2nd acl surgery blues (x-ray pic)

[xboat]

went to see the doc today 3 weeks pre-op. i had some questions for him and wanted him to test my knee again. he said that it wasn't as loose as when i saw him in may after it gave out, but still loose. i never had an MRI because at the time he said it wasn't needed. although i don't really have any pain in my knee right now, i know that i couldn't cut on this wheel very hard at all. it makes noises and feels a little unstable, but really if it wasn't for my love of skiing, i wouldn't be doing this.

he seems to really not care for the way the surgery was done the first time. the overly long scar and that huge ass "staple" in the front of my leg. damn, no wonder i remember major pain in the front there. this was 17 years ago, though. i chose to see a young doc this time. he is saying that the hardest part will be to get the old hardware out, the screw and the staple. i'm asking him if that's going to make things more painful and he's saying no, but i got to wonder. he doesn't seem overly concerned. hopefully he can get in there and get a good look around and have an easy time getting that shit out. he says there doesn't look to be any arthritis in there, so i got that going for me.

back in may was the the first time i saw this x-ray. any docs with encouraging words?



oh - that's not a ghost coming out of my knee, i had to take a pic of the x-ray.

[Big E]

Yikes, that's quite a piece of hardwear you've got in there. All I can say is, I would highly recommend NOT getting a video of the surgery and NOT watching when the doc is attempting to remove that staple. It may be best if you just don't know what went on at that point.

[GT40]

Hey C,

Let us know how it goes for ya.

My friend had the same hardware your wearing. They did take it out later and he show it to me. Those staples look like they could support the weight of an armored car.

I hope they can get you back on skis and out to Basin again soon. We've still got some shooting to do.

[xboat]

E - the thought of them pounding that thing in there has been giving me nightmares. removing it....not good thoughts.
i'm hoping that it won't be all that bad.

GT - thanks for the words, you can bet i'll be back there next season for sure.

was hoping to hear from anyone who has had something like this done. altagirl? any other two-timers?

i met with the PT today. this guy was about the same age as me and had his first ACL reconstruct within a year of my first and had also tore his again. crazy. he said that he wasn't getting his done again because all he does is ride a bike and run and he is getting by just fine so he's not messing with it. i was telling him that i am a skier that wants to be able to ski, even if i do have to slow down, for as long as possible. "yeah, you need an ACL to ski" he says. no shit. knees blow!



GO STEELERS!!!!!

[xboat]

god damn this shit sucks. it had been so long since the first i forgot what it felt like. feeling better by the day though. i had my surgery on monday late afternoon. i think one of the worst parts was having to lay around on a gourney for 3 1/2 hours before surgery, with an IV in, because the doc had to schedule an emergency operation right before mine. it sucked. i haven't talked to the doc yet but he told my mom that everything went smooth and he got the staple out no problem, for some reason that was my biggest worry. he said he left the screw in the femur because it wasn't in his way i guess and would be better to leave it. can't wait to talk to him next week.

well, i almost felt like i could walk that night because of the morphine or whatever it was that they put through my IV after i woke up in pain. even got a little sleep that first night. tuesday SUCKED BAD and it seemed the pain meds weren't doing much for me. i called and they gave me a prescription for 800mg motrin to help and they did seem to. i don't know what was going on that first day because on wednesday i felt a whole lot better but still hadn't got much sleep. slept about 8 hrs. straight on wed. night finally. so i had my first PT appointment at 12:30pm on wednesday (yesterday) only about 45 hours after surgery. although there was plenty of swelling i could do quad contractions well above average she said. i got to 4 degrees extension and 75 degrees flexion with just a little work. she said that she tries to get people to 90 degrees flex at one week and i hope to get well past that on monday. doing my exercises here at home i'm sure i got to 90 by myself tonight. i have an appointment tomorrow a.m. and the swelling is tons better that it was on wednesday so we'll see. i want to start pedaling asap.

i have to give a big thumbs up for this little contraption -
http://www.gameready.com/02/01.asp
i have this thing for a week i believe and it really helps to get the swelling down. they said it just came out this past fall and the thing really does work, fill it with ice and a little water and wrap it around your leg. has setting for temp and compression and circulates the cold water through it. it automatically adjusts the pressure up and down....well let's just say that i wish i would have invented that thing, it's awesome.

as of right now i am really happy with the cadaver graft. my incision is only about 3" long this time. well, i'm going to try and get some sleep and will update this weekend. hope everyone else is doing good.

[milton]

3 1/2 hour wait, that blows indeed. Nothing like some extra anxiety time...

Sound like you're doing better now, glad to hear everything's going ok so far.

That Gameready thing looks pretty high-tech! I was given a cryocuff info sheet, so i guess that's what i'll be doing.

Just curious, what sort of pain meds did they give you to take home?

[xboat]

well it seems like people are scared of this subject or something? really hoping for others experiences. altagirl, didn't you have a second surgery on the same knee? how did it go for you? there has to be others??

thanks milton, i'm feeling really good physically and mentally. i got the generic version of 10mg Lortab - Hydrocodone i think. i took one before PT today because she told me to but i think that i am pretty much done with them. i've never had to take pain meds before and i don't really care for them. i hope to throw these things away in a few days. those 800mg motrins should do the trick. if you can find one of those Game Ready machines, i'm a believer. my insurance covers it for two weeks i just found out today. even if you had to pay to rent it for a week or two i think it would be well worth it, can't be that much. if my PT in the cornfields of the midwest has access to them, i'm sure you do too. i didn't even ask for it.

i'm in a very good mood today! had my second PT this a.m, 4 days after surgery. i easily got to 0 degrees on my own and got to 111 degrees flexion with just the tightness feeling on the front of my knee holding me back. they are really impressed and so am i. i couldn't be happier about my progress right now. you hammy graft people probably don't believe me, but oh well. i hit 45 on the quad contraction reading thingy. averaged high 20's and they say that's really good. they haven't had to do the shock treatment on me which is always nice. my PT lady (really cool girl) said i was doing so well that i can cancel out 1 appointment a week and will only have to go two days a week instead of 3. that was good news. don't get me wrong, my leg doesn't have a whole lot of muscle but i will continue to work my ass off on my own and really can't wait to ski again. it can only get better from here, right?

c

[Arnold Babar]

Sounds like great progress, x. Remember, though, it's a long road. I sure hope I never have to do it again.

You might want to save some of those pain meds for when the Pats beat on the Steelers this weekend. You're gonna need 'em

[altagirl]

Those ice machine things rock. Glad to hear you're doing so well and in such great spirits! My 2 ACL recons weren't on the same knee. At least I match now, I guess... But it went well. I think went better knowing what to expect, etc. My lesson learned this time around was to not push too crazy hard. I guess I was going a little nuts for a few weeks there trying to get ROM - would push too hard, it would swell, and then it was excruciating just to get it back to where it was. Kind of put me in this frustrating cycle until I laid off a bit - then ROM came back easy.

Anyway, glad to hear your doing so well!

[xboat]

sorry AG, i had it wrong all along. thanks much for your input!

believe me, i'm not pushing my ROM much at all, just doing the exercises she wants me to do. i know i have a looong way to go. i don't have any pain on the backside or hammy area of my knee so going to zero is a piece of cake. all my pain seems to be in front and down my tibia right now. the swelling is already starting to look tons better by the day.

here's some more info about me; my left leg has never been near as big as my right for the last 16 or so years. my calf is decent but my hammy/quad is lacking bigtime. chicken leg for sure, i've always been a thin guy. i know that it's going to take me years to get a good chunk of my leg back. it's not something that's going to happen in 8+ weeks of PT that's for sure. i went into this whole deal knowing that i was going to have alot of work to do on a bike and with weights for quite some time...like years. the sooner that i can get my ROM and get out of the rehab workouts the better. it's not a very comfortable place for me to be. it's small and filled with a wide range of people, most being elderly. as far as i'm concerned, PT right after surgery is to get your ROM back, right? am i looking at this worng?

oh yeah - GO STEELERS!!!!!!!

[Arnold Babar]

I agree with everything you just said, except the Steelers part, condolences, the Pats are truly something special. Anyway, I'm at nine weeks post op, and decided to start going it alone for pt. I never feel like I get a good workout in there, it costs $, lots of elderly, and I have equipment and know how at home so...GO PATS!!!!!!!