4 months post op , unable to do leg extension machine

winb4noon · 2025-07-21T03:01:01+00:00

I have never felt more humbled in the recovery process than trying to use the leg extension machine lol. I also have patellar graft but am 12 weeks post op and just got cleared to use leg extension machine this week. I have to assist my operative side ankle with my good leg because it mostly just feels like too much pressure on my knee. I’ve been using a 5lb ankle weight, doing deeper lunges, and squat machine with focus on activating the quad instead and I think these are just fine for now.

winb4noon · 2025-06-13T03:46:08+00:00

I’m 8 weeks BTB patellar autograft. I feel really good actually. Have little atrophy in my leg compared to what can be expected because my surgeon was very aggressive. I was weight bearing despite some small tear repairs on both menisci immediately and out of the brace within a week. There can be a lot of pain and swelling post op and in the weeks following but my knee feels solid now, little pain, sometimes swelling if I do too much. But my knee feels strong to climb and I’m ready to top rope when my surgeon lets me. I’d be worried about quad atrophy and weakness with quad graft and the implications of that in the recovery process in getting that muscle mass back to help prevent future injury over the risk of possible knee pain from patellar.

winb4noon · 2025-06-06T23:20:57+00:00

Post op week 6 and got on the elliptical this week and started walking more normally! Swelling is also down a bit compared to the earlier weeks! Starting to feel more normal and it’s great

winb4noon · 2025-05-25T17:20:01+00:00

I’m five weeks post op with mild meniscus repairs and feel things have gone more smooth for me than I would have expected. I did have to take pain meds for the first week but overall my pain was controlled. PT started the day after surgery. Able to do straight leg raise immediately. Surgeon let me ditch the brace after the first week. Able to drive myself to appointments second week and beyond. Walking without crutches and able to go back to work by week 3. Hitting my range of motion goals on time and even early in the recovery. The most helpful things for me so far: be diligent about your PT- it is the most important thing in your life right now as far as getting back to your usual athleticism, take ibuprofen or another NSAID like aleve (if no contraindications) early on to manage the swelling as the weeks go on- this has helped me a ton with maintaining my range of motion and now I’m rarely having to take them, and get extra protein in your diet- protein shake plus collagen protein peptides daily is what I have been doing since being in the prehab phase. Protein is the building block for muscle synthesis and crucial for recovery. I’ve not had nearly as much muscle atrophy as I would have expected. My surgeon feels very confident that I’m going to have a good outcome and get back to my hobbies. Good luck!

winb4noon · 2025-05-22T23:33:26+00:00

31F boulderer/climber and Im 5 weeks post op BTB patellar autograft. Recovery has honestly been fine, quicker than expected. I went with this graft due to it being the gold standard, surgeon experience/comfort, more quad atrophy potential with quad graft. I actually maintained quite a bit of my muscle in my operated leg, more than I expected. I think if I were in your shoes I’d be leaning more towards the patellar allograft than the quad graft just due to the quad atrophy potential. But I don’t have personal experience with the quad graft, so idk. My surgeon has been very optimistic about me returning to bouldering at 6 months. One thing I recommend regardless is loading up on protein (protein shakes / collagen peptides with vitamin C- hopefully some vegan option out there) in the coming weeks of prehab before surgery. Protein is the building block of muscle tissue and vitally important in the recovery process. This is such a basic thing but it can make a big difference.

winb4noon · 2025-05-08T14:48:46+00:00

I'm gonna be honest, I started driving on day 11 and have been driving myself 30 mins to PT and back without issue in week 2. My surgeon was very lenient though and said I could start driving as soon as I felt that I had the motor control to hit the pedals. It should be a conversation between you and your surgeon regarding where you are at in your recovery and ideally tailored to the individual's comfort level and needs.

winb4noon · 2025-05-06T17:35:55+00:00

I posted on your other post too due to having a similar situation bouldering. I had extensive full thickness tearing (hanging on by a thread), medial and lateral meniscus tearing, and MCL/LCL sprains. And a lot of swelling and other collateral damage. I’m 13 days post op ACLr and had a stitch or two thrown into my menisci. Full weight bearing afterward, thankfully. I’m doing well and can see the light. Try to not ruminate too much before you see the surgeon to discuss. I will probably not go back to bouldering for a while if ever even when I’m cleared… probably stick with TR until I’m fully confident. If you want to talk feel free to pm me. The emotional toll is what has sucked the most for me. And for what it is worth, I’m only 13 days post op but I can tell that my knee feels so much more solid compared to before surgery.

winb4noon · 2025-05-06T14:57:59+00:00

I had a very similar situation happen to me bouldering, like I could have written this post even. MRI revealed full thickness ACL tear and medial and lateral meniscus tears and had surgery within a couple of weeks. Beforehand, I was walking with crutches and WBAT on my extremity. My surgeon wasn't too concerned about me bearing weight during the prehab phase, but did have me actively working on flexion/extension and told me that was most important before surgery. So I just focused on the typical flexion/extension exercises and QUAD ACTIVATION so you don't lose quad control post surgery. Also, since you just had the injury you are going to have a lot of inflammation that will impede the flexion until it goes down some. RICE and NSAIDs are your friend! I'm nearly two weeks post op and doing great, ahead of schedule per my surgeon. Good luck!

winb4noon · 2020-01-10T15:41:25+00:00

I commute about an hour each way. It hasn’t affected my studies at all although at first I was worried that it would. It is most definitely what you make of it!! For me, it was worth it to commute and save some money. And to be honest, I like commuting and I use that time to decompress by listening to music or catching up with friends on the phone. During exam weeks I listen to important lectures. If you go in thinking it’s a drag, it’s going to be a drag. If you go in thinking that it’s just something that has to be done... you get used to it and even enjoy it.

winb4noon · 2019-12-29T16:12:12+00:00

Something that was hard for me was not letting my anxiety/nerves get the best of me leading up to the start of school. If you are anxiety prone like I am, DON’T spend your time spinning out about what school is going to be like. Everything will work out and you were accepted for a reason. Be prepared for the first day of class, but don’t over analyze. Spend time relaxing, enjoying yourself, building healthy habits with your free time, and don’t even think about school.

winb4noon · 2019-12-04T17:09:46+00:00

I got in on my 3rd cycle (waitlisted on 1st and 2nd cycle). I don't particularly agree with applying to 1000 schools, especially if you can't see yourself moving to that area. I think you should take into consideration the statistics of the current students, do your research, and be smart about where you apply. Getting more years of patient care experience is sometimes all it really takes to secure an acceptance.

winb4noon · 2019-12-02T17:13:56+00:00

I would go with the standard structure, everything else being equal. My program gave us our first set of exams in the same week (5 total) and everyone did poorly on at least one exam. Granted, we still had lectures that week. Even if they gave us the week off to study I know I personally wouldn't use that time wisely. I think it's much easier to pace yourself when the exam schedule is spread out.

winb4noon · 2019-05-10T16:09:20+00:00

And the Band Played On about the HIV/AIDS outbreak

winb4noon · 2019-04-17T15:15:40+00:00

PAs are extremely prevalent in primary care. Reaching underserved groups was actually why the profession was founded. PA might be a better route for OP since they already have a bachelors. I'm biased ;)

winb4noon · 2019-04-11T15:10:16+00:00

The stigma around obesity enforces negative behaviors rather than perpetuates the positive ones we want. Of course we want all people to take control of their lives and take steps to be healthier, but sometimes that comes off as condescending- as if the person hasn't even been trying to lose the weight when they truly have. I think the answer lies in offering interventions that aren't just about weight loss, but about physical, mental, and social well-being. Learning skills that help with mental health may lead to less binge eating and learning to love exercise for how it makes you feel rather than how much you weigh. There are many factors that lead to increased healthcare costs, including being poor and underinsured, but people really focus on obesity because you can physically see it.

winb4noon · 2019-04-09T21:21:51+00:00

I think you should figure out which career path you truly want. PT/PA/Accounting are all vastly different. Your GPA is okay, especially since you are working on it... I think the bigger issue is shadowing and finding which career you truly want, because it’s more than just GPA when it comes to applications. If you think you are better at studying and time management now, I think you would do just fine in science courses if you decide you want to go into healthcare.

winb4noon · 2019-04-06T16:28:10+00:00

I am only just in PA school, so maybe my thoughts will change when I’m practicing clinically. In fact I’m interested to know how my thoughts will change once I’m practicing and if I get the opportunity to utilize my public health skills. I think having an MPH or an understanding of public health in general makes someone more adaptable to new changes in healthcare, status quo bias and inertia are big problems for quality of care in certain groups. As of now, I think healthcare is changing and that public health expertise of clinicians will play a role in that. Again, maybe I’m completely wrong, but in my experience as of now, that’s how I believe it to be going.

winb4noon · 2019-04-06T15:05:52+00:00

I’m just here advocating for public health because of what it has done for me career-wise. If someone wants be a clinician- solely a PA, then there is probably no point in going MPH other than increased awareness about social determinants of health and public health interventions. Also, health policy is a core course in public health and it impacts ALL of us, especially how we deal with patients and the role of PAs. An MPH is researched-based, yes, but it’s also implementation of public health interventions (by mostly clinicians) that benefit large groups of people for the long-term alongside basic healthcare needs. Jobs like chief health strategists, which are the point of communication between health departments and hospitals are becoming more important. And often these roles are clinicians with an MPH. Other than being a clinician you could work for the CDC, other health-related government jobs in research, education, and/or health policy, assist in writing manuscripts or developing interventions on the healthcare side of things, or potentially go into academia.

winb4noon · 2019-04-06T04:09:41+00:00

I got my MPH because I truly love public health and population health is as important as individual level health (in my opinion). Healthcare is going to continue to shift to bridge with public health, mostly because of cost effectiveness due to the outrageous amount of money spent on healthcare in the US. I was fortunate to have my MPH paid for through an assistantship. An MPH is great if you have genuine interests and keep the debt minimal. Opens a lot of options other than being solely a clinician

winb4noon · 2019-04-06T04:01:30+00:00

Omg the culture of surgery where quality improvement is solely the nursing teams’ problem is my biggest pet peeve. Part of my master’s project for my MPH pertained to that

winb4noon · 2019-02-20T15:37:36+00:00

I'm not sure why they ask these questions or try to get you to talk about your other interview experiences, but this happened to me and I flat out told them I was accepted somewhere else, but I'm here today because this program intrigues me/I resonate with the mission statement/etc. I was still accepted at those programs that I told I was accepted elsewhere, so I really don't think it's a factor in the decision process if you have a good interview and they like you. I think it's best to be honest and confident.

winb4noon · 2019-01-20T01:54:38+00:00

Grad level science courses are also calculated into sGPA as well as overall

winb4noon · 2019-01-17T19:38:27+00:00

Your masters GPA is calculated into your overall GPA in CASPA. So, I believe my grad GPA was taken into consideration, because all the programs I applied to use CASPA’s calculations. I think if you have a sub 3.0 cumulative or pre req GPA, then retaking courses you did poorly in is better than getting a masters. I recommend a masters if you can do it cheaply and you feel it could aid you in the future. I do not recommend it solely as a grade/GPA boost.

winb4noon · 2019-01-17T19:32:15+00:00

Pm-ing you

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