Trying to make a long story short....
In 2010 i tore the acl and did some meniscus damage in my left knee while fencing with my daughter.
In September of that year i had the ACL reconstructed with a patella autograph. Rehab was uneventful and typical.
In the late summer of 2011 i had an accident while riding an alpine slide with my son and in my effort to protect him, i tore the reconstructed acl.
In September of 2011 I had an ACL revision with an allograft. Recover was uneventful until in December my knee started slipping. Went to to the surgeon and during examination he noticed laxity, but wanted me to do some more intense rehab and during that period it got a lot worse. So in January of this year the Dr. with assistance of another OP surgeon determined to do a two stage revision.
In early February they took out all the hardware, the torn ACL and grafted bone from donated tissue to fill in the tunnels from the previous surgeries. They hoped to create a "clean slate" as they both felt that the second surgery failed do to widened tunnels. I entered a limited amount of physical therapy in order to gain strength and mobility and to keep the knee as healthy has possible.
The last three months have been interesting to live with no ACL whatsoever. I am in a functional brace most of the time and can get around pretty well. Stairs and slopes or grades are a nightmare and i have some balance issues. Pain is rough at times if I am up and on my feet for to long. I was able to take a two week trip to the holy land, but nights were uncomfortable with the swelling.
Had the scans two weeks ago the bone grafts are solid and now am set for surgery in two weeks. They will be doing an allograft using a bone to bone fixation. I'm not sure of the exact allograft, but I am out of locations for them to use my own tissue. I had two ACL surgeries on my right leg 12 years ago one a hamstring autograft, the second a patella graft. On my left they used the patella the first go around and on the second they attempted a hamstring but couldn't get enough tissue. There will be two surgeons and possibly a third looking over the work. I'm grateful to team because they are really doing a good job of thinking through the procedure and bringing in the best people to do the work.
Rehab is looking to be conservative. They are ordering a CPM machine, which i've never had before. The order for the CPM is for 6-8 hours a day. I will ease into physical therapy this time to make sure the grafts are not stretched or pushed to early.
Mostly want to get this behind me and move on with life. This will be the fourth surgery on my left knee in less than two years. Just ready focus on other things. If you have been through this I'd welcome advice and thoughts. Thanks for the support on this board. Great resource.
