Day 11, Post Op - 1st Doctor's Visit

Today I anxiously returned to my doctor to have my splint removed and my stitches taken out. The length of the incision turned out to be longer than I expected and very Frankenstein-like.

My surgeon, Waqqar Khan-Farooqi explained that there was more damage than a typical tear which required the incision to go higher up on the leg. He had to remove 2.5 centimeters of the frayed/damaged fibers to stitch it back together, where the norm is 1 centimeter.

In this 1st visit post surgery, I got the plan of attack which is what I was most excited about.

It's ... 2 weeks in Cast 1, 2 weeks in Cast 2, a few weeks in a walking boot and then physical therapy. So it's about six weeks till I can walk without the use of crutches. Unfortunately, I won't be returning to sports like basketball for 9 months.

In the visit, I also learned that the tendon actually weakens after surgery as your body is still in recovery phase. While the sutures that keep the tendon in place are essentially as strong as kevlar it's the weakened tendon that must be protected (i.e. cast and no weight bearing) and be given enough time to heal and strengthen.

This is what makes this injury frustrating, relative to an ACL replacement. You can't influence the pace or quality of recovery by working hard in rehab. Recovery is simply left to time and your God-given genetics, which one has no control over. How unfortunate. :)

Here are a few pics from the visit.