Knee experts: read my radiologists report, please!

**skioride** · 08-01-2011, 08:48 PM

Hamstring or patella is definitely all about doctor comfortability. I know the patella grows back does the hamstring? I found my 2nd opinion by asking my basketball buds at the gym. Ask around since you have some time.
My surgery was last Monday and I'm done with crutches. My limp gets less and less every day. I did a lot of Yoga and biking as I had 45 days between knowing of surgery and having the surgery. From what I've read from others with the same injury and the progress I've made in a week post op. make sure you strengthen and exercise before your surgery it seems to make a difference.

**Cedrik** · 08-01-2011, 10:36 PM

Originally Posted by Alpinord

Slow is smooth. Smooth is fast. Baby it and don't rush it. Find other distractions and projects to keep from going nuts not doing your normal activities. The better you heal the better for the long run.

The most vulnerable you may be is in the middle of recovery when it feels great but really the ligament is weak (dead tissue). It takes a few to 4 months for a new blood supply to be established to the ligament. Plus there is a bit of knee remodeling recovery required for the other stuff they had to do to harvest and attach the ligament.

^^ wise words. I'm 3.5 months post aclr/mcl surgery with hamstring autograft. Road biking since June, light hiking since middle of July, feelin' pretty good. I'll try some easy top-roping in a few weeks. And home PT every single damn day, day in day out, since prehab in March. I'll be ready come winter.

**Alpinord** · 08-02-2011, 08:54 PM

Originally Posted by zion zig zag

.....He'll do a patellar tendon, he says he does both as well but his recommendation for me was hamstring.

My surgeon does both saying that patellar grafts were the most common and now hamstring grafts are about as common. Basically a coin toss in terms of results. One thing he mentioned about patellar grafts were that some patients have complained of very tender/painful knees while kneeling even years later.

FWIW, I asked him what he would do if it were him and he said 'probably a hamstring graft'.....might be a question to ask your surgeon.

I hiked over 7 miles 2 months after surgery and have been very mobile for the most part. You just need to pay attention to every step when in variable terrain and situations.

**jerlane** · 08-03-2011, 04:18 PM

Hey ZZZ,
Bummer about your knee. As far as the radiology report goes, it's pretty hard to tell whether an ACL injury is old or not. I think the radiologist was going out on a limb on the one. The rest of the description is pretty classic for an acute acl injury. When the acl goes, the tibia continues to translate anteriorly and can smack the femur. That's what gives you the "marrow edema" in the porterior tibial plateau and femoral condyle.

The bottom line is that you have an ACL tear, possible medial meniscus tear, and a bone bruise to the tibial plateau and femoral condyle.

As others have said, there's no need for urgent surgery. The most important thing is that you have full extension and good quad strength going into surgery. Hopefully, you've got PT scheduled already.

As far as graft goes, Hammy vs. BTB (patellar tendon) has been a topic of debate for a long time and still has no clear cut winner. I'm sure the debate will go on. Both have pros and cons. I'd go with whatever your surgeon is most comfortable with and make sure they do a lot of these.

Good luck!

**Buzzworthy** · 08-08-2011, 03:48 PM

Hell, let's just amputate!

**fallguy** · 08-08-2011, 04:38 PM

Originally Posted by Buzzworthy

Hell, let's just amputate!

and if things go poorly, we can always just dis-amputate

**zion zig zag** · 08-09-2011, 03:35 PM

Fuck. Getting so frustrated, still don't have approval for the surgery. I called workers comp this morning and asked about the hold up and the claims adjuster stated that they didn't have any paperwork from the doctors office. I called the doctors office and their lame excuse was that the transcriptionist was on maternity leave.

**Buzzworthy** · 08-10-2011, 02:17 PM

Are you fucking kidding me???? Wow that is whacked bud

**zion zig zag** · 08-12-2011, 09:09 AM

I finally got the docs office to fax the paperwork in today after much coaxing. I asked them if they realized that I was only getting 70% of my income while they drug their feet (less than that really as I'm used to a lot of overtime), I don't think she cared. That's the good news, the bad is that workers comp only reviews cases for surgery every Thursday.

**Piggity** · 08-14-2011, 12:09 PM

ouch zzz, I bet people could find similarities between workers comp employees and DMV employees, customer service worse than a call center in New Delhi.

If you're strapped for cash while WC drags their feet and need a small loan then places like Prosper.com could be a good resource. It's peer to peer online lending and no banks involved so it might be easier to get some quick cash.

Hang in there man, it will all work out in the end.