It's been 2 years since my ACL reconstruction surgery, and I'd say mission accomplished! I'm back to 100% (knock on wood) and feeling good about my leg. The past year I've been playing ultimate frisbee 3 nights a week and 1 night of personal training. I feel I still need PT to keep all the muscles in my legs/knee strong. The workouts target both legs (no preference for the acl leg)
Some various events in the past year:
- The tingling in my foot came back and this time didn't want to go away. Turns out it has nothing to do with my acl, but a condition in my foot called "XYZ". Not sure what it's called, but the doc gave me some special pads to put in my shoes and a month later it hasn't returned. The reason this cropped up is (as my doctor put it) "because you're doing so much running". So chances are all the ultimate and training put extra stress on my foot.
- Large tennis ball sized numbness on my surgical leg is still there, and is probably permanent.
- Inner quad on my surgical leg is 98% the size of my good leg. I've put a ton of work into getting there and I feel it's "good enough".
- I haven't noticed much knee soreness even with all the activities. Both knees get sore on various days, but it's not common. I assume being almost 32 is more likely the cause =)
- Playing ultimate at a competitive level now.
Goals going forward:
- Don't tear ACL.
- Watch my weight. This may seem odd considering I'm a lightweight, but due to part of my meniscus being removed and various bone bruises, I've been told I'll get arthritis at some point in my life. Every doctor says a different date (10 years, 15 years, 30 years). I can't stop it from happening but I can delay it. I can 1) Stop playing sports 2) keep muscles strong 3) keep my weight low. Since #1 is out and I'm doing #2, #3 is the only thing left.
- Don't tear ACL
I've decided not to tryout / play for a touring team, as I feel it'd be too much strain on my knee cartilage. But to be honest, I'm very happy with where I am now and hope to continue playing ultimate until my legs fall off!
