Thread: MBSC's knee goes kaput

Originally Posted by mtnbikerskierchick

Anyone else have issues like this before? Ugh. So frustrating!!!!!

about a week before my surgery i got a letter from bluecross/blueshield saying that UofU is out of network, and my surgery wouldnt be covered. 2 minutes on a phone and a very helpful lady told me that UofU was absolutely in network and i could throw out the letter. insurance companies are so poorly run, you often have to take the initiative to make sure things work out.

glad to hear you've got a date, i had to wait almost 2 months for my surgery after my injury.

the day before my surgery I got a call saying the "surgery center" was not covered so I would have to try and get my doc to do it at Vail Valley Medical Center instead or I could just bring payment in full of 25k at the time. After I laughed at the notion that I could stroke a 25k check and then yelled at him because the SC and VVMC are in the same building, on the same floor and are basically the exact same facility just called different things we got it squared away.....UNREAL.

Insurance companies are a complete pain. That's why I've called mine like 10 times already. Everytime they say the same thing. I figure that's a good thing. Still, we'll see what happens when I actually get the bill!

What did your doc say about patellar tendon autograft?

Doctors and even more so, hospitals have no grasp of the reality of most people's life. They confuse us with the government who has a money printing agency.

I used to have the same problem at a sugiery center I workED at.
I don't go there anymore.

Patella autograft?


Not likely in this case. You can't sell a guy his own tendon back.
An allo can go for $4000.

Originally Posted by Skis

What did your doc say about patellar tendon autograft?

Patellar tendon autografts where the rage 12 yrs ago when I had surgery, but now it's considered "old fashioned". My doc said she wouldn't do it and she knew very few doctors that would anymore because it's just old. That was fine w/ me. I wanted to go allograft instead.

Huh. I thought it was still standard of care. Dr. Mark, have patella autografts lost popularity? What's the best graft?

^^^ Around these parts, everyone seems to have a hammy autograft or an allograft. One or the other. I haven't met anyone in at least 5 or 6 years that's had a patella autograft unless they went to Kaiser... where that is still a regular practice. What's best probably depends on the individual, really. There's benefits and downfalls to all. Patella grafts are being scorned b/c so many people end up with tendinitis afterwards. I never did in the one where I had a patella graft 12 yrs before. But 2 yrs after surgery, I developed patellar tendinitis so bad in my OTHER knee (from favoring the one I had surgery on). I let it get so bad that I could barely walk. I went to PT for months and months. It healed for the most part, but the tendinitis is still and issue. This tendinitis-plagued knee is the one where I blew my ACL this time. So for me to get a patellar tendon graft from the knee where the tendinitis is an ongoing issue would be sheer stupidity. I've been having issues with tendinitis in the hammy too. So, neither autograft was a good option. Allograft is the best option for me.

I have a minor book addiction (and also a ton of teaching books/Dewey philosophy of education and other stuff from when I did my masters), so you can borrow anything. If you haven't read Three Cups of Tea yet, you must.

Also, come hang out with me on my days off. Right now, I can ski for about three hours without too much hip pain, so I'm also pretty bored a lot of the time. And it's looking like I'll have to have surgery in April so we can be gimps together.

I heard you might be having surgery! Wow, that's good... if it makes your hip better! Yeah, we should go to a matinee or something later this week

Books- I'll have to borrow some! Just ordered 3 cops of tea from Amazon, actually. All the kids are reading it at school and it sounded really good. So, I got it for GB and I to read. I would have borrowed it from you had I known! Oops!

MBSC, just wanted to say sorry to hear about your knee and to say thanks for sharing your story. I too like to hear about the tech side on the surgery options. I've blown out both achilles tendons playing soccer. It would have been nice to have had a resource like TGR to get first hand advice. Now when I blow out my knee skiing, I know where to do my reconstruction research.

Anyway, thanks again and good luck on your surgery, PT and a quick recovery.

Well, its been about 2.5 weeks since the injury, and I have surgery scheduled in one week. Then the healing can really begin.

For now, I'm walking almost normally and getting faster. No need for a brace or crutches. The warmer temps and lack of snow have allowed for more snow removal here in CB, so the ice is becoming less of a factor, which is really nice. I am able to ride my bike for an hour now, if I want, with basically no pain. My ROM is basically 100% and I have very minimal swelling. I have been told to go of ibuprofen, starting 10 days before the surgery, as it is a blood thinner. I have gone off of it, and am noticing my knee being a bit more achy than before. I notice it more when I am sitting still than anything else. I had my last PT before surgery on Tuesday. My PT guy says I'm totally ready for the surgery- achieved the goals he wanted to set. There's not much I can do PT-wise until I have the surgery. So, my next appointment is Friday afternoon after surgery.

So, surgery Thursday, March 12 in the afternoon! Until then....

until then stock up on stuff you'll need and enjoy the little remaining time you have with an intact knee. good luck!

Originally Posted by wandering, not lost

If you haven't read Three Cups of Tea yet, you must.

second that, and good luck with the surgery. rehab is not fun, but if you work hard at it, the payoff will be a functioning new knee

soon Brittany...soon. I know you are stoked, you are gonna do great.

Yay, surgery tomorrow... finally! I have surgery at 2:30, and have to be at the doc's by 1:30. They are expecting the surgery to be an hour or less, depending on the damage.

I talked to the anesthesiologist yesterday and we decided on a spinal tap with a femoral block, based on my last knee surgery where I vomited for 3 days straight from the general anesthesia and morphine drip. No morphine this time! I'll be awake for the surgery, but she'll give me something to calm me, because I kind of get really nervous for surgery. GB will take me there and take me home. I'm allowed to eat a small breakfast by 6:30 in the morning, which will help. GB doesn't want to deal with a "hangry" girlfriend just before surgery

I've been incredibly busy, which is good. I'm doing lots of things that I won't really be able to do for a while after my surgery, like baking, doing laundry, going out to dinner, and cleaning the house.

I'll be happy when my surgery is done. I worry they are going to go in there and find more damage than they expected (meniscus/cartilage). I really don't want the cartilage as that will mean non weight-bearing for 6 weeks and I'll have to sleep with a machine that moves my leg back and forth to bend my knee. Not fun. Here's to hoping it's just a simple ACL repair! I'll know sometime tomorrow afternoon!!!

Good luck to you and best of skill to the surgeons today!

You're only 2 weeks behind me. The first week was hell, but the second week gets a lot better. If you have any questions about what to expect, let me know. I wish you all the best.

Surgery went awesome!!!

The doctor didn't find any hidden damage to the meniscus or other ligaments. She cleaned up a tiny bit of cartilage, but she wasn't even sure if that was part of the injury or just something old. Either way, it was tiny, so basically this was just a straight-up ACL.

MBSC is in good spirits, no nausea like she had with her other ACL, and is basically ready to start kicking ass at PT tomorrow.

Thanks for the update GB. Good on ya MBSC, kick the shit outta this thing.

glad to hear everything went well. and tomorrow you can sit in front of a bike with a computer tuned into the snowbird comp and wince a lot. i know that's what ill do

Last night was kind of rough. I think the percosette got to me, and there was some major pukage action around midnight. Then, of course, that made me dehydrated, and when I got up to go to the bathroom I nearly passed out. I actually fell over on purpose just to keep myself from passing out. I went off of all pain meds. Not even ibuprofen for now. And I'm feeling better this morning, although in more pain. But overall, this has been a lot easier than my last ACL surgery on the other knee- that one I stayed in the hospital overnight, never slept a single second, and kept puking over and over from the morphine. I was so bad off they almost kept me a second night until my mom basically threw a fit about it. If last night was the worst of it all, and I think it will be, then I'm far better off than the last time. And that's a good thing

Glad to see your feeling well enough to post. Time for some bad TV watching....take care of yourself.

Glad to hear the operation went well, now heal up

Heal FAST!!!!