Thread: ACL Surgery Done.

weekly updates of recovery and rehab.

congrats.

How's it feeling?

Got mine scheduled for March 12-- allograft.

I really enjoyed Ikkin ACL Allograft entries. I just went through the same surgery and your information has been really helpful. I'd like to follow in your footsteps and share my post op experiences in hope that some poor unfortunate soul in the future may need some info as I did.

Background:
37 year old firefighter
Loves basketball, volleyball, surfing, snowboarding, kayaking
Injured knee on January 12th 2009. Fully Torn ACL with minor meniscus tear
ACL surgery set for February 25th 2009
Decided to get the allograft.
Did a lot of research and found that all three major options were great(Hammy, Patella Tendon, or Dead Guy Graft) My surgeon and a fraternity brother of mine who is also an Orthopedic surgeon said they would both do the Allograft if it was their knee. So I trusted them and went against what Tiger Woods(Hammy) and Tom Brady(Patella Tendon). From what I heard and researched all would be good choices and if you stay true to your Physical Therapy should have a full recovery.
Only time will tell.

got to the hospital at 10:45am
Checked into the operating room and Dr. scribbled on the correct leg that he was going to be operating on.
Changed into my beautiful hospital robe, booties, hat and nurse set up an IV.
Answered some last minute questions pertaining to living trusts and signed my life away for surgery.
Wheeled me down into the operating room and gave me a little pre operating drug to relax your nerves. It's funny cause when I first found out that I had to get surgery, I thought awe no big deal, look at how many athletes go through surgeries everyday and come out ok, but when It's your turn and you're getting wheeled into the operating room, I must say I was psyched to be getting this relaxant before they put me under. So at 12:45 out I went and when I came to it felt like I had only been under for about 10 seconds. The surgery was pretty fast. I think I was under for an hour and 35 minutes. Then I stayed another 2 hours in recovery room before I left. I felt a little groggy, but was able to drink juice and water and eat some toast and rest some more. Then I went home and was able to eat and rest and take my meds religiously every 4 hours. I watched American Idol then past out.

elevate
Ice
Meds every 4 hours.
I slept a little too long one time without the meds and it hurt a lot. I think I will try and go one week on meds before handling the pain.

can put a little weight on the leg but not much. Just want to keep leg extended and not let it get locked in a flexed position.

Did some toe pointiing and flexing to keep blood circulating

Same as Day 1 after surgery

Doctor checked bandages and said that the surgery went great. He said the allograft looked really good. I don't know if he tells everyone that or if mine really did go really well and look really good. I guess I'll find out in due time.

Feeling pretty good. I am able to get up on crutches and put weight down on my left knee. can't do too much though or swelling will take over along with pain and suffering. trying to do some heel slides and toe and anle flexions. I'm a little bummed that my physical therapy might not start until wednesday the 11th. I'm hoping to get in there some time this week though. We'll see. From now on I'll start writing in at the end of each week.

Congrats!

It gets easier from here on. My best advice is to do your rehab excercises EVERY day. Make it a non negotiable time commitment. I used the pain and discomfort to channel my energy into harder workouts. However, do exactly what your PT and Doc tell you, not more, not less. There is a reason for everything and rest is just as important as pushing through the pain.

I am an active 40 year old and today is my 1 year aniversary from an allograph and I can say that all is pretty much well. It was a long road, but I got here.

I am back to running 5 miles regularly and have been skiing again for about 2 months even though for this season I have condemned myself to stay on the groomers!

Good luck!

^^^ 2nd'ed on what B1-2 says.

Oh, and welcome to The Club.

It DOES get better/easier...in my case, quicker than I expected...YRMV.
Here's hoping you have a good, strong recovery.

Be diligent and dutiful in your post-op exercises (Doctor knows best), and be mindful to NOT over-do it when you start feeling better (and you will, soon)...Avoid the curse of the "Week-2 Crash"...

I'm at week 4 Post-Op, after PT allograft recon + meniscus trim & repair on 2/5/09. (44 Y.O.).

I was free-walking (no crutches or cane) at end of week 2.
So far so good.
Still RICE'ing each night before bed, and my knee feels "refreshed" when I wake up.

You will find that P.T. feels gooood, and ice is your best buddy.


Keep on keepin' on.

I dreamed about running two nights ago. Wierd.

.

Thanks Bermuda 1-2 and OL Moss-back I appreciate the advice from two people who have lived through the same experience and are having success.

It's now been a week post op and I am now off the meds as of yesterday and am regaining a little flexibility in the range of motion. It's still painful, and still can't put full weight on leg, but It's nice to be off the meds and clear the noggin again. I'll let you know how the upcoming week progresses. Thanks again for your much appreciated knowledge and experience.

glad you are doing well. I am 6 weeks post op and making progress. I still have a swelling problem that is limiting my progress, but making progress none the less. Hang in there mang....the light is at the end of the tunnel now.

Thanks for the feedback you two. Montanaskier, I hope that the inflammation problem goes away and that your well on your way to getting better.
Mtnbikerskierchick good luck on your surgery in two days. You'll be fine.
I'm on my 13th day post surgery and everything is going really well. I'm hobbling around without my crutches and able to put full weight on the knee. Incisions are healing nicely. The first week was no fun, but every day after that seems to get a little better. Thanks again to you both for sharing your experiences.

It's amazing how much better your knee gets from the first week to the second. I've had three physical therapy sessions with Laser, Ultrasound, Magnetic therapy, and Microcurrent therapy. My PT wanted to let my knee heel for 2 weeks before getting into any physical exercises, besides the minor ones like point and flex toes, heel slides, straight leg lifts, and making leg straight and pushing your knee to the ground. I think tomorrow he mentioned riding the stationary bike. Everything has progressed about as well as possible so far. I can walk around without crutches(with a limp of course) and the swelling isn't too bad. I still can't bend my leg quite to 90 degrees yet and I can'd quite completely straighten it out, I think my PT said I was at 3 degrees.
I had one major scare though already. Yesterday, I was walking through the grass with an ace bandage and a soft neoprene knee brace on and there was a sprinkler head burried in the grass. I didn't even see it and I stepped right on the hole with my bad knee and hyperextended it. It hurt like hell and it made me so nervous. The last thing I need, after making through the surgery is to have to do it again. I think everything is still ok, but from now on I'm going to be extra extra careful. I hope everyone else at Gimp Central is making a speedy recovery. I'll be sure to keep posting updates on the rehab.

yep, be really really really careful. I walk like I'm 90, not because i have to, but I'm scared as shit to fall...lots of ice stiill around.

Originally Posted by Ol' Moss-Back

^^^ 2nd'ed on what B1-2 says.

Oh, and welcome to The Club.

It DOES get better/easier...in my case, quicker than I expected...YRMV.
Here's hoping you have a good, strong recovery.

Be diligent and dutiful in your post-op exercises (Doctor knows best), and be mindful to NOT over-do it when you start feeling better (and you will, soon)...Avoid the curse of the "Week-2 Crash"...

I'm at week 4 Post-Op, after PT allograft recon + meniscus trim & repair on 2/5/09. (44 Y.O.).

I was free-walking (no crutches or cane) at end of week 2.
So far so good.
Still RICE'ing each night before bed, and my knee feels "refreshed" when I wake up.

You will find that P.T. feels gooood, and ice is your best buddy.


Keep on keepin' on.

I dreamed about running two nights ago. Wierd.

.

Yeah i had the running dream about the same time after id had mine, itll become recurring!

There will be plenty more hyperextensions which terrify you dont worry!
But in the long run youll be fine, im 9 months post op so "recovered" im back to skiing not just piste but pretty tricky thigh deep pow ect, and its a lot better than it was before the op, so nothing to worry about there.
At the moment it isnt at too much risk of breaking the main risk time is 3-6 months. This is due to the graft stopping having its own previous blood supply or something and trying to gain a blood supply in its new position. My physio told me about a patient who at 6 months stepped down onto a boat with his bad leg and the boat moved and he snapped it again, so be careful!
Oh and in terms of the boredom you will no doubt be suffering take up an instrument it gets rid of the boredom and makes you feel like your achieving something more visible than your rehab.

Thanks joshring27 for the advice. Yes I heard that the 3-6 month period is when the allograft is at it's most vulnerable state. I'll just try and do things that are more low impact and be as patient as possible.

My knee is getting progressively better day by day. I'm able to bend my knee to about 110 degrees and only have about 1 degree extension. The last few PT sessions have included riding the stationary bike. I feel that it's helping speed the recovery. My quad was firing with electro-current therapy from the PT. which he says is good news cause now the quad will soon be able to start regaining strength. Walking around is a little easier. I still have a slight limp, gotta work the range of motion. However, I feel like I have way more strength than just a week ago. I'm still just focusing on heel slides, toe points and flexes, calf raises, hamstring stretches, and with my leg flat on the ground flexing the quad, while trying to push back of knee to the ground, to work extension. Oh yeah, straight leg lifts. I'm riding the bike about 20 min, a day, and I'm icing probably 4 times a day for 1/2 an hour each time. I'm just trying to be as patient as possible. If anyone else has been through the allograft ACL surgery and can share any experiences I would love to hear them. Good luck to all on a successful and speedy recovery.

I feel like my knee is making progress everyday, but I just want to know when I'll be able to walk free of limp and when the range of motion will come back completely. I can get in and out of the car a lot better, since I can bend the knee enough to not cause pain going in and out. I am doing the same exercises. I am riding the stationary bike every other day for a half an hour. doing range of motion, mini squats one and two leg, up and down stairs, walking forward and backward in the water, calf raises, leg flat flexing quads to work extension, ice 3 to 4 times a day about 30min a pop. It's kind of weird, when I put my finger on my incision scars, I feel a bump in there. Is that scar tissue. Do I need to massage that out? I have been massaging my quads, calfs, and hammies just to loosen them up a bit. It seems like when I sit for a little while and I get up my leg gets tight again and I need to walk around for a few minutes to loosen it up. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. As for now I'm just sticking to the routine and trying to be as patient as possible.

You should definitely be massaging the incision points. I am doing it with mine (2.5 weeks post op) and have been for a week. My PT guy massages it so hard I cry. You should also be massaging your patellar tendon as that can be a common place for scar tissue to build up as well. Yes, those bumps are scar tissue BTW. The longer the scar tissue stays there, the harder it is to get rid of. You should massage it hard enough that it hurts.

As far as walking w/o a limp... my PT guy has stressed that from day 4 after surgery when he started weaning me off of crutches. He said that he'd rather me walk with crutches w/o a limp than with a limp. So, he had me practicing my walking stride over and over.... having me really straightening my leg and tightening my quad with my toes raised up before my heal hit the ground. I still walk slow, but when I think about what he says, I don't walk with a limp. The rest will just come with time (getting faster) but the more you can do to get your muscles to "remember" how to walk w/o a limp the better you are. Straight leg raises help with this too along with the tightening the quad while sitting (quad sets) as you mentioned above.

Good to hear you are making progress!

It's been a while since my last post. My achilles allograft surgery in doing pretty well. My range of motion is getting pretty good. I can almost bend it all the way. my extension is at about zero. I have been doing a lot of strengthening exercises focusing mostly on Quads, hammies and calf. My PT has been killing me with deep tissue massage on my IT Band. He just burries his elbow in there. It's excruciating, but when I leave my knee feels much better. I still have a few kinks on the outside side of my knee when I bend it real far. There is some pain in there. My PT says it's a combo of IT Band tightness, scar tissue that hasn't been broken down yet and week quad muscles. I am walking limp free and the strength is coming back slowly but surely. When I work on extensions I still fell some pain right below the knee cap as well and when I am walking up stairs I still feel some pain below the knee cap. I am hoping that all of this pain will start to subside as everything loosens up and strength gets better. I am supposedly in a real vulnerable time for the allograft, so I'm just trying to be patient. I'm doing a lot of exercise bike and kick boarding in the pool. Also walking forward, backward, side to side in the pool with high knees. those exercises really seem to be helping my range of motion. One other note on a friend of mine that had ACL surgery on March 31st. He's not even a month out of surgery with a Hammie graft and can touch his but with his heel. He had full range of motion after 2.5 weeks. I'm blown away. How is this possible? Anyway, hope all of you other ACL recovery people are doing well. I will continue to update everyone with the progress. I love reading all of the other ACL Threads on Gimp central. keep up the ongoing posting everyone.

Hey PC, thanks for the encouragement on my thread and glad to hear it's coming together for you. I'm already bored silly and dreading this weekend with to do but watch the MCP - may drive me back to the narcs, hehe.

I'm now 13 weeks post op!!! It's been a 5 weeks since the last post. Sorry everyone for the delay. The knee is continually progressing. Sometimes it's frustrating because you feel like you're at a stand still with progress. Then all of a sudden you have little break throughs. I can touch my heel to my ass, but when I squat all the way down to the ground I get pain in my bad knee and can't quite squat all the way down. My extension still is not what my other knee is, but it's close to zero. I have been doing a lot of strengthening exercises. Biking for 30 minutes, then doing some inner and outer thighs, calf raises, one legged balance squats, lunges, sitting quad extensions, Hammie curls, Quad stretches, Hammie stretches, calf stretches, groin stretches, I.T. band massage with tennis ball, jogging on the tread mill at 6 miles per hour for 10 minutes, and kickboarding in the pool for a half an hour 3 times a week. The muscles around the knee are definitely getting stronger again, but the knee is definitely not 100% yet. I would say it's about 65%. There's still pain when I bend all the way or extend all the way. They say that the 3-6 month period is when you're most succeptable to re injuring, because you feel good enough to do most normal activities, but your tendon and muscles still aren't completely heeled up yet. I'm just staying positive, plugging away and being patient. What's a year out of your life, to let your knee fully heel, versus trying to rush back after 6- nine months and having to go through everything again with the odds of a good recovery greatly diminishing. Anyhow, the knee is getting much better and I wish everyone on here a speedy recovery.

Quick note to say thanks to this and all the other ACL threads. I go in on June 9th for mine and can guarantee that there are a bunch of questions I would have never thought to ask without these threads.

Glad your recovery is going good....gives me hope