Well... my summer started with a pop (not a bang) of my ACLs two halves going their separate ways.
So it and my meniscus are getting fixed up tomorrow - i'll be getting a petellar ligament auto-graft fyi. It's been a number of years since anyone I know has blown up a knee, so the FHE I can tap is dated. So anyone else have this misfortune recently? Care to share any wisdom? Recovery timelines? blah blah...
On the good side.. a number of folks have offered to make sure the oil circulates in my 900 - they also offered to test the stick of my tires too... and how well it wheelies...
Break a leg um, Good luck Ian!!!
Nah, they don't break stuff... they will just drill holes in me
i had a partial tear and arthroscopic surgery to repair. the surgery was a breeze,
but there wasn't really a separation to repair like yours. follow the rehab instructions
and when its healed you'll be glad you did it.
Get into Physical Therapy as soon as your doctor recommends and adhere to the schedule STRICTLY for the best recovery...
I blew out my ACL and my medial meniscus in Feb of '98 after a bad ski jump. I recommend checking to see if your surgeon is a sports medicine (good) or geriatric medicine (less good) specialist. Mine was a geriatric medicine specialist. I believe it was a month and a half between my injury, and my repair operation, due to my surgeon's busy schedule. Then it was another 8 or 10 weeks on crutches with my knee in an immobilizer to allow the meniscus to heal. Then it was physical therapy 2-3 times a week till October and another surgery in early September to clear out scar tissue.
Biking is good therapy as long as you are in low gears, pushing big gears stresses the ligaments and can cause more damage.
Quote from: 77south on June 17, 2009, 08:33:15 AM
I blew out my ACL and my medial meniscus in Feb of '98
Then it was another 8 or 10 weeks on crutches with my knee in an immobilizer to allow the meniscus to heal.
Things seem to have changed a lot since that time. Docs talking about 2 weeks on crutches, not 2 months.
- I got a sports guy [thumbsup]
Quote from: yuu on June 17, 2009, 08:58:12 AM
Things seem to have changed a lot since that time. Docs talking about 2 weeks on crutches, not 2 months.
- I got a sports guy [thumbsup]
Thats what my dad experienced after getting his miniscus repaired a couple years ago. Couple weeks on crutches and he feels 100% better. But he didn't have an accompanying ACL tear.
My gf had an ACL replacement about 20 months ago. A great sports medicine guy did the replacement and it went pretty well. She was bedridden for a couple days, but starting to bend it after 24 hours per the doc's instructions. After being on crutches for about a week with a heavy brace, she was down to no brace and single crutch. Overall, her recovery time was very quick.
She started PT before the surgery and continued after it was complete. I think the key thing in her quick recovery wasn't the PT, which certainly helped, but the ice pad she bought. It's a flat pad that pumps cold water from an ice bath cooler:
http://www.icewraps.net/opti-ice-universal-cooling-pad.html (http://www.icewraps.net/opti-ice-universal-cooling-pad.html)
She used that for about 5 days.
I'm surprised by 77south's recovery time. I'd say try to find the surgeon your local sports teams use. She got lucky and found the guy that works for the Chicago Bulls and Blackhawks.
Quote from: sugarcrook on June 17, 2009, 09:08:00 AM
She started PT before the surgery and continued after it was complete. I think the key thing in her quick recovery wasn't the PT, which certainly helped, but the ice pad she bought. It's a flat pad that pumps cold water from an ice bath cooler:
I'm surprised by 77south's recovery time. I'd say try to find the surgeon your local sports teams use. She got lucky and found the guy that works for the Chicago Bulls and Blackhawks.
Yeah, I'm lined up to get one of those icey gizmos.
77's was also in 1998... things have changed a lot since then. I knew folks who blew knees in that era, and his time line sounds similar to theirs.
Are you doing a cadaver ligament?
i'll be getting a petellar ligament auto-graft. They make me a new ACL with some of that ligament along with bits of bone from my patella and tibia
I blew my acl and tore my meniscus 3 years ago so things might have changed, I don't know. Anyways, it matters whether or not they are removing the meniscus or if they're repairing it. It will take longer to heal if they are repairing it. I had a good chunk of mine removed and my acl reconstructed from a piece of my hamstring. I was able to walk/hobble slowly I think two days after and walk carefully about 5 days after but I was also 18 and it was uncommon to be up that quickly(I was also in a brace). I went into pt the day after my surgery which was pretty much required by my surgeon. So 3 years later and my acl is fine, it's the meniscus that bothers me.
A little dated, but...
had complete ACL reconstruction 11 years ago. did the agressive physical therapy and was out walking w/o crutches in 2 weeks. still wore a brace for another month or so and is now doing fine. key is the PT. Good luck.
These days recovery time is much much shorter, and therapy can be much more aggressive. Expect to be bending your knee (usually passively via a CPM machine while in the hospital) with hours of your Sx. Therapy can begin in approx. 2-4weeks (depending on your surgeon) and you should expect near 100% normal movement within 2-4 months. "Total" healing usually occurs at 7-9 months and rotational activites that place stress on the knee (golf) can be done at about 1 year.
Everyone heals differently and there are things you can do to speed up the process (ultrasound and E stim are just two). The cryo cuff described above is also a good idea.
GOOD LUCK.
12 hours and counting.
I've got a CPM at my house - so that can being early on. I've got meniscus tear that they will be fixing as well - If I remeber correctly I'll be in a stright brace for a couple days because of that.
Rotational... yeah.. boo. That's gonna damp my fun
I tore mine in two 5 years ago in a skiing accident (First.... and last ski trip). I was in great shape at the time, racing mountain bikes and commuting to work via bike (Pedals, not Duc). I took the time in re-hab to select a new mount (brand new Specialized Epic) to use as motivation during the pain. As soon as I was released, I started commuting again and today have no trouble with the knee. Obviously the race season was gone, I think I only raced once or twice at the end of the season.
My suggestion, ask the therapist what the best rehab is, not what most people do. See what they would do if you had a multi-million dollar career on the line. Then surprise them and actually do it.
My favorite memory of the ordeal was one of my check-ups. The doctor came in and I was sitting crosslegged on the table. All he did was ask if that hurt. When I told him no, he said "you shouldn't be able to do that yet, you must be taking the therapy seriously". I then told him about the new bike. He said keep it up and I'll see you later. Didn't even touch the knee.
My doc was the same one that works on the Cornhuskers athletes.
Ian, How was surgery?
Any hot nurses?
You home yet?
Quote from: Bun-bun on June 19, 2009, 07:03:36 AM
Ian, How was surgery?
Any hot nurses?
You home yet?
I'm going to guess he's in a percocet haze.
Hope all went well with the surgery. [thumbsup]
Home now - on the couch doing my CPM time, hooked up to my ice machine.
I'm guessing it went well, since I've still got both legs and no too much pain - but that might be princess vicondins caress
Quote from: yuu on June 19, 2009, 10:16:29 AM
Home now - on the couch doing my CPM time, hooked up to my ice machine.
I'm guessing it went well, since I've still got both legs and no too much pain - but that might be princess vicondins caress
Glad you're doing well!
Now that some of the surgery haze is clearing and I'm a bit more awake the big problem's going to be some boredom. 'Cept for my CPM time, I'm in an immobilizer brace until Monday at the earliest. But lucky for me, monkey arm and good flexability can get me from standing to on the floor for some stretching and exercise.
Getting more lively, but still gas out a bit easily.
So - boredome.... start posting shit in tech for me to figure out [thumbsup]
Glad it went well. Although for the boredom you should've had the surgery during football season. Now you're stuck with a rainy US Open.
Hey Yuu..
I missed this thread..
Sounds like everything is going good.
Let yourself rest, relax and rejuvenate!!
WSBK is on now for the boredom.
Guess it's going pretty well - doing my pre PT exercises and the daily max for my CPM at the moment. Though that CPM gizmo is beating my ass. Who'd a thought.
Well, I'm bored, stuck in my CPM machine, so you all get to hear more.
Pretty amazing how much faster recovery is today than 10 years ago. Surgery was on the 18th and I managed to pull 96 degrees of bend at PT yesterday, and my CPM is set for more than 100. This sort of range of motion was weeks post op then, not just a week.
So as much as the rehab protocols have changed... still gotta heal. Still puffy and purple - bruising has drained down to me heel - odd but kinda cool
If anyone is curious - here's photos. There's MRI image and post op photos, so don't look if you can't handle lots of bruising and a little blood.
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=81556&id=680523842&l=db87894311 (http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=81556&id=680523842&l=db87894311)
Incision looks great!! thanks for the photos. BTW, are you going to keep the "shaved look" for the summer? I here that's what all the boys in Chelsea have been rockin for years!!!
Keep posting up progress.
[beer]
Quote from: rockaduc on June 27, 2009, 05:16:25 AM
Incision looks great!! thanks for the photos. BTW, are you going to keep the "shaved look" for the summer? I here that's what all the boys in Chelsea have been rockin for years!!!
Keep posting up progress.
[beer]
Yeah, seems pretty clean and lined up so it should heal with a minimal scar. Not that I care that much since I'm covered in scars already (thank you Rugby) - but it just says that good work was done.
Pfft - too much effort.. I'm not cyclist or swimmer, nor do I need to be teh secksy for the chelsea lads ;D
A land mark step will be the ability to get a leg over... that might take a while
Quote from: yuu on June 27, 2009, 07:28:50 AM
A land mark step will be the ability to get a leg over... that might take a while
Why not rush your recovery and throw a leg over today? You said that the process wasn't that bad the first time. ;)
Haha... well even if I *really* wanted to.. I can't. My bike's sheltering at a firends, and my car has gone off for a social visit.. leaving me more stuck than usual...
And... since this is costing me my new bike savings funds... I shant be messing up the work done.
For anyone who's curious.
3 weeks out of surgery today and I've got 12X degrees of bend. 125 tuesday 127 today - despite over doing it a bit Wednesday night due to house issues...
Just a tiny bit of bruising still, still a decent helping of swelling that goes up if I'm on it much at all. Muscles are weak as hell, but getting better.
Back on the bike is still not in the cards for a bit.. but getting there.
Glad to hear....
Glad all is going well, Yuu.
Keep up on the physical therapy. After my wrist surgery (scoped), PT got my wrist to about 80%. The last 20% took 6 months to a year of normal use/abuse.