ACL Reconstruction Surgery

Last Updated on: September 18, 2022

About 7 or 8 months ago, I twisted my left knee quite severely on the football pitch and eventually, I was diagnosed with a torn ACL.

This meant I had no problem with day-to-day walking, going up and down stairs, driving etc., but football, snowboarding, wakeboarding and any other sport I couldn’t do.

The ACL would not repair itself if ruptured, so I waited for surgery. On the NHS, you now get to choose your hospital – I chose Preston Royal even though I am in Blackpool and nearer to the Victoria Hospital. I waited for my operation date, and one day I got a call to ask if I would like to be sent private, all paid for by the NHS.

So I got a date of 28th December for the operation at Capio hospital in Leyland.

A couple of days ago, I went in for the operation. I didn’t think I was nervous, but my heart rate gave it away. Fortunately, I was first in the queue and put into a peaceful anaesthetic sleep by 9:15 am.

I woke up in a room of fellow patients coming round from deep sleep, with some babbling incoherently.

The hospital, nurses, doctors, anaesthetists and physios were all great. I was doing knee exercises, walking on crutches, bending, and walking upstairs within an hour or two of my operation.

Here I am a couple of days later. I am closer to walking fully and, with the help of strong painkillers, getting a lot of movement out of my knee.

My dressing will come off tomorrow along with the On-Q Pain Buster, slowly dripping anaesthetic into my knee.

There is always a fear that I won’t play football again to any standard or that I won’t snowboard or wakeboard, but so far, it is going well, and I do believe I will be back stronger than ever.

Or that could be the morphine-based painkillers.


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