Most of you know Sydney tore her ACL during a friendly game back in August. She had a little mishap apple picking in September when she slipped on an apple. Since then she has had a time getting her knee to cooperate with the recovery process. She had a second surgery on October 30th to clean out scar tissue and manipulate the knee while she was out on the table. From there she has been hitting PT really hard and also wearing special splints to sleep in. She has one that straightens her knee one that bends her knee. Despite all this work Sydney still can't get her knee completely straight. I know this doesn't sound terrible, but it is a major issue. If you've seen her lately you know that she walks with a limp. Actually her knee really doesn't move all that much when she is walking so her hip is doing most of the work, which isn't a good thing. What does all of this mean?
It means Sydney is going in for a third surgery tomorrow. They will once again clean out the scar tissue and get her knee moving the way it should while she is out. This time around they are giving her a stronger nerve block, which will numb her entire leg for a good 3 or 4 days. She will head to PT the SAME day after surgery so they can evaluate her extremely stubborn knee. She will be hitting PT everyday except for Christmas day. At home she will be on a CPM (Continual Passive Motion) machine for 6 hours everyday. The machine is set to move between a 120 degree bend and -10 degree straight so that knee will be moving whether it wants to or not. This is where that strong nerve block will come into play. Don't worry...the machine moves pretty slow and gentle.
Our girl will be spending her Christmas on the couch, but it is totally worth it to get her where she needs to be. Goal one is to get her walking normal. From there she can start focusing on getting herself back on the soccer field.
I did want to mention that this surgery doesn't have anything to do with her ACL. Her ACL is healing on time and just as it should. The issues have been with the scar tissue building up quickly, her muscles being insanely tight and the muscles around the knee are firing off when they shouldn't. The quad is over-riding the ham and vice versa causing her stiff knee. The muscles are fighting each other. I know there is probably a much better way to explain all of this, but that's the watered down mom version!
Sydney's surgery is tomorrow at 12. Please pray for her, her surgeon and her PT team. I am so thankful to the team of people that have been helping her through this process. She has been a tough and frustrating patient, but they keep pushing her, encouraging her and looking for new methods to help her. Third times a charm...right?!
Smiling with my tough girl the evening of her 2nd surgery.
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