ACLR Monday 21st August

[flatlander420]

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.

[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.

[flatlander420]

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.

[lucubrator]

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.

[lucubrator]

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.

[flatlander420]

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!!!

[SnowTigress]

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!

[lucubrator]

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:

[flatlander420]

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.

[Fuzz]

^^^ 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.

[flatlander420]

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!!

[ikkin]

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! you deserve it!