Back to the Beginning.... Second Surgery (ACL Reconstruction), New Thread

[Skibumtress]

Saw the second Doc today and feel so much more comfortable with him. I brought my surgery report and photos and without knowing he said to me, “You did this skiing, didn’t you?” Said that the type of damage to my knee is typical of skiers and he’s seen many and lots this season. Unlike my previous Doc, right away he said I’m a perfect candidate for ACL reconstruction (but we all knew that). Said my age had nothing to do with it..... I’m over 30, active and need an ACL, period.... no question about it. To make a long story short, he basically confirmed what you all have said and the research I’ve done.
He’s giving me the choice of what type of graft I want to have (knows I’ve done the research), however he highly recommends the allograft (he does mostly allografts) if I feel comfortable with it. I asked him if any of his patients have rejected it and/or have had infection. He said “no” and that it can happen but it’s rare (that made me feel better). Said I can choose the hammy if I want, however he said that the hammy can have stress and be worn and by his experience is less reliable in some people. Of course I’m to continue with my PT and he wants to see me in two weeks when the swelling from the initial injury and first surgery is down some more because he can’t determine just yet when I can have the surgery. He did say probably at the end of April or sometime in May. Said I should be ready for ski season by November, however will have to take it easy at first. Finally a doc who understands my “ski therapy!”
Also confirmed what my old Doc said about getting fitted for the Donjoy..... not until after surgery and all the swelling is down. Said that although I’ll be able to go back to normal activities, it will take a full year for the knee to be good as new (or better than new).
He did put me on an arthritis/anti-inflamatory med (for the swelling and the post-traumtic arthritis). Concerns me a little ‘cause he said it can be rough on the stomach. Of course he said if it bothers me to call him and stop taking it. It’s Arthrotec. Anyone have any experience with this drug... side effects?
Oy, two surgeries in three months.

[jenscats5]

So glad you like the new Dr. better Bummy!! It all sounds good to go....Good luck!!

[fez]

so i guess i missed it, what happened with the first surgery?

[Skibumtress]

so i guess i missed it, what happened with the first surgery?

Long story short, I was orignally diagnosed with a meniscus tear, fracture and an "intermediate-high grade" ACL tear. When Doc looked at the MRI said he would just snip and trim the ACL tear since it wasn't detached. However, when he did the first surgery he gently probed the ACL and apparently it was just floating there..... it was completely ruptured. Apparently the MRI didn't pick this up 'cause the ACL was exactly where it should be so no signs of detachment were visible (I'm still questioning this but the new Doc said that yes this is possible).

http://www.tetongravity.com/forums/s...ad.php?t=48616

[fez]

dang that sucks.
im just about 3 weeks post op (tomorrow) on my acl. I hope things go as easy for you as they have for me!

[Skibumtress]

dang that sucks.
im just about 3 weeks post op (tomorrow) on my acl. I hope things go as easy for you as they have for me!

That's great!!! Well not great that you're post-op but great recovery is going well.
Which graft did you have done? Still feeling a little funky about the allograft.... reading all good stuff about it, but having a donor graft still gives me the "woolies" a little.

[fez]

i went with patellar tendon graft. I think we may have covered this, but my surgeon is the best in bozeman and it was his recommendation so i decided to trust him on it.

[Skibumtress]

i went with patellar tendon graft. I think we may have covered this, but my surgeon is the best in bozeman and it was his recommendation so i decided to trust him on it.

Fez, you prolly right, my brain is just on "overload" right now with all this stuff I've been reading.
New Doc says to me yesterday, do some research and let me know which graft you'd prefer and we'll talk..... I'm like "NO, no more research, I've read enough about this already!"

[fez]

yeah it does get overwhelming, i read everything here and basically came to decide that there are pros and cons to every procedure. i sat down and had a talk with my doc, he outlined why he used patellar tendon. it basically came down to him feeling it has the best balance of various trade offs (recovery time, strength of the graft, infection/rejection risk, etc.).

my doc is a us ski team physician, is the ortho for the montana state football team, is an avid skier (used to patrol at alta between college and med school), and does about 200 acls a year and has done around 2000 lifetime. i figured he knows a lot more about this than me.

I was bearing weight within two days of surgery, back at work in less than a week. I was walking with barely a noticeable limp at about two weeks. PT is going well, my range of motion was almost the same as my good leg at two weeks. my therapist is a cute, tiny young woman who likes to beat me down. but it is good that she pushes me like she does. both her and her boss are amazed at my progress and are trying to walk the fine line of pushing me to work hard but also keep me from overdoing it.

I'm no expert, but i dont think the type of graft is not nearly as important as how hard you work at pt.

[nancie2k]

It’s Arthrotec. Anyone have any experience with this drug... side effects?


http://aolsvc.health.webmd.aol.com/d...o.x=17&go.y=12

boy oh boy, can it have side effects!!

[beaterdit]

Glad to hear you like your new Doc. Sounds like we're getting cut around the same time. You said you live in Jersey right? My folks live in Yonkers, if I'm back there this summer we should have a few gimpy beers. Good luck with PT.

[truth]

Sounds like you found the right doc, Bummer you had to be sliced twice. be careful with the drugs. I was 31 when I had my ACL done (3/05) and did not use any arthritis drugs.

[Skibumtress]

Sounds like you found the right doc, Bummer you had to be sliced twice. be careful with the drugs. I was 31 when I had my ACL done (3/05) and did not use any arthritis drugs.

Yea, this one kind of scares me. However, it's an anti-inflamatory too. I have the arthritis in two place.... one area is down to the bone on the knee cap. I took one this morning after coffee and a bagel w/cream cheese and it didn't bother me.

[Skibumtress]

WooHoo..... I got to ride the bike at PT today!!! Only level 2 for 8 minutes (ssshhh, don't tell but I did 12 minutes 'cause the guy was working on someone else at the time). But it felt great! Amazing how the little things can lift the spirits up!
The one thing they have me doing which seems to be the hardest is doing laps on a stool with the legs.... weird thing to me but by doing it I understand.
Thought I should be doing exercises at home but PT guy said "No, not for another week or two." Said I do enough during my off days by walking and stuff and to only elevate and ice on my days off. Guess I sort of understand 'cause in the last week I've had good days and bad days...... really swells up on some days.

[altagirl]

Glad to hear you're doing well. I gave up on anything beyond a few lortabs right after surgery too. I tried Celebrex briefly with my last ACL and felt like crap and had some weird side effects and quit it right away. My first ACL surgery they had me taking massive doses of Motrin for like 6 months and it tore my stomach to hell. I can't do much in the way of anti-inflammatories anymore.

[Skibumtress]

Glad to hear you're doing well. I gave up on anything beyond a few lortabs right after surgery too. I tried Celebrex briefly with my last ACL and felt like crap and had some weird side effects and quit it right away. My first ACL surgery they had me taking massive doses of Motrin for like 6 months and it tore my stomach to hell. I can't do much in the way of anti-inflammatories anymore.

Yea, I agree about the anti-inflamatories, however he said to try to take them until I see him on the 19th, so he can more or less determine when the ACL surgery will be. He did say that if I'd rather have the pain killers and the anti-inflamatories are bothering me to call him ASAP. Like I said have good days and bad, the last day and a half have been bad.... I think hitting my knee on the coffee table yesterday didn't help too much. Man, talk about seeing stars for 10 minutes.
The side effects just scare me, especially reading the link that Nancy posted.

[altagirl]

Yea, I agree about the anti-inflamatories, however he said to try to take them until I see him on the 19th, so he can more or less determine when the ACL surgery will be. He did say that if I'd rather have the pain killers and the anti-inflamatories are bothering me to call him ASAP. Like I said have good days and bad, the last day and a half have been bad.... I think hitting my knee on the coffee table yesterday didn't help too much. Man, talk about seeing stars for 10 minutes.
The side effects just scare me, especially reading the link that Nancy posted.

For me - no pill works as well as icing, elevating (I mean REALLY elevating above the heart - and sleeping like that), and keeping it wrapped or wearing a surgical stocking when it's not elevated. Do some edema massage too - i.e. elevate your leg, and massage it, running your hands from your calf to your thigh - literally lightly pushing the swelling out of your leg. They did this for me at PT with my last ACL when swelling was blocking my ROM.

You can also take some more natural things for swelling - eating raw pineapple actually helps reduce swelling. And I take a supplement called Zyflamend, which contains turmeric, and that seems to help too. No side effects with those...

[here2day]

You really need to focus on getting rid of the swelling. It's going to screw with your ROM and worse when you start trying to build the muscle back if you have a swollen knee it will take much longer. If the anti-inflammatories mess with you stomach then as AG says RICE like crazy.

Unfortunately most ski related ACL injuries include a big bone bruise which (at least in my case) keep the knee swollen way too long.

I'm 10 months post; got my CTi2; am pulling the boards down from the rafters to scrape, file and wax tomorrow; and heading to Mammoth this weekend. MM is approaching back to back 600 inch years so looks like I'll get some use out of my pass this spring.

April 1st is the 1 year anniversary of my crash. A year sounded like a death sentence last April but it's gone by pretty fast.

Keep working it folks - it gets better.

[Skibumtress]

You can also take some more natural things for swelling - eating raw pineapple actually helps reduce swelling. And I take a supplement called Zyflamend, which contains turmeric, and that seems to help too. No side effects with those...

Did not know this and I love pineapple!!! Thanks for these tips.
Yea, try not to take the pain meds and icing and elevation does help but once in a while, I just get that exhausting pain, however it is lessening.

[altagirl]

Did not know this and I love pineapple!!! Thanks for these tips.
Yea, try not to take the pain meds and icing and elevation does help but once in a while, I just get that exhausting pain, however it is lessening.

Such a good excuse to go buy a fresh pineapple, huh? I love it too.

http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?t...dspice&dbid=34

[Skibumtress]

Such a good excuse to go buy a fresh pineapple, huh? I love it too.

http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?t...dspice&dbid=34

And lookie that.... it be pineapple season!

Gonna look into those supplements too! Thanks AG!!!

[Skibumtress]

PT visit - knee injuries all over the place.
PT was crowded today. At one point I counted 14 peeps (may have been more), one shoulder injury, one ankle injury...... you guessed it, the rest were knee injuries and all ages too!
I did get a stern talking to by the main PT guy who originally did all my tests. After each exercise he'll ask me how I'm doing and I either shrug or say it hurts a little. He told me I'm making him nervous by not being vocal enough telling him how it really feels. The PT guy working with me was told "Make sure she doesn't do more than what's on the chart. Keep an eye on her." Last session I did an extra set on some stuff 'cause it felt o.k. and the guy was working with someone else too. Did hurt tonight..... I guess driving this weekend to VT (Killington for the BMMC) and falling down the hill while walking didn't help.

[Mtn Man]

Did hurt tonight..... I guess driving this weekend to VT (Killington for the BMMC) and falling down the hill while walking didn't help.

And not wearing a brace while on uneven snow the entire day at K. Bad Bad Bummy! You just had surgery to fix your meniscus, you know that you don't have any ACL for the time being, you're highly suseptable to additional meniscus damage at this time....wear a brace!!!

[/end rant]

B)

[jenscats5]

PT visit - knee injuries all over the place.
PT was crowded today. At one point I counted 14 peeps (may have been more), one shoulder injury, one ankle injury...... you guessed it, the rest were knee injuries and all ages too!
I did get a stern talking to by the main PT guy who originally did all my tests. After each exercise he'll ask me how I'm doing and I either shrug or say it hurts a little. He told me I'm making him nervous by not being vocal enough telling him how it really feels. The PT guy working with me was told "Make sure she doesn't do more than what's on the chart. Keep an eye on her." Last session I did an extra set on some stuff 'cause it felt o.k. and the guy was working with someone else too. Did hurt tonight..... I guess driving this weekend to VT (Killington for the BMMC) and falling down the hill while walking didn't help.

That tore me up too - can't imagine how you must feel.....

[nancie2k]

overdoing your therapy just might do the opposite of what you want by lengthening your recovery time instead of shortening it!! therapists went to school to learn about it and have worked with patients enough times to know what is best for your muscles. you should listen to them!!!!!

i am trying to listen to mine-