One year ago today...

[xSuperMario64x]

... I had surgery on my left patella.

Those of you who were here a year ago and talked to me, you may recall that in late December of 2017, I broke my left patella. It was one of the most excruciating experiences I've ever gone through. I was bed-ridden for a month, and about two weeks after my injury happened I was told I had to have major surgery on my knee.

That was the first major surgery I ever underwent. As a matter of fact, it's the only surgery I've ever had done if you don't count serious dental procedures. It was a terrifying and almost hopeless time in my life. After the surgery I had to go through five months of physical therapy, and that was a memorable but sad time in my life. Starting out, I could only bend my knee 20°. I also had to deal with getting around campus and doing calculus and physics homework and piano practice.
Let me tell you, I went through a lot of hell the first half of last year. It was a horribly stressful part of my life and I hope I never have to relive it.


So where am I, a year later? Well last Summer, I continued my knee exercise by riding my bike at least once daily. By the end of the Summer, I was able to ride my bike without any trouble. Today, it's almost like I didn't have any kind of injury. I have all my strength back, and I'm very close to having my full range of motion back. The only thing that remains of my injury is a 7" scar stretching from the top of my knee to the bottom, and two other nearby scars.

I'm so grateful that my surgeon was able to completely repair my patella and ligaments in my left knee. He knew that I would need extensive care since I was so young when it happened. I'm grateful that I can walk without issue. The only thing that bothers me now, is I believe In developing arthritis since I have a lot of pain in my knee when I go out in cold weather daily (like during school). But besides that, this has been a very successful recovery and I'm very happy that I have full use of my left knee!

 

[Bread Kennedys]

As someone who's gonna have to go through with a surgery of my own real soon, this is comforting to hear. I haven't needed surgery in over 10 years (that I can remember), and I didn't break any bones nor do I have some excruciating injury or anything like that, but I'm soon gonna need to get my wisdom teeth removed. I've been told it's a very painful experience and I'm not gonna enjoy it, but I figured it's better to go on and get it over with than to let it persist. And I'm not trying to downplay your own pain or what you had to go through, but as someone who hasn't had to go through with surgery in a really long time, it's a...scary feeling, I guess, and I've had family members who've had to go through surgeries on certain things in the past year or so, and I've had to see them recover and get better. I suppose the silver lining is that a few week's pain can save you a whole lot more pain in life. Anyway, I know I'm rambling, but I'm glad to hear everything's alright now, and I hope things continue to stay alright.