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Well I am going to get my torn ACL fixed finally on Monday. I know, shitty timing I'll probably miss the whole 06-07 season:frown::mad: :mad: :mad: :frown: :frown: :frown: Anyways I can't wait to get it over with and get back to doing the two things I am deprived of now that I live for, skiing and playing soccer. Anyways updates to follow. Make some turns for me maggots!
Good luck - its not that bad. And six months would put you at around Feb/March, so skiing isn't completely out of the question.
Out of curiousity - why'd you wait so long between injury and surgery?
I could give you the long story but I'll just say my H.M.O is why it took so long. Actually in early June I was on a 4 month waiting list to have surgery but it ended up only being 2 so I guess it could have been worse.
Yeah, sounds like thats an understatement. Good luck with the surgery - you've got a pretty good support group here for when you start your rehab.Quote:
Originally Posted by flatlander420
You should be an expert on what ya need by now from hanging around here. Just don't go and tear your achilles 5 months post ACL. Trust me on this one.
Well I made it! I am loaded on percocet drinking pineapple juice listening to some tunes, no pain yet but the fem block is wearing off so the fun will begin tommorow i'm sure....................
awesome, flatlander!!!
your timing may not be all that bad. as folks said above, you may still catch some of the season...but it also may be good in that you will not be tempted to ski too season (i.e. before you're back at full-strength)...so when you *do* get back on skis you can definitely charge rather than pussyfoot around.
i wish you much success in your recovery.
i'm about 4 months post-op (different knee injury), but i'm actually starting to feel really strong. keep that in mind as you go through these first few weeks -- you'll probably be in better shape than ever when you do your rehab.
Your right upn. I'll be better off this way.It kinda sucks because I bought a season pass again so not such a good deal this year.Oh well!
Day 2 and I feel pretty good. Had a little "ache" last night that woke me up but other than that I'm not hurting at all. I haven't had any percoset today just motrin. I am rocking the Cyro Cuff, great piece of equipment.
Day 3: Had the dresssing changed today and the doc was impressed with the lack of swelling and bruising. I was too! Still not too much pain even with the fem block worn off! I can unlock the brace now and bend my knee which will help with sitting on the toilet! so far so good!
Made it to the weekend! Drove for the 1st time yesterday and went to the store. Hobbled around for a while. Really takes it out of you just trying to do normal things like walking. A little sore today but it's a good sore the kind when you are healing well .So far so good!
Day10 update: Last few days have been rough.Went through the "shin of fire" for a few days. I guess its's normal with hamstring grafts but fuck does it hurt!! Tha'ts gone now thank god. I took my brace off for the 1st time two days ago to discover a lovely itchy red rash. I guess the foam shit on the inside of the brace irrtated my skin to the point of this super itchy rash!. Went to the docs yesterday and showed her the rash, changed the dressing and adjusted the brace. I get the stitches out next tuesday and will probably return to work unless I have a set back. This is mentally challenging as well as physically.Laying around all day, pretty much useless, is way old and is getting annoying.Thank god for my wife! She has been doing everything for me I couldn't have had this surgery without her. I can't imagine trying to get through this solo.:biggrin:
Weeks 2-6 pretty much sucked for me. My hamstring still pisses me off at 4 months. Getting back to work was okay, though finding a way to set your leg up so that it doesn't balloon up is a chafe. Are you hitting rehab yet?
Quote:
Originally Posted by stump832
What can I expect, more "shin of fire"? :FIREdevil :eek: I hope not! as much as I dislike having to work I think going back will do me good mentally. Having something to do wiil keep my mind off of my knee, right now it's obviously very frustrating. I have not started formal PT yet so I suppose my doc takes a conservative approach to that.The PT people are supposed to be contacting me this week. I have been doing leg lifts,quad flexes and heel slides on my own just to see where I am at. Leg lifts are easy and feel good even though the atrophe (sp?) is shocking. Quad flexes are no problem, I can touch the floor with the back of my knee with my ankle on the towel. Heels slides are another story, I can just about get my heel flat on the floor and bring it back about and inch. I'll keep working on that one. Anyways thanks for the input guys:D
2 week update: well it's been 14 days since surgery and I am so glad that those days are past. I feel I have turned a corner as far as the post surgery misery. My knee looks pretty good .The swelling has gone down alot and the pain is practically non existant. My rash is almost gone thanks to a cucumber puree that I have been using. My mobility has improved enought that I can get around one 1 crutch or even no crutch I can drive no problem. So Iam feeling pretty good about going back to work on Tuesday which is going to monumental mentally for me. The stitches come out tommorow also ,so things are improving alot!:D http://www.kendallbradford.net/resou...0_IMG_0499.JPG
hey, flatlander--glad to read that things are improving! all i can say is that the rate at which you can improve in a month's time is staggering. there were (and *are*) times during my rehab where i say "there's no way i could have imagined being able to do ____ a month ago."
so...if ever you are feeling down or struggling with some little challenge, just remind yourself that the world can look very different in a matter of weeks.
also...sorry to hear about the season pass purchase. as i was buying my pass this year a few days ago, i noticed something that i hadn't before: jackson hole offers a refund (pro-rated) if you get injured and can't use the pass (minus some handling fee).
maybe you should check into that with your mountain. if your doc says you can't ski, they might refund all or most of your $$. then, if you are up to skiing later in the season, you could always buy day passes.
just a thought.
3 week update; had my 1st PT session today. I have 95 degree flexion and therapist says knee looks great! She gave me like 5 excersises to do at home twice a day. I guess things are getting better and I am healing more every day day ,so I am stoked to have gotten this far and am feeling good about the whole thing.
awesome awesome news :D
Sorry about the knee, flatlander... I've done both and am happy to say that you'll be out there tearing it up again soon enough.
My only advice is: wait for it... giving it the full six months will pay off in the long run!
Sounds like you are doing great!
Thanks for the encouragement. I am approaching 5 weeks P.O and my knee is improving nicely. Heal slides against the wall are working great,every day I can go a little further. I can also ride my stationery bike which I couldn't do last week. Today I went in our pool and walked from one side of the shallow end to the other over and over.The excersises the PT gave me are a little boring so I am trying to find more interesting ways to do closed chain excersises. Believe me I am not going to rush back into anything, I do not want go through this again!:biggrin:Quote:
Originally Posted by Sassy
Week 5: Just got back from PT, 116 degrees of flexion!! WOO hoo! Therapist gave me some balancing exercises and some weight training on the leg press. She was very impressed with my improvement over the last 10 days.I'm stoked!!
Did they give you a passive motion machine? They're supposed to be delivering one to my house in a day or two (surgery on monday, oct 2), and the surgeon has me going to PT on wednesday, and 3/week from then on. 3 weeks seems like a long time to wait for PT.Quote:
Originally Posted by flatlander420
Well all I can say is every surgeon has their own protocal. Mine is conservative.I did not have a cpm machine either.If you are going to PT 2 days after surgery and then 3 times a week, I guess that is agressive. Looking back I personally wouldn't want to do anything really untill the post surgery misery is over. That is enough to deal with on it's own never mind having to do excersises as well. I can only speak of my own experience so all in all I am stoked after 5 weeks to be where I am. My PT says I am ahead of the norm as far as building the muscles back and my balance and flexion are coming back rapidly. Don't be suprised if you start questioning your decision to get your ACL fixed about 4-5 days after surgery,thats when all the drugs wear off and it f'ing hurts like hell. Good Luck!:biggrin:Quote:
Originally Posted by lucubrator
Percocet won't cover the pain?Quote:
Originally Posted by flatlander420
Quote:
Originally Posted by lucubrator
i concur. get the passive motion machine for sure. I had an acl replacement (patellar graft) on aug 2. I was home from the hospital that night and had my leg immediately in the passive motion machine. use it as much as you can stand until you hit 90 deg. i slept with it on, did everything with it on and it made a huge difference in my stiffness and flexibility. I wouold say I was in it 18-20 hours a day for a week. I was in pt on day 3 and went 3x a week for the first month and feel like that made a big difference. at 7 weeks out, extension is 1 deg of hyper and flexion is about 160. from talking to pro PT peeps for the olympic teams down in the springs, their advice was road bike, road bike, and then road bike some more. i ride everyday (started on a trainer in my house on day 9 with 30 mins). now have about 950 miles under my belt in the past five weeks, my thigh is coming back, and my leg feels great though remains a bit sore and slightly swollen. yes, every Dr has heir own protocol, but we are not their 'normal' patients so you have to take that shit with a small grain of sand and recognize you are most likely in way better shape than the average bear. best of luck with the upcoming surgery...
Thanks for that. I was wondering if people slept with the iceman and the pcm on. I pulled my road bike trainer out of the closet so I can start using that ASAP. I guess I'll ride the miles to campus as soon as I'm able to do that too. My dad's masseuse has heard of my surgeon, and said he's good, so that's encouraging. If there's any other weird info, post it. I want to get up skiing as quickly as possible.
Well, how did it go?Are you wasted? Buy a Cyro Cuff it's a great piece of equipment. This is a really good resource for everything to do with knees.Quote:
Originally Posted by lucubrator
You know, I've been pretty good all day. Surgery was scheduled for 7am. The OR nurse put in the IV, told me that it would make me relax, and the next thing I remember is seeing the clock on the wall showing 9:15.
They included a cryocuff in the whole thing. Around 2 this afternoon the CPM machine was delivered - by the president of the company. The only incident I had was that I took an anti-nausea pill a little bit too late, and ended up taking another. I have percocet, and I've only taken two today. They also have a small line of Marcaine going directly into my knee, so that's probably why I don't have much pain.
I know it'll come, though. I'm looking forward to showering again.
Thanks for the link.
Sweet,glad to hear you made it! My leg was numb for the first 3 days from the femoral block. When that wore off the fun began! Eat fresh pineapple to help reduce swelling. Knee geeks is based in the U.K. so you can really see how different the ACLR experience can be, it helped me alot and still does.Theres some pretty f'd up people on there with big knee problems.
Arrrg! I was fine until about 3 today. I took one percocet around 8, and then felt fine for a long time, until everything started wearing off. Now.. it's fun. I've learned that one seven pound bag of ice is just the right amount to fill the IceMan cooler. I went to back to the doc today because I had a pretty severe leak, or at least I thought it was severe. The bandage was red and wet from about mid thing to 6" below my knee, and the swatch was about 6" wide. He said not to worry about it, pointed out that it was following the catheter out my leg, and changed the dressing. He told me to take a aspirin every day starting yesterday, so that's the reason it leaked. I guess it's better to have a little leak than to have a blood clot.
Went to therapy today. When I got there I could bend 0-65, despite the CPM doing 0-70. After 10 minutes massage and bending, she got me to 95, and was really impressed. It turns out that my PT assisted on the surgery, and said that the only issue they found was the torn ACL. I had her take the catheter out, and she said that it was good that it was leaking. More effusion means less fluid that has to be worked out via the lymph system. No real bruising yet, but I tend not to.
Well its been 15 weeks since my aclr and things are almost back to normal. My Physical Therapist says I have gone as far as I can go with my P.T. and I am about 2-3 weeks ahead of where I should be on average. There are no more new excersises to learn, just keep doing the strength building and balance training. I see my surgeon on Dec 18th so hopefully she will agree that I can slowly start to return to my favorite sports, skiing (there's no snow in California yet so I'm not too bummed about that) and soccer. I am still going to my PT class every Monday and working hard. My left leg is about 80% of my right one strengthh wise. My rom is the same. I am jumping, running,stairclimbing,biking and trying hard to get back out there. I hope I get the green light from my surgeon! Overall this has been a good experience for me and I have learned alot from it. See you guys on the slopes!!!
beware the soccer danger, friend!
i'm going in for ACLr #2 on the same knee cause of a silly go at the ball playing soccer a few weeks ago...not a violent injury...just a wierd twist.
if you love skiing more than soccer, I'd stay away from soccer. If you love soccer more, then have at it...
good luck!
That 80% strength thing is really weird isn't it? I went for a moderately long ride the other day, and when I got back felt like a fiddler crab:
http://animals.timduru.org/dirlist/c...ch-Closeup.jpg
Bump for 8 months Post Op......... Lots of ACLR action in here lately so I thought I would chime in and let everyone know that I played my first full on soccer game for my over 30 team on Sunday. We beat Valencia 6-2, I scored one goal and got 2 assists!!! Knee feels good and I am finally getting my running/soccer legs back. This was a major accomplishment for me and I'm feeling pretty damn good about it.:D :D :D :D
^^^ That's great to hear, f420! I'm somewhere around 6 weeks post-op (hamstring autograft). I know people do it all the time, but it's hard to imagine that the knee will get better to the point of being able to run, jump, and ski again.
Bump for 1 year! Has it really been a year already??? Fuck it went buy fast!!
I am back playing soccer every weekend. I have lost some speed and endurance
but it does get a little better every week. No real problems to speak of with my new knee so now I just have to wait for the snow to fly and see how skiing feels again,I can't wait!!
flatlander, CONGRATS on your upcoming season, enjoy every minute of it. your posts have been really helpful for me...i blew mine july 2 and am having surgery october 3 b/c of a stupid HMO and timing with my own wedding. so the season is out. but i'm a soccer girl too, so it's been great to read about your progress.
HAVE FUN SKIING! :biggrin: you deserve it!