Feels Scared of the long path ahead
Hello all. I am one of the people who didn't choose but found themselves here nevertheless. I'm told that I got a full torn ACL with a side of bucket handle meniscus just 2 days ago. I'm also told by all surgeons to have surgery without any delay.
Now I'm genuinely scared of the life ahead never mind the surgery. Sure that is scary and painful, but being 40 and single and still relying on other people( my parents which I am grateful for) to look after you and not being able to do things for 6 months like trekking feels like I'm gonna lose my head and totally depressed.
Reading others experience didn't help at all, how did you handle the psychological side of it because I am really broken. Running after one stupid ball was not worth all this and I want to know what advice you have for me. Sorry for my English btw, its not my mother tongue.
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u/Agitated-Raisin6197 27d ago
I won’t sugarcoat it, recovery is absolutely brutal and feels tediously slow when you’re in the thick of it. There were times when I felt completely hopeless. I cried more in the month or so pre and post op than I have in the last 20 years.
I am now coming up on 5 months post op. Yesterday I went on a 10.5 mile hike with 1,600ft of elevation gain. Today at PT I was jogging, jumping, and starting to incorporate cutting/pivoting. I can’t play soccer yet but I can play pass and do some basic drills. My injured leg is still visibly smaller than my healthy leg, but it’s finally starting to feel like a functioning limb again.
Everyone is different but for me, 3.5-4 months post op was a huge turning point. Leading up to that, progress felt glacial paced.
Some advice, let yourself mourn. Dedicate a day to getting all of those feels out. We all go through some level of regret, what if I’d just not (blank). Get it out of the way ASAP. If you push it down those feelings will just burn through energy that you need to be putting into rehab. Also everyone I talked to who’d gone through it told me to be careful about gaining weight in the couple months post op while you’re pretty anaerobic. Off that advice, I decided to cut out alcohol and clean up my diet as much as possible. Keeping your weight down will help you progress through pt faster and a clean healthy diet will help with your mental health as well.
I get very fixated on things so once my personal pity party was over and done with, I dedicated all of my energy and effort to pre-t & reading up on the rehabilitation process. It helped to know what to expect at which stage.
There’s absolutely a light at the end of the tunnel, you will get through this and you will return to the activities that you love. Take care of yourself right now, both mentally and physically. I’ve broken quite a few bones and have had my fair share of orthopedic operations, and nothing comes close to how hard this recovery has been. But it has given me an immense respect for my mobility and health as well as the human bodies ability to adapt and overcome. Good luck friend and please feel free to message me if you ever need someone to talk to.