MicroFx NFL player NEWBIE

[boucher racing]

hello,

I have a been a fan of the board for awhile , i guess thats not a good thing.  Being attracted to this type of forum means you have had some work done.  I just retired from the NFL and left injured.  I recently (14wks post op) had my fifth procedure and hopefullly my last.  Dr. Shienberg performed a microfx on my trochlear groove and it was the size of a quarter.  It was on a non load bearing spot so crutches were not needed very long.  Before my procedure I had major pain when my knee was loaded at 30 to 45 deg.  Trying to play competitively on one leg was not fun making my last year completely miserable.  I would take 2 torodal everyday we had to pratice and double up on gameday with a shot!  The procedure went really well from what the doc said.  Doc also said it was alot worse than he expected, he said the area was full of narcoleptic tissue and described the damage as a " large pothole".  Im now at 14 wks and go to see a PT 3 times a week.  My protocal is from Dr.Stedman and is very strict and SLOW.  I just started light jogged fwd/rev. last week. Swimming , elipitical , and incline treadmill are also ok for cardio.  He also said the I CANNOT load the knee (squats,knee ext.,jumping,running.) until week 21.  Time cannot go fast enough but I have learned to be patient with the retirement of my career.  While in FB they pushed you back so fast and thats what eventually ended my career.  I fully believe that mircofx work if your recovery protocal is done in a timely manner with patience being a main concern and most importantly of all listening to your body.   I have seen so many bad pratices in NFL training rooms it makes me sick.  Sorry for the rant, but thats one area that needs to be cleaned up in the league.  THERE ARE NO PT'S!  Just trainers that know what to do really well for 2 weeks and then after that they dont know their ass from a hole in the ground.  Sorry for the hostility but I feel as I my career was shortened by poor guidance/therapy from my 4th procedure (a simple lateral menisci scope that turned into a distaster).  Anyways, I am very grateful to have been so blessed with the athletic ability and drive to make it this far.  I owe alot to football , for it made up most of my life for 15 yrs.  I hope you all have full fast healthy recoveries. 

Peace

[trish85]

if your recovery protocal is done in a timely manner with patience being a main concern and most importantly of all listening to your body.

I wandered upon your post and what you said really helped me.  See I found out yesterday that I have to have another knee surgery.  Because of this I have to take time off of school and thats something I really don't want to do.  It would just be too difficult to get back and forth.  Even though I know what can happen if you don't take care of your self post op.  My father didn't take care of himself after  shoulder surgery and that came apart.  My brothers hopes to be in the NFL were crushed after he hurt his leg(mainly a doctors fault, he's 25 and needs a hip replacment).  But your story just helped me to remember that your health comes first. You had great timeing with your post even though I'm sorry that you have to be here.
Good Luck with everything
trish

[kittent1211]

I had microfracture surgery on May 4th 2005 but mine was on a load bearing surface.  Did your doctor say anything about your having Ostero Arthritis?  If he did then it might help you to know that some people get OA who have never injured their knee at all.  They really don't know what causes it and there's no real cure.  What I'm saying is that if you have OA you may have gotten it even if you hadn't played football and hadn't injured your knee.  I never injured mine knee in any way yet I still ended up having to have microfracture surgery.  I was pain free for a year after my surgery but now I am having pain again.  My doctor says that there's no more surgery he can do to fix it until it's bad enough to do a knee replacement.  So, for now we are concentrating on pain management until it's time to do the TKR.   But, even though I'm having some pain now it's not nearly like it was before the surgery and I still have good range of motion and can get around and do the things I need to do.  So, I am still bennifiting from the microfracture surgery even though I do have some pain now.  I just started on SYNVISC injections yesterday.