Joining the party

[weibo]

Kellie, having been there for the crappy part I am so happy that you have made it to the good part. I wish I could have seen you hit mile 105. Keep it going.

[truth]

Nice Kellie!

[duboix]

I guess one more month and you could start skiing? Congratulations! I think I have to update my ACL thread

[EPSkis]

Well - today's the day...Surgery at 3pm. Both excited to have this thing corrected, and nauseated at the thought of having the pain I went through the first time. Ugh.

I'll check back in when I'm coherent enough to do so.

[Alioops]

Well - today's the day...Surgery at 3pm. Both excited to have this thing corrected, and nauseated at the thought of having the pain I went through the first time. Ugh.

I'll check back in when I'm coherent enough to do so.

How are those vics and V&T's working for ya?

Take it easy and don't push it.

[EPSkis]

How are those vics and V&T's working for ya?

Take it easy and don't push it.

Ok, maybe that wasn't one of my better ideas. ;-)

Surgery went well ~ it was fascinating to wake up in the middle of it & watch the procedure on the Doc's monitor - the miniscus wasn't torn through as they thought it was (and I had an MRI *why?), but there was another piece removed between the lateral & medial. There were signs of previous ligament damage and he did trim away some of the tendon that had frayed.

The biggest issue was the arthritis, which the scope made very short work of. The arthritis growth between the top of my tib/fib and the bottom of my femur left VERY little space between the joint, which certainly explained the swelling and mobility issues. I would estimate that there was about 1/16" of arthritic growth on each side of the joint, which made a HUGE difference in the appearance of the joint after he'd cleaned it out. There was also quite a bit of debris in the joint which has likely been floating around in there for YEARS.

Doc came to talk to me during recovery & stressed to me that although this procedure should help a LOT ~ that it is only a temporary fix. The damage I'd done to my knee years ago, the previous surgery I'd had on it & the subsequent damage I've done to it since - WILL limit my skiing in the years to come. I've known this for some time, but hearing it from the guy that just "FIXED" my knee wasn't something I particularly enjoyed. There's but a small strip of miniscus left both on the outside of the lateral miniscus and between the lateral / medial miniscus, so there WILL be continued swelling and pain. It sounds like it's just a matter how much pain I'm willing to endure.

The knee itself is stable (which I'm grateful for), but the arthritis will come back, and will only lend to the further degeneration of what's LEFT of the miniscus - I'll discuss my PT and possible future options with him on Friday (9/2).

For now - just going to focus on enjoying it while I can, in as little pain as possible. I'll deal with the rest when I get there.

[Kellie]

Glad you made it through to the other side . . . keep us posted on your progress and enjoy the "time off" from life as much as you can

Happy healing, and hopefully we can make some "new knee" turns next season!

[Kellie]

Wow, it's been awhile since I've been here . . . all the way to page 3! The evolution of the knee experience has certainly been an interesting one, but I had a cool day today and thought this would be the place to post about it. To make a long story short, when I had my surgery in Washington I did some interviews that landed me a job in Alaska . . . so after quitting my CA job, spending some time in Nepal/Thailand, and heading home for the holidays, I've relocated to the Anchorage area and started a new job. My schedule is 7 days on, 7 days off so I get to ski midweek . . . which is why I've been touring around Hatcher and Turnagain passes for the past 4 days. All I have to say is "thank you" to whoever let's skiing be this good. I finally am feeling like a skier again, feeling good on the uphill, loving every turn, and feeling like my favorite self. Who knows how long I get to keep this feeling, but suffice it to say, I'm savoring it for now. What a journey, and I'm sure it's not over . . . but damn I love to ski!

[divegirl]

Kellie-
I was reading this thread from the beginning - read page one - and I have to ask: what was your initial diagnosis? You said it was a strained/torn MCL - and the ACL appears intact. Was this your diagnosis from the doctors at the clinic at Jackson Hole after just a physical exam?

Yesterday I was diagnosed with a grade 1 MCL sprain at Squaw. When I first fell on the mountain, it was really painful and surprising - I heard something, but it wasn't a definite pop. (However, I thought for sure it was something worse that what the docs said). But then the knee started to feel slightly better right away. They did the ACL tests at the clinic, and said it appeared completely intact and just fine. Since I'm only experiencing pain on the inner part of my right knee, and I'm able to bend it slightly past 90 degrees with some pain, AND I'm able to stand on one foot well enough on the bad leg.....I'm thinking their diagnosis is correct. But your initial diagnosis sounds a tad similar to mine, only to find out your ACL was gone. So I'm concerned...

I think I'll do what you did and go to an ortho in the next week or so. Glad to hear you're doing well now! It sounds like your new job has the perfect schedule this time - and location!!
-L

[truth]

Congrats Kellie, can't wait til I can make that same post.

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

I finally am feeling like a skier again, feeling good on the uphill, loving every turn, and feeling like my favorite self. Who knows how long I get to keep this feeling, but suffice it to say, I'm savoring it for now. What a journey, and I'm sure it's not over . . . but damn I love to ski!

awesome...just so damn good to hear.

[Kellie]

Kellie-
I was reading this thread from the beginning - read page one - and I have to ask: what was your initial diagnosis? You said it was a strained/torn MCL - and the ACL appears intact. Was this your diagnosis from the doctors at the clinic at Jackson Hole after just a physical exam?

Yesterday I was diagnosed with a grade 1 MCL sprain at Squaw. When I first fell on the mountain, it was really painful and surprising - I heard something, but it wasn't a definite pop. (However, I thought for sure it was something worse that what the docs said). But then the knee started to feel slightly better right away. They did the ACL tests at the clinic, and said it appeared completely intact and just fine. Since I'm only experiencing pain on the inner part of my right knee, and I'm able to bend it slightly past 90 degrees with some pain, AND I'm able to stand on one foot well enough on the bad leg.....I'm thinking their diagnosis is correct. But your initial diagnosis sounds a tad similar to mine, only to find out your ACL was gone. So I'm concerned...

I think I'll do what you did and go to an ortho in the next week or so. Glad to hear you're doing well now! It sounds like your new job has the perfect schedule this time - and location!!
-L

L, sorry to hear about the injury . . .even if it is only an MCL it's still a bummer! As for my experience, they diagnosed it torn MCL in the ER in Jackson. My knee was super swollen and painful, and I wore a brace/immobilizer. It didn't feel unstable, per say, to walk on it, but did feel much more secure in the brace. I limped around for the week, not imagining my ACL was torn until I saw the ortho . . . the rest is history.

Here's hoping you don't have the same experience, but definitely get it checked out . . . I think that swelling and general trauma makes a torn ACL difficult to diagnose right away.