I had another very enlightening and exciting mentor visit this past week, just before the weather got bad and we were all snowed inside. I have taken some time to reflect upon what I learned, and I put some more research into my final product topic.
The homework from my last mentor visit consisted of a lot of research over the different types of grafts used in an ACL reconstruction surgery: hamstring graft, quadricep graft, patellar tendon graft, and allografts. I also researched not only how they were different, but what the pros and cons to each of these grafts types were. For this mentor visit, Rachel and I talked about one graft extensively, the patellar tendon. This is because it is the easiest for me to learn about, as it is the graft my surgeon used in my own surgery. The patellar tendon graft is truly the “gold standard” and, in both my own personal experience and opinion developed through research, is overall the best option. It is the most widely accepted and longest used of the grafts for ACL reconstruction surgery because it is the strongest type of graft found in the body and is just as strong as a normal ACL. Additionally, the patellar tendon graft will indeed grow back after it has been taken out and used to repair the ACL. It has a higher success rate than the other graft options available and heals relatively quickly, the healing process beginning as soon as six weeks after surgery. The tendon gap will gradually fill in with tendon-like tissue and be nearly healed between 2 & 3 years and may include scar tissue. My own experience with said scar tissue has been, at times, quite terrifying. From my experiences, sometimes I will be doing something as normal and basic as taking a step and I will hear a loud crack and feel something moving within my knee and it will scare me (especially when it happens while I am doing something active) into wondering if I have re-torn my ACL. But no, it’s just my tendon continuing to heal and scar tissue moving around. The only downside of the patellar tendon graft is that it unfortunately does often cause patellar tendonitis after surgery. This is relatively normal and can be treated with heat, ice, anti-inflammatory medicine, and a brace when playing and I myself have had a few run ins with the annoying, aching sensation that is patellar tendonitis. However, like with most patients, it did go away after a few months post surgery.
I also had an idea this week that seemed to intrigue Rachel for my final product. The Frisco High School soccer team, which I am a captain of, has this really long and annoying warm up that was kind of thrown together in an attempt to better prevent injury after a season was lost with a few of the best players suffering from wear and tear. I thought that maybe I could tweak the FIFA 11+ warm up, add in some ACL prevention and some specialized soccer movements, and actually create a program that warms the team up while, successfully prevents injury, and isn’t so long and excessive. I didn’t get to talk to Rachel about it as much as I wanted to because the idea occurred to me at the end of my visit but she seemed to like the idea, so I plan to further develop that.
The weather from this week made it difficult to both find motivation and opportunities to get work done for ISM, but I still managed to make decent headway at my mentor visit and learn more from Rachel about grafts, ACL recovery, and injury prevention.