Hello there-
Sorry to hear about your recent knee issues. It's good that you're asking questions before you go in, and the advice from this site is really helpful. Having had an ACL and meniscus injury as well, I feel your pain:)
I have a couple of questions for you:
1.) When you say scope...is he going in just to look in the knee and determine that damage? Or is he also planning on repairing things?-- I would assume that you mean he would be repairing things as well, because you definitely want to have a few surgeries as possible.
2.) Is your surgeon thinking that your knee is going to be less swollen by surgery time? I ask this because it is best to have your knee be relatively 'calmed down' before doing a surgery like an ACL, as it decreases the chances for complications.--If he is repairing, do you have an ACL procedure in mind? What type of graft will be used? Just something to want to know ahead of time.
3.) Do you have full range of motion right (ROM) now? Sometimes this is hard to have when the knee is still really swollen...but is good to have when going into surgery, to further prevent motions issues when you are recovering from surgery.
The advice I would give you:
1.) make sure you have as much motion as your OS/PT thinks you can get before surgery --i CANNOT stress this enough. it is crucial to having PT go well
2.) to make sure your knee feels pretty good...for the current situation before going into surgery 3.) after surgery to really be diligent about taking your anti-inflammatories and getting to your PT and doing exactly what you are supposed to do
4.) if you feel like something isn't going well in your recovery, and isn't how you think or read that things "normally go"...tell your OS and PT and demand that they listen to you--don't feel silly. This probably won't be an issue, as there are always ups and downs to recovery, but just listen to your body...but know that everyone's recovery is a bit different.
4.) if you take a good amount of pain meds after surgery, make sure to take some sort of a laxative as well, because these meds really constipate you and can make you feel really bad if you don't stay up on the situation. I learned this the hard way...
5.) I didn't find my ACL/Meniscus surgery to be too painful, but either way (everyone is diff), stay ahead of the pain with meds...don't wait for it to hurt because it is much more difficult to make something stop hurting...as opposed to just taking it on a schedule before it starts. The 2nd and 3rd day are the hardest...so be diligent with meds at least up until then.
6.) Make sure to ice diligently before and after surgery, as it can keep inflammation down...which is CRUCIAL to a succesful recovery.
7.) Make sure to prop your heel and let your leg hang in extension when you are sitting or laying down...you don't ever want to prop under your knee in recovery because this increases the chances for having motion problems---but I'm sure u know this from your injury:)
I hope this isn't too overwhelming or know-it-all...I'm just thinking about everything that I thought was impt and/or that I wasn't told. Let me know f you have more questions! I'm always glad to divulge!
Good luck!
