Day 6 - Bandages be gone

I saw the surgeon today and he removed the bandages. Lots of little incisions from the surgery. One was still bleeding a bit but it soon stopped after a band-aid was put on it. It's swollen and ugly, but the X-rays showed the new ACL was doing fine:


I wrote the "YES" on my leg prior to surgery to indicate that "yes" it was the left knee they were to operate on. You can also see the surgeon's initials "SB" in the middle of my knee cap, indicating that he had checked with me and I agreed the left knee was the one to operate on.

Here's a comparison with my other, fully-haired knee so you can get an idea of how much swelling there is. (Too many shadows in this pic, I'll try to post a better one later)


I started physical therapy after the doc's appointment. I have good extension (ability to straighten the leg), so I'm mainly focusing on improving flexion. I got to about 78 degrees unassisted and 90 degrees when the physical therapist assisted me. My other knee went to 135 degrees, so I've got a way to go.

So for now, it's a lot of quad tightening, stretching the calf and hamstring and a few other exercises to improve flexibility and strength. The main goal is to build up the quad strength so I can take off this damn, annoying brace. But it's good to see my knee again and allow it to breathe.