The one where Mik has surgery

     The title pretty much gives it away but on June 08, 2021 I had surgery for the first time ever. Mind you, I have had my wisdom teeth taken out but the top two (which were the only ones they could take out), just had to be pulled out so all they gave me was some numbing meds and pulled them out.
      This surgery was for something a bit more drastic and bigger. Anyone who has known me for a while knows soccer has always been a passion I chased after. I played it from the age of 4 up until my sophomore year of high school. 

      In 2014, my fall semester, I was playing a recreational game of indoor soccer with some of my friends when I went for the ball at the same time as the opposing team, when I went one way and my knee went the other. And let me tell you - it hurt like mother! Despite the pain and MRI my PCP ordered, no one could tell me what was actually wrong, so I lived with a constant knee pain for 7 years. Fast forward to May 2021, where I spent a Saturday night indulging in what young, 20-something year olds indulge in, and the exact same thing happened. Mind you, the past 7 years, my knee would constantly give out or be painful to walk on so at first I thought it was just another minor pain, until it continued..
     After realizing this pain was worse than usual and something is most definitely wrong with it, I got in to see a specialist who referred me out for MRI and gave me some stretches and instructions to wear my brace. Post MRI results and a follow-up determined I not only tore my medial meniscus but also my ACL, which only meant one thing - surgery. Thankfully, I have a relative who is an ortho surgeon who was able to get me in with his recommendations and I got immediately scheduled for the following week. 
     Even though it was a small build up to the actual surgery, I was still terrified but thankfully it all went okay. It was an outpatient surgery so I was able to return home after my surgery.  My surgeon ended up telling my mom it was worse than he had originally thought so he was glad he got me in so quickly. The next 2-3 weeks was spent with me recovering from the surgery and learning to walk with crutches and how to get comfortable wearing a bulky brace. I indulged in a lot of Netflix binge watching, writing, designing and, honestly, sleeping.
     My first full week after my surgery I ended up laying down the majority of the time and sleeping because I was nauseous 24/7 due to the high degree of pain medication I was on. The solution? Take the medication they prescribed for the nausea which would then knock me out so a lot of the time, I slept. I was unable to keep anything down and basically survived on saltine crackers and water. Thankfully, my post-op appointment was just a week after my surgery so we were able to reduce the degree of medication and I was able to gain some normalcy... 
     Now almost 3 weeks post-op, I am working on gaining muscles back in my leg and some minor physical therapy so I can gain my flexion and extension back following the restoration of my ACL and repaid of my meniscus. Most activities do take a lot out of me but, I am still trying to get some of my independence back. I will continue to be on crutches and wearing a brace for 3 more weeks, but hopefully I will be able to get back to things I loved doing - soccer, and photography.