another one bites the dust (ACL)

[xboat]

fellow maggs,

to be honest, i'm almost too bummed out to even write this up today but i know that there are more people in here that have been in the same boat than anywhere else so here goes it -

i originally tore my ACL around the age of 16 and they didn't operate on it until i was 19. my leg shrunk bigtime between then because i was too young and stupid to put forth much effort in keeping my leg strong. i chose to have a patellar graft done. that was a bad choice IMO and most all the pain through rehab and even to the present has been down the front side of my knee. it gets tight all the time and for those of you that have had it done know...you lose most all feeling in that area. that surgery about killed me, hospital for 5 days and so on...it sucked. between that time and now i have put in a ton of ski days while living in steamboat for four years and traveling the past few years. luckily everything held up pretty well for me, i would wear my brace 99% of the time while skiing and only had a couple problems. a little slippage here and there and it might be sore for a day or two and that was it.

fast forward to last saturday night. oh yeah, i'm 33 now btw. it's my brothers wedding night and we're closing down a local bar after the reception. i don't know exactly what happened, but it went something like this. i guess we were all messing around and i went to pick up my buddy's wife (yeah, i dunno why?) and either slipped on the bar floor or my knee just gave out on me and we both went crashing to the floor. i hobbled out of the bar and passed out not much later. no, was not driving. woke up sunday morning to not only a pounding head but my knee was jacked up and i could hardly walk. i knew that something was not good and called for a dr. appointment on monday after things continued to feel really bad.

just went to the doc this a.m. to find out what's up. "it's really loose chad, you tore your ACL again"

FACK ME!!!

since i don't live in the mountains right now, skiing is not my major concern at this time. i told myself that no matter what, after the first reconstruct that i would never go through that again. while looking at x-rays doc tells me (different from doc that did first surgery) that i have no signs of arthritis in my knee and the second surgery would be much easier than the first, using a cadaver tendon this time. wouldn't even have to spend the night in a hospital.

so here's my dilema at this time -
do i go through this summer, leave it alone and hope things are good enough for me to continue my run for my PGA card i play a ton of golf in the summer and one of the only things that keeps my sane in the midwest. if i did that i could look into having it fixed during the winter months when there really isn't shit to do around here anyway. take a season off from skiing (really only 10 ski days or so) and going that route.

how many people ski without an ACL and trust a good knee brace? i don't know what the hell to do???? thanks for your time and any help or exercises that will speed up my healing process as of right now is greatly appreciated.

[CS]

Damn man, that sucks. My question is, and excuse me if it's a dumb one, but wouldn't it still be hard to play golf with a torn ACL?

[InspectorGadget]

Man I'm sorry to hear you blew your knee (trying to power-lift your buddies wife).

Good luck with your chosen path.


Fore!

[altachic]

ACK! Sorry to hear about that. I feel for ya.

Good Luck and work hard.

[3o3]

That really sux X. Welcome to the DL.

I know Dybvig skied a chunk of a season of bumps without an ACL a couple years ago. I was at WP shooting video of him when he blew the other one. It was ugly. I'm guessing that you put way too much pressure on your good knee to compensate for the bad one and that ain't good.

I'd get it fixed asap, but that's coming from someone who's already blown their summer, and misery likes company.

[Meat's of Evil]

That sucks C. Next year when it’s healed up, head to Utah for some Deep pow therapy.

[iskibc]

Heal quick Chad. Stay positive and we'll see you on the slopes next year. Look at the bright side, you get to spend more time in the Beer Warehouse now.

[cololi]

Get it fixed. I was cleared to golf 6 weeks after my first ACL surgery. It actually really helped my game. My swing slowed down and I had more control. I developed a rather short swing. My slice went away. As I started to gain more strength and stability, My swing gradually got longer but I maintained my control.

For me, if I woulnd't of had it repaired I would have constantly thought about the knee when skiing and would have been much more tentative.

[shamrockpow]

I'd tend to agree with Cololi. Get the surgery ASAP, hopefully it goes as smooth as your doctor says and you'll be able to practice your putting and your short game and be back to playing a full 18 holes by August...

[GT40]

Sorry to hear about the knee. I guess you can still ride your wheeler. and shoot birds.

Hope you can get out again ASAP.

[Endlessseason]

Wow. Sorry to hear about that, mang.

It sucks, but nowhere near what you went through years ago. You'll probably think this is cake compared to what it was like back then.
There are just so many things an active person needs an ACL for. And there was no way I was going to wear a brace for the rest of my life for paintball, golf, playing with my kids, skiing, etc. After your ACL replacement, you'll most likely only need to wear a brace for a year or so and then you won't have to hassle with it.
No doubt. Get it done.

[BobMc]

Damn Chad, sorry to hear that. But, like MOE said c'mon out to Utah next season.

BobMc