Living the Dream

ACL Injuries in the NFL

2010-01-03T21:23:00.002-06:00

While reading one of my favorite newspapers online, I came across a page which lists injuries for all of the teams of the NFL and NCAA football. This may not be a complete, up-to-date list as some teams had no players listed, but I thought it would be interesting nonetheless to pick out the ACL injuries from this season.

NFL
Arizona Cardinals- Justin Green (FB)
Baltimore Ravens- Ladarius Webb (DB), Marcus Smith (WR), Fabian Washington (CB)
Dallas Cowboys- Brandon Williams (LB)
Green Bay Packers- Al Harris (CB), Will Blackmon (CB)
Houston Texans- Anthony Hill (TE), Owen Daniels (TE)
Indianapolis Colts- Marlin Jackson (DB)
New England Patriots- Wes Welker (WR), Tyrone McKenzie (LB), Brandon Tate (WR)
New York Jets- Kris Jenkins (DT)
Philadelphia Eagles- Jamaal Jackson (C), Stewart Bradley (LB)
Pittsburgh Steelers- Greg Warren (LS)

NCAA Football
Alabama- Jeramie Griffin (RB)
Boise State- DJ Harper (RB), Andy Silsby (RB)
Iowa- Paul Chaney (WR)

Obviously this list is NOT comprehensive. Also, many players were listed with a generic "knee injury" note, some of these may also be ACL tears.

This page shows results from a study done in 2001.

So Maybe That 17% Wasn't So Great Afterall....

2010-01-03T00:37:00.003-06:00

I talked to my doctor on Wednesday afternoon. After we exchanged pleasantries and happy holidays, he asked if I had a good Christmas. I say yes and his reply is "well, you did NOT get a good strength test for Christmas".

SERIOUSLY? Did he really just say that?!?!?! Apparently, although the deficit in my hamstring strength did decrease quite a bit, there are some other figures (way above my level of comprehension) that are still not good enough to be released. I took my test results to my personal trainer to have another trainer, who has performed these tests before, analyze them and give me a better idea of what they mean. Hopefully he will be able to explain them on my level when I go back on Wednesday.

My doctor just talks SOOOO fast, and he had spit out lots of words and numbers that meant nothing to me before I had a chance to comprehend what he was saying. And, of course, I didn't want to ask him to repeat himself. So basically he left me with "keep studying" and do another one at the end of January. Great.

I am thinking about calling and scheduling an appointment to see my doctor in person. I have not seen him since the first of October. We have talked on the phone 4 times since then, but that's just not the same as an in-person visit. It's not that I think anything is wrong with my knee. I haven't had any problems at all since my hamstring strain healed completely.

Ok, now for some good news. I worked out with my personal trainer on Wednesday and even though it had been 2 weeks since I worked out, I have not lost any strength. Thank goodness. I was a little sore the next day, but nothing like after my first workout with her. I am looking forward to getting back into my workout routine on Monday.

I am working on a "year-end wrap-up" blog, but it may be a few more days until I post it. I've been working on ideas, but it's so hard to pull myself away from the football bowl games, the Wii, and online computer games. That just reminds me how hard it is going to be to go back to work on Monday!!!!

17% Gain in 8 Weeks

2009-12-28T17:56:00.002-06:00

Although it's been a week ago today, I decided I would blog about my strength test.

Recall back on October 29th I had my first strength test. It showed that my left quad had a 12% deficit from my right quad and my left hamstring had a 31% deficit from my right hamstring. Horrible results for that being 21 weeks(5 months) since surgery. My doctor had wanted me to wait about three weeks and have it done again. But, at $150 a pop, I waited a little longer- 8 weeks to be exact.

I was surprised and happy about the results from last week. Surprised because my left leg didn't feel that much different and happy because I am closer to being fully released. This time I only had a 14% deficit in my left hamstring and my left quad was actually 5% STRONGER than my right quad. Of course, I consider myself "behind" since I am at 7 months post-op and not fully released yet.

My surgery/rehab paperwork says that there needs to be less than a 10% deficit to begin the final phase of rehab- agility, cutting, planting drills. So, I'm ALOT closer than I was 2 months ago.

I am still waiting to hear from my doctor. He usually calls right away, but I guess he's celebrating the holidays like everyone else.

In the meantime, I am going to get back to playing video games, which are probably a GREAT rehab tool since they include alot of balancing and weight-shifting. This is what I got for Christmas:

BREAKING NEWS

2009-11-30T19:28:00.002-06:00

Ok folks, the decision has been made. QB13 will not be playing football during the 2010 season.

It took a lot of thinking, weighing options, wavering back and forth, soul searching, and reflection to come to this decision.

Two major factors played into my decision.
First of all, my knee. As much as I hate to admit it, it is nowhere near ready. I am still struggling to rebuild strength in my hamstrings and quad. Until I pass a strength test, my doctor will not release me to start cutting/planting. Doing so poorly on my first strength test really depressed me. I felt like I had busted my butt in the weightroom. I have another test scheduled for 3 weeks from today. I am going to be working hard until then so that I pass this time, even though I have already made my decision about football for 2010.

Secondly, the distance between where I live and the closest teams is just too much for my body to handle driving wise. Playing in Shreveport, an hour away, was not too bad at all last season. But adding another hour and a half to that drive to get to the Dallas area, is just too much. Plus, with that distance and the demands of my job in the Spring, I would not be able to commit enough time to practices during the week. I feel like I would be letting the team down.

I am okay with this decision, for now. I am hoping that in the future I am able to return to playing football. I fell in love with the game, even if I did only get to enjoy one half and did have to undergo major knee surgery because of it. I think it's just in my blood.

Keep working hard, no matter how hard it gets,
QB13

Time For An Update

2009-11-15T22:20:00.003-06:00

Wow folks, it's been a few days, er weeks even maybe, since I last blogged. Lots and lots has happened since then.

First of all, I have signed up with a personal trainer. I went this past Friday for an evaluation. He measured my height, weight, blood pressure, heart rate, and body fat percentage. Then he had me do situps and pushups. I also did a step test and several flexibility tests. From the data he took down, he will create a personalized workout for me. We also set some goals for the next few months. First off all, I want to increase my overall strength. Secondly, I need to decrease my body fat percentage. Finally, I am going to work on increasing my flexibility and core strength. The trainer who did my eval will probably not be my trainer. His schedule is booked for the times that I am available, but he was going to find another trainer who had slots available and call me this week to set up my first session. I am looking forward to trying this out. It is something I have never done before. I decided to do this for two reasons. I seemed to have hit a wall with my workouts on my own. I am not seeing any results and that has caused me to lose some of my motivation. Also, I want to start working on my upper body strength as well. I am hoping that seeing a personal trainer will get me back motivated and increase my overall fitness level. Football season is right around the corner and I need to work harder than ever if I am going to be able to play this season.

It has been over 2 weeks since my strength test. I have not kept up with my workouts since then due to the depressing results. You would think that not doing well would have motivated me even more, but for a while it just made me mad and angry. I'm getting over that now and getting back in the right frame of mind to get back to working hard. I will be calling my doctor this week to schedule another strength test for the middle of December. Until then, I will be busting my butt so that I pass this time! I am ready to be released and able to play football again!!!

Speaking of football, I tried out officially for the Dallas Diamonds on Saturday. I think it went really well considering my limitations. I thought I threw the ball well for the most part, much better than when I attended their mini-camp. So, now it's just time to wait for the phone call. Then, it will be decision time- Diamonds or Mustangs????

Until then, I'm going to keep working hard. It's now or never!

QB13

Another Week in the Books

2009-11-05T16:42:00.000-06:00

Thank goodness tomorrow is Friday! This week has felt soooooooo long!!!

I got back into my workout routine this week, but am going to change it up starting on Monday. For the past 3 months, I have been doing weights on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, and cardio on Tuesday and Thursday. Now that I am doing more and more exercises, with increased weight/resistance, two days is just not enough for my legs to "catch up". For instance, I worked out hard core weights on Monday, did 50 minutes on the elliptical on Tuesday, and then tried to do my weight workout again on Wednesday, but my legs were way too exhausted. Today I did 25 minutes of cardio- 10 elliptical and 15 bike.

So, beginning next week I am going to change it up- I just haven't figured out how just yet. I am thinking of breaking it up like this:
1. Hamstring-specific exercises and elliptical
2. Cardio- Jogging/Sprints
3. Quad-specific exercises and bike
4. Cardo- elliptical
5. Combo: hamstring and quad exercises

With this plan, my hamstrings, which are way weaker than my quads, get to recover for 3 full days. It will also be beneficial to add in cardio 2 extra days, even if it is only 20-30 minutes a day.

Now that I see it written down, I think this plan will work. Tomorrow I am going to make my softball girls run the "route". It is an almost 2 mile run around our school and surrounding neighborhoods. I am going to run it with them. It's been a few days since I went for a run, so I think it will be a good end to my workout week.

I am in a little better mood than last week, other than the fact that this week has been rough at school. I am so ready for a week break for Thanksgiving! It's getting to that time of year when the kids start pushing my buttons, on purpose.

Keep working hard,
QB13

UGH!

2009-10-30T12:14:00.000-05:00

Yesterday was my strength test- what I've been working towards for the past 5 months. The results of that test determine if I am ready to progress to the next stage of my ACL rehab- planting and cutting activities instead of just jogging and straight-ahead sprints.

I failed.

I tweaked my hamstring about 3 weeks ago and took a few days off from working out. I don't think that's what caused me to fail, but it sure didn't help. It was finally back to 100%, but I tweaked it again yesterday during the test. Everything was going great until the final 2 reps, when I felt "pop, pop, pop" from my hammy. Great, now I've been set back, again.

The test involved a 10 minute warm up on the bike then 20 reps of flexion and extension on both legs. I knew my left leg would be weaker than my right, but not nearly as weak as the results showed. My left quad has a 12% strength deficit from my right quad and my left hamstring has a 30% deficit from my right hamstring. I can't remember right now, but I think the deficits have to be less than 20% to be able to begin planting and cutting activities. I got my results immediately after the test, but still had to wait for my doctor to call. Thank goodness is he very good about calling with results/returning messages, so I only had to wait a few hours. Sure enough, he said I am I still limited to the exercises/running that I have been doing. He wants me to go back in 3-4 weeks for another test, but I think I may wait until after the Thanksgiving holidays. That will give me more time to let my hammy heal and build some more strength.

Yesterday I wasn't that upset about the results. I knew my hamstring would be weaker. But, after talking to my doctor and having almost 24 hours to dwell on it, I am upset. I feel like I have busted my butt in the weight room for the past 2 months. But, for what? Not being ready to be released? I could have not worked out and gotten the same results, right? If I had not been working out, I would have failed. I worked out hard, and I still failed.

So yeah, I'm upset and mad right now. I am trying to remain positive, but it's so hard.

So here's the positive part. I've talked with my trainer at school and she has lots of hamstring-specific exercises for me to start doing. So, that's what I'm about to go do. Well, I am going to at least try to do them. I am just not feeling it today.

5 Months Post-Op

2009-10-22T17:35:00.000-05:00

Wow, did I really just type "5 Months Post-Op"??? That's right, believe it or not, tomorrow will be 20 weeks since my ACL reconstruction!!! Boy, oh boy, how time flies, but not necessarily because I've been having fun.

For a little over a week, I have been nursing a strained hamstring. Today was the first day that it has felt completely back to normal. After taking most of last week off, I slowly eased back into my workout routine this week. I did my weight workout on Monday and Wednesday and did a cardio workout today.

12 years ago when I tore my ACL for the first time, I was back to playing softball at 5 months post-op and was fully released from my doctor. Of course I was 16 then and now I am 28, so things have gone a bit slower this time around. Also the type of graft must be taken into consideration- patella tendon then vs. hamstring now. However, I'd say I am pretty satisfied with my progress so far. Sure, I would love to be released and back to "normal" right now, but I know that my knee is not ready yet. When will it be ready? I'll get an idea next week when I have my strength test. That just gives me a few more days to hit the weights hard and hope that my left leg strength is close to my right leg strength.

I am also ready to get back into my sprinting program. It has been 2 weeks since I was able to sprint- due to my hamstring injury and the nasty, rainy weather we've been having. I will start sprinting again on Monday.

I hope everyone has a great weekend. I'll be watching my MSU Bulldogs take on the Florida Gators Saturday night. GO DOGS!

Also, you need to watch "Forever Strong". It is one of the best sports movies ever. I'll write more about it later.

Keep working hard,
QB13

A New Direction and One Step Back

2009-10-11T18:39:00.000-05:00

Now that I am on the downhill side of my ACL reconstruction surgery, I have been getting alot more questions about my future in women's football. This is where I stand as of right now: I don't know. I am undecided for several reasons.

I first became interested in women's football when a new team, the East Texas Saberkats, formed just minutes away from where I live. I tried out for the team in May 2008. We practiced throughout June, July, August, and September in preparation for the 2009 season. Towards the end of our preseason workouts, I became upset with the team management due to some issues I had with respect towards the players. I began exploring other possiblilities for playing women's football. I came across the Shreveport Aftershock. After a lengthy decision making process, I decided to switch to the Aftershock in December. I wanted to play football, even if it meant driving an hour to practice and games instead of just a quick trip across town. The Saberkats ended up folding before the 2009 season, so my decision was a good one as far as getting the chance to play football. From late January until mid April, I made the one hour trek to practice as much as my schedule allowed- sometimes once a week, twice a week if I was lucky. Sure, the drive got old and monotonous, but I wanted to play football so I did it with very few complaints. I was looking forward to returning to the playing field for the Aftershock in 2010 after recovering from my injury. But, it's not working out quite that easily. I learned a few weeks ago that the Aftershock will not be fielding a team in 2010. Some of our coaches and several players have lost their jobs and/or insurance and will not be able to afford to coach/play in 2010. The owner of the team decided it would be best to take a year off and let the economy rebound. So, what the heck am I supposed to do now as far as playing football???

My closest options are teams in the Dallas/Fort Worth area- a 2.5 hour drive from where I currently live. That's twice as far as I was driving to Shreveport. If practices were just on the weekends, that would not be a big deal, but most teams also practice during the week and I will more than likely not be able to make a majority of those practices. So that is something I have to consider- is getting the chance to play football in 2010 worth a five hour drive, round trip, for each practice/game? or should I just wait a year and play again with the Aftershock in 2011?

The next predicament is which team? There are two teams- The Dallas Diamonds and The Lone Star Mustangs. They are in different leagues- the Diamonds in the IWFL and the Mustangs in the WFA. For me, it has nothing to do with the league the team belongs to- I am looking for the team that best suites me and my personality, regardless of the league affilitation. As a member of the Aftershock, I played in the IWFL so I know more about that league. The WFA just completed its first season and I think it was very successful. The IWFL is the longer-running league, but the WFA has made a name for itself in just one year.

I recently attended an event for both teams. Two weekends ago, I went to a mini-camp for the Dallas Diamonds. While this was not an actual tryout, it was set-up much like their tryouts will be. This past weekend, I went to a tryout for the Lone Star Mustangs. At this point I am just considering all options and keeping an open mind. There are things that I like and dislike about each team as of right now. I will continue to weigh my options and consider the pros and cons of both teams.

I still have at least 2 months of rehab left before I will commit to playing. I want to know that my knee is 100% before I make my final decision. But, now is the time that teams are having tryouts for the 2010 season, so I wanted to introduce myself to both teams. I did not want to wait too late and not have a place to play in 2010.

With that said, I did suffer a minor setback today. I strained my hamstring on my left leg. My legs have been sore since early last week as a result of increasing the weights and beginning to sprint. They were still somewhat sore Saturday at the Mustangs' tryout. Even Sunday they were still stiff and sore, although I did not do much at the tryout Saturday. Today during my workout, I strained it pretty good. While jogging, I felt a few instances of it pulling and tightening up, but didn't think much about it. I finished my 10 minute jog then headed to the weight room. There I did my squats, single leg squats, and calf raises with the same weight as last week. I experienced no pain whatsoever while doing those exercises. When I began to do hamstring curls on the Total Gym, I felt a sharp pull behind my knee. So, I stopped right there and went to see the trainer. I explained everything to her. She said it sounds like a strained/pulled hamstring. She said she could feel that my left hamstring was a lot tighter than my right. So, I iced it down and stopped my workout for the day.

I debated on whether or not to call my doctor. I ended up calling and getting them to squeeze me in on Thursday after lunch and asked for them to leave a note for him to call me. He called me early this evening. I explained to him everything that happened. He does not seem too concerned about it, at least not concerned enough to want to see me Thursday. He said it could be a pulled hamstring or scar tissue breaking up, but that since I used the hamstring tendons to replace my ACL, I would be more likely to pull my hamstring and that is very well what could have happened today. I think I am going to take it easy the rest of the week. However, he did say it would be okay to continue working out, but I need to stay away from hamstring-specific exercises until it heals. I think this is my leg's way of telling me it's tired and needs a few days to recover. I've been pushing it hard for the past week, and I have upped the intensity of my workouts. For the next few days I am going to back off and give my legs time to catch up. Hopefully by the weekend everything will be back to normal.

Keep working hard,
QB13

Feel the Burn

2009-10-08T21:52:00.000-05:00

My legs are SORE! Since seeing my doctor on Monday, I have stepped up my workout intensity and my legs are definitely feeling the effects.

I was busy on Tuesday, so I did not get in a full workout, but did manage to squeeze in ten 100-yard sprints. I was completing them in around 24 seconds each. It was much harder to complete the sprints than it is to jog for 10 minutes.

Yesterday, I did my full weight workout, a 10 minute jog, and six 100-yard sprints. I started off with the jog. In the weight room, I upped the weight on squats, calf raises, and leg press. Then, I tried to complete the sprinting program, but tired out after 6 and could not finish.

This morning my legs were feeling the pain of the increased workout. Today though, I pushed through it and completed ten 100-yard sprints, all in less than 20 seconds. After that, I rode the elliptical for 10 minutes and the bike for 20 minutes. Then, feeling energized, I completed my entire weight workout, minus the squats and calf raises. Whew! I was tired. My legs are still feeling the effects of the past two days, but it's a GREAT feeling.

My strength test is in exactly 3 weeks, so from now until then, I will be busting my butt every single day to continue to build the strength back in my left leg. If I continue at this rate, I will be close to 100% in about a month.

Keep working hard,
QB13

4 Months and Counting....

2009-10-05T21:55:00.000-05:00

I saw my doctor today for another check-up. It has been a month since my last check-up. In that time, I have progressed from jogging for 1 minute to jogging for 10 minutes and even being able to run a mile in 10 minutes. I even took a week off from working out during that time. He gave me the clearance today to begin the sprinting part of the running program. Beginning tomorrow I will be attempting to run 10 100-yard sprints instead of jogging for 10 minutes.

In other news from my appointment, he gave me two DVD's for a BOSU Ball workout. I am going to check them out tomorrow and see if that is something I should invest in. My doctor is a firm believer in building core strength, so I will give it a try.

I am still unable to plant suddenly, pivot, and/or change direction on my knee. I go for a strength test in 3 weeks. The results of that test will determine when I will be able to begin agility and cutting drills. From the way my doctor talked today, after that strength test it will almost be time for me to be "fired" from him, meaning I will be close to being fully released. I can't belived that I am on the downhill side of the rehab process. It feels like I just started!

Everything else checked out great. My flexion and extension are the same as they have been. I have no swelling and my scars are healing and beginning to blend in more with my skin. The other tests he does by moving my knee around checked out good as well.

So, pretty much it's a waiting game now- just waiting until my strength is back to 100%. Of course waiting does not mean just "waiting", I will continue to bust my butt in the gym everyday so that I exceed my doctor's expectations on the strength test.

Remember, if you're not working hard, someone else is working hard to kick your butt!

QB13

4 Months Post-Op

2009-09-25T19:41:00.001-05:00

Wow! I almost completely forgot that today marks 4 whole months since my surgery. I guess that goes to show you what type of week it has been. I haven't given my knee much thought to be honest- the reason being I took most of the week off from working out. That probably was not a good decision, but I just needed a break. It has been a very hectic week. I am definitely feeling the effects of it being the 5th week of school. The lack of sleep and being on the go constantly have caught up with me. This week during my lunch break I needed just that, a break. So I took it. Yes, I feel bad about not working out, but I will get back on track this weekend and make up for the days I missed in no time. With that explained, there were no major accomplishments this week with my knee. I am hoping by the end of next week I will be up to running for 10 minutes and ready to begin 100 yard sprints. It has been almost three weeks since I saw my doctor and began running. I started out jogging for 2 minutes and have increased it up to 8. My original goal was to be doing the 100 yard sprints by the time I saw him again. Hopefully, even with this past week's laziness, I can still reach that goal.

Keep working hard,
QB13

4 Days Until 4 Months (post-op)

2009-09-20T23:46:00.000-05:00

This Friday will mark 4 months since my surgery. For anyone new to this blog, I tore the ACL in my left knee on April 11th (for the second time) playing women's football and had surgery on June 5th. Since I had already used the patella tendon in my left knee, I went with a hamstring graft from my left leg. Originally, I was comparing everything from this rehab to my first rehab, but now I think I can throw all comparisons out the window.

Sure, the first few weeks showed similarities- lots of quad-strengthening exercises like straight leg raises, which then progressed to leg press and squats. But looking back to my first injury and surgery now, I feel like I am way ahead of where I was 12 years ago, even though 12 years ago I was about to be released at this point in my rehab. I contribute that to the extra knowledge I have acquired since then. 12 years ago, I was a high school sophomore that knew nothing about knee injuries. Now, I am a 6 year-veteran coach with 2 degrees in physical education/sports management. I am much more aware of what I should be doing as far as rehab. I remember 12 years ago, going to PT three times a week, but doing NOTHING extra to supplement the rehab. I was just focused on getting released to play softball as soon as possible. And, that I did, between 4 and 5 months post-op. I was pretty impressed with that, due to the little research I had done on the infant internet back then. Everything said 6+ months to return to sports.

So here I sit now, approaching the 4 month mark of my second surgery. Everything I have read now says that 2nd ACL reconstructions (revisions) are not nearly as successful as the first time around. That doesn't scare me one bit. That just makes me more motivated to come back even stronger. Knowing so much more about ACL reconstructions this time around has kept me motivated with my rehab. For over a month now, I have not been to see my physical therapist. Instead I have been doing my workouts on my own- working out 5 days a week instead of the 3 days a week I was going to PT. At this point, I know I am much farther ahead in my rehab than I was 12 years ago just due to the fact that I am more aware of what I should be doing, and I am actually doing it!

I had two different doctors for my 2 surgeries. This contributes somewhat to the rehab protocol as some doctors are very aggressive with the rehab and others are conservative. I'm not quite sure how to compare my two doctors, as I think alot of it has to do with my maturity level. The goal of my doctor right now is to get me back to playing football so I feel like he is treating me like a hard-core athlete- like he would treat any high school football player that he operated on. So in that sense, I feel like he is very aggressive because I know his heart is in helping young athletes return from injury. On the other hand, there were some things he was very conservative with- like bed rest for 5 days following surgery, to the point of sending a physical therapist to my house so I would not have to be up on my leg. After my first surgery, which I spent one night in the hospital, I was up and at physical therapy the next day. I returned to school less than a week after surgery. I know my doctor this time around would never go for that- one of the reasons I waited until school was out to have surgery.

In other words, I think there really is no comparison in the two surgeries. I was happy with my first surgery and recovery. After all, I had no problems for 12 years. I actually returned to sports at a higher level AFTER my first surgery and rehab. My 1st ACL reconstruction lasted through 2+ years of playing catcher in softball in high school, 3 years of catching bullpen sessions in college, 1 year of playing rugby, several years of playing recreational sports since then, and less than 1 year of playing women's football. Of course, I am hoping that this 2nd ACL reconstruction lasts the rest of my life and will allow me to participate in whatever activity I decide to take up next.

Everyone keeps asking if I am going to play football again. I can't answer that question right now. As good as my rehab is going, I still feel like I am a long ways from being 100%. I still have several more months of strength-building to go. I will not make a decision about football until I feel more confident in my knee. Sure, right now it gets me through my daily activities, but I need to wait and see how it feels once I am fully released from my doctor, which may be a few more months from now. Whatever happens with my knee, I know that I will take up an activity that will keep me active and fit, whether it be football or not.

So, looking back to 12 years ago, I was about to be released to return to softball. I am nowhere near ready to return to football. For now, I'll just keep working hard with my rehab, take things one day at a time, and see what happens.

Keep working hard,
QB13

15 Weeks Post-Op

2009-09-17T19:22:00.000-05:00

Tomorrow will be 15 weeks since surgery. Things are progressing very smoothly at this point. I began running less than 2 weeks ago, starting with a 2 minute jog. I am already up to 8 minutes as of today. During that same time frame, I have also increased my time on the elliptical from 25-30 minutes to 40-45 minutes. I am still doing cardio twice a week and strength training three times a week, but I am running everyday, at least twice. My knee has done great these past two weeks. My goal is to be finished with my running program by the time I see my doctor again in about 2 weeks. The only parts I have left are running for 10 continuous minutes and then sprinting 100 yards 10 times. My guess is that once I complete this initial running program, I will progress to another sprinting program and maybe even some cutting. My only complaint right now is that my lunch period is not long enough. I would love to be able to work out for 2 solid hours each day like I was when I was going to physical therapy.

Keep working hard,
QB13

95 Days Since Going Under the Knife

2009-09-08T14:58:00.000-05:00

Besides the day that I got out of that horrible straight-leg brace, today brought the best news since surgery- I can begin jogging!!! I saw my doctor today for a routine check-up. Everything looks great. All of the tests he does by moving my knee around looked good and he gave me the clearance to begin jogging. By jogging, he means starting with 1 minute at a time and working up to 10 minutes, but that is something I have not done since my injury on April 11th. After I can jog for 10 minutes straight, I get to start doing 100 yard sprints, with a rolling start and stop.

Of course, he made sure to tell me to keep using the elliptical machine and bike as much as possible as that will do more for building cardio endurance and leg strength. He also mentioned that I should be doing interval training (hills) on the elliptical and adding resistance to the bike. Once I told him that I had been doing 30 minutes of that on the elliptical for the past week and a half his comment was "Great! What do you need me for/What am I here for then?" It was a great feeling to know that for once I had exceeded his expectations.

Unlike a month ago, I feel pretty confident in my knee right now. I feel like my slight set back a month ago was due to pushing my knee too hard too fast. I have a better grasp now on what my knee can and cannot do. Basically, my doctor says to "listen" to my knee. If it begins to swell, I need to back off. Swelling means that it is not ready.

So, tomorrow I begin jogging.

Keep working hard,
QB13

Happy Labor Day

2009-09-07T19:40:00.000-05:00

Wow! Has it really been a whole week since I blogged? This back to school thing has really taken a toll on my free time! I feel like I haven't been on the computer in ages. So, what have I been doing?

1. School- In order to have June, July, and part of August free, they require me to teach 4 classes of Biology and coach volleyball and softball from late August until the end of May. I guess it works out okay, but needless to say August-May are busy, busy, busy. All joking aside, the school year is off to a good, but fast, start. I am out of the house by 7 AM and unless it's a game night, return home by 6 PM each night. My freshmen volleyball team is currently 4-3 on the season. Our next game is tomorrow night.

2. Knee Rehab- Since school started, I have begun doing my physical therapy on my own rather than going to see my physical therapist 3 times a week. It actually works out better for several reasons- I am saving $$$, I am motivated to workout 5 times a week instead of just 3, and did I mention saving $$$? I have stepped up the intensity on the weights and increased my time working on cardio. One day this past week, I stayed on the elliptical machine for 40 minutes!!! I have been trying to concentrate 3 days on weights and 2 days on cardio. On days I focus on weight-lifting, I have been doing at least 10 minutes of cardio and on days I focus on cardio, I usually do weights for whatever time I have left after cardio. I'd say it is going pretty good working out on my own. Our school athletic trainer is around in case I have any questions or need any help. She knows my doctor pretty well and is actually doing PT for another one of his patients, a former softball player of mine, so she is familiar with his rehab protocol. I see my doctor again tomorrow. I've been saying this for several weeks, but hopefully tomorrow I will be given his release to begin running. My knee has felt really good the past 2 weeks and I think he will give clearance to begin jogging. Cross your fingers.

That's really about all thats been going on here with QB13. College football season kicked off this past weekend and I spent quite a few hours in front of the TV. My most anticipated game was Mississippi State vs. Jackson State. My MSU Bulldogs came away victorious, 45-7, in Coach Dan Mullen's debut as head coach. Next up for State is the Auburn Tigers. I am hoping this game will be on TV as well. Last year, we fell to Auburn by a score of 3-2. Yes, you read that correctly, Auburn had one field goal and MSU scored on a safety. Both teams have new head coaches and surely that will lead to more offense and scoring.

Well, referring back to #1 above, I've got to enter grades. Progress reports go out this week. Hope everyone has a great week.

Keep working hard,
QB13

The Start of Week 2

2009-08-30T21:00:00.000-05:00

Tomorrow is the beginning of the second week of school and also the second week of physical therapy on my own. Now that I am in a routine of sorts, keeping up with my PT will be alot easier. The hardest part right now is just keeping on a time schedule so that I can get my workout in before softball practice. My knee has been holding up fairly well and feeling good, even with all the extra hours spent on my feet now. I do still have a tad bit of swelling, but I feel like that will go away with time. There have been a few times since I saw my doctor on Tuesday, that I have had some popping in my knee, but not as much as last weekend. I need to do a better job of keeping up with when these occur. My doctor was stumped as to their cause, but hopes they will disappear on their own. Beginning this week instead of doing 3 sets of 50 on some of my exercises, I am going to start doing "step down sets"- sets of 15-12-10-8, increasing the weight each time. I am going to do this for squats, single leg squats, and calf raises. My other exercises are leg press, single leg press, and hamstring curls. I am doing these on the Total Gym, so I will keep doing as much weight/resistance as possible with these. Per my doctor's protocol, the main thing I need to be working on right now is to continue building strength. When I was going to physical therapy on a regular basis, I had a workout log that I kept up with everything that I did each session. I am going to start doing this with my workouts in order to hold myself more accountable and maintain self discipline.

QB13

My New BFF....

2009-08-27T20:50:00.000-05:00

Wow, lots of excitement in this past week. School, volleyball, PT, doctor appointment, Wal-Mart, yes even Wal-Mart was squeezed into a busy week.

First of all, I survived the first week of school. My classes have been pretty good. I already have my favorites, but don't tell anybody! The day goes by very, very quickly with only 4 classes and getting done at 11:40. For the rest of the afternoon, I am coaching and/or working out. As soon as class is out, I eat lunch in my office. After lunch, I head up to the gym and workout from about 12:30-2:00. Then, softball practice is from 2:20-3:10. After softball, I have a short break, then it's back to the gym for volleyball practice from 3:30-5:00. Finally, around 5:30 I make it home safe and sound, nearly 12 hours after beginning my day. We did lose our volleyball game this week, but my team played very, very well. We have a tournament on Saturday and I am expecting nothing less than another trophy!!!

I had a check-up with my doctor on Tuesday. Tomorrow will be 12 weeks since my surgery. WOW! I cannot believe it has been 3 months since surgery; it seems like only a month ago! Two weeks ago at my check-up, I had some swelling in my knee and had lost some movement (flexion). This week, my swelling was down and I have re-gained full flexion. Also, I now also have full extension!! I'm excited about that because for the past 10 weeks I have been lacking full extension and my doctor told me I may never get it back. But, somehow I have managed to get it. At my last appointment, he took me off of the elliptical machine due to the swelling. Since it was down, he said I should get back on it. That made me so very excited. NOT! I dread getting on the elliptical and would much rather ride the bike, even though the elliptical is a harder workout. So, Wednesday at my workout I worked up the nerve to get on it again. I set the timer for 30 minutes, knowing I wouldn't make it anywhere near that, but I wanted to challenge myself. Twenty five minutes later, I stepped off with an amazing workout. I could not believe I lasted that long, especially since two weeks prior I had to push myself to make it 10 minutes, and hadn't really done any cardio since then. Today, I decided to push my luck and guess what- I made it the entire 30 minutes and felt like I could do 15 more. So, I have made peace with the elliptical machine and we are now BFF's- at least until my knee swells again, LOL. I am still doing as many of my other exercises as possible- leg press, leg curls, squats, etc. and upping the weight as much as possible. I was able to squat a 45 pound bar this week, even though last week I was just at 20 pounds! Most people (who follow the rehab strictly) are able to start running at 3 months post-op. However, my doctor says I need to wait a few more weeks- due to this being my 2nd surgery and the use of a hamstring graft. Mentally, I don't feel ready to run because of the doubt I still have in my knee and leg strength, but I am working on it each day. I still have a little swelling and popping in my knee and ankle that I need to work on getting rid of before I feel like he will let me start running. He does not know where the popping is coming from, but feels like it is scar tissue that is breaking up. I do feel good about the fact that my doctor and physical therapist trust me to do my rehab on my own. I do have an athletic trainer at school, but I have been doing my own thing and just going in for ice after my workouts. One more knee item- I have stopped wearing my brace to school. I still sometimes wear it to volleyball and/or softball practice, but for the most part I have ditched it. Once I get back into sport specific activities in my rehab, I will begin wearing it again, but for now my knee is strong enough that I don't need to wear it for daily activities.

I mentioned Wal-Mart earlier. Somehow in all the commotion this week, I ventured out last night for food. Boy, was I in dire need of it! I had to pull up on the curb in front of my apartment just to unload all the goods. My cabinets were bare, but now they runneth over! It's a good thing too, because all of this work has made my appetite skyrocket!

Well, I had better get to bed. I've got 2 long days of volleyball ahead of me.

Keep working hard,
QB13

1 Day Down, 179 To Go

2009-08-24T20:41:00.000-05:00

I SURVIVED the first day of school! My school district has this funny habit of making the first day of school a 1/2 day, so it went by pretty fast. My classes were only 35 minutes long and I only have 4 classes so I was done by 11:00. On regular days, beginning tomorrow, I will be done at 11:45 each day in the classroom. Then, I have volleyball from 1:25-2:15, softball from 2:20-3:15 and then volleyball again from 3:15-5:00. I have a pretty sweet schedule this year I have to admit it, but I've served my time on the bottom of the barrel.

Tomorrow is my 12 week check up with my knee surgeon. Everything is going well with my knee. Today was actually the first day (other than lazy days at the house) that I have not worn my brace to school and/or volleyball practice. I am trying to ween myself away from wearing it. I can still tell that I think about my knee at times, but not nearly as much as with the brace on as a constant reminder. I am hoping to get the clearance to begin jogging tomorrow. The swelling has gone down since I have taken a 2 week break from the elliptical machine. I'll just cross my fingers until tomorrow.

QB13

No More PT?

2009-08-22T11:25:00.000-05:00

With school starting on Monday, this past Thursday may have just been my last day to see my physical therapist. However, I am in no way near ready to be released. My schedule will just not be able to fit in a 2 hour appointment with her. So, I will be working out on my own during my lunch break and only going to see her if/when the need arises. I see my doctor on Tuesday so I will be talking to him more about this situation. I am 11 weeks post-op which means I should be only 1 week away from starting to run!!! Hopefully my flexion is back- it feels like it is- and no other problems have arisen. As long as he is pleased with everything, I will feel alot more comfortable about doing rehab on my own and not under a PT's supervision. I guess I'll just have to wait until Tuesday to find out.

QB13

A Look Back at Ten Years Ago

2009-08-18T06:49:00.000-05:00

Ten years ago, I had just graduated high school!!! Wow, time flies by fast! In honor of my ten year high school reunion, here are the top 10 songs and movies from 1999.

Top 10 Songs:
1. Believe, Cher
2. No Scrubs, TLC
3. Angel Of Mine, Monica
4. Heartbreak Hotel, Whitney Houston
5. ...Baby One More Time, Britney Spears
6. Kiss Me, Sixpence None The Richer
7. Genie In A Bottle, Christina Aguilera
8. Every Morning, Sugar Ray
9. Nobody's Supposed To Be Here, Deborah Cox
10. Livin' La Vida Loca, Ricky Martin

Top 10 Movies:
1. Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace
2. The Sixth Sense
3. Toy Story 2
4. Austin Powers: the Spy Who Shagged Me
5. The Matrix
6. Tarzan
7. Big Daddy
8. The Mummy
9. Runaway Bride
10. The Blair Witch Project

Here are 3 pictures from my senior year of softball.

Pitching in slowpitch:

Coach Lunceford and I, after winning state in fastpitch:

Catching in fastpitch during the state playoffs:

Last night was the first part of my ten year high school reunion. All the girls look exactly the same, even those with babies, but the guys look different. I will admit though, there were a few people that I had no idea who they were. I had even looked through my yearbook to refresh my memory! I'm definitely taking some football pictures tonight to show off. I had several people ask about it. It's amazing how much the internet has changed since then. With facebook we are able to keep up with each other alot easier. One guy actually referred to facebook while asking me questions about what I had been doing. He named off several things he had seen on facebook. I was a little disappointed that none of my closest friends came. Granted, we have kept up with each other off and on over the past 10 years.

I'm off to go back to school shopping.

Keep working hard,
QB13

And So Another Week Begins

2009-08-17T18:05:00.000-05:00

Another week begins. Another busy day for QB13.

Today marked the first day of week-long teacher workdays in preparation for the start of school next Monday. Boy, was today's convocation a complete blast! There actually are a lot of changes going on in my school district and this year looks to be a great one. They are upgrading our technology and hopefully, I will be getting a projector and lots of other neat gadgets to use in my classroom this year.

With it being volleyball season, I missed out on the afternoon department meetings to attend volleyball practice. Today was the first time in 3+ years that I actually planned practice for volleyball. I always plan my softball practices, with times and everything, but have never planned out my volleyball practice. I usually just "wing it". We got a lot of good work in today in areas we have been struggling.

After volleyball practice, I quickly headed to PT. Today is one of the few days this week I knew for sure that I could fit it in my schedule. I got a good hour and a half workout in. I am still staying off of the elliptical and treadmill until I see my doctor next Tuesday. The swelling in my knee has gone down, but there is still some there.

Here is my current list of exercises:
1. Straight leg raises- 4 directions- 2 sets of 50, with a 4 pound weight
2. Heel slides and ankle pumps- 50
3. Hamstring theraband- 3 sets of 50
4. Total gym- leg press- 3 sets of 50, on level 9 (of 10)
5. Total gym- calf raises- 3 sets of 50, on level 9
6. Total gym- single leg press- 3 sets of 50, on level 7
7. Total gym- hamstrings- 2 sets of 50, on level 2
8. Half squats- 3 sets of 50, 16 pounds, 18 pounds, 20 pounds
9. Single leg half squats- 3 sets of 50, 8 pounds, 9 pounds, 10 pounds
10. Forward/backward walking against a theraband- 15 each direction
11. Single leg balance on trampoline- 3 sets with eyes closed, hold as long as possible
12. Balance/weight shifting on trampoline- 3 sets in 3 directions
13. Leg press machine- 50 pounds, 1 set

#13 was just added today, after I had already completed the total gym leg press. I will work up to 3 sets on my next visit. Obviously, I am not spending 25+ minutes on the elliptical/treadmill, so my workouts are shorter than the previous few weeks. I am hoping to get clearance from my doctor next week to resume the elliptical machine.

On days when I am not going to PT, I work out at school or my apartment. I have also been swimming 2-3 times per week in the evenings. I think everything is right on schedule as far as rehab. I am starting to see some definition come back in my quads, even to the extent of more tone than my good leg.

Oh my gosh! I almost forgot to mention- my volleyball team won 2nd place in our tournament this past Saturday!!! We came from behind in our last match of the day to take home the runner-up trophy! We have one more tournament in a few weeks and hopefully we can add to the collection.

The rest of my week is pretty much completely full. From 7:30 AM until late afternoon each day, I will be in teacher meetings/training, at volleyball practice/game, or at physical therapy.

This coming weekend, I will be heading home to Mississippi for my 10 year high school reunion! I am excited about seeing classmates I haven't seen or talked to since graduation night. I will definitely be posting pictures.

Until next time, keep working hard
QB13

Another Busy Day, With Several More to Come This Week

2009-08-12T07:15:00.000-05:00

Yesterday was an event-fillled day to say the least. I was up by 6:30 and finally crashed in the bed at 11. From start to finish, I was on the run.

First, I was back at school for more science department meetings and trainings. This lasted from 8:30 until 11:30. At 11:30, I rushed home for lunch and scarfed down a sandwich and chips prior to my doctor's appointment at 1. I was running late for my appointment, but I was still the first one called back. I've learned to make my appointments first thing in the morning or first thing after lunch, or I may have to wait up to an hour or more.

So, for the knee update- I've been doing too much. At week 5 I started getting on the elliptical machine per my physical therapist. I am currently on day 68/week 9. For those, what seem like LONG 4+ weeks, I have been faithfully dreading that horrible machine. I know it is a good workout, but it kicks my butt every single day. I have been doing 10 minutes each session, occasionally trying to push it up to 15 minutes. Ok, so back to my doctor's appointment. His first question was "how's the knee/any problems?" I responded with great, no problems. He then asked if there were any problems, would I tell him? Of course I would. I feel like I know a good deal about my injury and what everything should feel like and look like. He check my extension, which I swear I heard him say it was off by 1 degree. That's good news because I had been at 2 degrees, but due to my previous injury, he thought I would never get completely back to "normal". Then he checked my flexion. At my last appointment 4 weeks ago, I had full flexion. Yesterday, I didn't. His next question was, "have you been running?" Of course I haven't been running. I have been following his rehab protocol perfectly, making sure I am very careful everyday in everything that I do. He said there is some swelling in my knee and the most common reason at this point post-surgery is running. So, he told me to stay off of the elliptical machine for a while (I see him again in 2 weeks). He said that could be the cause because of the simulated running motion/impact on the knee. He is obviously concerned about it, but not too terribly concerned. He said the swelling is my knee's way of telling me that it is not ready for running. Then he told me a story of a football player from my school who experienced the same problems post-surgery. That football player went on to rush for over 2000 yards his senior season and is now playing football at Texas State. So, while I am disappointed that I have to slow down with my rehab, I am not too concerned at the moment. Let's just hope it goes away soon! I also had him check out my right wrist. It has been hurting for about 2 weeks. I don't remember doing anything to hurt it. He said it is tendonitis and gave me a prescription for some cream to put on it. To describe the pain, because it's only in certain motions, I used the example of putting on deodorant, because that motion makes it hurt. He quickly responded, "we need to get that fixed, don't need you unable to put on deodorant, now do we!" I love my doctor. He is so easy to talk to and I feel like he could be the busiest man in the world, but would take whatever time needed with his patients.

Up next after the doctor was PT. I'm sure my doctor will call my physical therapist at some point about my knee, but hadn't when I arrived, so I broke the news to her. At the time, I was still disappointed and I think she could tell. I went through my same workout routine, just stayed off the elliptical and treadmill. I had been walking on the treadmill at a brisk pace, forwards and backwards, for 15 minutes, but I thought that could be the source of my swelling so I skipped it too. At the end, she changed up the location and settings of the stim to help with the swelling. It will probably take a few sessions to notice any differences.

After PT, I rushed back home to change for my volleyball game. It was here where I live, so I just met the bus at the gym. My freshman team and our junior varsity team both won, but our varsity team lost. My team played decently. I do need to get them to show more emotion on the court though. They never got down on themselves when we were losing, but they also never acted excited when we were playing good and even when we won.

After volleyball, I hit up the pool for an additional workout, but I did take it easier than I had been. My legs were exhausted. All of this running around everything is catching up to them. Luckily, the rest of the week is not as hectic as Monday and Tuesday. Today I just have science department training and volleyball practice, with a workout squeezed in there somewhere. Thursday will just be PT and volleyball practice. Friday, believe it or not, I have the whole day off!!! Saturday I will be taking my freshman volleyball team to a tournament. Sunday will be another free day (except for WFB Talk) and Monday the madness starts all over again, with only one week before school starts back.

Have a great day!
QB13

As Promised, More Frequent Updates

2009-08-10T22:05:00.000-05:00

I meant to post this last night, but it got too late. I had a pretty decent Monday. I awoke to my new love of life- morning coffee. Yes, at age 28 I have acquired a taste for coffee and look forward to my morning cup each day.

I had a training session at school yesterday for a new computer program we have to use this year. I was supposed to go to training for it in June, but with my knee surgery I completely forgot about it. So, I am getting trained this week. The session basically went like this- log into program, edit my classes, try to actually enter lesson plans, doesn't work, log out, log back in, look around at the other teachers' stuff, try to enter plans again, doesn't work, log out, log back in, you get the picture. Finally, our department head got someone on the phone who is fluent with the program and turns out, I wasn't given access by the administrator to access my subject. Of course that took from 8:30 until 11:30 to figure out and I had to leave then. Oh well, more fun surely awaits today.

I went to lunch with our athletic trainer and then decided it would be in my best interest to work out, since I had to cancel my PT session yesterday because it conflicted with my meeting in the morning and volleyball practice in the afternoon. I got about an hour workout in before volleyball practice.

Practice went well. Our first official game is tonight, but we had several scrimmages last weekend so I have an idea of what we need to work on. We practiced with the JV because maintenance was working on the lights in the main gym. We usually have the "old gym" to ourselves for practice, but it was a nice change to have someone different to practice with. We went over one of the biggest weaknesses of our team and got it perfected for tonight's game. GO DOGS!

After practice, I went to dinner and Wal-Mart. I swear I have been to Wal-Mart every week for the past 3 weeks! But, I need my food!!!

After that, I decided to go swimming for an additional workout. I have a short body board that I take to the pool to use so I can concentrate my energy on my legs, not my arms. It never fails that a kid will ask me if I know how to swim! Then, I have to go into the story about my knee surgery, football, and the workout. It's so funny to see their faces when they ask though. I spent about an hour at the pool.

I made it home in time to listen to 4 Quarters with Coach Lee on WFB Talk Continues. Check it out if you have time. His show is on every Monday night at 9 pm cst.

Ok, so I am awake this morning, showered, and enjoying my morning coffee. I guess it's about time to head off to school. On the agenda for today, besides the volleyball game, is training this morning, doctor's appointment at 1 pm, and then physical therapy at 2 pm. All of that should break the day up and make it go by quickly.

QB13

It's Been A While.....

2009-08-09T18:24:00.000-05:00

Wow, it's been way too long since I updated. The past two weeks have been extremely busy. Since my last update, I went to Round Rock, Texas, for the IWFL Championship and All-Star games, spent a day in San Antonio and Waco, and started volleyball practice. I've picked a few pictures from my trips to share with ya'll.

First, the sign at the Austin airport.

On Thursday, I took BJ to the airport to pick up Meg. BJ lives in Sacramento, California, and Meg lives in Pearland, Texas. Both flew into Austin for the weekend. They are the founders of WFB Talk that I am now involved in. I had met both before, but it was nice to get to hang out more with these ladies.

Here I am in the hotel in a make-shift wheel chair, just messing around and being lazy. LOL

Thursday night we just hung out and chilled at the hotel.
Friday, I went back to the airport. This time to pick up Nancy, also from Sacramento. This was my first time meeting Nancy, also a member of WFB Talk.

After picking up Nancy, we went sight-seeing in Austin while BJ and Meg did football stuff.
First we went to the Lyndon B. Johnson Presidential Library.
Here Nancy and I are in old-time phone booths.

Here I am impersonating LBJ.

After the LBJ Library, we went to the state capital.

We took a quick tour of the capitol. This picture was taken with the camera on the floor, with the three of us standing over it. I thought it turned out pretty cool.

Next, we went to Mount Bonnell. The views were beautiful.

Capping off a great day in Austin, we went to The Oasis overlooking Lake Travis for dinner. We had the best seat in the house for sunset.

Saturday morning it was football time. Here is the kick-off the the IWFL Tier 2 Championship game.

The final score had the Wisconsin Warriors triumphant over the Montreal Blitz, 42-14.

Here Nancy is protecting herself from the hot Texas sun. She was smart; I got sunburned from the 3 hours at the game.

After the game, we went back to the hotel to rest before the next game. Saturday night the D.C. Divas took on the Kansas City Tribe for the Tier 1 IWFL Championship. This is the captains meeting and coin flip prior to kickoff.

BJ and I wore our team's jerseys to the game.

This is the Kansas City Tribe quarterback, Jenny Schmidt #23. She is an amazing quarterback.

The Tribe pulled out the upset. They were underdogs and had far less players than the Divas.

The Tribe poses for pictures with the championship throphy.

On Sunday morning, the East took on the West in the IWFL All-Star game. This was the first year for the All-Star game to be a full tackle game. It was a great game.

Oh, I almost forgot to mention that I did the WFB Talk Continues radio broadcast for the All-Star game. BJ was left scampering for announcers after her original plan fell through and asked Rammy, of SportsGeeks, and I to do it. It was 3 AM when she asked and the game started at 10 AM.

After the game, we headed to San Antonio for more sight-seeing. We hit up the market, the river, and the Alamo.

We also rode the elevator to the top of the Tower of Americas. This is a panoramic pic I took with my new, fancy, schmancy camera.

Monday afternoon, I finally had to say goodbye to my buddies and send them back to the west coast.

But, I was in no way ready for the trip to end, so I stopped and spent the night in Waco Monday night and extended the vacation for one more night. Tuesday I went to Cameron Park on the Brazos River and also made a stop in the Baylor Bookstore.

I was very bad during the trip concerning my knee. I did not work out at all for the entire week I was gone. It was very difficult emotionally- seeing all the other football players who were there to play football, while I sat and watched. Don't get me wrong, I had a blast hanging out with BJ, Nancy, Rene, Meg, Amber, Laura, Rammy, and everyone else I met, but I would have rather been playing, or at least been physically able to play. Since I've been back, I've been alot more diligent with my workouts. I am going to physical therapy on days when it doesn't conflict with volleyball and working out at school on days when it does conflict. We started volleyball practice this past Monday and games start this week! School starts two weeks from Monday, but I have meetings pretty much everyday until then.

Wow, I can't believe the summer is over!! It has been an absolute blast, even with my knee surgery. I've done more this summer than ever before. The only thing I would have added is a camping trip.

I have an appointment on Tuesday with my orthopedic surgeon. I am hoping for a good checkup at the 9 week mark. The strength in my left leg is still way behind my right leg, but I am increasing the weigh/resistance on all my exercises, especially single-leg exercises in order to get it back. I do have several questions for him- like when can I start throwing again and when can I start running. My cardio is starting to come back. I think it has helped being out in the heat more lately, instead of cooped up inside all day long. I also did some pool workouts last week in addition to my physical therapy sessions and workouts at school.

Well, I think that about covers the past 2 weeks. I will be blogging more often with lots and lots of volleyball, school, and knee updates.

QB13

Mid Week Update

2009-07-22T18:48:00.000-05:00

First of all, two panaramic pictures that I took with my new camera. It combines 3 pictures into one automatically in the camera:

Wow, it's been 5 days since my last blog. I have so much to share, but just haven't had time and haven't known where to start. I guess I have three things to share today: 1) my trip to Colorado with my parents, 2) a knee update, and 3) the IWFL championship weekend coming up.

1) Colorado

States visited in this trip: 4

I left a week ago with my parents heading to Colorado for a family reunion of sorts. It was mainly my dad's cousins, some of which he hasn't seen in over 40 years and family that I have never met. My parents picked me up on Wednesday morning and we drove to Tulsa, Oklahoma. We got there in time for my dad to meet with some co-workers and we went to dinner with some as well. We ate at Ruby Tuesday's. I worked at Ruby Tuesday's in Hot Springs, Arkansas, for a year while I was finishing my master's degree. It was interesting to see what had changed on the menu and recollect about my memories from working there.

Here is a picture of me on Halloween of 2005 while working there.

Thursday morning, we left Tulsa and drove through Kansas to Denver, Colorado. We met up with one of my dad's cousins and his daugher and her husband, visited with them for a little while, and then checked into our hotel.

Here is the view from our hotel.

Friday morning, we did some sight-seeing in downtown Denver. We toured the house of the "unsinkable Molly Brown" from the Titanic. At first I did not want to go, but I did enjoy the tour and learning about her life. After lunch, we headed west towards Avon, Colorado, just past Vail. We stopped on our way at Idaho Springs and ate at Beau Jo's Pizza.

This is a waterfall we saw near Idaho Springs.

Then, it was on to Avon. After arriving there, we visited for a little while and then went to Vail to watch the sunset. We rode the gondola to the top of the mountain, listened to live music, and took pictures of the sunset.

We stayed at the Falcon Point Resort, pictured here:

Riding the gondola to the top of the mountain.

Sunset at Vail.

Saturday morning we were awakened by a loud BOOM. Come to find out it was the starting gun of a triathalon. I went out and watched the swim and swim to bike transition for a little while.

When I got back to the room, my dad and his cousin Mike had cooked breakfast. After we ate, a large group of us decided to go for a walk along the Eagle River. We hiked a good ways up the river and turned around and hiked back.

The entire time I was sneezing like crazy. My dad started timing the seconds between sneezes and it was only about a 20 break between each one. So, as soon as we got back I sent him to find some allergy medicine. After getting some relief from a Zyrtec, I went and worked out for about an hour and a half since I was already hot and sweaty from the hike. While I was gone, my dad shared the DVD from my one and only football game with some of our group. As soon as I got done with my workout, another big group was ready to go to Beaver Creek to look around and play putt-putt. So, I quickly changed and headed off with them. Since I had already gone on a long hike and worked out, I opted out of putt-putt to give my knee some much needed rest. Instead, my mom and I walked around, went in some of the shops, and watched everyone else play.

A few pictures from Beaver Creek.

My dad tickling a bear. LOL

When we got back, all of us got together for dinner in one of the other condos. After eating, my dad brought over the football DVD and the rest of the family got to see my game. They seemed sincerely impressed. Everyone had lots and lots of questions about the league, the number of teams, and my knee. Then, we migrated to the clubhouse of our resort and had live music entertainment, played pool and ping pong, and some of our group went swimming. The management ran us out about 10:30, so some of us went back to the condo where we ate and played games until about 1:30. We played spoons and some other funny animal games, and laughed and laughed and laughed.

Live music from the family.

Sunday morning we got up and pooled all our food together and had a big breakfast. Then, we went on one last walk around the lake so I could take a few more pictures. We left Avon about noon and headed south to Pueblo, Colorado, to visit some other relatives. The trip to Pueblo felt like it took 12 hours due to heavy traffic from Avon to Denver. It was stop and go the entire way, 3 hours worth. We visited in Pueblo for an hour or so then decided to hit the road.

Relatives in Pueblo.

We had planned to drive all the way to Amarillo, Texas, but did not make it that far. We made it through the northeast corner of New Mexico, but eventually stopped in Dalhart, Texas, at about 1:30 AM when both my dad and I were too tired to drive any further.

This was the hotel we stayed at Sunday night.

Monday morning we got up and made the rest of the trip home. We did stop in Dallas to visit my aunt Patsy and see her new house. We finally made it into Longview at 10 PM. I have never been so glad to be home as I was Monday night. Don't get me wrong, I loved the trip, but all the time spent in the car was HORRENDOUS!!! If I go next year, I will definitely be flying, which I tried to do, but my parents talked me out of it.

It turned out to be 2200 miles of driving in 6 days. Basically, we drove 4 days to spend 2 1/2 days in Colorado. But hey, I did get to visit 3 more states that I had not been to before- Kansas, Colorado, and New Mexico.

2) Knee Update
This Friday will mark 7 weeks since my knee surgery and as usual, all is going well. I actually surprised myself with keeping up with my workouts while gone. I worked out Wednesday, Thursday, and Saturday. Well, I guess that only means I worked out half of the days I was gone, but 50% is better than zero. It was practially impossible to workout on Sunday and Monday since both of those days were spent entirely in the car. I don't have an excuse for Friday.

Here is a picture I took while bored in the car. The scar is healing very nicely.

I went back to PT yesterday for the first time since the previous Tuesday. I was able to do all of my exercises with the same amount of repetitions and weight as when I left, so I did not lose anything while gone on vacation! I do need to start increasing the weight on some of my exercises though. However, my next PT visit is not for another week. Why? you ask....

3) IWFL Championship Weekend

Tomorrow morning I will be heading to Austin, Texas, for the 2009 IWFL Championship/All-Star weekend. Thursday and Friday will be spent hanging out and doing some sight-seeing in Austin. Both championship games are on Saturday. At 10 AM the Wisconsin Warriors will take on the Montreal Blitz for the Tier 2 North American Championship. At 7 PM the D.C. Divas will take on the K.C. Tribe for the Tier 1 World Championship. I haven't quite decided who I am going to pick to win. It should be two great games. The East vs. West All-Star game takes place on Sunday morning at 10 AM. I can't wait to see these amazing football players in action. I hope to be in their shoes one day- playing for a championship and being named an all-star. After the game on Sunday, I am heading to San Antonio with BJ and Nancy from WFBTALK (http://www.womensfootballtalk.com/). We are going to do some sight-seeing on Sunday and Monday before their flight back to California.

If you can't make it to Austin this weekend, be sure to follow all the action from the following websites: www.twitter.com/IWFL; http://www.iwflsports.com/; www.twitter.com/wfbtalk; http://www.wfbtalkcontinues.com/; www.twitter.com/sportsgeeks; and www.twitter.com/cnewell13.

After this weekend, I only have one week left before school starts back. :( But, I will have lots and lots of stories to tell about my adventures this summer!!!

6 Weeks Out

2009-07-18T00:30:00.000-05:00

Today marked 6 weeks since my surgery. Things are trucking along smoothly with no problems so far. I just need to work on getting my strength back in my left leg. Today was the first time that I was able to walk down stairs normally, without putting both feet on each stair. It was like a light bulb went off in my knee. Yesterday I couldn't do it, but today I could.

I left on Wednesday to go on vacation with my parents. I knew it would be hard to continue with my rehab while gone, but today is the first day that I have not worked out. On Wednesday I did 20 minutes on the bike, 10 minutes on the elliptical, and swam 20 laps. That was the first time I had ridden the bike or gotten in the pool, but have been given clearance by my physical therapist and doctor to do both. Yesterday, I walked on the treadmill for 10 minutes, did two sets each of half squats and single leg half squats, and did a few theraband exercises and straight leg raises. I had full intentions of doing more, but started having some pain on the back of my knee. So, I stopped my workout early and went back to the hotel room and iced it for a while. I was expecting for it to be more sore/stiff this morning, but surprisingly it has felt very good today. I was planning on working out tonight, but did a good deal of walking today and it started hurting a little again, so I skipped the workout. I will workout tomorrow though because most of Sunday and Monday will be spent in the car driving home.

Hopefully tomorrow I will have a chance to blog about my vacation, but for now my mom is yelling at me to get off the computer and go to sleep. :)

39 Days Post-Op

2009-07-15T00:11:00.000-05:00

Welcome back,

This Friday will be 6 weeks since my left ACL reconstruction. I can't believe it's been 39 days as of today. The first 4 weeks felt like 4 months, mainly because I was stuck in a straight leg brace and limited in what I could do in physical therapy. The past week and a half has flown by. My physical therapy visits are taking 2 hours now! They took a little less than an hour when I first started.

I posted my list of exercises last week. This week I have stuck to those, just trying to increase the number of repetitions and/or weight. For weeks 6-12, I will be concentrating on that list of exercises, while building strength back in my left leg. The worst problem I am having right now is getting my cardiovascular endurance back. I feel like I could do leg exercises all day, but I tire out quickly on the elliptical machine. Just gotta keep pushing.

I had a check-up with my doctor today. It went surprisingly well. My doctor is a super-perfectionist. A week after surgery he was very disappointed in my extension, so I busted my butt working on it for a week. Turns out my extension was where it was pre-surgery and I probably won't get that back. At my last check-up, he pointed out that my kneecap on my left knee was not as mobile as my right kneecap. I worked on that for about a week, trying to get it to where he wanted it. Today, he came up with nothing. I have full flexion and extension in my left knee, which means I can straighten and bend it the same as my right knee. My kneecap mobility is where he wants it. I was very proud that I measured up to my doctor's expectations. He just told me to keep working hard in physical therapy, building my strength back up in my left leg.

I did ask about golfing, but I am still not able to golf. He said my ligament is still weak and not strong enough to withstand the twisting. I should have known what the answer would be; my home health care physical therapist had warned me that my knee would feel alot better way before it had healed and regained the strength needed.

My doctor mentioned that I should try swimming to help build up my cardiovascular endurance. So, tonight after dinner I suited up and decided to go down to the pool. Well, wouldn't you know that it was closed for maintenance. Oh well, I came back to my apartment and did wall squats, half squats, and some theraband exercises instead.

I've been wearing my functional brace since I got out of the straight leg brace. I've mainly been wearing it while driving and out of the house. He actually said that I didn't need to wear it except when walking on unstable/uneven surfaces, not even while driving. I'll probably keep wearing it for a few more weeks. I don't want to become dependent on it, but right now it is providing mental confidence in my knee.

My scar is healing very nicely. Can you see it in the following picture? I do still have some swelling in my left knee.

The Mississippi Tales, Continued

2009-07-14T16:47:00.000-05:00

It's a little late, since my trip to Mississippi ended on Sunday, but I've been on the go since I got back and haven't had a chance to update.

On Saturday morning, my mother and I went shopping. Well, it was more afternoon shopping than morning, since I slept until almost 11. We first went to Hobby Lobby. She has been working on her own football scrapbook and after seeing mine wanted to get some stickers and other stuff for hers. While we were there, I found some new stuff I hadn't seen before so I got some new scrapbook things too.

Our next stop after Hobby Lobby was Dick's Sporting Goods, where I saw this:
I have wanted one since last summer when I saw it while camping on the Guadalupe River. A young boy in a campsite close to mine had one and I befriended him so that I could take a few trips down the river. I was going to get one for my camping trip this summer....until I hurt my knee and deciding to cancel camping for this one year :( So, hopefully next summer I will be able to get one.

I did buy a t-shirt at Dick's. It is a Nike Livestrong shirt with the following quote: "Whatever your 100% looks like, give it." I really like that quote. To me it means we all have different capabilities, but should strive always to give 100%, no matter if your 100% is 5 minutes or 25 minutes on the elliptical. (I just had to throw in a mention of the elliptical A.K.A. the DEVIL).

Our next stop was Best Buy. I have been wanting, not necessarily needing, a new camera. I did buy this camera and absolutely love it!

It will get plenty of use during my upcoming trip to Colorado and then Austin.

After stopping for a late lunch, we went to visit my other grandmother.

And, her two birds and two cats.

Saturday night I went to dinner with one of my good friends from high school and her husband. They live just around the corner from my parents. We went to our favorite Mexican restaurant, then hung out at their house afterwards. When we were leaving the restaurant, I couldn't help but notice her shirt and just had to take a picture.

On Sunday morning, we had the usual Newell pre-church breakfast. For as long as I can remember, we have always eaten a HUGE breakfast on Sunday mornings. I don't ever remember eating breakfast any other days of the week, just Sunday. We had eggs, bacon, sausage, hash browns, and gravy. I LOVE my dad's breakfast cooking.

After church on Sunday, my dad and I took a ride in my 1971 Volkswagen Super Beetle. This car is how I was known during high school. There was no sneaking around for me. Everybody knew me as "the girl who drove the yellow bug". It is loud, you can hear it from a mile away. Needless to say, no late night pranks were ever pulled with me driving because the loud noise would give us away. Very soon after graduation, it died, and has sat in my parents' driveway untouched for almost 10 years. Recently my dad finally got it up and running again. It still needs some work, like new tires, new paint, and some interior work, but runs just like the ol' bug I remember. We took it out for a spin, but quickly turned around and headed home after passing a cop. The vintage car license plate is still good on it, but the inspection sticker is over 10 years expired and neither one of us had on our seat belts. Here is a video my dad took of me driving it into the garage.

That about sums up my trip to Mississippi. It went by quickly, but I got a good bit accomplished. Tomorrow I am off to Colorado with my parents. I will post another blog later today about my physical therapy and doctor's appointments this week.

Tales from The 'Sip

2009-07-11T00:57:00.000-05:00

My first full day in Mississippi was very productive. I did some visiting, brushed my parents' cat, took some pictures, did a little cooking and eating, and even squeezed in a small workout.

Here are the pictures I deem necessary for viewing, along with commentary.

First, the sunset from the mirror yesterday evening while crossing through Louisiana. Sorry Rene, stole the idea for this picture from you. Please and thank you.

When I arrived to my hotel, the bed was nicely made and the innkeeper (my mom) even put a dish of mints on the pillows. She's quite a jokester, now you know where I get it from. I was not expecting such 5-star accommodations for this trip, after all it's free for 3 nights.

The status of this smoke detector does pose some concerns however. Perhaps that is the reason for the discounted rate. Maybe I should sleep with the window open for easy exiting if necessary.

After a good night's sleep, and no fire thank goodness, I spent quite a few minutes brushing the family pet, Scooter. Scooter is almost 6 years old, loves to bird hunt, and is available for brushing whenever you are. Who could resist this eligible bachelor? Ooops, wrong blog.

Notice anything different about Scooter?

While doing some investigative work around the house to discover what all is new or has changed, I wandered upon this non-native plant in the backyard. The story goes that it is actually a transplanted plant from Palestine, Texas, home of my dad's best buddy. Looks like it belongs in Florida or California to me. However, I'm not a plantologist, but I did stay at the Newell Inn Express last night.

The luckiest dog in the world:

Why? you ask. My grandmother rescued this little fellow, Rascal, from the local pound after her Jack Russell Terrier passed on. Rascal brought with him to his new home the worst case of heart worms ever. He was lucky enough to find a home with someone who would provide the proper treatment, rehabilitation, love, and patience to nurse him back to full health, as well as all the $$$. Being from a poor upbringing, he's not the most cooperative dog, but he provides love and companionship and takes cute pictures too!

Here my grandmother and Rascal are just sitting, enjoying the company of a professional quarterback in their living room. They were very gracious fans, not those star-struck crazies who follow you across the country and show up at every game.

A picture of our gourmet meal was not available at press time due to being ravaged by starved natives. It was a enchilada dinner with refried beans and taco soup. It classifies as a gourmet meal because all of the ingredients were purchased from the most extravagant Kroger I have ever seen. I'm talking Food Network-type extravagance, complete with a sushi bar.

I did manage to squeeze in a small workout today- just some straight leg raises, half squats, single leg half squats, and walking. I call it "squeezed" because in the room with me was a 25" TV, small laptop computer, desktop computer with small desk, Apple computer with humongous desk, scanner, two printers, twin size bed, and no telling how many other computer peripherals. I chose this room due to the availability of television viewing which was not included in my discounted rate room. I did have a little soreness in my hamstrings and hips from my 2 hour workout on Thursday, but that did not stop me from working out today.

All in all, it was a great day. On the agenda for tomorrow is visiting my other grandmother, scrapbook shopping with my mom, and dinner with a high school friend.

Peace and bacon grease,

QB13

5 Weeks Out (Almost)

2009-07-09T21:35:00.000-05:00

Tomorrow will be five weeks since my ACL reconstruction. Things are getting back to normal and I feel like I am finally able to relax and enjoy my summer. Of course, I am still busting my butt at PT three times a week, but this week it feels like my knee has not been the first thing I think about all the time. I'm not sure how to explain it, but I guess I'm trying to say it's not always on my mind like it has been the past 5 weeks. I feel more comfortable walking and getting around and doing stuff, which is good for my self-diagnosed A.D.D.

Today my physical therapist stepped my workout up a notch as promised on Tuesday. She added 7 new exercises to my list of 10 already. It took me 2 hours start to finish for today's PT session, and I actually skipped 3 exercises so I could get on the road. I won't re-type all my previous exercises, just my new ones (look back a few entries to see the others).

1. 10 minutes on the treadmill, walking frontwards 5 minutes and backwards 5 minutes, at a very slow pace, I think I walked a quarter of a mile

2. leg press, single leg on total gym, 2 sets of 50

3. trampoline, shifting weight front to back and side to side, also balancing on single leg with eyes closed

4. stork stance- same as #3 but on solid ground, with eyes closed

5. hamstring curls on total gym, 2 sets of 50

6. walking against sport cord/theraband, 25 times

7. single leg half squats, i didn't do these today

I saved the elliptical machine for the very end today, dreading those 10 minutes. It seems like I can do squats, leg press, etc. all day, but the elliptical machine plays with my mind. It's like the timer stares at me and taunts me the entire 10 minutes saying "you know you want to quit, you know you can't do anymore". The 10 minutes I am spending on the elliptical feel like 10 hours. My cardio held up today through 10 minutes, but my legs were shot! This was the first time since surgery that my legs have tired out before my cardio. It was a good feeling.

After PT today, I hit the road, headed for my parents' house in Mississippi. Today is the first time I have driven my car, Cleveland Cavalier, since before my surgery. The reason being- it is a stick shift, as is Jessie Jeep, and my surgery was on my left knee. It was surprisingly easy to drive and in the words of my softball player who is also going to the same physical therapist and had the same surgery one week after me, I am no longer driving the granny mobile. LOL

It will be a challenge this weekend to keep up with my workouts while in Mississippi. I am foreseeing a little soreness in the morning due to the workout today. I have got to make myself workout this weekend so come Monday it doesn't feel like I have fallen behind.

Have a good one,

QB13

Quote of the Day

2009-07-06T20:07:00.000-05:00

Today's PT session was about the same as last week. Did all of my same exercises, plus two new ones. I'm guessing the two new exercises, which involved one of those huge exercise balls, were supposed to challenge me, but they didn't. For the first one, I laid down on my back with my legs extended and put my feet on the ball. Then, I raised my mid section off of the table. After holding myself up for about a minute or so, I asked my PT how long I was supposed to go. Her reply was 30 seconds LOL. For the next exercise, I sat on the ball with my feet on the ground and knees bent to 90 degrees. I then lifted my right foot off the ground for 2 seconds and then back down and then left foot for 2 seconds. I did this about 30 times each way. I understand the point of the exercises- working my core and stretching my hamstrings for the first one and balance and core strengthening for the second one, but they were a piece of cake. After I did the second exercise my PT looks at me and says, "that's really easy for you, huh?" I responded "yes". She had this look of disbelief on her face and said, "ok, that's enough, go get on the total gym". I was cracking up inside. First of all because she acted like they would be a huge challenge and second of all because it made me feel good that I have more strength than the normal ACL reconstruction patient at this point. I do have to admit that staying on the elliptical machine for 10 minutes was hard work today. I guess the layoff over the weekend and all of the holiday food got to me.

I did notice today that I am getting more and more comfortable walking normally, with no limp. Sometimes though I totally forget about my weak leg/knee and have to remind myself to slow down and/or be careful with how I am moving. I have two more PT sessions this week and will be pushing myself hard because I am taking a mini-vacation to visit my parents this weekend and know it will be hard to make myself workout there.

Check out these links!

2009-07-05T18:44:00.000-05:00

Since my injury on April 11th, I have become more addicted to my computer than prior to my injury (which was already ALOT of time spent gazing at the screen). I've been doing mainly ACL and football research, imagine that. Here are some links you need to check out:

ACL links:

My Personal ACL Reconstruction and Rehab Blog- Living the Dream http://www.cassienewell.com/
EhealthMD http://www.ehealthmd.com/library/acltears/ACL_whatis.html
Dr. Jon Hyman http://www.drjonhyman.com/aclpage.shtml
Knee1.com http://www.kneeone.com/
KNEEguru http://www.kneeguru.co.uk/

Football links:

Women's Football Talk http://www.womensfootballtalk.com/ , http://www.wfbtalk.com/ , and www.wfbtalkcontinues.com Awesome info!! I highly recommend it, and not just because I am a part of it. Great women supporting women's football.
The Independent Women's Football League (IWFL) http://www.iwflsports.com/ THE Women's League
The Shreveport Aftershock http://www.shrevportwomensfootball.com/
SportsGeeks http://www.mysportsgeeks.com/ Rammy is awesome!!! He's the biggest women's MMA and women's football supporter I've ever met!!!

Other stuff:

Twitter http://www.twitter.com/ www.twitter.com/cnewell13
My Twitter Favorites (in no particular order): www.twitter.com/sportsgeeks www.twitter.com/wfbtalk www.twitter.com/IWFL www.twitter.com/qosbaszler

I'm on Myspace and Facebook, too. Search Cassie Newell to find me. There are lots of football and surgery pics there.

Graduation Day

2009-07-03T21:50:00.000-05:00

Yippie! I made it! I survived 4 weeks post-op. This morning I said good bye to the big bulky brace on the left and graduated to the smaller functional brace on the right. If that doesn't seem like a big deal, send me your address and I'll send it to you to wear for a month. It spans hip to ankle with thick pads that wrap around the calf and thigh and worst of all it's locked completely straight. Any takers? The functional brace is much slimmer, shorter, and allows for full range of motion movement.

It's sorta crazy how it works, but for 4 weeks my knee was locked straight and now I am completely out of the brace, no transition period of wearing it unlocked with movement at all. I am not required to wear the functional brace at all really, but am doing so to protect my new ACL. Right now my new ligament is actually at it's weakest point so I don't want one wrong step to mess it up.

Ok, back to my knee. Everything is going surprisingly well. Before surgery I had some fears about the surgery and rehab because this was my second surgery. Honestly, the worst part has been the inconvenience of having surgery and wearing the straight leg brace. The physical therapy has been fairly easy so far. Sure, there are some days that I have to dig deep to find motivation to do the rehab, but I always feel better after completing it.

The physical therapy is getting longer and longer. Here is my current workout:
1. Straight leg raises (4 directions w/4 pound weight)- 3 sets of 50
2. Heel slides- 3 sets of 50
3. Ankle pumps- 50
4. Suspension bridge stretch- 10 minutes
5. Theraband hamstring exercise- 3 sets of 50
6. 45 degree squats- 3 sets of 50
7. Wall squats- 3 sets of 50
8. Elliptical machine- 10 minutes
9. Leg press on total gym- 50
10. Toe press on total gym (toes straight, toes out, toes in)- 30 each
11. Ice and stim- 20 minutes

Wow, that's a lot for 4 weeks out. I started out for the first 3 weeks just doing #1-4 plus ice and stim. It took about an hour and I was only going to PT twice a week since I was able to do all of that at home as well. Just this past week the other exercises were added and it is now taking over and hour and a half. I am going to PT three times a week now and still doing exercises at home on the days I don't go to PT.

Getting out of the huge brace has been a relief. I don't have to plan every movement ahead of time- like getting ready for bed. I usually ice right when I get in the bed, but I would have to make sure I had everything set up (like ice, water by the bed, tv/dvd player ready, medicine taken, etc) because once that brace was off, I was stranded in the bed unless I wanted to put it back on. It has been so nice today just getting up and walking around freely, not having to worry about having my brace on. I did venture out to the grocery store today and wore my functional brace. I do need to work on my walking. I am still favoring my left leg, sort of walking with a limp, but that will improve as I walk more and get used to the feeling of walking again.

I think the most important thing that has made the surgery and rehab fairly easy so far is all of the work I did before surgery getting my leg ready. Also helping is the fact that this was my second surgery, so I knew a lot of what to expect. Yeah, it's been a pain sticking to the protocol as far as wearing the brace and being limited in physical therapy, but I know it is a necessary evil I must endure in order to get back on the field. And trust me, I WILL be back on the field next year!

Day 26, but who's counting?

2009-07-01T23:43:00.001-05:00

In two short days I will be a full 4 weeks post-op, which means the brace comes off and my physical therapy will intensify. I went to the doctor yesterday for a check up. Everything looks good, except I still have a little fluid under my kneecap, but I have exercises to get rid of it. My range of motion is great. I have full extension and 137 degrees of flexion. My doctor is such a perfectionist and I love it! I feel 100% confident as long as I am under his care.

Not much else going on with QB13. My modem broke so I've been using my free time with no internet to catch up on my football scrapbook. Yes, you read that right, this tough football player also enjoys scrapbooking! I started doing it in high school, but haven't had much time in recent years to keep up. I'll post some pictures later. I did suffer one scrapbooking-related injury today. My knee swoll up like a melon after sitting at the table most of the day. Wow, that shows you how much I've been up on my feet in the past month- not very much at all!!! LOL

Finally, 3 Weeks Out

2009-06-27T15:48:00.000-05:00

Yesterday marked 3 weeks since my 2nd ACL reconstruction on my left knee. Time-wise it feels like 3 months, but rehab-wise I feel way behind. I don't think I am behind, but since most of my swelling is gone, my left leg is so much smaller than my right.

I did get a surprise at PT Thursday. I went in, for the first time in a week, expecting to do my normal straight leg raises, heel slides, ankle pumps, and stretches. Well, I did all that, 3 sets of 50, plus more. My PT added half squats, wall squats, theraband exercises, and the elliptical machine! I did 2 sets of 50 of the exercises and then finished up with 9 minutes on the elliptical. Nine minutes doesn't sound like very long, but for someone who hasn't even ridden a stationary bike in a month or run in close to 2 months, it was a good workout. My PT told me to shoot for making it through 5 minutes and that some people barely make it 2-3 minutes the first time, but I decided to go as long as I could. At about 9 minutes I was huffing and puffing and my legs were getting tired. Boy, I could definitely feel it in my legs Friday! It was actually a good feeling to wake up Friday morning with some work-out induced soreness.

I am doing a minimum of 200 straight leg raises and heel slides and stretches and quad sets at home on days I don't go to PT. I am also icing at least twice a day at home as well. I still have a little swelling on top of my kneecap towards the outside. I have continued talking aleve twice a day also to help keep the swelling down.

I had my first mental breakdown last night. It's been almost 3 months since my injury and 3 weeks since surgery. Other than the first week after my injury, I have put on a smiley face and have been completely positive about my injury and surgery. And, for 95% of the time, that positive attitude has been sincere. For the past few days, I let my thoughts wander and started questioning my injury. Why me? Why now? Why can't I get out and enjoy my summer, camping, the lake? My summer is halfway over and I feel like I've hit a wall mentally. Everything I've done for the past 3 weeks, my knee has been on my mind. I'm ready for this injury to be an afterthought. So, what that means is I have to push through this next week and make it to week four when my PT will become more intense. Sorry for the rant, just had to get some stuff off my chest.

The above picture is of the last of my bruising. It started out as a 6 inch by 6 inch massive bruise and now it is down to about 2 inch by 1 inch. Also, a picture of my legs side by side. You can see the loss of muscle as my left leg is much smaller right now than my right leg.

Day 19 Post-Op

2009-06-24T19:24:00.000-05:00

Wow! I need to stay more up-to-date with my blog, but just how exciting are straight leg raises, quad sets, and heel slides? NO FUN ANYMORE AT ALL- if you ask me. Thank goodness in about 9 days, I will be out of my brace and be able to do more than just those few exercises.

I do have to admit that I have slacked off a little bit lately with my rehab. I have not been to PT since last Tuesday, but am going tomorrow. I am going to get back into my routine of doing all of my exercises everyday.

My scar is healing up nicely after getting the rest of the staples out last week. In the pic below, my new scar is on the left and you can sorta see my old scar to the right of it.

Day 11 Post-op

2009-06-16T23:09:00.000-05:00

This is about as exciting as life gets during the first 2 weeks post-op!

Wow, it's been a few days since I posted. Since my last post, I've been to PT twice and the doctor once.

Yesterday was my second visit to PT. I started out by doing 50 straight leg raises in 4 directions, 50 heels slides, 50 ankle pumps, and 10 minutes of the suspension bridge stretch. After I quickly knocked that out, my PT suggested I do 100 more. I took this to mean 100 more of all 6 exercises, so I got to work. It wasn't until I was almost done that she realized what I was doing- she had just meant 100 more straight leg raises, just one direction. Oh well, I am supposed to do 200 a day so that was most of my daily workout. I had busted my butt since my PT visit Thursday, so it was fairly easy to do 3 sets of 50 for all 6 exercises.

At my first post-op doctor's visit Thursday, I was 2 degrees of extension off from my good knee. My doctor, being a perfectionist, said he wanted me at 0 by today. I really pushed myself with the suspension bridge stretch over the weekend. I even stretched this morning and did a quick set of 50 of each exercise before going to the doctor, just to loosen my knee up after a LONG night in my brace locked at full extension. Sure enough the first thing he checked was my extension- still 2 degrees off. He checked his surgical notes- I'm guessing due to my look of disappointment still being 2 degrees off or maybe to see what my extension was prior to surgery. On the morning of surgery I was also 2 degrees off, so chances are I will never get that back. He said it was probably due to my first surgery 12 years ago and over those 12 years I lost full extension. It is not noticeable, except by him.

So, now for the good news. I got the rest of my staples out, which was not the best feeling in the world. It felt like they had grown into my skin. I have 120 degrees of flexion, which at this point is insignificant because I am still locked in my straight leg brace for another 2+ weeks due to the meniscus tears that had to be repaired. I don't have to sleep in the brace anymore though! I've been having a hard time getting comfortable and sleeping so hopefully my knee being free will help. My next doctor's appointment is in 2 weeks, just before I hit the 4 week mark- which means I can start riding the bike!!

I went to PT again this afternoon. My insurance at this point does not limit my number of visits, so I'm taking every opportunity to go. It helps me stay motivated, plus I like doing stim after my exercises. I did all of my same 6 exercises, 3 sets of 50 each. For the second and third sets, I added a 3 pound weight to my thigh. My leg was shaking at the end, but it felt good to get more of a challenge.

I am hoping these next 2+ weeks go by quickly. I am ready to move to the next phase of PT, but I know I have to wait until my knee is ready.

Day 7

2009-06-12T22:24:00.000-05:00

Wow! It's been a full week since my ACL reconstruction. Other than the bruises and huge brace as a reminder of the torture my knee and leg went through last Friday, I am feeling pretty good. I worked hard on my extension today as well as my other exercises. The bruise on the inside of my thigh is now a whopping 6 inch by 6 inch square (see attached picture).

Whew! I'm Tired!

2009-06-11T21:58:00.000-05:00

Today was day 6 post-op. It's hard to imagine a week ago tomorrow I was nervous as hell, scared to death, and worried about surgery. I am amazed at the quick progress I have made after surgery. I definitely attribute my success so far to the four weeks of busting my butt in the training room prior to surgery. Anyone reading this who may be about to have an ACL reconstruction- DO THE PRE-OP REHAB AND DO IT 11o%. It makes so much difference in your short-term recovery time as far as regaining quad control, flexion, and extension.

Today I had appointments with both my physical therapist and my doctor.

First was the physical therapist, which I was almost late for because I've been sleeping late everyday and was not used to getting up early and getting ready to leave the house. Usually, it's just wake up whenever, move to the couch, and then later back to the bed. She was quite impressed. I didn't really do anything that I haven't already been doing, but she did tweak the way I do my straight leg raises, to emphasize the medial part of my quad. Other that than, she said everything looked great and I should have a good doctor's visit. Starting out she usually sees patients with ACL reconstructions three times a week, but I am only going once next week because the only things I can do are the exercises I have been doing. It was obvious I can do them on my own, so I will go on Monday and then only again next week if I run into any problems.

After PT, I finally got to see my cats for the first time in 6 days! I missed them. They sniffed and sniffed of my brace, shoes, and clothes. My recovery house also has 2 cats, both males, so they were interested in where I had been for the past week.

After a short visit with the kitties, it was back in the car, time to head to the doctor's office. Once I finally got to see the doctor, he went over the surgery with me. He had taken several pictures with of the inside of my knee. Of course, he had to explain each one, but he didn't seem to mind at all. I actually enjoyed it and probably could have talked to him the rest of the afternoon, but he had other patients to see. He checked my flexion and extension. He made no comment about my flexion, but my extension is off 2 degrees from my good knee, so he wants to see that improved by Tuesday! I am having one little pain on the outside of my knee. Once I was able to reproduce the pain by doing quad sets, he had me mark it. He threw out his idea of what it probably was and then took an x-ray. Sure enough he was right! I have some rubbing of tissue (he didn't say what kind of tissue) over the screw/fixture where the graft was secured to my femur. He said it should go away on its own. Let's cross our fingers! Later the nurse took out half of my staples. I guess that how he makes sure I come back Tuesday, so I can get the rest of them out. LOL I watched the first two come out, but after that I turned my head. I can usually handle watching things like that, but not today.

The doctor asked if I had any questions, complaints, comments, etc. about everything. I started off with the lady who was rude to me on the phone Friday night when I returned his phone call. She works for the hospital, and he told me who I should contact to complain. (I didn't share this story, but the short version is she made me cry.) I then had to give him a hard time about not warning me about the catheter. He laughed. My last comment was to give huge kudos to the home health care physical therapist. I absolutely loved him. Before I had even left the office, Dr. Williams had called the company to tell them thank you for the good care. That is it so far. I meant to start a list of questions to ask, like when can I drive, how long in the brace, etc., but forgot, so I am going to work on that before Tuesday.

After leaving the doctor's office, I went to eat at my favorite mexican restaurant. It was so good! My favorite server was there and she even remembered I had surgery last week and had been thinking about me.

By the time I got back to my apartment, it wasn't even 6:00, but I was exhausted. I tried to stay up and catch up on some computer stuff, but quickly ended up in the bed for a nap!

So, a week later after my second ACL reconstruction on the same knee, all is well. Looking back over the past week, I'd have to say it was easier than I expected. The pain was far less than I anticipated. Of course, I'd like for my extension to be perfect so far, but I'm working on it. My only complaint is that all the time spent in the bed has zapped my energy, but that will come back once I am able to ride the bike and start the second phase of my rehab.

Now, for some pictures from today:

In the waiting room at the doctor's office. Sitting like this most of the day brought back some swelling.

Dr. Williams discussing the pictures while showing me on a model. Notice the bruising is still ugly.

The Shreveport Aftershock board. He has a poster for all of the schools that he sees athletes from. The second signature is Sarah Simmons, who sprained her MCL when I fell into her on the play that I tore my ACL. Dr. Williams jokingly accused her of taking me out on purpose so she could play quarterback (She was my replacement for the remainder of the season.)

X-Ray of my knee taken today to diagnose pain on outside of knee. You can see the screws and staples.

Trying to be tough and watch the staples come out.

Day Five

2009-06-10T20:39:00.000-05:00

Tomorrow is my first post-op doctor's appointment and my first regular physical therapy session!

Today has been about the same as the past two. I am almost pain free- completely off pain meds since Sunday night. The swelling around my knee has subsided greatly, but some of it has moved down to my ankle. The bruising looks a lot worse, but some of them are starting to go away.

My last visit with my home health care PT was this morning. If I lived closer, I'd probably stay with him for my out-patient PT. He is very knowledgeable and I feel like he would challenge me with the rehab- within my doctor's protocol and my physical limits of course.

I do have one concern for my doctor tomorrow and that is a pain on the outside of my knee after doing about 20 quad sets and straight leg raises. I feel it for a few minutes while flexing after doing the exercises. I sorta took it easy on the quad sets today for this reason. I'll ask about it tomorrow and hopefully it's normal.

I made it up to 75 degrees on the CPM machine today. I do have to turn in my polar pack tomorrow even though I wish I could have it another week. Not sure about the muscle stim unit. I haven't used it since yesterday morning.

That's it for today. I've included some pictures of my scar and bruising.

Day Four

2009-06-09T23:35:00.000-05:00

Hmmm...not much news to report tonight. I am up to 70 degrees on the CPM machine. I started at 45 degrees Friday after surgery. I can bend my knee further than that doing heel slides, but I am not pushing it since I did have three small meniscus tears and my doctor's protocol says no passive flexion past 90 degrees. Heel slides are considered active flexion since I am using my muscles for the movement, but I still don't want to push my luck.

The visit from the PT went well. He is so nice and easy to talk to. He treats me like a professional athlete! He did his usual checks on range of motion, stretches, and questions about how everything is going. He did notice that when I do my quad sets my heel lifts up- that's a good thing. It means I am getting my extension back.

My pain is virtually gone. I have not taken a pain pill in 48 hours.

I am feeling more and more comfortable walking with just one crutch and can take a few steps comfortably without them.

I guess the worse thing right now is being cooped up inside all day and not being able to get out and do stuff. I did ride to Sonic tonight to pick up dinner. LOL

My first post-op doctor's appointment is Thursday as well as my first visit to my physical therapist. I hope to find out more then if I am on the right track.

Day Four Pictures

2009-06-09T14:47:00.000-05:00

Lots of bruising, but reduced swelling.

Day Three

2009-06-08T20:51:00.000-05:00

Day three has been the easiest so far. I am sleeping better and better each night. My pain is also less and less each day. My goal is to be off the pain meds by my doctor's visit on Thursday. I've only taken tylenol and aleve today. My last pain pill was at 9 last night.

I got an earlier start on my rehab exercises today, which is a good thing considering the amount of work I have to do.

My range of motion is increasing each day. I started at 45 degrees on the CPM machine after surgery and have increased it to 54 degrees already. My physical therapist wants me to be at 65 degrees by the time I see him tomorrow night and I don't think that will be a problem. I actually did a leg slide today while he was here to almost 90 degrees. He seemed very impressed with my ability to fire and tighten my quad. I have been working hard on that with my exercises.

Some of the differences so far between my two surgeries:
1. Weight-bearing. For my first surgery 12 years ago, I was non-weight bearing for several weeks. This time I was weight-bearing in a matter of hours after surgery. I limited the amount of weight I placed on my operated knee the first two days, but have been putting more and more weight on it each time I get up today. PT said I should be off crutches by Thursday hopefully.
2. CPM Machine- I did not have the CPM machine for the first surgery, but have it this time. I absolutely love it. It keeps my knee moving and keeps it from getting stiff. Most of my pain has been from stiffness, so now instead of taking a pain pill, I just get in the CPM machine and it goes away quickly.
3. Muscle Stim Unit- I did not have this the first time. It was set up the first two days to help with circulation, but my PT changed it yesterday to help me fire and tighten my quad.
4. Polar Pack- I did have this for my first surgery, but I have used it way more this time. It is basically an electric cooler that continuously pumps ice water through a pad that is wrapped on my knee. It is a lot easier than using ice packs and I'm able to keep my knee iced for the most part of the day, so it helps with swelling and bruising.

I did have some small meniscus tears that had to be repaired during surgery this time. I expect that will be the basis for most of the differences in rehab, but I will know more about that on Thursday.

So far I'd have to say that this has been a lot easier than I expected. My first surgery was very easy as far as pain and recovery. I was fearing that the second time around would be a lot harder, but so far it hasn't.

My Favorite New Toy- The CPM

2009-06-08T20:29:00.000-05:00

Here are some pics of my CPM (continuous passive motion) machine. I spend at least 8 hours a day in it, usually more because it helps a lot with pain and stiffness.

Day Two

2009-06-07T19:57:00.000-05:00

Day two has been quite eventful. I woke up in severe pain, but got it under control very quickly and feel great right now.

I took another look at my knee with all the bandages off. It's ugly right now due to swelling and bruising. The bruising is worse than yesterday, which is to be expected, but the swelling is down from what I can remember yesterday.

I have been following my doctor's protocol to a T, which requires 5 days of lots of lying in bed, but yet lots of rehab exercises. I understand now that is the reason for the home health care physical therapy- to stay off the knee and keep it elevated as much as possible. After talking with the PT yesterday, we decided it would be best to split all the exercises up into 4 sets. Right now I am doing 8 hours a day on the CPM machine, 200 ankle pumps, 200 quad sets, 200 heel slides, 200 straight leg raises, 10 minute suspension bridge leg hangs every hour, and four 30 minute sessions with the muscle stim unit. Thus, the need to break it up into 4 sets. It's a lot to get done in one day, and overwhelming to think about, but I can tell that it is definitely helping regain flexion, extension, and strength.

I was a little discouraged this morning when I woke up in so much pain, but I know now that will happen, especially after lying still all night.

I still have a long way to go, but I am pleased so far with the progress I have made.

Day Two Pictures

2009-06-07T17:46:00.000-05:00

Day One Post-Op

2009-06-06T16:36:00.000-05:00

Well, it's been over 24 hours since I was released from the hospital and believe it or not, it's been pretty easy sailing so far. Here's the re-cap.

I arrived at the hospital around 5:45am yesterday morning and was called back to the 'holding tank' fairly quickly. After changing into a lovely hospital gown, the nurses and doctors started trickling by to give me all the details. The first nurse had me take the mandatory pregnancy test (which I passed LOL) and inserted my IV. Then the anesthesiologist came and introduced himself. Next to stop by was my surgical nurse who sprung the words breathing tube and catheter on me. This was the first I had heard of this, but it was necessary because of the length of surgery they anticipated. She also initialed my leg to be operated on, which I had already written YES on. Dr. Williams stopped by next and also initialed my leg and said he'd see me in a few minutes in the operating room. I noticed on the surgery schedule board across from my pre-op waiting area that his next surgery was scheduled 5 hours after mine. This was due to the complicated nature of my ACL reconstruction since it was the second reconstruction on the same knee, also called ACL revision. The surgical nurse returned and seemed irritated that she had to wait on the CRNA in order to take me back to surgery. The CRNA arrived, introduced herself and explained that she would be performing the anesthesia duties. At approximately 7:05 I was wheeled back to the operating room.

Once in the OR several things were happening. First my left arm with IV was secured and then my right arm was fitted with a blood pressure cuff and O2 sat and secured. A blanket was taped over both arms and warm air was blown under it. After that, it was lights out.

Here are several updates from my care-taker in waiting room via phone from OR.
8:20- had been under anesthesia for an hour while prep work was done, first incision was made at 8:05
9:15- hamstring graft had been removed and was adequate, doctor was beginning scope to assess any other damage, evaluate old graft and examine tunnels
10:30- most work was done, doctor was inserting new hamstring graft
11:15- incisions being closed, would be sent to recovery after wrapping knee
11:40- Dr. Williams called with updates-old graft was intact but severely stretched and very unstable, old screws did not interfere with new screws which means everything could be done in this one surgery, 3 small meniscus tears that had to be repaired by drilling holes to stimulate blood flow which will limit flexion to less than 90 degrees for one month, partial MCL tear that will heal itself, no other cartilage damage that would have required microfracture procedure and 2 months non-weight bearing, knee joint is now in perfect working order- tight and secure

The first thing I remember once waking up is trying to move. I felt like I needed to rollover- like when you lay in one position too long. Of course I was going nowhere.

Pretty soon after waking up, I slowly began to sit up. It seems as though once I sat up it was a race to get me out of there, but there were still several things that had to be done. First an x-ray technician came by and took 2 x-rays. Right behind her was the physical therapist who had to go over the polar pack ice machine, the CPM machine, the muscle stim (electrotherapy) machine, the straight leg brace, and walking with crutches. Once I was up walking, I made my way to the bathroom. I had to "void" before they would release me. Somewhere in the middle of all this my care-taker went to get my prescriptions filled. I woke up in recovery at noon and was in the car by 2:15, but it felt much faster than that.

We were ten minutes away from my 'recovery house' when the hospital called. They had not sent the power cord for the polar pack with us. So, we had to turn around and go back and I did not make it safely inside my recovery house until around 5pm. The extra time in the car got to my stomach and I expelled the Diet Dr. Pepper that I was craving after waking up.

After arriving at the house, I expected to be in the bed asleep within minutes, but that did not happen I was up until about 10 last night.

The pain has been minimal, it's more of just an uncomfortable feeling. As weird as it sounds, my knee feels better when it's in the CPM machine than when it's not. I have not had any more nausea since the car ride yesterday. I had a bowl of potato soup last night for dinner, two sausage biscuits for breakfast, and half a hamburger for lunch today.

The home health care nurse came by this morning to 'admit' me for physical therapy for 5 days at home. I am waiting on the physical therapist right now. He will be coming to the house for 5 days before I begin out-patient physical therapy on Thursday.

Dr. Williams called last night to check on me and I finally talked to him after we played phone tag for an hour.

I think that about sums everything up from yesterday. I'll post more later as I remember.

Picture Re-Cap of Surgery Day

2009-06-06T14:51:00.000-05:00

Night Before Surgery

2009-06-04T21:44:00.001-05:00

Well, it's finally time. Surgery is tomorrow morning, have to be at the hospital at 6 AM. I'm hoping to be able to get some good sleep tonight, even though I did take a nap this afternoon. I hope I've taken care of everything, just have to drop a key off for my friend who is cat-sitting for the week I'm out of town for recovery. Other than that, I am ready to roll. Let's go!!!

Pre-Op Doctor's Visit

2009-06-02T14:08:00.000-05:00

Today was my final visit to the doctor before my surgery on Friday. My appointment was at 9 AM and I straggled in around 9:08. I am definitely not a morning person during the months of June and July. The visit lasted a little over an hour. We discussed the surgery, possible complications, schedule for the week following surgery, and all the paperwork. Oh yeah, the cost. I'll get to that later. After the doctor's office, I headed over to the hospital where I will be having surgery- filled out more paperwork there, got further instructions for now until Friday morning, and oh yeah, wrote another check, which about made me have to go back and say "yes" to the previous heart problems question the nurse sped through. After the hospital, I went by the physical therapist's office and rescheduled my first PT visit from 8 AM to 11:30 AM. Again, I don't do mornings during the summer unless absolutely necessary. I've also made a phone call to set up my home health care services. For the first five days, a physical therapist will come to my house.

So what all did I learn this morning?
1. On the morning of surgery I have to be at the hospital by 6 AM. Surgery is scheduled for 7:30 AM.
2. I have a list of medications that I cannot take between now and then as well as instructions on medicines I am to take Thursday night and Friday morning.
3. The surgery should last a little longer than 2 hours, and I should be discharged around 1 PM.
4. On Thursday night and Friday morning, I have to shower with Hibiclens.
5. I cannot eat or drink anything after midnight on Thursday.
6. On Friday morning, I am to write "NO" on my good leg and "YES" on my bad leg.
7. Get this, I can wear cotton underwear and a sports bra during surgery.
8. I will be given antibiotics through my IV prior to surgery as well as afterwards to help avoid infection.
9. Pain medication and numbing medicine will be injected directly into my knee during surgery.
10. Possible complications- There are two major things that I am worried about. 1- If the tunnels from my previous ACL reconstruction are going to compromise this reconstruction, I may have to have 2 surgeries- one to plug the holes with a bone graft (and let heal for 2-3 months) and another to actually reconstruct my ACL. 2- If I have torn cartilage that needs to be repaired, then I will be non-weight bearing for 8 weeks! YIKES! Of course, I will not know about either of these until I wake up after surgery.

After writing two checks for fairly large amounts this morning, I got to thinking about what all this surgery is going to cost me. Here is the breakdown and total so far that I have paid out of pocket:

1. First doctor's visit: $35 co-pay
2. Donjoy ACL brace: $600
3. MRI: $465
4. Doctor's surgery fee: $425 (includes rental of polar pack ice machine)
5. Hospital surgery fee: $560

Total: $2085

This does not include the anesthesiologist, physical therapist, and post-op doctor visits. There went my summer vacation plans, except for my trip to Austin for the IWFL Championship Weekend!!!

This will probably be my last update before surgery, but follow me on twitter to get the latest scoop on surgery and rehab. www.twitter.com/cnewell13

The End is Near....

2009-05-28T21:38:00.001-05:00

In a week and a few hours my left knee with a torn ACL will become a knee with a reconstructed ACL (for the second time).

I originally tore my left ACL in high school playing softball. Here is a recap of that story, which I have yet to share. It was May of 1997, spring of my sophomore year. During practice about a week before the state tournament, I landed awkwardly on my left knee after jumping for an errant throw. I had no idea what I had done. Our trainer came out and mentioned that my knee seemed loose- possible ACL tear. I had no clue what an ACL was at that time. He scheduled an appointment for the next day with an orthopedic surgeon. The doctor confirmed the trainer’s suspicions- I did in fact tear my ACL. Being a week before the state tournament, he told me that I could go ahead and play and then have surgery later, but my parents would have none of that, so we went ahead and scheduled surgery for the following week. He sent me to see a physical therapist to learn some exercises to do before surgery to get my knee ready. It was an event at that first PT visit that got me focused on the rehab right from the get go. As I was lying on the table icing after a quick workout, another patient was on the table next to me. From what I could tell, the physical therapist had to force his knee to bend. As this happened he let out the worst scream that I have ever heard in my life. There was my motivation right there- I did not want to have to experience that pain. So home I went and immediately began my pre-op exercises.

My surgery was exactly one week following my injury. It was the Wednesday before the state softball tournament began on Friday. I remember this because I made my mom drive me to the tournament that weekend (she refused to let me ride the bus). I sat in the dugout with my knee propped up and cheered on my teammates, less than 3 days after surgery. I began physical therapy immediately after surgery. In fact, I stayed overnight in the hospital and went to physical therapy the morning after surgery. One of my friends (who had the same surgery a few months earlier) had told me that I would have to be able to bend my knee 90 degrees before they would let me go home. On the first attempt at bending my knee, I was able to reach 125 degrees. This was going to be a piece of cake, or was it? So far the worst part had been the nausea after waking up from the anesthesia.

My first physical therapy session was two days after surgery. All I can really recall from that first session is barely being able to “pedal” the bike back and forth (not going all the way around, just the bottom back and forth movements) and mainly using my good leg to make most of the movements. From then on, I recall everything about the rehab being a piece of cake. It was so easy for me. I progressed very quickly and my physical therapist even called me her “ACL wonder patient”. For the entire summer, I did my rehab 3 times a week. My goal was to be able to practice when softball started back up at the end of July- less than 3 months after surgery. And, I almost made it. From what I recall, by the time practice started I was able to do most everything except run. I kept going to physical therapy twice a week until I was released. I actually told my coach I was released to play before my doctor released me. The way I remember it, my doctor told me that I could bat in a game as long as once I got on base someone came in to run for me. So, that’s exactly what I did. I got to pinch hit, got on base, then returned to the dugout for a pinch runner. My mom was at the game and sitting next to my coach’s wife, but was not paying attention because she did not think I would be playing. Once my coach’s wife brought this to my mom’s attention, my mom was like, “what, she’s not even released yet!” Needless to say, that was the end of my playing until I got an official note from my doctor stating I was in fact released. I can’t remember the exact time frame, but I recall being fully released to return to sports at around 5 months, a month ahead of the standard 6 months that you hear about most often.

For 12 years I have had absolutely no problems with my knee. I returned to softball at a higher level than when I was first injured. I even began playing catcher AFTER my surgery. I played basketball, soccer, flag football, and rugby all through college with no problems- until now.

After recalling all of this info and combining my experiences with all of the research I have done recently, it seems like my experience thus far with two ACL injuries on the same knee have been very atypical. I have had very little pain. The worst pain was immediately after the “pop”- knowing what had just happened. My swelling has been minimal. I am hoping for another speedy recovery this time around.

My point for posting this was to be able to compare the two surgeries- although 12 years apart. I know things will be different this time around with advances in technology. For my first surgery, I had a patella tendon autograph. This time around I will be using part of my hamstring tendons to reconstruct my ACL. That right there should provide some differences, but it will be interesting to compare the two.

Pre-Op Rehab Update

2009-05-28T19:26:00.000-05:00

My goal last week was to complete my pre-op rehab everyday leading up to my surgery on June 5th, but I slacked over the holiday weekend. I had every intention of working out Friday, Saturday, and Sunday on my own, but did not accomplish my goal. However, the weekend was not a complete waste. I worked all day Sunday pressure washing a friend's house. Boy, that was hard work. Monday I went to a cookout and by the end of the night I was feeling the pain from Sunday. But, it was nothing a little ice and Aleve couldn't handle. I've gotten back into my routine and done my workout the past three days. Surgery is one week from tomorrow and it is amazing at the progress I've made in the past four weeks. I know my hard work will pay off after surgery. I'm working on a blog about my first ACL reconstruction- 12 years ago. I am trying to recount everything that I experienced so I can compare the two. Check back soon for my ACL history blog.

A Day in the Life Of QB13 and ACL Rehab

2009-05-21T21:37:00.000-05:00

Here is my workout that I've been doing for the past 3 weeks. When I started I was only doing #1-8 for 3 sets of 25 with no weight added. About a week into it and I added the ankle weight and started doing 3 sets of 30. This week I have added #9-12. When I first started, I could get everything done in less than 45 minutes. Now, it is taking me over an hour, with short breaks of course to talk to whoever happens to stop by the training room.
1. 5 minute warm-up on bike, roughly 1.2 miles (barely getting 1 mile when I started).
2. Straight leg raises (4 ways)- 3 x 30 with 2.5 pound ankle weight
3. Calf raises- 3 x 30 with 2.5 pound ankle weight
4. Leg hangs- 3 x 2 min
5. Step-ups- 3 x 30 with 2.5 pound ankle weight
6. Standing single leg flexion- 3 x 30, hold for 5 seconds each
7. Heel slides- 3 x 20
8. Quad contractions- 3 x 15, hold for 10 seconds each
9. Single leg wall squats with exercise ball- 3 x 15
10. Standing abduction/adduction with theraband- 3 x 30
11. Lunges- 3 x 30, with 2.5 pound ankle weight
12. Single leg extensions on exercise ball- 3 x 15

Surgery is 2 weeks from tomorrow!!! My goal is to complete this workout everyday until then. It will be challenging, as I am working out at school now during my athletic periods, but we only have one week of school left. The week before surgery will be the biggest challenge, but I WILL do it.

I've Become a Knee-Freak

2009-05-20T16:31:00.000-05:00

When I injured my knee on April 11, 2009, I was devastated. I’ve been dreaming about playing football for years and training for over 10 months. I was able to enjoy the game for about an hour of actual on-the-field time, less if you count offensive-only series, more if you count the hours during pre-game.

Immediately as I was hit and felt the dreaded “pop”, I knew exactly what had happened. As I sat on the ground trying to process what had just happened and deciding if it may have just been a false alarm, tons of thoughts went through my mind. I remember telling the trainer “I’m pretty sure I just tore my ACL.” At this point there were no tears, just utter disappointment. The trainer looked at me like I was crazy, but I was 100% sure it was torn. I went to the sidelines for one play, ran up and down the sidelines, and then made the decision that I was okay to play. There was no pain and it felt pretty decent. So, back in the game I went. The next play called was a sweep. As I pivoted to toss the ball, my knee completely gave out. It felt like it was only attached by a string. I somehow managed to stay on my feet and finish the half.

At halftime I went immediately to the training table in the locker room. I knew what was wrong and sometime between running to and from the sidelines to get the plays, running the plays, and concentrating so hard not to fall down while doing so, I told myself that I was done. The trainer confirmed my suspicions about my ACL. It was at this point that I cried for the first time- not because of the pain, but because of the huge disappointment of not being able to play for another entire year.

It’s been over five weeks since my injury and my emotions have taken a ride on the biggest roller coaster in the world. At first I was more angry than anything. Angry at the opposing player who hit me, not that it was a malicious hit; angry at myself for not training harder; angry that I wasn’t tough enough to survive one football game. After a little time, my anger turned to sadness. Here, football, a sport I’ve dedicated the past year of my life to, was all of a sudden ripped out from under me. I was sad that I would not be able to take the field with my teammates, ladies I consider my family. For about the first two weeks after my injury I babied myself. I laid on my butt and did absolutely nothing. I knew I wouldn’t be having surgery until June, and honestly I did not want to think about my knee at all.

At about the end of the second week following my injury, I finally decided that if I EVER wanted to play football again, I had better get off my butt and start strengthening my leg. For the past three weeks, I have rehabbed my leg at least five days a week. It’s the only thing I can think about- getting my knee and leg ready for surgery on June 5th. It has completely taken me over. I started out slow at first, but have progressed quickly and keep adding exercises and length to my workout. I swear my injured leg is now bigger and stronger than my healthy leg. I have roughly sixteen days until surgery and I plan on continuing to build up my strength until then.

"The Play"

A Look Back in Pictures of Year 1 of Football

2009-05-18T21:45:00.000-05:00

Here are some pics of my journey thus far in women's football:

Day 1, May 31, 2008

First day in pads, August 2008

January 2009

Game One, April 11, 2009

The end of football for 2009

Well, not quite...

A Quick Intro and Background Info

2009-05-18T16:50:00.000-05:00

NOTE: This entry is 12 weekly journal articles that I wrote for my local newspaper back in the fall. I had my own Sunday column!!! Also, I am now playing for the Shreveport Aftershock of the IWFL.

WEEK 1
Back in April 2008, I was out having dinner after softball practice one evening when my phone rang. Little did I know at the time that the conversation I was about to have would still be fresh in my mind here in mid-July. The caller was a co-worker telling me about tryouts for the East Texas Saberkats, an expansion team for the National Women’s Football Association (NWFA). That’s right, a women’s football league- full pads, full contact, full tackle- right here in the heart of East Texas. And, at that moment, I was determined to make the team.
Before I get into more info about the Saberkats, I guess I should introduce myself. My name is Cassie Newell. When talking about playing women’s football, I always get asked pretty much the same two questions: “how did you end up in Longview, Texas?” and “why on earth do you want to play full contact, tackle football?” In this first installment of my weekly Saberkat update, I’ll tackle the first question. So, how did a Mississippi girl end up in deep East Texas?
I was born and raised in Clinton, Mississippi, where I graduated from Clinton High School in 1999. During my four years at CHS, I played softball and basketball for the Lady Arrows and dabbled in recreational soccer. I was a part of 2 state championship softball teams at Clinton, one in fastpitch and one in slowpitch, as well as a state runner-up finish in both. I guess that is where I got my start in competitive athletics. After high school I attended and graduated from Mississippi State University with a degree in education. I was offered a walk-on spot on the MSU softball team, but turned it down in order to work for the team in a managerial role to pay for my education. It was during my senior year at Mississippi State that I experienced the closest thing to full contact football that was available to me at that time- rugby. Back then everyone asked “you are 140 pounds soaking wet, aren’t you going to get hurt?”, and they are now asking that same question again. My worst injury from rugby (full contact, full tackle, NO PADS) was a black eye so surely if I can handle rugby with no pads, I can conquer football with helmet and shoulder pads!
After finishing up at MSU, I headed east to Arkadelphia, Arkansas, to work as a graduate assistant softball coach at Henderson State University. During my first year there, the Lady Reddies (yeah, that’s the real mascot- it’s a “spirit”- long story) broke every school record and had the first winning season in school history. I had planned on staying at Henderson State another year to finish my master’s degree, but an opportunity opened up that I just couldn’t pass up- the head softball coaching position at my alma mater- Clinton. I returned to Clinton, leading the Lady Arrows to the North State Championship game before falling to the eventual state champion. It was a great year, but the head coach at Henderson State begged for me to come back, this time as Director of Softball Operations. Who could resist a title like that? So, back to Arkansas I went. My second year at HSU was more successful than the first, and I graduated with my master’s degree in Sports Administration. So that’s the end of the Arkansas years, which in a nutshell meant it was time to enter the working world again. I decided to move to and experience a new part of the country and began applying for teaching and coaching jobs in Texas. When Kilgore came calling, I knew it was a perfect fit. So I packed my bags and headed to the Lone Star State where I have called home for two years now. At Kilgore High school, I am the head softball coach. I also coach freshmen volleyball and teach Biology. Well, that’s how I got to Longview. Next week I’ll talk more about why I want to play football.
Until then, GO KATS!!!

WEEK 2
Welcome back to the weekly East Texas Saberkats update. Last week I introduced myself. In case you missed it, I’m Cassie Newell and I play football for the East Texas Saberkats- a women’s full contact, tackle football team here in East Texas. This week I promised to tell you about why I want to play football.
Well, let’s see…why DO I want to play football?
First of all, I am extremely competitive, and I’m talking about everything! Bowling, trivia, sports, board games, everything! I’m that adult you see that jumps over the five-year old to grab the last egg at the local Easter egg hunt. Well, maybe not exactly that person, but you get the idea. Football appeals to my competitive side to the nth degree. More specifically, my position of quarterback further fuels my drive to succeed- wanting to make the perfect pass every single play.
Secondly, it has been nearly 5 years since I participated in structured athletics as a player. I have definitely missed the camaraderie and competitiveness that comes with playing an organized sport. My last sports experience as a player was rugby at Mississippi State in 2003, so football will definitely fill that void. Speaking of that 5 year gap, my body can definitely tell that I’m not getting any younger! However, I still LOVE the feeling of walking off the field, dripping in sweat, totally exhausted, and still excited about doing it again!
Deep down, it has always been a dream to do something like this. I’ve always been told that I’m too small, too fragile, or too timid to play a full contact sport. Now I get my chance to prove the naysayers wrong!
Football is usually considered only a man’s sport. Well, not anymore- there are over 40 teams playing in our league- the National Women’s Football Association (NWFA). Combine that with the 2 other women’s football leagues across the county and over 100 teams and 4000 women are currently playing full contact football! The NWFA (http://www.blogger.com/www.womensfootballcentral.com) was established in 2000 with only 2 teams who played an exhibition season of 6 games. During the 2008 season, 35 teams played an 8 game schedule, which culminated this weekend with a championship game. For 2009, 6 new teams will enter the league, including East Texas’s very own Saberkats! Needless to say, this is not just an East Texas thing- women playing football- it is all over the entire country. If you have time, visit the NWFA website and see exactly what the league is all about. While you’re at it, I encourage you to visit our team website (http://www.etsaberkats.com/). There you will find tons and tons of information about the Saberkats- everything from our current team roster and staff, pictures from tryouts and practices, community events we have scheduled, and our calendar of upcoming practices and/or games.
Next week I’ll get into the actual progress of the East Texas Saberkats- what we do in practice, how often we practice, etc.
Until then, GO KATS!!!

WEEK 3
Welcome back to the weekly East Texas Saberkats update.
While this diary is only on its third installment, the Saberkats have been out in full force since May. Planning for the team began as far back as March, however May 31, 2008, is the first day that women actually took the field in preparation for the 2009 season.
I actually began preparing for that first tryout within a week of finding out about the Saberkats. I had one month and one goal- to play quarterback. So what did I do? I purchased a football and started throwing as much as possible and with anyone I could find- my friends, fellow coaches at school, my softball players, and even random kids in my neighborhood (nah, I really didn’t take it that far). I’ve been playing softball for almost 20 years, so surely I could throw a football, and throw it correctly, no problem, right? Wrong! I quickly learned that throwing a football is completely different than throwing a softball. After a few weeks though, I was finally throwing a good spiral almost every time. I was ready for tryouts, or was I?
On that first day of tryouts, eleven brave women showed up to prove that they could play football for the East Texas Saberkats. I call us brave because not a single one of us knew what to expect, and I guarantee everyone was as nervous as I. Among that first group, collectively called the “original 11” by our Head Coach Kirkland Trammer, were myself and another coach, three nurses, college students, stay-at-home moms, and women in the service industry. We were timed in the 40-yard dash and other agility drills as well as evaluated in position-specific drills and exercises. Near the last half of the 2-hour workout, I finally had the chance to showcase my talent- throwing the ball. I was already anxious and the competition for the position of quarterback sent me into overdrive. Of course Coach Trammer made us wait until the next day to find out if we made the team and if so, at what position.
For the next 24 hours the only thing on my mind was…can you guess it??? Football! It was such an adrenaline rush! I called everyone- my parents, my grandparents, my brother, my friends, everyone. I just couldn’t stop talking about football. Of course it probably didn’t help that I was interviewed by a local news station and had my picture in the paper. When the email from Coach Trammer arrived, I was ecstatic. I made the team and more importantly to me, I made it as a quarterback!
Two weeks later at the next tryout, I felt much more comfortable. Of course I had still been practicing just in case someone showed up wanting to take my position. The second session was very similar to the first, just with more women, as everyone from the original 11 came back out to participate. I guess they were just as excited about this as I was. At the end of that second day, we even began running plays! After throwing over and over again to the same spot, it finally felt like I was playing football. Of course it just doesn’t happen that easily- line up and run plays- at least not for the quarterback. The first thing that has to happen is the center has to snap the ball. Well, have you seen where the QB has to put their hands in relation to the center? It’s a pretty awkward situation if you ask me, especially with everyone else standing around, watching, and laughing while we do it. After a couple trial runs, we had our laughter under control and were ready to run some live plays.
To date over 35 women have tried out and secured a spot on the team for the 2009 Saberkats. We are practicing several times a week and getting ready to suit up in full pads here in the next few weeks!
Tune back in next Sunday, when I will highlight some of our top performers.
Until then, GO KATS!!!

WEEK 4
Welcome back Saberkats’ fans and readers.
First of all I would like to give a shout-out to the Brumfields, weekly readers and fellow Mississippi State Alumni here in Longview. I visited with them recently at an MSU Alumni gathering and learned of their interest in the East Texas Saberkats. Thank you.
This week as I’ve been considering what to write, the one topic that sticks out in my mind is the “Original 11”. These girls mean so much to me as well as the team, and without their bravery on that first day of tryouts who knows where we would be today.
So, without further ado, here are updates on your “Original 11”:
Glenda Brice of Gilmer has been playing a mean tight end, despite dislocating her right thumb during practice this week while catching one of MY passes. Even with her thumb wrapped up for protection, she has been making one-handed catches look easy. Watch out Terrell Owens! (Note to self- I’m supposed to inflict pain on our opponents, not my own teammates. Sorry Glenda, hope you have a quick recovery.)
Shaneka Wilson of Pine Tree has been showing off her blazing speed at the tailback position, no doubt aided by chasing after her three children at home coupled with performing her duties as a nurse. Shaneka also has good hands and can catch the ball well. Good luck stopping her for no gain, for with the holes our offensive line creates, Shaneka will very rarely be stopped for a loss or no yardage.
Protecting myself on the offensive line are Amber Henry of Longview, Stefani Jones of Harleton, and Allison Ratcliff of Marshall. These ladies are the key to our success. They create lanes for our running backs and keep the defense away from me long enough to handoff the ball or complete the pass. These girls stay in shape in very different ways- Amber by running after animals at the humane society, Stefani by serving pizza and making hundreds of runs to the kitchen for refills, and Allison by teaching physical education to elementary students with an unlimited energy supply.
Kristy Little and Jazlynn Patillo, both from Jacksonville, have seen time at both wide receiver and corner back. Little, while small in stature like her name suggests, has the heart of someone twice her size. She is determined to be good and gives 110% every day in practice. Kristy makes the workouts look easy, even after working all day as a nurse and taking care of two children. Jazlynn is tall and lanky and has quite a large arm-span, which aids in hauling in passes and swatting the ball away from the opposition. She also provides our comic relief when practices get stressful. Thanks Jazz for keeping us relaxed.
You might think two nurses on a football team would be enough, but not here in Texas. We believe in doing it big. Our third nurse and beloved member of the “Original 11”, Monica Kidd, also of Jacksonville, has seen time on both the offensive and defensive line. After providing care to others all day, she still “just wants to hit someone”. She’s as fierce as they get, and I’d hate to be on the receiving end of her intensity.
Slated to start at fullback, Kelessia Battee of Winona, can run through any defense. However, before she was able to put her first hit on a middle linebacker, she was involved in another kind of collision. Kelessia was an innocent particpant in a serious car wreck last month and will be recovering for quite some time. We hope to see her smiling face soon.
The “last-but-not-least” member of the “Original 11” has also been sidelined with injury. Rachele Tycksen of Kilgore has suffered some back and neck discomfort, and feels that with 4 children, a new job and pain that keeps her from functioning at full-speed, she is better off helping behind-the-scenes. Rachele stays busy as our webmaster and keeping our website updated on a daily basis.
Well, now you know the “Original 11”. For more information, check out their bios on the roster page of our website (http://www.etsaberkats.com/).
As always, GO KATS!!!

WEEK 5
Are you ready for some football???? Just in case you’ve been hiding under a rock for the past two weeks, it’s football time in East Texas! Local high school and college teams returned to the practice field this week. Additionally, your own Saberkats will suit up in pads very soon. It’s the moment we’ve all been dreaming about for two months- finally getting to lay that first hit on someone!
Okay, so where were we? Last week I introduced you to the “Original 11”, the first brave women to step on the field with the intentions of playing women’s professional football. That was May 31st. As I’ve mentioned before, June 14th was the second tryout. In those two short weeks we more than doubled in size. It’s a good thing too, because I think with only 11 players and an average age of 30, we would have been totally exhausted after playing offense, defense, and special teams!
The next weekend, June 21st, we held our first official contract signing. It was a big deal. The tablecloths were white, and the media was there. I was sweating bullets, and I imagine most everyone else was as well. Our staff rented a meeting room at a local hotel, complete with a 52” plasma TV and a continental breakfast. What more could an aspiring football player want? But instead of being treated to ESPN and video games on the plasma TV, we were subjected to an endless hour of NWFA and East Texas Saberkats rules and regulations.
The meeting began with a slideshow of photos from the two tryouts, created by yours truly, complete with music. While the slideshow played on the huge TV, the Saberkats mingled and began to become more familiar with one another outside the practice field.
After the slideshow finished, Coach Trammer began explaining our two contracts- one for the NWFA and another for the Saberkats’ franchise. These included lawsuit and liability clauses, length of playing terms, endorsement guidelines, player and team responsibilities, and standard rules for most athletic teams. Coach Trammer’s #1 rule: If it sounds like it can get you into trouble, DON’T DO IT. Hmmm, that sounds very familiar. I’m pretty sure that’s been one of my rules for my high school and little league teams as long as I can remember.
Coach also spoke to us about being committed to the team, working hard, and fulfilling a dream. Hearing him speak of his expectations and goals for our first season fired me up. He is very well-spoken, a true people person, and one of those coaches that provoke you to ask “how high” when he says jump.
After signing on the dotted line, we were sent to two stations: uniform sizing and headshots. As Coach Johnson slapped and wrangled my head around in that sample helmet, I thought momentarily I might have had a lapse in judgment concerning this football idea. Of course, Les Murray from The Kilgore News Herald captured me right at one moment of contact, and the look on my face says it all. You can pull that one up in the KNH archives when you need a laugh.
For additional laughs, there were the headshots. It was kinda like picture day in high school. Some of the girls made sure to fix their hair and get their makeup just right. I had done nothing special to prepare, for in my eyes, football and hair and makeup are like drinking and driving: they just don’t mix. In the end, all the headshots came out great. We’d love for you to check out our roster, which includes those headshots, at http://www.etsaberkats.com/.

We’ve gained a few girls since that day, and we’ve lost a few, but those that were there can attest to the great feeling of pride that overwhelmed us. We were pioneers, strong women coming together to build a dream. We have a long way to go as an organization, but we are family, and families stick together.
Until next time, GO KATS!!!

WEEK 6
Welcome back Saberkat fans!
Your humble quarterback has been busy, busy, busy this week. Teachers reported back to school in preparation for the first day of class on Monday. Add in volleyball practice every afternoon and football workouts a couple times in the evenings and the weekend, and that makes for a very long week. However, that fatigue is easily overshadowed by the fact that the East Texas Saberkats will be suiting up in full pads for the first time within the next few days.
Back to school for just a moment, if I had a dime for every teacher who has seen me on TV, read this diary in the newspaper, or just simply asked about football, I’d be rich. Well, probably not rich, but at least I could super size my fast food combo meals every time without dipping into my teacher retirement. Although I can’t name everyone individually (I know I’d forget someone), I would like to give a Saberkat “shout-out” to Randy and Alice Crocker, two of my faithful readers from Kilgore.
Ok, let’s return to football, after all that is the intended purpose of this diary. Last week I discussed our contract signing in late June. The very next weekend, we were thrown head-first into football. We held a mini-camp which consisted of three consecutive days of three hour practices. It was during these practices that our coaches laid the foundations of building a successful football team.
We started with the basics, after all the most experience any of us had until that point was flag football. There is absolutely no comparison to where we started in late June and how we stand now in late August. That first weekend of official practices we learned 3 basic passing routes. Now we have nine that we run and run well.
We began with 2 formations (for you non-football types, a formation is how each of the eleven players lines up to begin a play). Now at any given practice we run plays from over 5 formations.
I am only able to update you extensively concerning the progression of the offense. I wish I knew the ins and outs of the defensive unit, but you know how coaches look to protect their quarterbacks, so I am one of the few players who have seen no action on the defensive side of the ball. I do know this though, they have been working hard and provide plenty of resistance when we run full squad drills at the conclusion of each practice.
And, just a side note for you football buffs, we run a spread offense with a mis-directional backfield. Whew! I can’t believe those words just slid off my tongue. Again, we’ve come a long way since June.
Of course, no workout is complete without a little conditioning at the end. That is my favorite part of practice, NOT! As much as we may moan and groan when coach yells “hit the line”, it is one of those necessary evils that we must endure. Our running has gradually increased each week as we started with just getting into shape, and now we are preparing to suit up in pads. The pads and helmets, I am told, add roughly 15 pounds and 20 degrees of heat.
This next week will be the true test to see who has enough heart and strength to be called a Saberkat. It’s time to separate the women from the girls. Wish me luck. The next time you hear from me, I will know what it really feels like to be a football player.
GO KATS!!!

WEEK 7
Wow! What a busy week. I can't decide if the most exciting part of the time since you last heard from me was the first day of school or the first moment in shoulder pads and a helmet. Well, maybe I can. Hands down, the most sensational event of the last few days was definitely Wednesday night’s football practice. That's not to say the first day of school wasn't eventful, but I have been looking forward to suiting up in full gear ever since that day in April when I first became aware of the East Texas Saberkats.So, a brief insider’s overview of what transpires when a football team suits up for the first time; Wednesday night went a little like this: Of course, everyone was super excited. Having an official football uniform was all my teammates had been talking about for weeks. We had an unusually high turnout at practice, with some girls even scheduling an entire day of work in order to arrive early. The first task we had to accomplish was assembling the facemasks and helmets. As you might not know, helmets don’t just come ready to slip on and play. Each position has a different facemask that has to be attached with four screws. Everyone grabbed a helmet and the appropriate facegear and began working meticulously to make sure the mask was securely tightened onto the helmet. I must say the helmets were quite a chore , even for someone like me who isn’t frightened when the box at Christmas says “some assembly required”. After all the helmets were ready to go, we went one by one through the line of equipment that Coach Trammer had set out. The pieces included, but are not limited to, shoulder pads, practice jersey, practice pants, a girdle, belt, mouthpiece, and insertable protective pads. Keep in mind that each position requires a different type of shoulder pads, some of which have various attachments. At the end of the line, our financial director and several coaches were there to double check and make sure we had everything we needed. This took quite some time for everyone to have the right size and everything to match our position.Once we were fully stocked with football gear, it was off to the side to put it all on. The video cameras should have been unleashed at this point, if someone had wanted to win that $10K prize for funniest video. Getting shoulder pads and a jersey on in a timely manner for the first time is quite like learning to tie your shoes. The first attempt usually makes you cry or become a firm believer in Velcro. Luckily, I had been given my shoulder pads a few days in advance, and of course I had been wearing them everywhere- just sitting at home watching TV, to the grocery store, and even to bed at night. Nah, not really, but I had practiced putting them on several times. And, just to save even more embarrassment, I had talked a friend into throwing with me while geared up, so I didn't feel too awkward that first day.
About an hour and a half later, when we finally were completely “dressed” and stretched, it was time to learn how to tackle. After all, football can be a dangerous sport if proper instruction is not given. So, we lined up randomly one-on-one, and my first partner happened to be our right tackle. Let’s just say she’s the right tackle for a reason, her body size and strength can stop any defender. The signal was given and our bodies entangled as she lifted me two feet off the ground and planted me like a tomato seed in the springtime. Tackling drills went on well after sunset, as no one was ready to go home. Several cars were moved to place headlights onto the field, and we continued to learn the basics of proper tackling technique.
The week has been hectic, and I haven’t communicated with my parents as usual. So, this week’s Saberkat shout-out goes to Glenn and Janice Newell, weekly internet readers in Clinton, MS, who at just this paragraph now know that my body and limbs are intact and I have survived my first day in pads. I love ya’ll.
Until next time, GO KATS!!!

WEEK 8
Hello, and I hope that all of you have dried out from the first serious hurricane of the season. Let us not revisit the catastrophe that was Katrina. I know we don’t live in the “danger zone”, so to speak, but we seem to be affected nonetheless with evacuees finding safety in our community centers and churches, those nasty little leftover storms that seem to last for eternity, and most definitely a shortage of batteries and bottled water at the grocery store.
Needless to say, there was a void of football activity this week, as our practice field was washed away and found somewhere down between Henderson and Jacksonville. We rented a large room, but there’s just something odd about practicing football inside. It’s somewhat reminiscent of those days when you were younger and the urge to throw objects in the house was irresistible. In the back of your mind, you hear your mother saying “don’t throw that ball in this house, you’ll break granny’s lamp”, or “you’re going without dinner tonight, young lady”, which was really fine with me, because I strongly disliked sweet peas, didn’t ya’ll? Thank goodness the powers-that-be decided to skip the inside practice. After all, we don’t quite have our Dallas-Cowboy-like state-of-the-art training facility finished…………lol.
So, Gustav put the hurt on football this week, but it gives me a good opportunity to start a project with this diary I had intended for earlier installments, and that is to begin to introduce more of the colorful characters that I call teammates.
Let us begin with Donna. Mention the word Gustav to her today, and she might grab you by the throat and choke you, or smile like she had a silly little secret. You see, Donna and her wonderful husband Larry, scheduled an anniversary cruise for Labor Day weekend. No, they didn’t opt for that Alaskan one with the glacier viewing or even the one to the Galapagos Islands to view the giant tortoises. In order to keep up with their two sons and limit the time on the water to 4 days, they were inclined to go with the Caribbean cruise, Cozumel I believe it was, right smack dab in the middle of the REAL “DANGER ZONE”.
Boy, is Donna a hoot! She considers and jokes of herself being one of the “older” players, but with our average age of 27, that’s not tough to exceed. She, by far, is one of the best hustlers and looks to play a mean linebacker. I guess chasing and raising two boys alone during the early years has sharpened her ability to move quickly in all directions, including laterally, a great attribute for a linebacker chasing down the ball. And, no one else on the field can crack a good dry (pardon the pun) joke like Donna. She knows when to be serious, but she’ll be the first to have you rolling on the grass laughing uncontrollably with one of her quips.
Back to the ship, the one in the middle of the ocean with Gustav staring them down like a bull at that red cape. I think the game is called “chicken”, for some who can remember it from way back. The hurricane won this time, so all Gulf cruise ships were diverted to safe ports for a couple days. So, Donna might grab you by the throat because she had to endure the rocking of the boat inducing some slight stomach discomfort, but she will smile knowing she got two extra days at sea for free. That included free time with the hubby, food, phone calls, and all the remaining drinking water. Thank goodness they had enough gas. And, Donna reports, that the ship stayed far away from the storm, and was actually in sunny locations for 90% of the time. For that, she feels guilty, and maybe a bit giddy…..lol
And then there’s Hannah, and Ike and Josephine, and no-telling who behind them, but we’ll survive this hurricane barrage and emerge just in time for football’s off-season. Perhaps I’ll change the name of this piece to “Diary of a Hurricane”. Until we meet again, stay dry and out of the Gulf, Caribbean, and South Atlantic.
Go Kats!!!

WEEK 9
Welcome to the 2nd installment of the Saberkat Weekly Hurricane Report, lol. I know I am probably rendering the same sentiments felt by many outdoor sports enthusiasts today when I scream (well, just a little wine with my cheese, please) of the frustration we are feeling with the instability of the weather. Yes, we were able to squeeze in a workout session Wednesday evening, but as my deadline approaches this morning, the collective rumblings of football game cancellations, early school dismissals, traffic on the evacuation routes, and anger at the fury of the impending storm they call Ike can be heard and felt with every move I make. Everyone is talking, wondering, and waiting. I have deep compassion for the people who are constantly displaced by the threat of bad weather, but would I be selfish if I were to say I just wanna play some football?
I suppose the weather is an occupational hazard of the sport, so I’ll get off the whiny horse and let you, my faithful readers, hear a little, even if it’s only a few snippets, of Saberkat news. In fact, I think I’ll use today’s submission to provide a little more info on a football uniform, as I imagine only a portion of you have had the undeniable privilege of wearing one.
I’ll start with the helmet. Did you know that it weighs approximately 4 pounds? My neck and its aching muscles will attest to the fact we’ve practiced 4 times now in helmets. I’ve got to give major props to the guys who’ve been doing this for years. I definitely have a new-found appreciation of the simple act of donning the gear, much less performing some of the amazing feats while wearing it all that I witness at the various levels of play. My neck seems to get stronger with each workout, but just when I get a streak going and begin to grow accustomed to the bowling ball on my head, a hurricane comes and washes my practice field back down to Henderson.
And moving on, we find the shoulder pads. While not as heavy as that large watermelon-like object we wear on our head, how shall I say, the shoulder pads are bulky and quite cumbersome. We have had to develop a new way to stretch out our torso musculature, as moving in pads is like dancing in that laced-up dress Kate Winslet wore in the movie, Titanic. And also, like Kate who required help from her mother to tie the corset, it takes a minimum of 2 friends to get the pads on and properly fastened. Not since my kindergarten days have I needed so much help with clothing.
Progressing down the body, we find the most embarrassing piece of the uniform set. If I could whisper while writing I would, but let’s just get it out: THE GIRDLE. The girdle, as its name implies, is tight and is used to hold protective pads that the manufacturers claim reduce the severity of blows to the legs. While I am a quarterback, I intend to stay as far away from “blows to the legs” as I can, but it’s great to know that should I accidentally fall victim to a rushing linebacker I will emerge with just a large contusion instead of a broken femur. Life’s a gamble, what the heck.
Just a word about the tight game pants. I stopped to get gas after practice the other night, and wouldn’t you know it the pay-at-the-pump feature was temporarily out-of-order. Of course it was! With no other option, I had to march in the store to pay, and needless to say I garnered a few strange looks. It didn’t help that I had removed my cleats to drive more safely, so as my grandmother would say, I was in my stocking feet. What a site I must have been. Another occupational hazard I guess.
The cleats are probably the most comfortable part of the uniform. Sure they gave me blisters the first couple of times I wore them, but what women hasn’t intentionally endured a little pain from a pair of shoes in the name of fashion? Who knows, I might even wear my cleats to school one day, but only if I can find a pair of nice dress slacks to match.
So, that’s the uniform, head to toe. Sometimes, I feel like I’m on my way to a Halloween party, but once again, the enormity of the uniform goes with the turf, so to speak. I’ll just head on to practice and gracefully embrace the occupational hazards of needing assistance to suit up, putting on a few extra pounds, and oh yeah, the weird glances and stares. “That’s right, you just saw a woman in full football gear, want an autograph or a picture?”
Good luck with the storm and GO KATS!!!

WEEK 10
Welcome back Saberkat fans! Hopefully since my last update you have dried out, cleared all the debris from your yard, and managed to salvage that expensive steak from the freezer before it ruined. My heart goes out to those who have been without power for the last few days.

In this week’s update, the spotlight will be on Kristy Little of Jacksonville, an R.N. and mother of two, who in her spare time loves playing football for the Saberkats. Following practice this past Wednesday, I talked with Kristy in order to get an idea how she spends a typical day. So here it is- “A Day in the Life of a Saberkat”.

4:30 AM- Arise from warm bed after stealing some sweet sugars from my son Jayden, 8, sleeping soundly next to me. Time passes so quickly and very soon a kiss from mom will be considered “gross”. For now he’s my little man.

5:20 AM- Prepare to leave the house, but first a quick check of Jayden’s backpack to make sure all is intact. Then my maternal curiosity demands I peek in on my darling daughter, Jessey, 14. Just making sure her “cool friends” haven’t kidnapped her overnight. Good, she’s knocked out. I only wish she’d fall asleep with her biology book on her chest rather than that pink Blackberry. They grow up so fast these days.

5:45 AM- Get to work and start my shift- another great day as an R.N. at Rusk State Hospital. Two cups of coffee down, several more to go.

7:00 AM- Call home and make sure the kids are awake and getting ready for school. They have a very impatient PaPaw who picks them up and takes them, trust me I know. Attempt to discuss Jessey’s day with her, although at 14 she has a much more important agenda at 7 AM than to talk to mom. I’m sure the texting has already begun.

10:00 AM- Grab a bite for lunch. Replenish body with water depleted by the morning’s caffeine. Practice tonight, need to eat wel and stay hydrated.

2:00 PM- Busy day, but the patients were great. Leave work. Text message daughter to see what time volleyball practice ends. Short text return- 5 PM. The days of complete sentences have come and gone. Call MeMaw to instruct PaPaw to have the limo at volleyball by 5 PM. I’ll be well on my way to practice in Kilgore by then.

2:30 PM- Attempt to maintain sanity while inching forward in the pick-up lane at Jayden’s school. Discuss his day (he can still carry on a conversation with mom), but as we hit the door it’s all Nickelodeon and Nintendo. Make a light housekeeping sweep and fall on my bed for a power nap.

4:22 PM- Wake up from nap in a frenzy. Can’t recall if we are working out in full pads or shorts. Text Cassie. Waste 30 minutes searching frantically for equipment. Unable to locate pants and girdle. Oh well, no time to spare.

5:00 PM- Kiss Jayden bye. Lock the door and assure him his big sister will be there in a few minutes.

5:15 PM- Mental light bulb goes off, pants and girdle are the in trunk! Yeah! Text Jessey to make sure she made it home ok. Give quick instructions for dinner- sandwiches and leftover chicken spaghetti.

5:55 PM- Arrive at practice. Find pants, pads, and helmet. Get on the field 10 minutes late after donning gear. Run a lap for being late. Here we go! 2 hours of strenuous activity on my 34-year old body.

8:00 PM- Good practice. On the road again. Text the kids, hoping no natural disasters have occurred on the home front. All is well. During the hour-long drive home, call Monica (a teammate who had to work), apprise her of practice events.

9:00 PM- Home sweet home. Greet the kids. Hot bath. Organize Jayden for tomorrow. Talk with Jessey about her day. Tell her goodnight and I love her- she is much too old for hugs and kisses, or so she thinks. I force a kiss and hug anyway- I am the mom here.

10:00 PM- Set alarm for same time tomorrow. Lay down next to my lil man, tell him I love him. Say a prayer for an injured teammate and drift off to sleep as Jayden talks and plays with my hair.

I want to thank Kristy for sharing her day with me and you, my faithful audience.
Kristy is like all of us- we have work, family, friends, school, religion, activities, commitments, and more. We balance, we sacrifice, we love, and we live. Kristy looks forward to a well-deserved reprieve from work on Saturday- a day of peace and family time with her kids. Wait! There goes that mental light bulb again- Saturday, football practice, 4 PM. Oh well, we balance, we sacrifice, we love, and we live.
GO KATS!!!

WEEK 11
Welcome back weekly readers!
October is on the horizon, and I hope you are enjoying the cooler fall mornings. No doubt if you are a football fan, you are deeply ensconced with Friday night lights, college Saturdays, and America’s team- you know the one. Our Cowboys are off to a 3-0 start in consecutive seasons for the first time since the mid 70’s. Let’s tear those Redskins up this weekend!
While most gridiron teams are fine tuning regular season game-play, the Saberkats are fully immersed in the business of learning and executing tackle football in preparation for our inaugural contest in April, 2009. We are using this time of year, offseason for women’s football, to perfect our passing routes, blocking assignments, and specials teams’ play. Then there’s the conditioning, my personal favorite. The work was tolerable in shorts and a t-shirt. However, the addition of pads and a helmet makes even stretching a chore for this 27-year old. I never thought I’d say this, but I’m not getting any younger. With that said, I do still feel like a kid in a candy store when I’m on the football field.
I want to talk for a minute about the logistics of our league, as some of you may not have had the time to read up on our organization. The National Women’s Football Association’s season runs from April to June, so as not to interfere with high school, college, and professional football. It also gives football fans a pigskin fix in the late spring/early summer. The owners of the more than 35 teams comprising the NWFA will be meeting in October to finalize our schedule for 2009. As the season approaches, I will keep you apprised of upcoming games and events.
Our season consists of 8 games, 4 home and 4 away. The teams that are most likely to make up our schedule (South Central Division) are the Lone Star Mustangs (Fort Worth), the Austin Outlaws, the Oklahoma City Lightning, and the H-Town Cyclones (Houston). The Cyclones are the defending league champions despite being a first year squad. They took home the title after a grueling playoff system which saw them travel to St. Louis, MO, Los Angeles, CA, and culminating with the world championship in Memphis, TN. As luck would have it, the Cyclones are in our division, and we are guaranteed to play them twice in our first season.
The Saberkats’ home field will be Marshall Maverick Stadium. Once our schedule is released, you will be able to purchase tickets on our website (http://www.etsaberkats.com/). Presently you may purchase Saberkat gear directly from the site. Our team colors are Texas orange and white. So for you Longhorn fans, there’s no need to worry about not matching your current wardrobe. Several shirts are also available in camouflage so you can go straight from the woods to the games.
I realize this has been a very informational writing, but I felt the need to elaborate on several off-the-field items of interest. Should you have other Saberkat questions you’re dying to know but were afraid to ask, shoot me an email at saberkats@yahoo.com. I’m also always interested in your feedback and ideas for future diary topics.
Hope everyone has a great week. Go Kats!!!

WEEK 12
Hello Saberkat fans:
Well, the time has arrived for me to say goodbye for the offseason. It seems like only yesterday that I was a very nervous participant in the historic first tryout for women’s tackle football in East Texas. Yet, this week our management announced that it was time to “hibernate” for the winter, then emerge from our collective cocoons for mini-camp in late January, 2009. I feel like an elementary school kid who asks mom, “where oh where did my summer go?”
We’ve had some good times pushing ourselves and changing from individual athletes to a loving family. Nothing came easy. Watching football on television and being knowledgeable about the rules and such can’t come close to actually experiencing the environment of “playing” and “executing” the sport. Of course, a tremendous amount of learning has occurred, and I imagine we have a long way to go, but we are NEW people compared to those first few practices.
Offseason in no way means the work is over. We will continue to make our presence felt in the community by appearing at charitable events, etc. Our coaches are busy analyzing the active talent and other squads in our division and tweaking the game plan for the season beginning April, 2009. And, as for the players, we must work diligently not to lose the conditioning we have worked so hard to achieve during these 4 months.
I recently purchased a home gym, so that my dining area now resembles a locker room. I hope to motivate myself to tone a few times a week. Additionally, I have an advantage being a coach. I work hard to keep my girls in cardiovascular shape. So, I jump on in and run with them. They of course think I’m attempting to keep them motivated, when in fact my agenda is to keep myself from cardiac arrest in mini-camp.
So, as much as I have enjoyed the opportunity to share my experience with you, my faithful readers, I must utter a sad farewell. I’ll be back in February with news on our mini-camp and impending inaugural season. What an exciting time that will be!
Until then, GO KATS!!!

Who Am I?

2009-05-15T11:00:00.000-05:00

Welcome to my blog. This is my first attempt at keeping a blog. I will be chronicling my journey through ACL reconstruction and rehab as well as my life as a female football player.

First a little introduction, starting with my football history. Playing football has always been a dream of mine deep down. In April 2008 I found out about a team near my hometown. For over a year I have been preparing to play full tackle, full contact football. Unfortunately, late in the first half of my very first game, I tore my left ACL. That brings us to the second part of my blog, my ACL reconstruction. My surgery is scheduled for June 5, 2009.

Living the Dream

ACL Injuries in the NFL

So Maybe That 17% Wasn't So Great Afterall....

17% Gain in 8 Weeks

***BREAKING NEWS***

Time For An Update

Another Week in the Books

UGH!

5 Months Post-Op

A New Direction and One Step Back

Feel the Burn

4 Months and Counting....

4 Months Post-Op

4 Days Until 4 Months (post-op)

15 Weeks Post-Op

95 Days Since Going Under the Knife

Happy Labor Day

The Start of Week 2

My New BFF....

1 Day Down, 179 To Go

No More PT?

A Look Back at Ten Years Ago

And So Another Week Begins

Another Busy Day, With Several More to Come This Week

As Promised, More Frequent Updates

It's Been A While.....

Mid Week Update

6 Weeks Out

39 Days Post-Op

The Mississippi Tales, Continued

Tales from The 'Sip

5 Weeks Out (Almost)

Quote of the Day

Check out these links!

Graduation Day

Day 26, but who's counting?

Finally, 3 Weeks Out

Day 19 Post-Op

Day 11 Post-op

Day 7

Whew! I'm Tired!

Day Five

Day Four

Day Four Pictures

Day Three

My Favorite New Toy- The CPM

Day Two

Day Two Pictures

Day One Post-Op

Picture Re-Cap of Surgery Day

Night Before Surgery

Pre-Op Doctor's Visit

The End is Near....

Pre-Op Rehab Update

A Day in the Life Of QB13 and ACL Rehab

I've Become a Knee-Freak

A Look Back in Pictures of Year 1 of Football

A Quick Intro and Background Info

Who Am I?

BREAKING NEWS