The following diary was provided by Martha Cepeda's website at: http://www.auronix.com/martha/aclrecon.htm

Boulder, CO, Saturday 06/12/99

I tore my Anterior Cruciate Ligament, ACL, about a month ago (on Sunday 05/09/99) skiing on A-Basin, Colorado.

The accident was due to fatigue and lack of attention more than anything else. The usual story: the last run of the day (around 4pm), bad snow conditions (May 9th!) and bad skis: my ski caught an edge, didn't release, I heard two pops coming from my knee while flying in the air... and you know the story...

Diagnosis: 3rd degree ACL tear, LCL tear and possible meniscus tear. Solution: ACL reconstruction surgery or changing my life style plus the possibility of developing arthritis in 10 years or so due to meniscus damage.

I opted for the surgery and scheduled it for Friday 06/04/99 with Dr. Drigan Wieder (highly recommended to anyone living in Boulder, CO and surrounding areas). My ACL reconstruction was done using the patellar auto-graft and titanium screws. I didn't use a CPM machine or an ice machine at any time, and I didn't seem to need it.

I wrote this page during my post-surgery recovery week. Fortunately everything went much better than what I expected. I can almost walk normally without limping and I was on crutches only for a couple of days; I have my full extension and 110 degrees flexion and I am working on my muscles, my balance and the rest of my flexion. My leg is swollen, very warm and full of bruises, but in my case, the pain has never been worse than what it was the day after the injury. The only bad things for me after the surgery were some nausea and fevers I got because I stopped taking the Percocet too early, and the feeling of the blood pressure on my leg while standing for the first couple of days. But, luckily, the analgesics worked perfectly pain wise (I was sleeping for the first couple of days though pretty much all the time).

I'd taken some pictures of my knees before the surgery and how they've been looking this week. I'm planning to add some more in the future.

I wrote a diary of the first week post-op while I was "under the influence" of the Percocet and Vicodin to remember these lovely days, and for anyone who would want to take a look. Be my guest. :)

Boulder, CO, Wednesday 08/04/99

It's been two months since the surgery and I've decided to update this page. Among the main additions are pictures of how my knee is doing right now and some things I learnt during the experience.

I'm close to full flexion now and my leg is starting to look normal again. My knee is still swollen and my thigh is weaker than it should be, but my leg is almost fully functional now. Enjoy. :)

Click Here to see before, during and after images from Martha's website
Click Here to read the rest of the diary.

Thanks to Martha Cepeda for detailing her experience with Mapleton Hill Orthopaedics!