Sydney ACL Update

 Back on August 15, Sydney tore her right ACL in a preseason tournament. She had surgery to repair the ACL on September 2.  On top of the torn ACL she also severely bruised her MCL. Thankfully there was no meniscus damage to the knee this time. For anyone who doesn't know, the ACL can not repair itself so surgery is needed for repair. A cadaver can be used for the new ACL or a tendon from the body. Last go around they used Sydney's hamstring tendon and this time around Sydney opted to have them use her quad tendon. The reason her doctor doesn't like to use a cadaver on someone Sydney's age is that since she is young and an athlete a cadaver has a higher chance of tearing again. I am sure there are varying opinions on methods used from doctor to doctor, but we trust Sydney's doctor to do what he feels is best for her and her situation.  

Syd was in PT the day after surgery. She also requested a CPM machine, since she felt like it helped her the most after her 3rd surgery last night. They don't use CPMs as much these days, but since Sydney requested it they went ahead and ordered one up for her. She is supposed to get 6 hours a day on this machine, but that is hard to do with PT and school so she gets as much time on the machine as she can. She tries to increase the degree of bend a little each day. 

So far things are going pretty smoothly. In her most recent PT session she had her knee completely straight, which was the issue last time around. It's the straight position that we are on a time limit on so the fact that we are getting her straight at this point is great news. The bending is coming along and the time frame on that is not nearly as critical as getting the knee straight. At any rate, her progress thus far is really good. Sadly our insurance will not budge on covering her PT sessions so we are paying out of pocket. Ouch. Since Syd used up the allotted amount of sessions our insurance provides at the beginning on the year on her left knee they are not approving any more sessions for her. How ridiculous is that considering this is a completely different injury? Since we are paying out of pocket she is only going to PT twice a week. She is also going to utilize the athletic trainer at school to help her once she goes back to school next week. 

Ready for surgery. This is just before they rolled her back. 

Thankfully they allowed Bryan and I to wait with her before surgery. 

After surgery. They only allowed one of us to go to the recovery area, but once they got her back to her room they allowed Bryan to come back as well. 

Back home and resting on the couch. 

Her surgery was the first of the day so we were back home that afternoon.  

The day after surgery at PT. As they unwrapped her leg she got a little light headed and had to lay down flat. The knee looked great. The swelling wasn't bad at all. 

After some work they iced her up. Good first day!

This photo is out of order, but Sydney received some delicious cookies from the Allen's (Bryan's sister) before her surgery. 

Sydney's boyfriend and family sent her an Edible Arrangement after surgery. 

The chocolate covered pineapple was yummy! 

Sydney also received cookies and chocolate covered fruits from her coach. We all got to enjoy the goodies she received. Not pictured are 2 coaching jerseys that our soccer club, Georgia Impact, sent to Sydney. She got a kick out of this. If you can't be on the field playing with your team you can at least help coach them! 

Another PT session. Working on getting the knee straight. 

Knee is looking good a week out of surgery. 

CHECK IT OUT!!! This is from her latest PT session on 9-21-2020. Look how straight her knee is. 

It's fully straight!! Exciting stuff here. 

She can bend more than this; however, for this exercise they were focusing on bending some and then going back to the straight position. Way to go Sydney!

I also want to say thank you to the Mullinax family and the Castle family for bringing us dinner after surgery. I can't tell you how helpful this was since life still moves as usual. Bryan had volleyball and the kids still had practices to get to so not having to worry about making dinner was extremely helpful. 

Hopefully my next Sydney update will show that she still has that knee straight, her bending is progressing well and we are off crutches. Once she can bend her knee at least 90 degrees with ease she can drive. For now I am her chauffeur!