Author Topic: ACL done (Read 3419 times)

11bgrunt · « **on:** November 29, 2006, 02:07:21 PM »

Greetings all, first chance I have had to get up to computer, was not on my first priority list anyways. Had ACL Recon on Monday the 27th, was unsure what all was going to happen with it until Dr got inside with all the defects and all. I guess the picture is clearer now though. The pain was absent for first day, i was given a block in my groin and did not have to stay over night or nothing. Never had a block before but it went great, only mistake I made was not staying in front of the pain as it wore off. Man I paid for that all night long. Just now getting it under control. As for the defects, the Dr decided the defects were too big and that micro fracture was not going to work so he took a biopsy to grow new cells and will inplant them later. He said I will also need an open wedge osteotomy, i am so not looking forward to that. Other than that I do not have a whole lot. I see him again next wednesday. Pain is creeping up again, I am signing off, will post again later.

John

WJD · « **Reply #1 on:** November 29, 2006, 03:25:59 PM »

Hi John,

keep taking the tablets!

The other stuff sounds serious, keep us posted when you can.

WJD

Stockers · « **Reply #2 on:** November 29, 2006, 03:59:12 PM »

Hey mate,
Just checked some of your older posts. You've gone through the mill good and proper and it looks like there's more to come, huh?

Can only empathise with the knee problems (although yours are way more severe than mine) but I can't even pretend to understand what being in a theatre of war is like. You're a brave bloke on all counts.

Good luck with the painkillers, if any one here can cope with the long term pain you're the man!!
Here's to gritted teeth,
Stockers

Kai · « **Reply #3 on:** November 29, 2006, 06:24:13 PM »

Thanks for checking in... sounds like you've got a long course in front of you. Take them drugs man... its better living thru chemistry

I will have you in my thoughts and prayers.

11bgrunt · « **Reply #4 on:** November 30, 2006, 02:27:23 PM »

Thanks for the repies and kind words.....Day 3 here, pain is getting under control, nothing more to do than famous Army quote "hurry up and wait" I am not usually a T.V. person, so it is weird to lay around and watch so much of it. I am typically a on the go person, but I guess we are all. I will try to enjoy this much needed rest and relaxation as best i can. I can appreciate my Dr conservative approach, if this is going to work than I am all for it, just wish I could do a little more than lay on my back. I do get up a couple times to relieve myself and all, but I am not a huge fan of crutches and this huge immobiliser. oh well what can i do about it now. It will go by quick i am sure.

Thanks again
John

camshere · « **Reply #5 on:** November 30, 2006, 02:38:03 PM »

Good luck buddy! You'll be through it before you know it, just keep your spirits high, and stay in front of the pain.
I completely know what you mean about laying in front of the TV - I begged my OS to let me back to work and he finally relented after about a week of my persistence (2 weeks post-op). Sounds like you may have a bit more going on than me, though, so sounds like your motto there is the best approach.
Best of wishes.

CAM

Kai · « **Reply #6 on:** November 30, 2006, 02:43:59 PM »

I love my a** time... I took over my husbands recliner for the month and except for PT (home and at the office) I elevated and iced... watched tv and played on my laptop... retained old milwaukee and twinkies.. (put on 20 lbs.) Im back to about 50% preinjury activity level and feeling good... The cliche around here is "its a marathon - not a sprint" I think for us gung ho aclr's the patience part is the most difficult... I call it a FLO - F****** learning opportunity

Keep the good thought and let nature take its course.. Love. Kai

11bgrunt · « **Reply #7 on:** December 01, 2006, 05:24:33 AM »

wow, 12:20 Friday a.m. was dreaming of a run or something, woke up trying to move knee, what a pain, I guess I fell asleep and forgot to take a pill, so now I will await the return back in front of the pain. I guess it is common to flex while asleep.....I will have to put that in my things not to do again lsit....

Any one have a list of Ouches...don't do that again? I have a small one started, may have to put it to paper.

John

Kai · « **Reply #8 on:** December 01, 2006, 09:32:47 AM »

ACLR Ouch List

1 - Never do a flying side kick with the toe of the take off leg opposite the direction of travel...
2 - Just cause the knee doesnt hurt do not skip any narcotics in the first week post op
3 - Just cause the knee doesnt hurt do not disobey dr's orders and spar before your release
4 - Do not ignore muscle exhaustion and pain to push thru some self imposed physical goal

Sorry about the pain on waking.... some people set an alarm clock to make sure they get their pills on schedule even thru the night. Good luck.

Stockers · « **Reply #9 on:** December 01, 2006, 11:06:09 AM »

John,
A gym buddy had novel way to prevent himself turning over in his sleep:
In order to keep the injured leg resting on the rolled towel beneath his heel (stretching the knee to extension thru gravity), he stuck two tennis balls to the t-shirt he slept in - one on each hip.

This meant that when ever he moved he'd find himself in a more uncomfortable position than the one he left. The tennis balls actually prevented him turning over. Thus he was forced to sleep on his back, injured leg in the best position for full extension.

Bit extreme for my tastes but he did recover in double quick time. Also I snore when I sleep on my back for too long - my other half wouldn't have it!!

Stockers

zengirl · « **Reply #10 on:** December 01, 2006, 11:32:59 AM »

List of Ouches - great idea by the way!

Taking you shoe off with the other foot pressing against the heel and not bothering to bend down and untie the laces - Ouch.

Stretching in the morning - you so desperately want to but if you do - ouch!

Forgetting that you can't bend your knee - ouch!

Walking on uneven surfaces (like most pavements) and your leg judders unexpectedly to full extension - OUCH!

Other things are for more advanced stages like me at 6.5 months post op: If I get up in the night or get up in the morning, or get up any time from having sat for half an hour or longer it's a serious ouch in the knee. If I walk backwards, walk sideways or mow the law, or, in fact do anything, it hurts! But that's just me.. most people would not have this much difficulty six months after the operation. The first four ouches are pretty universal though and not special to me - and they're relevant for the beginning of the rehab stage.

camshere · « **Reply #11 on:** December 01, 2006, 05:20:30 PM »

My list:

Letting the dogs out and they run through your bad leg (of course)
I don't know if anyone else had this problem, but I had a few instances where I would be walking in my brace - about 1 - 1 1/2 weeks post-op - and my shoe would catch on the carpet and quickly bend my knee. Nauseating pain!
Slipping and catching yourself with your bad leg.
I had an sleeping episode as well...I flinched or something in the twilight of sleep and it killed my knee! Had to mentally tell my body to NOT EVER DO THAT AGAIN, AND IF YOU DO, DO IT ON THE LEFT SIDE OF MY BODY! What do you know, it worked.
Wrap it too tight...becomes an aching pain.

11bgrunt · « **Reply #12 on:** December 01, 2006, 05:42:28 PM »

Thsoe are all awesome lists of ouches....i much like yourself went oooh after each one, i feel your pain, literally. I decided to come to the computer for a five minute break or so from t.v. for some reason today I just can not get comfortable, no matter what I try I ache and twinge muscle type....so i will type this, sign off and try it again.

Keep the lists coming, it is fun to read. I will plug in my lap top and give it a spin later, take care for now!

John

jb-knee-geek · « **Reply #13 on:** December 01, 2006, 07:20:25 PM »

hey grunt, welcome back.

when you're ready get you're leg muscles strong. hopefully you'll have the time to spend to do this and have the experienced PT to help.

here's an encouraging study about osteotomy. not sure if this is the exact procedure you'll be looking at down the road....

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=pubmed&cmd=Retrieve&dopt=AbstractPlus&list_uids=17134053&query_hl=1&itool=pubmed_docsum

best of luck and keep posting.

henri · « **Reply #14 on:** December 01, 2006, 07:22:26 PM »

well yeah, i think most of us have had these incidents of dog jumping against your leg as if it knows its injured and wants to attack it, then this taking off shoe thing, then those sudden movements, slipping on ice at early stage and stopping yourself with bad leg, twitching while sleeping, altough you never usually do it, i did it 1 day post op and bent my knee and was hurt quite bad
Hm, let me think of some more, i am sure i have had few:
-Then there are those incidents where youngsters at school run towards you like some elephants running amok and you try to get away from their way as fast as you can.
-Then ouch is also ,when you walk down the stairs and somehow get stuck and fall few stairs catching yourself again with your bad knee
-ouch is also when its icy outside and everything is covered with ice and then as careful as you are, you still manage to find some ice you didnt notice and ouch again happens
-then there are those incidents, where there is only one drop of water in the whole house and if you walk around with crutches then ofcourse you put your bad knee sides crutch on wet spot and guess what happens next.
-ouch is also ,when you just get up from somewhere or just forget you have operated knee, and then get somehow ouch again.
And mothed of all OUCH-es was probably the first incident which caused the later ouches.Atleast thats how it seems to me.
11bgrunt , take care, it is uncomfortable at first but it gets more and more better and watching tv gets easier, as it also needs some practising

take care.

11bgrunt · « **Reply #15 on:** December 01, 2006, 08:04:09 PM »

thanks Henri, great lsit, and yes watching T.V. does require practise, and with over 300 channels at my fingertip, i have stumbled on T.V. land watching all those favorites i and most of you watched as kids. Beaver and wally, the ingalls, lucy and ricardo, and on and on. Now i started out with the Military channel and history channel, they were enough to get me excited then fall asleep. But the older shows are cool. I do not usually get much tv exposure, and usually have to watch cartoon network or fight with the kids for the remote, so it is kinda nice to just sit around and watch with no deadlines or bickering, kinda weird. Sorta like these lists of ouches, they are funny now because we have learned to avoid them with precise practice and also becase they are hopefully behind us. I too understand the dog thing, i raise labs, in which I have my baby Arizona she is chocolate, the stud is yellow his name is Buddy, and then there is my compulsive disorder, I have to fetch all the time Savanah, she is black, so one from each color, and it is Savanah that has in the past blasted me right in the knee trying toget my attention, so it is her that i will avoid with all costs in mind. it is much easier to type while laying down (pain wise) lap tops are a wonderful thing. I do not usually like the high tech stuff but with out computers i would have never found this site. well enough for now, will check back later!

John

camshere · « **Reply #16 on:** December 02, 2006, 10:55:40 PM »

Hey 11bgrunt...my labs were the culprit: 2 chocolate labs to be precise. But I love them anyway, they didn't know which part of me hurt, but they knew something was wrong. They are amazing dogs!

11bgrunt · « **Reply #17 on:** December 03, 2006, 01:25:02 AM »

yes, Henri I too agree Labs are amazing animals and will do what ever they need to do to get your undivided attention, as we all know tto well, which includes running into you once in awhile. I love my dogs greatly, each one has a different personality, and for me they are easily told apart, besides their color!!

Well today being Saturday, had surgery on Monday, i would like to think I am doing alright, pain is starting to come down or at least bearable. I am trying to get a little more mobile, still non weight bearing per dr orders, I will say I have tested it once or twice, does still feel weird and painful.

I certainly do not want to press too hard too fast so will stay at bay and await dr visit on Thursday.

thanks again for replies and advice!!

John

Nola · « **Reply #18 on:** December 03, 2006, 12:56:17 PM »

Hey John, Did you have allograft? I read you are still non-weight bearing. Did you have CPM machine or just immobile altogether?
Sounds like you are getting along pretty good. Keep it up and keep us posted

11bgrunt · « **Reply #19 on:** December 03, 2006, 05:18:37 PM »

yes I had the allograft procedure, and no CPM machine, just non weight bearing. The Dr actually told me to remain on couch or bed until my recheck. No driving and olnly up to go to the bathroom. I am trying to be up more than that, my family usually spends dinner together so I do that and watch t.v. with the kids. Alot of Christmas specials on t.v. right now! It is a great time of year, just wrong time to be laid up, but in order to coach baseball in the spring this was the best time.

Today the pain is much better, pain meds as far apart as 7 hours now. I think that is pretty good. My wife changed out my dressing for first time last night, not too bad, swelling is really under control and it felt pretty good. I do not believe it was an open procedure, hard to tell with the dried blood, if it was open it is minimal opening.

other than that, things are going well, a few normal mishaps on the crutches, but nothing horrifying. I am just reminding myself every day, take it slow, be easy, and be patient! Which is everything I have read here! Thanks to all.

John

11bgrunt · « **Reply #20 on:** December 06, 2006, 01:45:34 PM »

Well went to Dr. yesterday (12-05-06) I was rather pumped up going in to hear how the surgery went, removed the sterry strips?? sorry about spelling, a little blood, popped a couple of scabs, no bggie, I am taking aspirin everyday for two weeks. Anywho, Dr comes in and shows me all the pics and has a video of the surgery I think I may request it just to see what it looks like. basically he did the carticel biopsy just in case he needs it at a later date, but the chondral erosion on the medial femur and tibia is not just a void or defect any longer but rather the whole area is worn down, he does not beieve the carticel would work in this case. My next option is an HTO to unload that area and keep me in my own bones as long as possible. I am to remain on crutches with 10% toe touch, how can one measure this, LOL. Stay in immobilizer except at night, ugh! I am alowd to work on ROM but not much else. So that changes a couple of things, and I knew the knees were getting worn, just did not think it was all that. I guess we sometimes think there is a fix for whatever happens, and perhaps there is, just not the one I was hoping to here.

John

Kai · « **Reply #21 on:** December 06, 2006, 03:18:30 PM »

Bad news about the bones John... you are a relatively young man so a TKR isnt in the cards for you for a while. You sacrificed your knees in the service of your country. I hope they find a solution for you. You are in my thoughts and prayers.

11bgrunt · « **Reply #22 on:** December 06, 2006, 04:12:31 PM »

Thanks Kai, I appreciate the thought and kind words. As I have said many times and will continue to say though....it was not sacrifice, i enjoyed every minute of my Military career, and if I was offered a chance to go back, I would not change it for anything! It is major suckage right now, but the damage is done, and the memories are set in stone! I do not have much sense in crying over spilt milk, I will just deal with it and drive on......I have read plenty and seen plenty of worse off people and as long as I stay mobile and able to be a part of my childrens lives, help coach and mentor where I can and be the husband I have to be, then life will be just fine.

When I first got injured in Iraq I was capable of running my 2 mile timed run in 15:30, in basic training I ran it in 11:15, I have not run since and am sure if I did it would be a couple of hours. I guess if running is out, but I still have my life and all my limbs, I can deal with that! I guess come to think of it besides my leg problems, I am pretty fit and darn healthy. So not much then to complain about.

This is a great site to learn, in which I have, vent, so nice to do that and most of all to just share experiences good and bad.

Take care Kai and thanks again.

John

camshere · « **Reply #23 on:** December 06, 2006, 10:22:42 PM »

You have a great attitude that I certainly hope to emulate now and in the future. I am sorry to hear that you didn't get the results you were hoping for, but you sound like a strong (and strong willed) guy, so I'm certain that you'll pull right on through.
In ending this post, I would like to say THANK YOU...you are a hero.

CAM

Nola · « **Reply #24 on:** December 07, 2006, 01:41:08 AM »

John, I am going to open a bottle of my 2001 Veleta vintage Cabernet Sauvignon and bring a toast to you and all the other men sacraficing their lives and well-being for not only us here in the US, but the human rights of all people. Thank you and please keep us posted. If you have a weak moment, please share it with us to allow us all to give back to you some thread of our appreciation for all you have done.

Mirek · « **Reply #25 on:** December 07, 2006, 04:09:03 AM »

John, what a great attitude you have, I fear I would be bitter and just a grumpy malcontent in your shoes. I guess seeing what you have in active duty provides you a perspective most of us do not get. If Nola were closer I would join her in that toast, but I guess I will open my own bottle! Best of luck in getting a good result out of this.

regards, Mirek

11bgrunt · « **Reply #26 on:** December 07, 2006, 07:35:44 PM »

Thank you everybody for your compliments and kind words. I do thank the Military for a huge part in making me who I am, or for at least bringing out the me from with in. I guess when you face each problem and compare it to the most terrible thing that has ever happened and get through it, then look back and perform an after action review (that is Military for reflecting) it does not look as doom and gloom as it might really be. That is all, anyone can do it! I am 36 years old, I live in a small farming community on 5 acres, I grew up this way, and want my kids to grow up this way as well. I am just a simple personliving a simple life, nothing too complicated. I am a District manager for a quick lube, full time husband, and father. The rest is just trying to live a good life! Each and every person can do the same no matter if you live in the city or live in the country, you decide what kind of day you are going to have with in 15 seconds of awaking. Think positive, laugh as often as you can, and always be forgiving.

Ok enough of that, i hope everyone is getting ready for Christmas, I just love this time of year! As for my knee, about the same, pain is a lot more under control, getting up and around a lot better now, still sore, still swollen, but improving. take care for now!

John

Kai · « **Reply #27 on:** December 07, 2006, 08:08:04 PM »

Quote from: 11bgrunt on December 07, 2006, 07:35:44 PM

The rest is just trying to live a good life! Each and every person can do the same no matter if you live in the city or live in the country, you decide what kind of day you are going to have with in 15 seconds of awaking. Think positive, laugh as often as you can, and always be forgiving. John

That is what you fought and sacrificed for John.. and its what my husband fought and sacrifieced for.. and millions of others. Its probably the most political statement a person can make and there are many parts of this world where they just wont let people do that. I certainly am profoundly grateful.