ACL injury, surgery, rehab, etc. log

[lerops]

Now that there's a bunch of us around, I thought it would be helpful to keep a thread going on where everybody is, what the different stages are etc. Those who have been down this road would also be helpful with their experiences.

I got my surgery on Wednesday, hamstring autograft. All went well. Surgery in the morning, discharged around 5pm. I even got a photo of my "before and after" ACLs. uke:

My doctor used a nerve block, so most of the pain started around 24 hours later when the effect wore off. Started swallowing pills like crazy, now down to 1 percocet every 4 hours. Wearing the brace when sleeping and walking around (not doing much of this).

I have a few exercises to do for the first few days: ankle pumps, quad tightening, 90 degree flexion, full extension, straight leg raises.

I pretty much raise the leg and lie down with my leg fully extended, so that's taken care of. Ankle pumps and quad tightening are also fine. I don't have the bending down yet (about 120 degrees), but not too worried. The instructions say that is normal at the begining. Aaaaand I just finished my first leg raises!!! I had been trying since yesterday but had not been able to get it off the couch. But this time, it was different. It felt great too.

Starting PT on Monday, can wait to next season!

 

[wa-loaf]

Thanks for the report. I'm in PT now in preparation for surgery in April or May. Hawkshot was to have had his surgery on Wednesday.

Keep us posted.

 

[lerops]

Thanks. I found the pre-op PT quite useful actually. I did it for about 5 weeks, the exercises we got to towards the end were difficult for the non-injured to do.

Good luck!

 

[Hawkshot99]

I had my surgery the same day, same style, i have the pics, but no plans on looking at them. I have a "Bledsoe" brace on it to keep it locked.
Every thing you said up until the pill popping is me. I try to take them as rarely as possible. Maye 4 a day. I have this machine that I place my leg into, and it bends it for me. I think I am up to 60 degrees on it.
According to my doctor I would be able to walk out of the hospital, with just the brace. I am not even near that point now. I would be lost without crutches.

I would also be lost without my parents who are being very nice taking care of me.

 

[wa-loaf]

Did your doctors recommend the hamstring graft? Mine was talking about the cadaver tendon as the best way to go. No final decisions have been made, so I was wondering why you guys decided to go with the hamstring graft.

 

[Hawkshot99]

Went with hamstring because he said there is almost 0% chance the body will reject it, since it is part of you. The body can reject the cadaver tendon.....

And make sure you do the nerve block! Makes it so much more comfortable.

 

[wa-loaf]

Went with hamstring because he said there is almost 0% chance the body will reject it, since it is part of you. The body can reject the cadaver tendon.....

That's good to know. I want whatever will make my knee the strongest, but I also want a quick recovery. I'd like to be able to do some mt biking by the second half of the summer. Lots to think about.

 

[lerops]

In terms of streghth, my understanding is that there is no difference. My doctor said he recommends patellar tendon only to heavier patients and said I could choose either hamstring or cadavre (achilles or anterior tibial tendon). I went with my own because of the usual reasons and also that we don't know what we don't know.

hawkshot, for me it was 2 days a lot of pills, then less. today I took only one so far. Tryint to get off as well, if possible. I won't push it.

also, do you keep the brace on all the time? It gives me more pain than it helps me. I'd probably wear it when I am going outside (haven't yet). Also when sleeping, but planning to ditch it. My doctor called me the night of the surgery and said I don't have to wear it when I am resting at home (at full extension), which is pretty much me these days.

 

[lerops]

Also i don't have the CPM machine.

 

[Hawkshot99]

The only time that I don't wear my brace is when I am using the leg extension thing. Also I was able to take it off and shower today for the first time:-o. That was nice.

I don't feel comfortable without the brace on. With it, I can put a little bit of weight on it. Plus when lying down, having it on lets me move around a bit to be more comfortable.

Went out today real quick, and boy was it a workout. Who would have thought crutches to be that hard?

 

[severine]

Love the new avatar, Hawkshot!

You guys are scaring me. So this is what I have to look forward to if PT doesn't help (or if I finish tearing my ACL)? I broke my foot last June and was supposed to be on crutches for 2 weeks with a 2 week old infant and 2 year old to care for. Didn't happen. When they went to put the cast on, I told them there was no way I could stay off my foot and they better use the walking boot. Can't imagine requiring crutches now with the 10 month old (who walks, BTW) and nearly 3 year old.

PT starts Wed. I guess I'll know more then. Since the orthopedist said I could try skiing as long as I went easy, I'm going to try tomorrow night. No brace - he said he didn't think I needed one since I haven't had stability problems in the 5 weeks since I injured it. I guess we'll see how it goes. I promise, I'll stick to the greens.

 

[wa-loaf]

PT kicked my butt today. Much harder than the pool session. Started out with about 10 mins on an exercise bike. Then did hamstring exercises with a big yoga ball, squats on a (bosu?) balancing board, wall sliders again with the yoga ball, and finally the hardest was doing this walking thing with a tension cord around my feet. The whole time I was thinking what great exercises these are for skiing! :sad: Finished up with some stretching and my knee in this cooling pressure wrap. Really feeling it in my quads tonight.

 

[deadheadskier]

Curious about the hamstring autograft. Does this not weaken another area of your body? Stealing from Peter to pay Paul so to speak

 

[lerops]

I asked the same question, the answer was that the loss is minimal and more importantly you only lose from potential since those who are not top athletes don't really use all of the hamstring power.

Actually, because of the same reason I was worried about using the patellar tendon. They cut off the middle third for the graft and there is not as much of it to start with.

 

[Hawkshot99]

Curious about the hamstring autograft. Does this not weaken another area of your body? Stealing from Peter to pay Paul so to speak

Well I do know that I can barely lift my leg vertically without some form of help. And this is a vast improvement from the beginning. Maybe the hamstring is very fast healing?:idea: IDK, I just went with what was the doctors #1 suggestion as he knows a bit more than me.

 

[Hawkshot99]

PT kicked my butt today. Much harder than the pool session. Started out with about 10 mins on an exercise bike. Then did hamstring exercises with a big yoga ball, squats on a (bosu?) balancing board, wall sliders again with the yoga ball, and finally the hardest was doing this walking thing with a tension cord around my feet. The whole time I was thinking what great exercises these are for skiing! :sad: Finished up with some stretching and my knee in this cooling pressure wrap. Really feeling it in my quads tonight.

The PT I did was pretty tough. By the end I was using a lot of different leg machines(weights). I think I started at 50-60#'s on a leg press, and ended at 120#.

When I started the PT there was no hope that I would do good enough to avoid surgery, it was just a way to strengthen myself before the surgery. I rarely felt pain, unless I moved just wrong then IT HURT!!!!

 

[severine]

Since the orthopedist said I could try skiing as long as I went easy, I'm going to try tomorrow night. No brace - he said he didn't think I needed one since I haven't had stability problems in the 5 weeks since I injured it. I guess we'll see how it goes. I promise, I'll stick to the greens.

Parents canceled at the last minute to watch the kids. Stuck home. Looks like no skiing for the rest of this season for me. Not worth it to drive north and pay when I'm not even sure if my knee can handle it (and it's nearly impossible to get anyone to watch the kids anyway). Disappointed doesn't even come close to how I feel right now, even when I think of the practical side (you know, the "well at least I won't injure it more" argument).

 

[wa-loaf]

Parents canceled at the last minute to watch the kids. Stuck home. Looks like no skiing for the rest of this season for me. Not worth it to drive north and pay when I'm not even sure if my knee can handle it (and it's nearly impossible to get anyone to watch the kids anyway). Disappointed doesn't even come close to how I feel right now, even when I think of the practical side (you know, the "well at least I won't injure it more" argument).

Where's Brian? He's been skiing a lot lately. Make him watch the kids while you go out and have a good time.

 

[severine]

Where's Brian? He's been skiing a lot lately. Make him watch the kids while you go out and have a good time.

He volunteered to work. :roll: And yeah, he's been skiing a lot AND going out and having fun. I wonder when it'll be my turn....

 

[wa-loaf]

When I started the PT there was no hope that I would do good enough to avoid surgery, it was just a way to strengthen myself before the surgery. I rarely felt pain, unless I moved just wrong then IT HURT!!!!

Same here, they want to strengthen the muscles (makes for quicker recovery) and for the swelling from the bone bruising to go down. It just felt good to exercise after almost 4 weeks of inactivity.