ACL CLASS OF 2016

[jmcparkcity]

Morning of day one in the Niseko slackcountry, and not even an epic one at that. Skied there four years running and never seen it so boney but I was on day 40 for the season, feeling warmed up and we had an ambitious 14 day trip planned. It was not to be.

Last run before lunch I ducked to avoid a low branch and didn't see the small sapling sticking out which hooked my left tip and took me down. I knew it was bad before I hit the ground. Just sat there for a few minutes wanting to puke. Skiing on dynafit speed radicals, which did not release. I don't fault them - they've served me for hundreds of days without a problem. May have had the heel piece too close to the heel of new boots? I'll never know. Doesn't really matter.

Had X-rays and an MRI in Kutchan and the Ortho there, who spoke excellent English confirmed the worst: major tear, possible meniscus damage as well. F!#k! (By the way, all that cost $400 out the door and took 3 hours with no appointment in a country where I command exactly four words of the language. Try that at home!)

So I've chillin in Thailand for a few days, letting the swelling subside. I've pretty much got full ROM back and can walk normally but know what's coming when I return to PC. Haven't yet come to terms fully with the fact that this season and probably a chunk of next are gone, as is climbing and mt. biking. At 47 I'm going to try to turn this into the chance to be the gym rat I've never been and come back stronger than before. Should be seeing Dr. Cooley in PC next week. Will post more here as things develop. Some of the stories are daunting but most are encouraging. Glad to have company.

[snowgage]

Hello fellow 2016 classmates. Its been a bummer to hear some many stories about the injuries. Overall things have gotten better, mentally and physically every day. Right off the bat I was so bummed to be missing the entire ski season (I blew mine on day #1, turn #3). Then being couch bound for two weeks was a major downer when storms were hammering the local mountains. After I got off my crutches and started driving, things progressed pretty quick.

Today I am 7 weeks post-op. I can ride the stationary bike hard and do some raging intervals. Same on the C2 rower, wicked 30 minute interval sesssions are getting me strong in the lungs. I can do air squats, light dumbell thrusters, lunges, step-downs and some hamstring work. My surgery leg is still over an inch smaller than my good leg and its a bummer to see the atrophy. I did some gentle vinyassa yoga the other day which felt pretty good on the mind and body.

The crux for me is not going too hard. I feel really good and want to push it in the gym. Since I've already missed the whole winter I have to remind myself to take it slow and not rush the recovery. If all goes well I'll be jogging later this month.

Hang in there everyone, we'll be shredding the pow soon enough. Maybe this is finally reason enough to go to South America in September... Onward!

-josh

[joetron]

Morning of day one in the Niseko slackcountry, and not even an epic one at that. Skied there four years running and never seen it so boney but I was on day 40 for the season, feeling warmed up and we had an ambitious 14 day trip planned. It was not to be.

Last run before lunch I ducked to avoid a low branch and didn't see the small sapling sticking out which hooked my left tip and took me down. I knew it was bad before I hit the ground. Just sat there for a few minutes wanting to puke. Skiing on dynafit speed radicals, which did not release. I don't fault them - they've served me for hundreds of days without a problem. May have had the heel piece too close to the heel of new boots? I'll never know. Doesn't really matter.

Had X-rays and an MRI in Kutchan and the Ortho there, who spoke excellent English confirmed the worst: major tear, possible meniscus damage as well. F!#k! (By the way, all that cost $400 out the door and took 3 hours with no appointment in a country where I command exactly four words of the language. Try that at home!)

So I've chillin in Thailand for a few days, letting the swelling subside. I've pretty much got full ROM back and can walk normally but know what's coming when I return to PC. Haven't yet come to terms fully with the fact that this season and probably a chunk of next are gone, as is climbing and mt. biking. At 47 I'm going to try to turn this into the chance to be the gym rat I've never been and come back stronger than before. Should be seeing Dr. Cooley in PC next week. Will post more here as things develop. Some of the stories are daunting but most are encouraging. Glad to have company.

I'd wager you'll be on a mtn bike this summer. My first ride after surgery was down in StG about 12 weeks post op. My surgery was Feb 2 and skiing the next season (last year) was not a problem. Skied in a brace last year, do not feel the need whatsoever this season. I was 39 when injured, so not exactly a spring chicken either.

That said, by all means, take the chance to spend some time in the gym. Strength, mobility and form will only make everything better.

[ticketchecker]

Surgery was May 15, 2015, it was a revision so Doc is a bit cautious with those. I was riding on bike paths around 12wks and mellow singletrack around 16wks. Started skiing in Jan without a brace on the doom and gloom EC boiler plate in Maine, got about 15 days on snow now. Feels awesome, my 51 year old beaten up body came back nicely thanks to my PT program. Still going 2x week as a training client now.

Good luck

[HVskier]

Doc was happy with the surgery...I'm 5 days out now. I ended up with a meniscus repair which means 6 weeks on crutches but I'm told is better in the long term. Pain is getting better and sleep easier, also had my first really easy pt session on Friday. Hoping to be a little more mobile and more comfortable with a smaller brace later in the week.

[dabaier]

At least they were able to repair the meniscus. I believe only like 5% of meniscus injuries are repairable, most are trimmed.

[TeleMiriam]

Doc was happy with the surgery...I'm 5 days out now. I ended up with a meniscus repair which means 6 weeks on crutches but I'm told is better in the long term. Pain is getting better and sleep easier, also had my first really easy pt session on Friday. Hoping to be a little more mobile and more comfortable with a smaller brace later in the week.

Hope everyone is healing well and continuing to improve.

Looks like I have a torn meniscus as well as a torn ACL. Didn't show up on MRI. When doctor bent my leg or felt like I got shot.

Those who also had a torn meniscus as well as a torn ACL - What's the recovery been like? I'm super bummed because I know it's going to take even longer.

[HVskier]

Hope everyone is healing well and continuing to improve.

Looks like I have a torn meniscus as well as a torn ACL. Didn't show up on MRI. When doctor bent my leg or felt like I got shot.

Those who also had a torn meniscus as well as a torn ACL - What's the recovery been like? I'm super bummed because I know it's going to take even longer.

Some meniscus damage is pretty common. In my case he was able to repair the tear with stitches which is better in the long run than just removing meniscus. I'm supposed to keep my knee locked straight in a brace when moving around. Free to bend it when not weight bearing. I was told that I'd be on crutches for 6 weeks. Also told my recovery will be a little slower than most at first but I should catch up fast.

Most of my first week was spent in the full leg immobilizer or with my leg pretty close to straight.

I started weight bearing in pt today and walked on it straight legged with crutches (16 days out).

[TeleMiriam]

Had surgery yesterday. Nerve block hasn't worn off yet so no pain. But the only exercise I can do is quad sets. I was lucky - just a torn ACL. Hope everyone is progressing well.

[devon]

8 days out from surgery. Worst part is that the meniscus damage was worse than expected--which means 6 weeks of toe touch weight only. Bummer. Previous ACL I was weaning off crutches after a couple weeks.

Good luck everyone.

[Aknoff]

Long time lurker but consider me part of the class of '16. ACL, LCL, medial meniscus, lateral meniscus, and popliteus muscle and tendon. All completely torn from some mashed potatoes on Rasputin's at Vail. Least exciting story ever. Steadman had me in for surgery 12 hours after I showed up at his office the Monday following. 2.5 weeks into my 6 weeks of no weight bearing and 9 month total recovery. If anyone in Boulder/Denver wants to commiserate over beers count me in.

[myles long]

I am 9 months post op, left acl only. Just got cleared for full activity. Did tons of PT which makes a huge difference.

Guess this should be in class if 15 too

[TeleMiriam]

6 days post op. PT began yesterday. Quad is strong and may be able to bear partial weight tomorrow. Full extension. But concerned about lack of flexion. Maybe at 80 on assisted leg lowering. At 45 flexion on heel slides. Heel slides are painful. I still have quite a bit of swelling. Mentally tough day.

[dabaier]

Get through the first 2-3 weeks and thing start to improve rapidly.

Going on 9 weeks post op. Rehab is going really well, although I have developed a mild case of plantar fasciitis during rehab. I am getting on the stationary bike 3 times a week and the leg is feeling strong the quad is really coming back. Should start jogging on the treadmill in the next week or two.

[Happy Fun Ball]

Thankfully my ACL's are intact, but I showed my wife this topic last night while relaxing around the house. If you guys want to feel better about your current condition my wife was skiing Thursday night beer league back in February and got caught up in some loose snow and ruptured BOTH ACL's. Left knee included a nice medial and lateral meniscus tear. Anyway, despite being above the recommended age she opted for a BTB patellar graft. Little more painful, little longer recovery, but given her lifestyle her and her surgeon decided it was the best fit. She's four weeks post op and just started PT last week after 3 weeks of no weight bearing on the left knee. Once that one is stable enough to bare weight fully she'll go in for the same surgery on the right knee. Despite racing at a very high level competitively most of her life she managed to not have a single knee issue until this one! Gonna be a long summer!!

[nortonwhis]

(Not sure if this is worthy of its own thread or not so ill just throw it in here)
Anyone have any experience with partial tears?
MRI showed a partial tear (im in the process of trying to figure out from them how partial). Generally how much needs to be left before its safe to not operate. Im reading conflicting reports about the body's ability to heal a partial acl tear. Does anyone have a definitive answer to that?
Im not really interested in doing a half ass job so would choose surgery over non surgical methods if the outcome meant a stronger knee at the end of the year.

Other than that i got off lightly with a small fracture to my tibial plateau and not much else.

Thanks!

[TeleMiriam]

Thankfully my ACL's are intact, but I showed my wife this topic last night while relaxing around the house. If you guys want to feel better about your current condition my wife was skiing Thursday night beer league back in February and got caught up in some loose snow and ruptured BOTH ACL's. Left knee included a nice medial and lateral meniscus tear. Anyway, despite being above the recommended age she opted for a BTB patellar graft. Little more painful, little longer recovery, but given her lifestyle her and her surgeon decided it was the best fit. She's four weeks post op and just started PT last week after 3 weeks of no weight bearing on the left knee. Once that one is stable enough to bare weight fully she'll go in for the same surgery on the right knee. Despite racing at a very high level competitively most of her life she managed to not have a single knee issue until this one! Gonna be a long summer!!

I feel awful for your wife and I am sick to my reading this. Sending her positive healing vibes.

[TeleMiriam]

(Not sure if this is worthy of its own thread or not so ill just throw it in here)
Anyone have any experience with partial tears?
MRI showed a partial tear (im in the process of trying to figure out from them how partial). Generally how much needs to be left before its safe to not operate. Im reading conflicting reports about the body's ability to heal a partial acl tear. Does anyone have a definitive answer to that?
Im not really interested in doing a half ass job so would choose surgery over non surgical methods if the outcome meant a stronger knee at the end of the year.

Other than that i got off lightly with a small fracture to my tibial plateau and not much else.

Thanks!

I am not a doctor. My knowledge just comes from online research. It's my understanding that a torn or partially torn ACL can't heal itself.

[TeleMiriam]

Get through the first 2-3 weeks and thing start to improve rapidly.

Going on 9 weeks post op. Rehab is going really well, although I have developed a mild case of plantar fasciitis during rehab. I am getting on the stationary bike 3 times a week and the leg is feeling strong the quad is really coming back. Should start jogging on the treadmill in the next week or two.

Glad you are progress well. Sorry about the plantar fasciitis...I got on the bike this week. It's has helped me in many ways.

[splat]

Hope everyone is healing well and continuing to improve.

Looks like I have a torn meniscus as well as a torn ACL. Didn't show up on MRI. When doctor bent my leg or felt like I got shot.

Those who also had a torn meniscus as well as a torn ACL - What's the recovery been like? I'm super bummed because I know it's going to take even longer.

ACL's a piece of cake. But my bucket handle meniscus tear repair re-tore five months out and a lot of shredding took place. Which is why I started the stem cell thread.

[nortonwhis]

I am not a doctor. My knowledge just comes from online research. It's my understanding that a torn or partially torn ACL can't heal itself.

Thanks. Thats kind of what i am seeing, or if it does heal it does it so slowly that it gets damaged quicker than it can heal. Looks like i have lost 50% of my acl which to me seems like pretty much a guaranteed surgery. Hopefully i can get it done asap and be back for next winter!
Will be posting in here a bit and am looking forward to hearing how everyone else is doing.

[HVskier]

I passed week 6 post-op this week. Got the all good for weight bearing from the doc today. Had been doing some walking without crutches already in pt and doing some small weight bearing exercises.

The past week and a half has been pretty rough waiting for the go ahead. I started to get some painful tightness in my calf and started to develop some kneecap pain from disuse and quad atrophy. I had a small victory today though as I moved my clutch-equipped car around in the parking lot. Tried pressing the clutch a week ago and couldn't do it.

I'll be trying to ditch the crutches in the next couple days. Stairs are going to be scary. Onto building back quad strength now.

[babybear]

I passed week 6 post-op this week. Got the all good for weight bearing from the doc today. Had been doing some walking without crutches already in pt and doing some small weight bearing exercises.

The past week and a half has been pretty rough waiting for the go ahead. I started to get some painful tightness in my calf and started to develop some kneecap pain from disuse and quad atrophy. I had a small victory today though as I moved my clutch-equipped car around in the parking lot. Tried pressing the clutch a week ago and couldn't do it.

I'll be trying to ditch the crutches in the next couple days. Stairs are going to be scary. Onto building back quad strength now.

hope you keep healing up well!
will be great when you can spin on the bike soon

[Lindahl]

Checkin in for all the new recruits. Have faith and work you ass off in PT. Had surgery for my tear back in May 2014 at 32, and still skiing and sending just as hard as I did before the accident. Heavy PT and a ton of biking had me skiing at 5mo and skiing powder and smaller cliffs at 6mo, back to full strength and skiing like I was before at 9mo. Can't stress the PT enough (and biking)! Post 3 months, per week, it was 3 days in the gym for 90min and ~150mi of road or ~60mi of mtn bike (starting at 4mo). Get after it!

[uglymoney]

I just got the acl diagnosis from the MRI this morning though I pretty much figured. 40 years of skiing hard summer and winter with no injuries that didn't go away on their own or at least fade into lumps and bumps that I ignore. I guess I was due. Complete ACL tear. I'm walking around with no pain and feel great but have been off work for two weeks because my job requires my knee to work 100 percent so I've had no choice but to go on FMLA and try to collect on my short term disability. Spending much much more time with my sweet little girl than normal since I work 3rd shift normally so that has been nice. I'm still kicking myself in the ass for the mistake I made that led to the fall that led to the injury and I know I need to let that go but it is hard. I guess I enter a new phase in life now and try to get my head around things.