SileX blogja

Hi guys,

First of all, a big thanks to everybody who commented on my knee situation or messaged me with advice or good wishes. You were great and I am grateful and proud to be a part of this community! Here comes a short update for those who asked.

My surgery was on the 10th April in a city about one hour from Budapest. While the surgery itself went well, there were multiple complications arising afterward. First there was an unexpected swelling around the knee the morning after the surgery that had to be drained manually. That was a horribly painful experience that I don't wish for anybody (and there are people that I don't like so well).

Second complication started later that week, after I have been returned home with pain in my calf and a child fist sized hematoma forming in the area. The surgeon prescribed additional medicine and I had to stay in bed for three weeks mostly unable to move. Ordinary things like going to the bathroom or taking a shower have gone from trivial tasks to difficult or impossible. It was the worst time of my life and I am very grateful for my friends who kept visiting, keeping me company, bringing me food, emptying my bedpan.

In some sense it was a truly heartwarming experience to see how many people are out there whom I can rely on.

It took three weeks for the hematoma to clear up enough so I could start physio. It was the first time after the surgery that I could take a look at my leg without the bandage all over it, and what I saw was shocking. I was warned that I would lose muscle mass in my legs, but no amount of warning could prepare me for what I was. It looked like my leg had deflated, there was so much muscle atrophy. I wanted to cry, but I didn't because once you start with self-pity you don't know how to stop.

Physio is a bitch.

The first few sessions were horribly painful as layers of cramped and solidified tendon and ligament had to be forcefully loosened up and mobilized. I was walking with crutches for weeks.

In mid-May I could ditch the crutches and cane, being able to walk short distances on my own. In June I could start stationary bicycle training as part of my phsio. I started going to the gym every day to spend an ever-increasing time on that contraption. As long as I was there, I also started using the gym daily for upper body training, a powerful need to get back in shape asserting itself.

The present situation is that I can walk short distances without too much pain and I'm starting to regain some of the muscle mass that I lost. I put on a some fat while laying in bed and being inactive for over a month and I will do my best to get rid of it. I still cannot run or do any stop-and-go style sports. Those things are still months away. Prognosis is that I will regain full function around January 2018.

Thank you all again for all the encouragement and support. I promise you all: I will be back to wrestling as soon as my surgeon clears me! I will update again in a few months.