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My ACL Surgery! Video - Page 3

post #61 of 293
4/3/12 at 10:09am
Quote:
Originally Posted by DSloan View Post



Were you still able to play soccer on it? That's my main concern (not soccer, mind you) - giving up the sports I enjoy so much. They're so much a part of of my daily life and, therefore, quality of life, I'm not willing to sacrifice that if I don't have to . . .

 


I was in my early 30's and my soccer playing was with my five year old in the back yard. Don't recall any sports issues but at the time, my sports were golf, fishing, XC and enduro motorcycle racing. Not a lot of start/stop stress on the joint. Also, FWIW, at that time I don't think MRI's or arthoscopic surgery were options. We were a much tougher animal then. Or lame.   I also tore a shoulder throwing a stone at a tree full of birds without warming up first. A shot of cortesone and I was back in the game. That one only aches every month or so.

 

Advil is a gateway drug...to old age.smile.gif

 

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post #62 of 293
4/3/12 at 1:13pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by wooley12 View Post


I was in my early 30's and my soccer playing was with my five year old in the back yard. Don't recall any sports issues but at the time, my sports were golf, fishing, XC and enduro motorcycle racing. Not a lot of start/stop stress on the joint. Also, FWIW, at that time I don't think MRI's or arthoscopic surgery were options. We were a much tougher animal then. Or lame.   I also tore a shoulder throwing a stone at a tree full of birds without warming up first. A shot of cortesone and I was back in the game. That one only aches every month or so.

 

Advil is a gateway drug...to old age.smile.gif

 


I'm a fan of Aleve myself. wink.gif

 

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post #63 of 293
4/3/12 at 2:12pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Finndog View Post


I will be ready for sure. 2 months is the first plateau where your graft is deemed "stable" so I will have cause to celebrate 



 


My understanding is that 3 months is when the graft is at its most vulnerable.  A good time to be careful not to overdo it.  You are just starting to feel much stronger, but the graft is just starting to take.  That's why they restrict you for 6 months!

 

Mike
 

 

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post #64 of 293
4/3/12 at 2:18pm



 

Quote:
Originally Posted by Finndog View Post

you need 6 months before cruising groomers, 8-9 for regular skiing. not sure if that works with taking care of a wee-one; 1st 2 months are not pleasant. Have a plan..... its not that bad,it can just be frustrating.   I am sure childbirth was much worse. biggrin.gif


Everyone's recovery is a bit different.  I had virtually no pain after mine -- lucky me.  The frustrating part was feeling limited in how hard I could hit it, and I'm sure I stretched the envelop of what my PT and orthopod thought was reasonable.  I wasn't able to hit one of my season goals, which was to ride the Bicycle Tour of Colorado 3 months after surgery.  That one was unrealistic, but I didn't abandon hope until the beginning of May.  I did ride my first century in under 5 hours 6 months post surgery, and had a great hiking trip, with a couple of 3,000 foot climbs, 6.5 months post surgery.  I had no limitations in skiing this season (well, my orthopod did say to take it easy the first couple of times, which I interpreted as runs).  I did get the Berg brace and used it for hiking and skiing.  I don't know if I'll use it going forward now that I'm a full year post surgery.

 

Mike
 

 

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post #65 of 293
4/8/12 at 7:31am
Thread Starter 

great post Mike!  yeah, I had to dial back my expectations and I think I am better for it (no skiing in chile for instance). My initial thoughts were I would be able to ride a bike each day, that's not what happens, you are lucky if you can pedal for a few minutes a day after a week (4 weeks and I can bike for 15 minutes with very low resistance).  If my ankle was better i think I might reach my goals a little earlier but i am coming along well. I am getting close to being able to get my heel to touch my upper leg in just 4 weeks so in that respect, i am ahead of the game but there are things that aren't explained to you: 1st; your quad shuts down following the surgery. you will have to work to revive the muscle. Its much different than just atrophy; getting that muscle that you have worked on for skiing and riding to even contract is work. Don't get discouraged, it will take at least a month to just get it to fully contract and start to firm back up.   Driving is possible but don't think you are going to drive around without issue.( i started driving after 8 days but after rehab, its difficult)  Don't think you can walk around all day or even for more than 1/2 hour for that matter, Don't think you are going to go to work and sit at a desk without icing and keeping it elevated and not taking time out each hour or so to stretch and get moving again.  Don't think you are going to sleep well for a while, you have to wear a brace for several weeks to protect your knee, I am not good at sleeping on my back.  these aren't complaints, they are just some of the challenges.  Also, the mental grind is real. If you were a active person used to running, biking and working out, it can be mentally draining so you just have to keep focused and adapt. I won't say I don't have days where I feel frustrated and drained.  So to sum this part up- its all worthwhile, its just that I think people would be better served to have a more realistic timeframe. I don't know why but it seems like there is a lack of really good time line info out there for ACL Recon. I totally agree with your post. 

 

Your century in 6 months is very cool! I will keep that in mind today as I ride my bike today biggrin.gif

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post #66 of 293
4/8/12 at 7:46am

Finn

 

A favorite saying

 

"man plans, God laughs"

 

Goals and timetables can be totally unrealistic. Knowing when to push and when to back off is a very fine line. We share a common long term goal...skiing strong in December. 

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post #67 of 293
4/9/12 at 6:20am
Thread Starter 

Mike, I whole heartily agree but this is not what I am talking about. That's the actual rehab; and unfortunately I have a bit more experience with this than most biggrin.gif  It's more of the day2day type issues that most people (including myself) were not told or were aware of. If you have the info you can plan better and have realistic expectations.


 

BTW- when to push; this is actually pretty simple. if you can do an exercise or use a particular weight without sharp or extreme pain, it's generally safe. IF you are doing something that causes sharp or high amounts of pain- its most likely too aggressive. Another sign would be abnormal swelling. Of course this goes out the window when they are stretching your knee out in the beginning biggrin.gif

 

 

Quote:
Originally Posted by Living Proof View Post

Finn

 

A favorite saying

 

"man plans, God laughs"

 

Goals and timetables can be totally unrealistic. Knowing when to push and when to back off is a very fine line. We share a common long term goal...skiing strong in December. 



 

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post #68 of 293
4/9/12 at 7:05am
Pain isn't always the best guide. My wife had a significant miniscus repair in October and was told after six weeks she couldn't hurt anything, so she walked a couple miles downhill and back uphill and had several weeks of swelling and pain after that. Set her recovery back by at least a month. She had no pain while walking, but obviously was irritating the knee all the while.

I'm finding the same thing--when I walk a quarter mile downhill and back up to get a paper, I experience some discomfort starting about half way down. No discomfort going back up. Doesn't bother me afterward, but I'm sure if I walked farther, it would. When my tibia plateau fractured, the smooth cartilage surface also fractured and, while the X-rays show a smooth bone surface now, the cartilage may still be uneven.
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post #69 of 293
4/9/12 at 9:53am
Thread Starter 

pain isnt always the best guide but I am referring to PT where a trained therapist is working with you on specific excercises in a supervised controlled environment. These are the guide lines I have always followed and have now. Walking a long distance is tricky, its not like doing squats where you can stop what you are doing if you feel pain. You're only 1/2 way finished when you decide to turn around biggrin.gif In your example below of your wife, I gotta question what the doc was thinking but the doc probably didn't mean (or maybe think)  for your wife to for a 4 mile plus hike up and down a hill with uneven terrain although he/she didnt ask the question: what did you have in mind? My guess is that this was your wife's 1st hike after the surgery? That would be challenging to the knee and a bit agressive for just 6 weeks following surgery.  My guess is it didn't do any harm to the repair but its clearly a lot of stress to soft tissue, ligments and tendons that are affected during the surgery.  Same for your walking; did the therapist say it was OK to go for 1/2 mile walks? Did you discuss the range of excercise and exersion? This relates to my post above about not always knowing all the small details and day to day things that impact your recovery. They often get overlooked. BTW- that's awesome that you can walk that long. good for you!  icon14.gif
 

Quote:
Originally Posted by Kneale Brownson View Post

Pain isn't always the best guide. My wife had a significant miniscus repair in October and was told after six weeks she couldn't hurt anything, so she walked a couple miles downhill and back uphill and had several weeks of swelling and pain after that. Set her recovery back by at least a month. She had no pain while walking, but obviously was irritating the knee all the while.
I'm finding the same thing--when I walk a quarter mile downhill and back up to get a paper, I experience some discomfort starting about half way down. No discomfort going back up. Doesn't bother me afterward, but I'm sure if I walked farther, it would. When my tibia plateau fractured, the smooth cartilage surface also fractured and, while the X-rays show a smooth bone surface now, the cartilage may still be uneven.


 


Edited by Finndog - 4/9/12 at 10:06am
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post #70 of 293
4/14/12 at 6:21pm

Finndog, your rehab work sounds pretty close to what I am doing. I will stress the quad issue, those nice strong well tuned machines just lay there when you say "move" right after surgery.  One of the most helpless feelings I've ever had, laugh and cry over the issue at the same time. But they slowly come back, just keep working at the pt and especially the home excercises they give you. 

 

I just passed week ten and have been stationary bike riding at home and at pt for about 8 of those weeks. Balance board is cool. even before I was hurt I was never very good. Ham curls and leg presses are the fun weight machines for the quads. They just started me on an elastic band around my ankles, I talk sideways steps against teh elastic, this one is making me sweat a little.

 

 I see the doctor on the 24th (day short of 12 weeks) and have been told if all is good I will be out on road bike at that time. No mtn. bike stuff yet. I keep saying ski in august or september but reality probably says no (but hey I can be a bit delusional if I want). I figure if no harm happens I should be in pretty good shape come late November for next season.

 

I also had some pain after a long walk that I had checked out with the doc pretty plainly before hand. We have a nice park that has about 2 miles (4 round trip) of flat smooth blacktop road that is closed for walking and doc said that would not be a problem. I did the hike and about half way back (agreed, you turn around but you still have the entire distance to go back) felt a little pain in the knee. The PT folks I am seeing have mentioned that this can be due to the patella (learning to re-track movements that it used to know). Anyway the walk was not strenous but the most walking I have done in quite a while so a little ache and pain might have been expected. I worry whenever there are sharp shooting pains of which I have not had any yet. All things considered I plan on another walk, too much fun and finally outside. probably will walk half the road and try to turn around there see how that does.

 

It sounds like forever to heal but like time in general, going by faster and faster.

 

 

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post #71 of 293
4/15/12 at 4:36am
Thread Starter 

Hey Ski, good info and its cool to hear to hear about your progress at 10 weeks, Good job on that walk/hike! I can't wait to be able to do that.  Yeah, you know its going to take a long time but after 5 weeks, its seems so long already. other people wonder why you aren't healed up already and back to normal biggrin.gif  When they ask when you will be fully recovered and you tell them 8 months, they seemed to not believe you. Buts thats the EC mentality. I was getting frustrated with my NJ PT guy so I cut back on him to once a week now and went to my guy in Steamboat and I am doing my own stuff now  at home. I have all I need  weight and equipment wise.  I think I need to work the quad harder and I wasn't getting that. My ankle is not good but I need to work around it, the NJ guy was too busy to be creative and work beyond the normal cookie-cutter program. Just had had a MRI and the initial report from the radiologist is there's no real tears or breaks in the ankle. My CO dr wants to look at the study but barring no reason's not to push the ankle I think I can push it harder and and see if I can get some healing to it.

 

 

In the mean time, I am a bit paranoid about tearing the Graft, how would you even know if you did?  biggrin.gif  how long did any of you wear your brace in public to protect it? My doc said 6-8 weeks. 

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post #72 of 293
4/15/12 at 5:47am
Ron, I was out of the brace, unless it was slick, in 2 weeks.

Mike
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post #73 of 293
4/15/12 at 6:19am
Thread Starter 

whoa! 2 weeks with no protection?the graft is not stable for about 2 months.  I don't need the brace but he is clear at least 6 weeks for protection of the graft. His concern is someone bumping into you, dog jumps onto you type thing, uneven terrain or you catch your foot and it twists.  I was out of the full leg brace in just under 3 weeks when going outside then switched to the ACL specific brace

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post #74 of 293
4/15/12 at 8:42am

Considering cost and time to heal, I put my brace on when I get up and wear it everywhere till I go to bed. The Don Joy is really comfortable and I am not taking any chances. If something were to go bad (heaven forbid) I can at least say I protected it as well as I could. Public shmublic, this is my knee and I intend to make it work well again. I plan on wearing the brace continous for several more weeks at a minimum.

 

One of the folks involved in my PT damaged her ACL replacement and said it was a searing pain that went through her knee (she was on a treadmil with no brace) and kept hurting badly for quite a while. I have had a few twinges but nothing major so far (knock on wood). Last but not least Joyce (my better half) says she is only paying for one knee, that is the main issue, she'll kick my butt if I mess up :-).

 

Finndog, I have a feeling that the folks out in Colorado might understand your passion a little more, and that is a major part of PT. Brian (The head of my PT, avid skier and racer as well as two torn ACL's) said he is working everything on my rehab so I will ski hard again next year, nice to hear.

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post #75 of 293
4/15/12 at 8:42am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Finndog View Post

pain isnt always the best guide but I am referring to PT where a trained therapist is working with you on specific excercises in a supervised controlled environment. These are the guide lines I have always followed and have now. Walking a long distance is tricky, its not like doing squats where you can stop what you are doing if you feel pain. You're only 1/2 way finished when you decide to turn around biggrin.gif In your example below of your wife, I gotta question what the doc was thinking but the doc probably didn't mean (or maybe think)  for your wife to for a 4 mile plus hike up and down a hill with uneven terrain although he/she didnt ask the question: what did you have in mind? My guess is that this was your wife's 1st hike after the surgery? That would be challenging to the knee and a bit agressive for just 6 weeks following surgery.  My guess is it didn't do any harm to the repair but its clearly a lot of stress to soft tissue, ligments and tendons that are affected during the surgery.  Same for your walking; did the therapist say it was OK to go for 1/2 mile walks? Did you discuss the range of excercise and exersion? This relates to my post above about not always knowing all the small details and day to day things that impact your recovery. They often get overlooked. BTW- that's awesome that you can walk that long. good for you!  " rel="/img/vbsmilies/smilies/icon14.gif">icon14.gif
 

Quote:
Originally Posted by Kneale Brownson View Post

Pain isn't always the best guide. My wife had a significant miniscus repair in October and was told after six weeks she couldn't hurt anything, so she walked a couple miles downhill and back uphill and had several weeks of swelling and pain after that. Set her recovery back by at least a month. She had no pain while walking, but obviously was irritating the knee all the while.
I'm finding the same thing--when I walk a quarter mile downhill and back up to get a paper, I experience some discomfort starting about half way down. No discomfort going back up. Doesn't bother me afterward, but I'm sure if I walked farther, it would. When my tibia plateau fractured, the smooth cartilage surface also fractured and, while the X-rays show a smooth bone surface now, the cartilage may still be uneven.


 


Wife had been walking up and down (everything is up or down in Breck) for shorter distances for several weeks. She just didn't think about the irritation to the joint from extended activity. She didn't do any "damage". Just caused irritation and swelling.

My short downhills were OK'd. I'm to stop doing something if pain level increases and to avoid activities involving an impact. I can walk the same downhill now with no twinges.
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post #76 of 293
4/15/12 at 8:44am

How do they anchor the grafts today?   I am just curious what the current methods or options are.  Twenty years plus ago when I had my ACLs done, they were anchored with titanium/stainless steel/something screws that are still in there (and hopefully not leaching bad stuff into my body - in theory, they are encased in bone).  I wore a brace for about 12 weeks, as I recall.  I was concerned about slipping or damaging the ligament before it could handle the stress, but my doctor said it was well anchored and very durable.  The graph would not reach full strength until the body "revascularized" it, which is what was supposed to take the 9 months to 12 months to complete. 

 

Now, what the data and research show today might be different, but that is what I recall being told 20 years ago.  Also, I had a second opinion at the Cleveland Clinic and they used staples instead of screws to anchor the graft.  If the patient desired, the staples could be removed at a later date in an in-office surgical procedure. 

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post #77 of 293
4/15/12 at 10:56am
Thread Starter 

Skidding, see , my original post with the video. you will see the anchor pins and I am pretty sure its then set into place with screws through the caribiner looking facets.  They still use allograft (cadaver, patella (not so much) and hamstring. 

 

 

Kneale, yeah the boats the same although we do have the CORE trail which is flat and paved that runs the distance of the town along the Yampa.  I am very glad to hear you both are doing so well. You had a hell of an invasive and what had to be painful surgery and recovery. Good job! 

 

 

 

 

 

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post #78 of 293
4/15/12 at 11:03am
Thread Starter 

I also have the Donjoy defiance, and what you said is exactly how I feel; I am not doing anything to risk that graft. I don't wear it in the house unless I am doing something like mopping the floor or other stuff ( yeah, I am a good house husband) but just watching TV or my workouts, I don't wear it. I was actually told to wear it at night. It is very comfortable and it doesn't interfere at all. I just can't wear long pants so I am glad its been so warm. I would prefer to not have to do this again. 

 

Bold- yep 100%. 

 

Quote:
Originally Posted by skejunky View Post

Considering cost and time to heal, I put my brace on when I get up and wear it everywhere till I go to bed. The Don Joy is really comfortable and I am not taking any chances. If something were to go bad (heaven forbid) I can at least say I protected it as well as I could. Public shmublic, this is my knee and I intend to make it work well again. I plan on wearing the brace continous for several more weeks at a minimum.

 

One of the folks involved in my PT damaged her ACL replacement and said it was a searing pain that went through her knee (she was on a treadmil with no brace) and kept hurting badly for quite a while. I have had a few twinges but nothing major so far (knock on wood). Last but not least Joyce (my better half) says she is only paying for one knee, that is the main issue, she'll kick my butt if I mess up :-).

 

Finndog, I have a feeling that the folks out in Colorado might understand your passion a little more, and that is a major part of PT. Brian (The head of my PT, avid skier and racer as well as two torn ACL's) said he is working everything on my rehab so I will ski hard again next year, nice to hear.



 

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post #79 of 293
4/15/12 at 11:40am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Finndog View Post

whoa! 2 weeks with no protection?the graft is not stable for about 2 months.  I don't need the brace but he is clear at least 6 weeks for protection of the graft. His concern is someone bumping into you, dog jumps onto you type thing, uneven terrain or you catch your foot and it twists.  I was out of the full leg brace in just under 3 weeks when going outside then switched to the ACL specific brace



I'm not sure of the exact time line but after my (cadaver) reconstruction, it was explained to me several times (I believe because I lean towards over doing it) that your reconstructed ACL is the strongest it is going to be for quite some time, the day of surgery.  From then on it deteriorates until your body takes it over and then it regenerates.  I'm not sure if the whole process is 12 weeks or it is 12 weeks of degeneration and then as long building back up.

 

Part of the above caution was that my knee would feel good, but it was actually weaker.

 

I don't know if the same holds true for non cadaver grafts.

 

The flip side of all this is using the brace so much your support muscles aren't getting the work out they need to help with stability.  As long as that is understood in your PT plan incorporates that, I would think all will be fine.  It might take a little longer is all.

 

I did choose slow and steady for myself.  My PT also made me do crazy stuff that I couldn't do before I tore my acl.  I told her people with good knees can't do these things.  She said that since I was insisting on returning to skiing and racing, it was so I didn't come back.  Single leg hops on a bosu ball will get your attention, with or without acl surgery.

 

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post #80 of 293
4/15/12 at 1:55pm
Thread Starter 

at what point was this?  did these as part of a regular training prior. single leg squats on a bosu as well. FWIW a Donjoy defiance doesn't support anything, it only holds the joint; fib/tib/femur in place
 

Quote:
Originally Posted by L&AirC View Post



I'm not sure of the exact time line but after my (cadaver) reconstruction, it was explained to me several times (I believe because I lean towards over doing it) that your reconstructed ACL is the strongest it is going to be for quite some time, the day of surgery.  From then on it deteriorates until your body takes it over and then it regenerates.  I'm not sure if the whole process is 12 weeks or it is 12 weeks of degeneration and then as long building back up.

 

Part of the above caution was that my knee would feel good, but it was actually weaker.

 

I don't know if the same holds true for non cadaver grafts.

 

The flip side of all this is using the brace so much your support muscles aren't getting the work out they need to help with stability.  As long as that is understood in your PT plan incorporates that, I would think all will be fine.  It might take a little longer is all.

 

I did choose slow and steady for myself.  My PT also made me do crazy stuff that I couldn't do before I tore my acl.  I told her people with good knees can't do these things.  She said that since I was insisting on returning to skiing and racing, it was so I didn't come back.  Single leg hops on a bosu ball will get your attention, with or without acl surgery.

 



 

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post #81 of 293
4/15/12 at 4:33pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Finndog View Post

at what point was this?  did these as part of a regular training prior. single leg squats on a bosu as well. FWIW a Donjoy defiance doesn't support anything, it only holds the joint; fib/tib/femur in place
 

Quote:
Originally Posted by L&AirC View Post



I'm not sure of the exact time line but after my (cadaver) reconstruction, it was explained to me several times (I believe because I lean towards over doing it) that your reconstructed ACL is the strongest it is going to be for quite some time, the day of surgery.  From then on it deteriorates until your body takes it over and then it regenerates.  I'm not sure if the whole process is 12 weeks or it is 12 weeks of degeneration and then as long building back up.

 

Part of the above caution was that my knee would feel good, but it was actually weaker.

 

I don't know if the same holds true for non cadaver grafts.

 

The flip side of all this is using the brace so much your support muscles aren't getting the work out they need to help with stability.  As long as that is understood in your PT plan incorporates that, I would think all will be fine.  It might take a little longer is all.

 

I did choose slow and steady for myself.  My PT also made me do crazy stuff that I couldn't do before I tore my acl.  I told her people with good knees can't do these things.  She said that since I was insisting on returning to skiing and racing, it was so I didn't come back.  Single leg hops on a bosu ball will get your attention, with or without acl surgery.

 



 

 

Don't know exactly when but I'm pretty sure I was post surgery 6 months.  Somewhere around that time anyway.  Plus or minus a month.  I had been doing single leg squats on the bosu prior to the injury as well (learned those during the first acl reconstruction) but had never done the hopping before.  Did single leg hopping on the floor but not the bosu ball first time.

 

We might be splitting hairs again, but isn't "...holds the joint...in place" exactly what the support muscles are supposed to do?

 

Copy and paste from the Donjoy site:

 

"Ideal Application The Custom Defiance is DonJoy's hallmark knee brace. Combining the ultimate in technology, materials and design, this lightweight brace provides durable support for moderate to severe ACL, PCL, MCL and LCL instabilities. "
 

I guess it gets into a murky area when you define "support". 

 

Ken

 

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post #82 of 293
4/15/12 at 4:54pm
Thread Starter 

yeah, when you are wearing it, you don't feel or sense that it's doing anything but holding everything in place if that makes sense. 

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post #83 of 293
4/15/12 at 7:04pm
Ron, the post above about the graft being strongest at the time of surgery conforms with what my surgeon, several pt's, and several ski instructors who've been through multiple acl reconstructions have told me. Hence why I was released from wearing the brace within 2 weeks of surgery. I was released to sleep without itin the first week post op. the weakest point is actually 3 months post op, then it starts build strength until the graft is about as solid as it will be at 6 months.

I'm surprised by the delay most folk seem to have in getting to riding on the stationary bike. I was on it within 5 days of surgery. I believe Terry Ackerman was on more or less the same schedule. And I had no limitation in being able to get going on the bike -- sur, the knee was a bit stiff for the first 5 or 10 reva, but fine thereafter. Perhaps it has something to do with having the surgery immediately after injury.

Mike
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post #84 of 293
4/16/12 at 7:37am
Thread Starter 

1st off, I am not a therapist and if you got good results, that's all that matters. I am just following the doctors orders which are in line with Steadman clinic and his own experience; surgeon to the US ski team and in perfoming a couple hundred of ACL recons per year.  I did discuss the use of the bike with my Therapist. He was not opposed to the bike, its more of a matter of time.  His postion was that riding the bike merely gets the leg to bend to a limited amount and really doesn't build strength at that point;. you can gain more strength doing other excercises. What was the fastest way to get results.  He's pretty much in "ACL-town USA", and has a specialty in not only ACL rehab but also ACL protective training, I gotta think he's put some thought into this. I never wore a brace during any rehab, including the first day (day 4) and did not need one when at home after week 2.  The therapist feels there's much more value and more gains to be made by focusing on working "hands on" by stretching the leg to gain flexibility. So he takes the first 2 weeks to get the leg flat and straight in conjunction with contracting the quad at that postition (done manually, with E-stim and with a few therapist assisted strenghtening techniques) and then working to get the leg to bend to as close to normal as possible is the foremost important thing along with getting the quad to fire. I had my leg flat in the first week and 115 degrees of bend in under 2 weeks. Once you pass the test of being able to flaten your leg and keep it locked while doing a leg raise, then he moves you on. This demonstrates sufficient control over your quad and knee.   In the 1st and 2nd week, in addition to the e-stim, we did squats on the total gym, free standing sqauts with more emphasis on form and not favoring the injured leg, learning to walk with a correct gate, balance board and getting the quad to fire when walking correctly.  This way as you gain strength and control, you won't be fighting bad muscle memory. I think at about the 2nd week we started on the bike for 10-12 minutes at a low resistence. I was doing lunges at 2 weeks so by no means was this a passive rehab. When I got back to NJ, they couldn't believe how far along I was. Again, you obviously had a successful rehab and nothing tore so it worked just fine for you. 


Edited by Finndog - 4/16/12 at 7:52am
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post #85 of 293
4/16/12 at 8:14am
Quote:
Originally Posted by habacomike View Post

Ron, the post above about the graft being strongest at the time of surgery conforms with what my surgeon, several pt's, and several ski instructors who've been through multiple acl reconstructions have told me. Hence why I was released from wearing the brace within 2 weeks of surgery. I was released to sleep without itin the first week post op. the weakest point is actually 3 months post op, then it starts build strength until the graft is about as solid as it will be at 6 months.
I'm surprised by the delay most folk seem to have in getting to riding on the stationary bike. I was on it within 5 days of surgery. I believe Terry Ackerman was on more or less the same schedule. And I had no limitation in being able to get going on the bike -- sur, the knee was a bit stiff for the first 5 or 10 reva, but fine thereafter. Perhaps it has something to do with having the surgery immediately after injury.
Mike


Who did yours?

 

I don't remember my husband wearing the brace very long ... but he was in a CPM for the first days after surgery. He had (seemingly) immediate flexion and extension. I used a CPM after a surgery back in about 1999, but my 2004 surgeon (different doctor) didn't prescribe it. (Both were knees, but neither was ACL) I guess studies have shown that after 6 weeks, there is no difference in patients who do and don't use it. But in my experience, recovery (ie, getting to that 6 wks) does seem to be easier with it than without it. 

 

He wore the brace at night just the first couple of days, then he wore it during the day about a week. He went on a campus tour with our son 4 days after surgery, with brace, and I think he used crutches a little but not much that day. 

 

I remember being surprised at how normal he seemed even 2.5 weeks after surgery ... this is at Home Depot, it was the right leg. A bit atrophied, but he was pretty normal in everyday activities by this point. I'm quite sure he was slowly pedaling the stationary bike by this time.

 

IMG_0505.jpg

 

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post #86 of 293
4/16/12 at 8:28am

Dr. Grauer did mine.  He's been my wife's and my OS for all of our shoulder and my knees.  We have a friend who is a PT and the PT's regularly compare notes on whose patients recover best.  Grauer got high marks.  And when my personal PT had her ACL blown a week ahead of me, she had Grauer do it.  I figure that the PT's probably are better consumers of health care than I am.

 

I also had the CPM machine for the first week or so.  During my down time, I used it pretty much nonstop, along with the ice machine for the first 2 weeks.  I bought a estim machine so that I could do my quad sets with muscle reeducation outside of my PT appointments.  And I started strength training about two weeks after surgery.  Lots of one-legged leg presses, squats, lunges, particularly using the whoopee cushion (or whatever it's called).

 

Ron, good to hear you are making progress.  It's just interesting that rehab regimes are both similar and different.

 

Mike

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post #87 of 293
4/16/12 at 8:41am
Thread Starter 

@ Seg:  that is wild!  Are you sure he had recon? biggrin.gif my leg was still bruised and sore.

 

@ Mike, so it seems that the workout load was the same after 2 weeks. how was your flexibility?  Good stuff here.

 

The other factor for me is my ankle. I think I could be substantially more along the line if I wasn't dealing with it.

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post #88 of 293
4/16/12 at 10:08am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Finndog View Post

The other factor for me is my ankle. I think I could be substantially more along the line if I wasn't dealing with it.

 

Absolutely. 

 

Ron was cleared at some point by 4 months after surgery ... not to ski (it was summer anyway), but pretty much to do whatever. On vacation in mid-June (15 weeks post op) he did everything ... surfing (beginner, but still), boogie boards, golf, atv's,  bikes, whatever. (I was the gimp at that point, boo hoo.)

 

That said, because he recovered so fast, he had kind of stopped rehab too early, so when ski season started, he wasn't quite as ready as he should have been. He was able to do all the other stuff but his knee/leg wasn't really totally strong for something like skiing ... so he actually started rehabbing again during ski season. And in a way, his quick recovery made for a longer recovery in the end. 

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post #89 of 293
4/16/12 at 10:41am
Thread Starter 

the usual is 4 months to be "cleared" meaning the graft and your body should be healed and secure to ramp up and train without limits (although I have been told no mtn biking this year and no skiing in Chile this August) so I can see how this happened. But his recovery was nothing short of incredible. 

 

Mike and Seg any meniscus tear repair?

 

Quote:
Originally Posted by segbrown View Post

 

Absolutely. 

 

Ron was cleared at some point by 4 months after surgery ... not to ski (it was summer anyway), but pretty much to do whatever. On vacation in mid-June (15 weeks post op) he did everything ... surfing (beginner, but still), boogie boards, golf, atv's,  bikes, whatever. (I was the gimp at that point, boo hoo.)

 

That said, because he recovered so fast, he had kind of stopped rehab too early, so when ski season started, he wasn't quite as ready as he should have been. He was able to do all the other stuff but his knee/leg wasn't really totally strong for something like skiing ... so he actually started rehabbing again during ski season. And in a way, his quick recovery made for a longer recovery in the end. 



 

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post #90 of 293
4/16/12 at 10:57am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Finndog View Post

the usual is 4 months to be "cleared" meaning the graft and your body should be healed and secure to ramp up and train without limits (although I have been told no mtn biking this year and no skiing in Chile this August) so I can see how this happened. But his recovery was nothing short of incredible. 

 

Mike and Seg any meniscus tear repair?

 



 

 

Yeah, that's what I meant. He was feeling too good for too long, though. (Never took his pain meds. Didn't need them.)
 

I had a meniscus trimmed in 99 ... it's been fine. Ron had one stapled (or whatever they call it) in 2003-ish. That one seems to have held -- it was his other knee than the ACL. He did have some trimmed out in the latest surgery, but I don't think it was very much.

 

I'm 97% sure I have some torn in my left knee right now, and have for some years, but it doesn't usually bother me too much. I can't bend that knee all the way without a lot of pain, and very occasionally it does kind of stick. It might be something else floating around in there, though, as that was the knee I destroyed back in high school. I sort of want to get surgery just to clean out what I feel in there, but my PT doesn't want me to -- he feels that surgeons do too much (ie, take out too much), and I'd be better off just strengthening it, especially since it isn't prohibiting too many activities. I actually am starting a new round of PT this week, because that quad stopped firing and my knee is swelling pretty good after skiing anymore. 

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