About
Lifestyle BloggerWho am I ? Hey Roller Derby people! I’m Major Kusanakill (she/her) , player, coach, and general Roller Derby nerd.
On the previous episode: after tearing my left anterior cruciate ligament (acl), I prepared my body for surgery all summer through physical reinforcement. When the day of surgery arrives I am so excited!
I watched videos, read a lot about the process, and so I ask to be able to watch the surgery. As this is a local anesthesia, it is quite possible. This is clearly not for everyone, but personally I loved knowing what was happening to me.
Right after surgery I feel really well, not tired, no pain. The first steps with the crutches a few hours later are quite easy, until I try a pivot with the left leg and BAM, I find myself on the ground like old jello. My pride hurts more than anything, and now I know that this kind of movement is not for now. The travel back home the same evening though is the real misery. The pain flares up in the car, and it’s the hardest 40 minutes of the next 15 days. Little advice from the pro: a small 2 seat car is not a good idea!
The first session at the physio two days later is a complete assessment. DISCLAIMER: Everyone’s experience is different, people recover at different speeds, are more or less tired, and the surgery doesn’t always go the same way. And then of course prep and the surgeon’s ability play a role. The fact is that I probably had a mix of positive factors with me, and at the first physio session on day 3, I already had a knee able to do exercises from the +1 month deadline: almost no swelling of the knee, dry, full extension, 120 ° flexion, ability to lock, the physio even has me do a mini squat on my operated leg. At the second session a few days later, I can walk up and down the stairs without help. I’m told that the next few weeks will consist in maintaining my abilities, and restrain myself a lot in order not to tire/hurt myself. Not that easy to do when you’ve learned to neglect the signals your body sends for a long time.
It does not mean that everything was unicorns and rainbows in the first month. Firstly, I had severe shinbone pain, where they removed the hamstring tendons, then drilled a hole, then put a staple on the bone. It did not stop me from walking or doing my exercises, but it cut my nights into small pieces that were difficult to digest. Being allergic to paracetamol meant morphine or nothing. After 4 days of throwing up and 17 hours of sleep a day, I chose nothing. The first 7 days were therefore complicated to live, with a general tiredness, almost no food, and no almost no activity. At the 10 days mark I was still in pain but could more or less sleep, so I carefully added a little bit of upper body workout.
In addition, no one had told me in which position to sleep, and having my leg extended all night is just impossible. Pro tip 2: sleep with your leg extended with the bottom of the bed raised as often as possible, when you need to move roll on your side and slide a cushion between your knees (pregnancy pillows are THE BEST). For people who like to sleep on their stomachs: too bad! It was not possible for me for 15-20 days!
Finally, progress is a roller-coaster. No more pain for two days, then again huge pain, one day the knee is fine, the next day locking it becomes difficult. In these cases rest, and being well surrounded helped me.
And Roller Derby in all this, you ask? At + 17days, I go back to coaching a training, and it’s both fun to stay in the mix and horribly frustrating. It’s more positive than negative though, and it’s nice to have encouraging thoughts from teammates. So I keep coaching, once or twice a week. No more than that, because public transport and standing for too long just tire me.
At 6 weeks, This is where I am: I am already back to my old strength level when I’m on both legs, which is very encouraging. The goal now is to narrow the gap on one-leg exercises. As I am not yet allowed to jump or run, I find my pleasure in new exercises like a little weightlifting as a beginner, exercises on the upper body, or flexibility.
Back to Roller Derby scheduled for April 
What I would have wanted to know in advance
– that it was not the knee strictly speaking that was going to nail me to the bed, but the meds,
– that I would have more pain from the staple on the shin than the knee in itself.
– for 1 week I was going to eat almost only white rice (thanks tramadol!)
– that my left calf would melt away in just two days, so I should have worked on it a little more
– that I was very little informed about the movements that I had the right to do / not to do (ooops)
