First things, first…Surgery Update!

I am two days post-surgery and doing fine! Noble, my Mom’s West Highland White Terrier, is a wonderful nurse who continuously checks in on me. He’s the sweetest little boy….aren’t dogs the best?!?! As for my knee, it is still fully-wrapped up for another day – so I have yet to see what my knee actually looks like – but I am experiencing very little pain and I was given permission to walk around the day of my surgery, without the assistance of crutches or an immobilizer! Now while this wasn’t exactly what I wanted – – I’ll explain later – – I also know that my recovery will move along nicely since I can be so mobile after surgery!

Now this brings me to the question of what procedure was actually performed on my knee? I know that I haven’t mentioned that yet. So I will start with only the major bullet points about my Left Knee’s journey. This way you can understand where I am in the process at this moment in time and then I can return to the beginning and share my own account of this roller-coaster knee ordeal and all that I have learned. Deal??

Alright, so here is my blanket explanation. Back in 2013, I tore my Left ACL. I was a professional dancer at the time, never been injured before except for the occasional rolled ankle, so I was floored at the diagnosis and especially the recovery time for this injury. When your Doctor tells you that it will take 6+ months to heal from an ACL Reconstruction, which is also taking you away from your dance career, you have many moments of panic, hyperventilation, and so on….But I agreed to the surgery in order to return fully to my career.

Did I make it through Physical Therapy? In a matter of speaking, yes. Was I able to return to my dance career? YES, I was! For a very short time only, but I did…

And now, almost 6 years later, I have re-torn my ACL Reconstruction. And my meniscus as well, to keep things very interesting. I am nothing if not entertaining. 😜

Something that I recently just learned is that the tunnel holes created from a first ACL Reconstruction can become enlarged. From research that I have done, this could be due to a variety of possible reasons, including improper placement of the tunnel holes, aggressive rehabilitation, or even a biological factor like a certain immune response to the donor tissue that was used. Or just due to the fact that it has been 6-ish years since the ACL Reconstruction was first done and that’s just what happens…. 🤷🏻‍♀️ Whatever the reasoning behind the enlargement, this means that using those same tunnel holes for a second ACL Reconstruction wouldn’t be advised because the rate of failure would be so high. Attempting to secure the new ACL strand into two overly-gigantic tunnel diameters wouldn’t work so well, you know? And whereas this is a bit of an over-exaggeration, you can see how it would still be a huge issue!

Therefore, in order to proceed, a Two Stage ACL Reconstruction is needed to ensure the most successful results. The first surgery would be to fill in the tunnel holes by a bone grafting procedure. Then once the tunnel holes have healed and are solid, a second surgery would follow to do the actual ACL Reconstruction.

This, my friends, is the plan of attack for my left knee. My surgery on Wednesday included the bone grafts along with the attempt to clean up the mess in my knee from the torn ACL, the torn meniscus, any pieces of broken cartilage, and so on.

SIDE NOTE: I was hoping that my torn meniscus could be stitched and saved, which would mean that I would be more immobile after surgery. This way, my meniscus could potentially heal and stay as preserved as possible….HOWEVER, since I was given permission to literally walk to the car after my surgery on Wednesday, my meniscus apparently couldn’t be stitched so I have no idea about the state of my meniscus and if it actually can be fixed. To be continued on that concern. 😳 I have a post-op appointment with my Doctor next week so all will be explained at that time, I am sure.

In any case, I’m as good as can be after a surgery! Physical Therapy starts next week for me and once I get back to moving well, rebuilding my strength, and allowing the bone grafts to fully harden – – which I was told would take about 3-6 months from now – – then I will have the ACL Reconstructive Surgery.

But that is months away and I think that is enough knee discussion for one day, don’t you think??! Let’s conclude this post with a photo panel. I have a few photos to show you from surgery day, when I am the epitome of style, beauty, and loveliness….Ahem… (smh!)

AND THEN I have some photos to share from my days as a professional dancer. I love that the newest trend on Facebook is to raise awareness of the Arts and I keep seeing my beautiful friends sharing photos of themselves or nominating other Artsy friends to post their own memories as a Performer/Artist. This particular trend is a 10-day Challenge, in which every day you are asked to select an image from a day in the life of a Performer/Artist – – “a photo from a day you felt fierce or a memorable moment you’ve had during a performance/show, and post it without a single explanation, then nominate somebody to take the challenge…” Though I will not be nominating anybody for this challenge on this blog post, I will gladly contribute to this wonderful cause and share some meaningful photos of the most influential time in my life when my dance career became a reality and I was living my dream.

Plus, in case some of you are curious as to what I looked like as a dancer…. well, here you go! The variety of costumes and hair pieces that I got to wear are fun to see along with the amazing casts that shared the stage with me along the way. And I won’t explain the photos, following the rules of the challenge, but I will point out where I’m standing…in case it’s not so clear. Enjoy!!! 😁

Thank you for taking this stroll down memory lane with me! I do love seeing my incredible cast mates and reminiscing about these phenomenal contracts and shows that I had the pleasure and privilege of being in. ☺️

And, from the bottom of my heart, thank you for being here and joining me as I move forward on this knee quest to victory! I’m so grateful for you. Be well!! ❤️✨❤️✨❤️✨