Ruptured Quadriceps Tendon

[Tvh3382]

Hello,

 Two days away from my next scheduled surgery. Wed I am to undergo a TTO to re position my patella and remove the scar tissue.  While they are in there they will look at the 40% tear that I have on the 2x repaired quad.  I have been told that the rehab protocols are completely different, but I guess I need to go in and be positive that they may be able to repair both issues.   I am not looking forward to 6-8 weeks with no weight bearing. 
   Staying positive.  Hoping the 3rd time is a charm as they say.

Hope all goes well.  Will follow your progress.

[Jlguthrie]

Good luck PEB65A,  hopefully this is your last go. Was allowed weight bearing for the first time in eight weeks today. Feel like a baby deer on ice. Turbo, started at 20 degrees and worked up to 55. P.T. stated that I was guarding to much,  not trying to just my natural response to post op contortion. Appears the fun is just beginning.

[TurboCoder3000]

jlguthrie - OMG. Can't believe that. Manly bro hug.

Anyway. I still catch myself guarding my knee a lot. Even after 1 year, 6 months out from surgery. I just wish I could get past this and be normal again.

[Jlguthrie]

Back at you Turbo. Just curious, have you ever had any post op imaging to see how everything looks?

[Tvh3382]

2 weeks after rupturing both quadricep tendons they looked at the wounds today which looked really good.  Staples will come out on Thursday.  22 in right knee and twenty in left knee.  What I did notice is a lot of numbness around the top of the knee on both.  Will this recover in time or will the numbness be permanent?

Phil

[Jlguthrie]

Phil, I think I'm only six or seven weeks ahead of you so still new to this. I can tell you that once my staples were removed and the skin healed up my knee felt a little better. Until that point I had numbness,tingling, and a pinching sensation. From all that I've read here, there's some nerve damage accompanying this surgery. I can tell you from a previous knee surgery I had similar problems that went away over time.

[Tvh3382]

Phil, I think I'm only six or seven weeks ahead of you so still new to this. I can tell you that once my staples were removed and the skin healed up my knee felt a little better. Until that point I had numbness,tingling, and a pinching sensation. From all that I've read here, there's some nerve damage accompanying this surgery. I can tell you from a previous knee surgery I had similar problems that went away over time.

Thanks for the reply.  As you are ahead of me I follow your progress.  Reading your older posts and agree about the legs being like logs.  Unfortunately I have two logs to move.  It’s just a four week waiting game now before I can start Physio.

[Barrjoe]

Best of luck peb. Hopefully all goes well.
As far as scar pain /numbness go, both of mine as numb. No idea if it’s permanent or not. Don’t bother me though, so oh wells

[Jlguthrie]

Hey Phil, one thing that has helped me alot from the beginning, I borrowed an exercise band from my daughter(easily found on amazon). I put it around my lower leg underneath my cast, now brace to reposition my leg as neeeded. It's made of rubber which grips very well. I know your at a different level with bilateral  tears so you may need two. It just made transitioning  from standing to sitting or to the bed  much easier. God bless.

[Tvh3382]

Hey Phil, one thing that has helped me alot from the beginning, I borrowed an exercise band from my daughter(easily found on amazon). I put it around my lower leg underneath my cast, now brace to reposition my leg as neeeded. It's made of rubber which grips very well. I know your at a different level with bilateral  tears so you may need two. It just made transitioning  from standing to sitting or to the bed  much easier. God bless.

Thanks for the tip.  Will look and see what I can get. 

The staples came out today so now moving to short term care for another 4 weeks as home is not an option.  Will update when Physio starts.

[TurboCoder3000]

Back at you Turbo. Just curious, have you ever had any post op imaging to see how everything looks?

Yep! Did a post-op X-Ray at my surgeon's office and from his working with my knee himself he is pleased with it. He says the repair is solid as a rock and most likely far better than my knee was before I got injured. His quote!!

I'm continuing to improve in physical therapy and elsewhere. I guess you could chalk up the cane thing to having a bad day. My overall strength and muscle functioning has improved. To the point where I don't need my cane I'm just carrying it because I have to.

I can START my bending in PT at 94 degrees - huge. I have usually started at 80 degrees and then achieved 90-95 after they worked on it. Now I'm achieving 94 at initial bend in PT and over 100 degrees after they work on it.

And for the first time at PT, the first time in over a year and 7 months - I've been able to stand on my right leg, WITHOUT ANY SUPPORT OR TOUCHING NEARBY TABLES, for a full minute. A full freaking minute. This breakthrough is HUGE.

I'm getting close - so close. I still can't believe it, really. It's been so long since I've just been able to get out and go for a sprint, or walk to the store, or just participate in normal life activities. It's a little while yet before I can even start running, though. But it's coming. Soon.

[DanD25]

So I've been on a rollercoaster ride for a while. After the pulmonary embolisms on Jan 21st, I had bad hematomas from the Lovenox shots and was sent to the ER to get em checked out. Ultrasound came back with no issues so they sent me home. About a week later my surgically repaired leg was really swollen and really warm and the PT was worried so I went in for a that day Drs appt and had an ultrasound which came back negative. A week after that, thursday night I was icing my leg as it was a little swollen (edema) and my heart started racing up to 140bpm (I'm normally 80-85). I was just watching tv and my heart started beating out of my chest, I got a flushing feeling, got tinnitus, and got a temp of 99.5 up from 98.2 an hour earlier. Another trip to the ER where they did an EKG/Chest Xray/CT Scan/Ultrasound and found nothing. Diagnosed as an Anxiety reaction which to me says they didn't really know. Thankfully, this week I have been lucky to stay away from the hospital.

On the PT side, I've been doing quite well. My PT about 2 weeks ago was just bending my knee normally and only got to 95 degrees. He had me lay on my stomach and loop a belt around my ankle. I then pull on the knee myself with the belt for 30 seconds. I do this 5 times a set, and do 3 sets a day. I that 2 weeks, I went from 95 degrees to 115 degrees. PT says my good leg's ROM is 120, so I'm almost to my max on that knee which is promising. I have an Ortho visit on Tuesday, so I'm hoping he finally lets me unlock the brace.

[Jlguthrie]

Dan sorry to hear of you troubles, hopefully your on the mend. I'm still amazed at the different regimens for this. Some stay in the hospital a day or two on a morphine drip and blood thinners. I was in and out of the hospital in six hours with a script for baby aspirin and percs(not knowing any better).Glad to hear of your r.o.m. progress. Currently still stuck  at 55, but getting a little more aggressive at home and p.t. so hopefully I get more soon.     

[PEB65A]

Hello everyone.

So here I am  5 days post round 3.  They started with a scope for lysis of adhesions, but could not not get the scope in, so they continued on with open. They also performed a synovectomy ,TTO and were able to repair my quad tendon tear somewhat.  It was attached at both sides, so he was able to sew up the middle.  Not a true revision but sort of.  I also had a drain to help prevent swelling.

First night was awful, not from surgery pain, as I was still on meds and the block, but from the alarms going off on all of the monitors for no reason.  I had none on and they still went off. I slept from 6AM to  AM,1 hr. Who said hospitals were a place to rest?
 I came home Thurs,  and rested most of the day, still pain free. Fri we had a Nor'easter, with heavy rain, not snow thankfully. My CPM machine arrived mid morning. I have been using it as 2-3 hrs at a time, 3 to 4 times since. The surgeon and PA both told me its my best option to keep from scarring up again. I am already to -5 -60. No issues at all with it.

My only really bad pain ( pain that makes me want to scream)  is when I want to get out of bed and as   I am lowering my leg to the floor with no weight bearing, fully supported , throbbing pain. I will deal with that.
Now I just need to be patient with the no weight bearing 6 more week
That's it for now.

[DanD25]

Dan sorry to hear of you troubles, hopefully your on the mend. I'm still amazed at the different regimens for this. Some stay in the hospital a day or two on a morphine drip and blood thinners. I was in and out of the hospital in six hours with a script for baby aspirin and percs(not knowing any better).Glad to hear of your r.o.m. progress. Currently still stuck  at 55, but getting a little more aggressive at home and p.t. so hopefully I get more soon.   

There doesn't really seem to be any real standard on how to fix these types of injuries after the surgery. The thing that made the biggest difference with my PT was when he decided to have me flip over on the bed onto my stomach, and then pulled on the leg that way. I got significant gains doing that method. It WILL Hurt, even with taking the pain meds an hour beforehand but the ROM increase is worth it.