Be patient. Get a good physio. You're gonna win.
24 M (Lateral: Complex - Horizontal + Oblique Tear in Red-Red and Red-White zone + a loose ACL which was not touched)
Just over 2 years post-op I figured I'll write this here. I had injured myself in 2022 playing football but didn't get a surgery then being fearful. Two years later when the pain became constant the year had progressed to be a complex tear and I finally made my mind up to get the arthroscopy, I kinda regretted not getting the surgery earlier as it was a smaller cleaner tear early on.
I still remember the day of the surgery as of it was yesterday. I remember being reeled into the operation theatre and small talking with the anaesthesiologist before blacking out and waking up with a massive brace on my right leg. Anaesthesia is super weird you feel like you're gone for a few minutes while irl my surgery took about an hour. Was discharged the following day an a walker. The surgeon said part of the year was shredded and trimmed off but he was able to preserve 90% of my meniscus and performed a repair. The days after the surgery were tough I'm a 6 feet 2 inch tall guy and weigh roughly 95 kilos so everything was just tough but I took it one day at a time.
And then a combination of two things happened. I didn't do my towel quad sets properly and my hospital assigned physio was pathetic. I wasn't getting better. In fact fear overcame me to the point that I was not able to walk without a stick until 3 months postop! I was scared of messing the repair up. I remember one night waking up with an ache on the lateral side of my right knee and panicking.
As I just barely had started to walk normally fate hit hard again and I caught a stomach infection and a fever which lasted for 3 weeks. That inflammation caused Reiter's which affected my right leg the most probably because it was my weakest set of joints. Horrible period in my life tbh. But that caused something sinister... I was slowly and slowly developing health anxiety. As an avid ChatGPTer I started googling every single symptom in the months following my recovery. I bought a CD reader to connect it to my laptop to view my MRI images. I went to the Lab near me and asked for all random tests done. Every single organ, every week. This lasted for three months. I am now aware a lot of these symptoms were exacerbated if not directly caused by intense anxiety and the fear of something wrong happening. Now 10 months post-op I was aimless and fearing everything. I had unnecessary and partial knowledge of health and biology lmao.
As random as it may sound one day I snapped... I switched physios to a much more expensive sport physio centre which later became my S&C centre. That was honestly a blessing. I became more diligent. I was focused on making my comeback. I wanted to comeback stronger. I also had a few more personal wins on the side... Was gaining strength and proper form and slowly the symptoms started to fade. I felt like I was being normal again. 5 months after starting physio I went to another country solo and extensively travelled for about 2 weeks in which I hiked and walked a lot. I started to run soon after that. Trained better. More focused.
And exactly 22 months post-op, 12 months after starting with the new physio I completed my first ever Half-marathon in a decent time as well. I beat it... I beat my anxiety and made it my bitch. Without meds, without therapy... I gained control of my myself and shifted focus to my goals.
So my 2 cents for anyone struggling:
- Patience and optimism are everything. This is going to be long so buckle up.
- Don't force it. Everyone has different timelines.
- Be gentle with your strength and conditioning but be consistent.
- Regardless of this the risk of re-injury remains especially in the first few months so don't overdo it, but like I said consistency beats everything.
- Have a good S&C coach / physio. Someone who understands who you are, what your expectations are and what outcomes you want.
- You are much more than this stupid knee injury. Don't skip on life. Go out sit on the grass, meet friends, go to work. BE SOCIAL. (Not being social during my initial recovery made me get anxious, I was on WFH)
I feel great now btw. I run, I lift and I swim. Can squat 110 Kgs, Hip Thrust 80 Kgs, do RDLs, Lateral stepdowns, Curls, Nordics etc as my strength and conditioning plan myself at the gym now and I LOVE LEG DAYS.
LET'S GO!
I'd love to hear your success stories or to help anyone in my DMs. Feel free to drop a text.