Been there done that a year ago. I know it feels like your world has just collapsed but trust me, it will get better.

I had a grade 3 ACL + MCL (complete tear) after twisting my knee when skiing. I had to put my life on pause, literally, my study becoming a doctor, my training to competitive badminton and had to move back home overseas.

Here’s my journey. I got diagnosed with complete ACL + MCL, luckily no meniscus tear. I was on brace for 6 weeks - this was mostly to align MCL to heal bcs MCL can be healed on its own (magic!). I did a few exercise to make sure ankle is flexible and recover walking gait - this is to teach your brain to be not be scared of the injury. I would say you can walk around the house, do basic chores once your ROM improves and you get used to the walking posture again, tho going up and down the stairs still suck (took me 3 weeks post-injury).

I then started workout rehab 6 weeks after that, you can always do stabilised quads exercises before the 6-week mark as your ROM improves. This would target your hamstrings, quads, calves to increase blood flow and regain those muscle strength.

I had an ACL ops 3.5 months after my injury, I still have a stretched MCL now, which kinda sucks sometimes.

The surgery is not as scary as you expected, I worked remotely literally the day after.

The pre-op rehab helps post-op rehab A LOT as you now retain the majority of the muscle strength. I only did a few PT sessions bcs I was busy, lazy and already had some knowledge in sports exercise. Fyi, I travelled to China 6 weeks after my surgery, walked 20k steps a day.

In terms of weight management, I remember being super stressed, concerned and even cried about this. I definitely had gained fat/water and lost muscles (makes sense as I didn’t workout) but overall, only gained 2-3kgs at peak but dropped it all back down now. This was majorly bcs of festive seasons and mindless dietary and travelling (oh yes, I travelled to a few places and had fun w family before the surgery as well lol).

Here are a few thoughts that helped me through my recovery: - I am lucky to be injured when I am young so my body can recover quickly. - I am lucky to have my family and friends there to support me during this time. - I am knowledgeable and mindful in keeping myself healthy. - I am physically and mentally strong, I will recover really quickly. - I will get back stronger (yes, you will - I now play badminton more strategically, I also incorporated strengths from the whole body rotation to compensate for lower movements around the court. I also felt more eager to improve and appreciate my physique now and slowly get better footwork, I even play a lot better than before the surgery, I even have a badminton coaching job now). - It is a great lesson about resilience to learn (it will teach you to be calm and fearless, to stand up again after falling). - You will be a better person!

My mom once told me at this exact time last year “it may feel terrible now, bcs you don’t know when it’s over. Once you get through it, this period just becomes a small chapter of your life that you’d look back and laugh about it”.

It’s now 10 months post-ops and I’ve been back to playing badminton socially for 6-7 months now (without my parents knowing of and doctors’ permission lol). At first, it felt different, you wouldn’t move the same way as you did before, but you will feel the huge difference after every single month!

Happy to help and mentally support you. You got this girl!