anything. Everything is there as soon as you think about it!
• I was without a laptop for about 15 days.
• Long phone calls from stoned friends.

(Would try to add more information and keep this post updated ..)

A fun ride to ‘Jain Farms’

Around 12 bikers started by 6:00 (i guess) at Sarjapur ORR junction. Series of climbs. Fun. I was impressed by my pace it was bit more than my morning rides. So riding in groups make a lot of difference. Reached Jain Farms after 80 minutes.I didnt’t know that we would be crossing into TamilNadu !

Guyz went for a 10k run. Breakfast, Table tennis (I’m awesome at it. Right! ) and swimming.(big no no for me)

Head winds added a extra 30 minutes on the return ride. At some part of Sarjapur road I lost sight of the lead pack. I knew that one rider was behind me. I was so tired I thought I was on a highway to Delhi till I saw some familiar apartments on the horizon .

People were talking about TFN. Me ? I dont know  yet !

Thanks a lot Ravi, Anil and everybody (:) )

Had fun !

Update : Report by Anil

Update : Pictures from Prashant

Dirty bike.Yay ! (STR Apr 11 2009)

This weekend wanted to go for a ride. STR (Staurday Trail Ride) was interesting. Saw some pictures from their previous rides and was wondering whether I would be able to actually match up with their pace. Anyhoo we (me & Kalyan) started @ 0545 and reached the rendezvous point @ 0600. Met the other riders and off we went. Well, i saw the black tar road only for few minutes. The lead pack jumped off the road and it was dirt road (most of the time).

We were tailing and was slowing down the group. Awesome group of riders. Very patient with us

I simply loved the ride. Some of the stretches had surprises. Then tried some jumps (ahemm )

And my bike is dirty ! Finally .. felt like i did some justice to trek over this ride .. Hoping to do more.

Paro’s report : http://ride-bike.blogspot.com/2009/04/off-sarjapur-road-11apr09.html

Abhi : Some pics / Vids /Trail route : http://bikeszone.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=2677#p23152

Some lessons :

- Carry more water and some chocolates.

- Train more.

- Be with the lead pack .. 

- And try to take some pictures

Commute to office : A Test Ride

According to plan, I was supposed to go for a long ride in morning (XT – running) before going to office. But thanks to mosquitoes I couldn’t get enough sleep and woke up bit late. So i decided I’ll do a test commute to office. Just wanted to know how it feels. Started from home @ 0635 and reached office by 0710. Stopped to check saddle height and front tires (I think the brakes are not aligned)

Thanks to Kalyan & Nikanth for letting me park it in their house. I’m not confident of parking in office (yet) .

Kalyan's Firefox Cyclone & Trek 3700

Left office earlier and rode back home. Loved the ride and would be commuting to office in my bike

Life += Trek 3700

Bought a Trek 3700 today.

A beautiful machine in ‘Acid Gold’ colour. Will be using this for cross training and some fun rides on weekends. Have to assess about commuting to office. (Distance is not a problem . Parking is ).

Initially I was looking at a Firefox Target. But when i tried out the Trek i just had to get it. Its definitely worth it.

Rohan from BOTS suggested that I go for a 4300. But itz a bit over my budget. so settled for a 3700.

This Trek 3700 is from BumsOnTheSaddle.com .

Why BumsOnTheSaddle.com ?

• Passionate people. (Differentiates lot of other stores)
• They know what they are talking about.  (They are real bikers!)
• They are building a nice community.
• Have very good online presence. And very good on emails (important to me .. and i didnt have to make a single phone call!)
• Good amount of material about bikes : notebook.bumsonthesaddle.com (i’m impressed by this)

Thanks a lot Rohan, Nikhil and umm ForgotHisName! It was a good experience. A nice run through the bike and personalizing it for me!

I rode all the way from Jayanagar (BOTS) to Koramangala 1st block (6km ?). Was worried about the traffic a bit .. But it was not a problem at all. The ride was smooth. Was learning about the gears and really understood why people stress on consistent cadence ! After that had a quick lunch and started off to CV Raman Nagar (10 km) . It was around 1430 and the sun just drained me out when I went over Domlur flyover. Reached Kalyan’s place. Went out with Kalyan and he bought a Firefox Cyclone.

Later in the evening we (Me and Kalyan) went out and explored CV Raman nagar a bit.Was learning about gear ratios all along. Realized the importance of  saddle height. It dropped down and my knees started hurting. Stopped and fixed (Yup carrying Allen keys proved very useful ).  Would leave CV Raman nagar in morning (of course .. on my Trek 3700 ! ) (10 km)

I should have got a bottle cage along with the bike. Stopping and drinking from the bottle in the backpack wasted time.

I’m going to enjoy this part of my life.  Yay!

Random words :

• New would be  bikers : Please do your own research before getting a bike. It helps you a lot in understanding your equipment.
• For calculating gear ratios : http://sheldonbrown.com/gears/

Hmm … big post. Been a while ..

Update :  19 Hours after buying :  Pedaled 30+ Km