*****WARNING*****
I'm bored out of my mind and decided to make my mot elaborate post with hospital pictures and all! I think ANYONE will empathize with me whose had reconstructive knee surgery.
As I posted in the 'Arizona' forum a month ago, my right ACL and meniscus fully ruptured upon riding National Trail South Mountain, Arizona. This was a trail that I rode often and never had any serious accidents until the day that some person placed a large rock on a blind drop to make the route "easier."
Long story short, I cleared the spot but at the last moment, noticed the rock, fell and the rest is history...
Official diagnosis
Approximately 5 days post injury, I had my appointment with Dr. Anikar Chhabra from the Orthopedic Clinic Association in Phoenix, Arizona:
http://www.tocamd.com/doctors/chhabra.htm
I was referred to him by a friend who is a former professional athlete. Dr. Chhabra is currently the orthopedic surgeon for the Phoenix Suns and the Roadrunners. Not to mention, a prior athlete and a great guy!
As I laid on the doctor's table, he placed my injured leg under his armpit and placed one of his hands on my thigh. He then lifted my lower leg up and down, independant of the femur. This was an absolute diagnosis, despite having the MRI. The diagnosis was a full ACL and meniscus rupture. Surgery was scheduled in which I chose the Hamstring Autograft as my selection. The doctor went over all my options and gave me the 'pros and cons.' After discussing my love for mountain biking and the fact that I no longer participate in contact sports, I felt the autograft was the best route.
As some of the other ACL posters have mentioned in the past, including my doctor, the "gold standard" for the use of the patellar ligament is becoming less popular. Meaning, that type of surgery has its place in the medical world, but it's not the 'only' way to go anymore for ACL surgery. Each patient has their own stories to tell regarding their injury and long term needs. Some choose no surgery and can live without an ACL for the remainder of their lives. Everyone is different and requires different needs and procedures.
Surgery Day
November 19th, 2008, I was up bright and early around 4:00am and had my wife drive me to the Gateway surgery center in Phoenix, AZ.
Prior to arrival, the girls from the surgery center called and reminded me about the things to bring and not to bring. One of the things she told me was to NOT wear underwear. I thought this was strange since I was only having surgery on my knee. Her response was - "You'll be wearing a gown and it's standard procedure." OK - no underwear.
Once I was escorted into my room by a fairly attractive female, she gave me my surgery gown, told me to undress, BUT keep my underwear and socks on!!!! I chuckled and asked her if she or her friends were the ones who called me and told me NOT to wear underwear. She laughed and thought I was kidding. She told me the "girls" at the scheduling center should have never told me this. SO......I stripped and laid on the bed in my gown with no underwear. Must I remind you that the gowns are short.
In desperate fear that the family jewels and the 'copper penny' would be exposed during surgery, I called my wife into the room and DEMANDED she respond to WALMART and buy some underwear! LOL AFter buying the underwear and putting them on, I was more at ease.
After speaking with the anesthesiologist about my 'pain control' options after surgery, I elected to have a femoral nerve block. This is a procedure in which the doctor numbs the nerve of your leg from the waist down by way of a big syringe. To be honest, I don't remember the actual shot because he gave me some thing prior which knocked me out within 3 seconds - literally. When I awoke, the procedure was done and I was off to the recovery room.
My leg was completely bandaged with ACE wrap and the leg brace was already affixed. The ACE wrap couldn't come off for 48 hours and since the meniscus was repaired, NOT removed, I am to NOT bear any weight on that leg for 4 weeks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
An hour later, my wife drove me home and I slept for hours. The nerve block worked wonders for 48 hours, but after that, the pain set in and I was miserable.
Despite the narcotics they give you, there's no way around the discomfort of the first week. The days following the surgery were awful. You never get comfortable, the leg is always elevated, you gain 10 pounds the first week and you're sick to your stomach from watching TV.
I was also given a 'Game Ready' icing machine which applies cold compression for 30 minutes on and 30 minutes off - 24/7. I use it religiously to lower the swelling and stop the pain.
Day 1
Bandages came off and I took this picture:
Week 1
The swelling has come down a bit and the pain isn't nearly as bad as it was during the first few days. You can actually see the right calf has atrophied already. But at least some definition is returning in my thigh.
After coming home, they give you a sheet of post-operative excercises to do to prevent further muscle loss. The excercises are pretty general - leg lifts, tighten the quad of the bad leg, attempt to slide your heel towards you while sitting on the ground.
Even though these excercises sound simple, they are TOUGH AS HELL - Believe me!
The number one thing the surgeon said to do is always sleep with your brace locked in the straight position. This is critical in preventing scar tissue from forming and not being able to straighten your leg in the future. They say removing scar tissue to straighten the leg is MORE difficult than dealing with scar tissue upon flexing the leg.
I'm currently approaching week 2 and will post more after several weeks.
My first day of physical therapy is on December 4th and I'm ready to really recover.
I have been doing all the excercises and more.....I currently pedal the recumbant bike at the gym for 20 minutes on top of the home excercises. My range of motion as become remarkably better during the past 3 days. I'm happy to say that I can bend my knee nearly as far as my good leg - with assistance of course! I'm hoping the PT will be "easier" with my progress.
As I've read other posts regarding knee surgery, I understand that SIXSIXTYSIX is the ACL guru. Hey SIXSIXTYSIX, if you chime in, let me know how that Donjoy is working for you. Any issues with getting pads over it? For those who don't know what a Donjoy is, it's a top of the line athletic brace company. Nice but very expensive.
I'm bored out of my mind and decided to make my mot elaborate post with hospital pictures and all! I think ANYONE will empathize with me whose had reconstructive knee surgery.
As I posted in the 'Arizona' forum a month ago, my right ACL and meniscus fully ruptured upon riding National Trail South Mountain, Arizona. This was a trail that I rode often and never had any serious accidents until the day that some person placed a large rock on a blind drop to make the route "easier."
Long story short, I cleared the spot but at the last moment, noticed the rock, fell and the rest is history...
Official diagnosis
Approximately 5 days post injury, I had my appointment with Dr. Anikar Chhabra from the Orthopedic Clinic Association in Phoenix, Arizona:
http://www.tocamd.com/doctors/chhabra.htm
I was referred to him by a friend who is a former professional athlete. Dr. Chhabra is currently the orthopedic surgeon for the Phoenix Suns and the Roadrunners. Not to mention, a prior athlete and a great guy!
As I laid on the doctor's table, he placed my injured leg under his armpit and placed one of his hands on my thigh. He then lifted my lower leg up and down, independant of the femur. This was an absolute diagnosis, despite having the MRI. The diagnosis was a full ACL and meniscus rupture. Surgery was scheduled in which I chose the Hamstring Autograft as my selection. The doctor went over all my options and gave me the 'pros and cons.' After discussing my love for mountain biking and the fact that I no longer participate in contact sports, I felt the autograft was the best route.
As some of the other ACL posters have mentioned in the past, including my doctor, the "gold standard" for the use of the patellar ligament is becoming less popular. Meaning, that type of surgery has its place in the medical world, but it's not the 'only' way to go anymore for ACL surgery. Each patient has their own stories to tell regarding their injury and long term needs. Some choose no surgery and can live without an ACL for the remainder of their lives. Everyone is different and requires different needs and procedures.
Surgery Day
November 19th, 2008, I was up bright and early around 4:00am and had my wife drive me to the Gateway surgery center in Phoenix, AZ.
Prior to arrival, the girls from the surgery center called and reminded me about the things to bring and not to bring. One of the things she told me was to NOT wear underwear. I thought this was strange since I was only having surgery on my knee. Her response was - "You'll be wearing a gown and it's standard procedure." OK - no underwear.
Once I was escorted into my room by a fairly attractive female, she gave me my surgery gown, told me to undress, BUT keep my underwear and socks on!!!! I chuckled and asked her if she or her friends were the ones who called me and told me NOT to wear underwear. She laughed and thought I was kidding. She told me the "girls" at the scheduling center should have never told me this. SO......I stripped and laid on the bed in my gown with no underwear. Must I remind you that the gowns are short.
In desperate fear that the family jewels and the 'copper penny' would be exposed during surgery, I called my wife into the room and DEMANDED she respond to WALMART and buy some underwear! LOL AFter buying the underwear and putting them on, I was more at ease.
After speaking with the anesthesiologist about my 'pain control' options after surgery, I elected to have a femoral nerve block. This is a procedure in which the doctor numbs the nerve of your leg from the waist down by way of a big syringe. To be honest, I don't remember the actual shot because he gave me some thing prior which knocked me out within 3 seconds - literally. When I awoke, the procedure was done and I was off to the recovery room.
My leg was completely bandaged with ACE wrap and the leg brace was already affixed. The ACE wrap couldn't come off for 48 hours and since the meniscus was repaired, NOT removed, I am to NOT bear any weight on that leg for 4 weeks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
An hour later, my wife drove me home and I slept for hours. The nerve block worked wonders for 48 hours, but after that, the pain set in and I was miserable.
Despite the narcotics they give you, there's no way around the discomfort of the first week. The days following the surgery were awful. You never get comfortable, the leg is always elevated, you gain 10 pounds the first week and you're sick to your stomach from watching TV.
I was also given a 'Game Ready' icing machine which applies cold compression for 30 minutes on and 30 minutes off - 24/7. I use it religiously to lower the swelling and stop the pain.
Day 1
Bandages came off and I took this picture:
Week 1
The swelling has come down a bit and the pain isn't nearly as bad as it was during the first few days. You can actually see the right calf has atrophied already. But at least some definition is returning in my thigh.
After coming home, they give you a sheet of post-operative excercises to do to prevent further muscle loss. The excercises are pretty general - leg lifts, tighten the quad of the bad leg, attempt to slide your heel towards you while sitting on the ground.
Even though these excercises sound simple, they are TOUGH AS HELL - Believe me!
The number one thing the surgeon said to do is always sleep with your brace locked in the straight position. This is critical in preventing scar tissue from forming and not being able to straighten your leg in the future. They say removing scar tissue to straighten the leg is MORE difficult than dealing with scar tissue upon flexing the leg.
I'm currently approaching week 2 and will post more after several weeks.
My first day of physical therapy is on December 4th and I'm ready to really recover.
I have been doing all the excercises and more.....I currently pedal the recumbant bike at the gym for 20 minutes on top of the home excercises. My range of motion as become remarkably better during the past 3 days. I'm happy to say that I can bend my knee nearly as far as my good leg - with assistance of course! I'm hoping the PT will be "easier" with my progress.
As I've read other posts regarding knee surgery, I understand that SIXSIXTYSIX is the ACL guru. Hey SIXSIXTYSIX, if you chime in, let me know how that Donjoy is working for you. Any issues with getting pads over it? For those who don't know what a Donjoy is, it's a top of the line athletic brace company. Nice but very expensive.