Thread: ACL Class of 2011

I'm at 4.5 months post-surgery for ACLR/MCL. Perusing the gimp forum I realized there are a lot of people recovering from ACLRs in 2011, so I figured I'd go ahead and list the Class of 2011 as far as I can tell:

31 members with several more on deck:

nogero January, autograft, hamstring
hose-man February, allograft, patellar tendon
edd70 February, allograft
tone capone March, autograft, hamstring
gimpymomma March, allograft?
chefgrif March
maaz23 March
Alpinord March, autograft, hamstring
Cedrik April autograft, hamstring opposite leg
doughboyshredder April, allograft
FormerKnuckleDragger April, allograft patellar tendon
FreakofSnow April
Camsteezin May, autograft, hamstring
HowieT2, May, allograft
sftc May, autograft, hamstring
BenWA May
DRTMaverick May
Wolfmansbro, May, autograft, hamstring opposite leg
chadeau, May, autograft, hamstring
Jethro’s wife June
wolfelot June, autograft, patellar tendon
whtlizzard June
Wintergreen June
skioride July, autograft, patellar tendon
Shogun August, autograft, hamstring
zion zig zag August, autograft, hamstring
KFACTOR August
matt0192, August, autograft, hamstring opposite leg
Axelerate, September
amitshow2001, November, allograft
Islandpt24, allograft

surgery coming up:
GS828 mri in August
kingdom-tele
funvins
kw909
coachjvinson planning patellar autograft

Note the month might be wrong since I estimated based on people posting "I'm x months/weeks out . . ."

So, keep up the good rehab, enjoy the southern hemisphere stoke, and get strong for this winter/spring!

Hey thanks for starting this Cedrick! I didn't realize there were that many of us posting on here. I tore mine playing Mexican league soccer and don't give rip about getting better for soccer. SKIING is what is driving me. I will give a status update tomorrow after I hit the gym in the "ACL Post OP Rehab" where I have been posting on my status.

One thing I notice is that people post quite a bit right after surgery and the first part of rehab, but then tail off. Making it is hard to figure out how long it took for people to get back to full activity or what their first day/s on skis or playing soccer or basketball etc. were like after surgery. I'd like to encourage you guys to continue to post all the way through to full recovery.

In the meantime I found this video that from what I can tell is a really good depiction of what they did to me. Except, I didn't have my leg getting bent the whole day.

Good idea for the thread. Lots of great info in here already and a bunch of us are at different stages of recovery which is nice.

I'm a week and a half post-op. Up around the house walking slowly without crutches. Brace has been unlocked and the doc wants me to wear it for 4 weeks. Doing light PT here at home until I start in a few days. The pain is pretty much not an issue at this point besides being uncomfortable at times. Tons of ice on week 1 helps a lot. Still icing like mad.

Here's a little before/after shot I put together from some slides the doc gave me. Left image shows my fully torn ACL (pretty much gone) and the right shows my new repaired ACL hamstring graft.

Good idea.

I am now 4 months and 1 week out of surgery. It's been tough. I have dealt with pain for longer than I expected, but am finally pretty much over that hump. I have to take some alieve and ibuprofen a few times a week, and a vicodin or two once a week or so, when it gets real bad (or I'm just over feeling painfully uncomfortable). Haven't been able to do as much PT as I would like for a couple weeks as I have been extremely busy with work. I'm getting a good workout 2-3 times a week though, and I work on my feet so I get a lot of squats and lunges throughout the day as well as a lot of stretching. I can get to zero degrees, but trying to go to negative still hurts pretty bad and just won't go. I can't quite get full range the other direction either, but it's getting better. Honestly, I expected to be further along at this point, but until I just looked at the calendar I thought I was further out from surgery. Haven't had any major complications. I think I'm going to for a real bike ride tomorrow for the first time since surgery. Looking forward to seeing how that goes.

Good luck to the rest of the class!

Edited to fix how far out from surgery I am.

Almost 6 months out, some good some not so good. Walking, biking, not painful. Can stand and pedal now with minor pain which didn't happen for over 5 months. Squats are still very painful with a sharp, searing pain at the knee cap. Keep trying to push through it but it just hurts more if I do then becomes painful walking. This really pisses me off because it doesn't seem like the pt's get it. I see the doc on Monday 8/29, but he blew me off last time too.

The other thing that freaks me out is that the deep cracking upon extension (since right after surgery) is getting much worse. It's not painful, but it is extremely loud at times and can be heard 15 feet away. Very discomforting. I keep reading about "scar tissue" as this is all anyone tells me about anything, and it seems the problem with that is more in limited range of motion, which I do not have. I have full extension and very close to full flexion. Could this cracking be impingement of the graft? It feels like it's where the acl would be.

It's just frustrating because I told the doc about these issues at last visit and he just blew them off. I am very worried there is cartilage damage behind my kneecap. I don't buy that it's patellar tracking issue because my patella is tracking fine, and I can do 12.5 lb leg raises all day long (doesn't seem to be building quad muscle yet either.)

Anyways, I can ride my bike cautiously, I can walk, with zero pain, that's great, but trying to ski anytime soon seems like an impossibility due to my kneecap pain at angles. I can't even jump an inch off the floor and land yet without using 90% good leg.

Any advice from anyone elses experience with these issues would be much appreciated.

Tone: Good luck with your checkup tomorrow. Here's an exercise to try that helped break up some of the stiffness in my knee: get a gym size towel so that when you roll it up it's about 4" in diameter, lay on your back and straighten your knee, then put the towel behind your knee and flex as fully as you easily can. Now put your hand or hands on your upper shin, like right below the protrusion a few inches below your patella, and gently pull down a little. The purpose is to gently mobilize the joint. Don't have your hands too close to your ankle or you'll lever the knee joint - don't do that. That exercise came about when I told my pt it felt really good when she'd mobilize the joint - sort of a light massage that moved the joint differently than all the exercises.

Before going under I asked my surgeon if I could see the drill. She said no, but took a photo during the surgery:

I made it 6 months! Sweet! Got my checkup today and doc says graft is perfect. Such a huge relief. For three months I have experienced great anxiety about the ligementization process and my choice of activities/rehab program. Thanks to my own research and to you guys I was able to go with my gut and do what I felt was reasonable enough for this difficult time. There were always those nagging voices of "No hills on foot or the bike" from my therapist, but thanks to having access to the stories of other athletes here and elsewhere, I proceeded with my own "program" with success so far.

Doc says kneecap pain is not degenerative but a quad strength issue and might take 18 months to reach full strength, and I believe him considering where I'm at now. He says the clicking is "scar tissue" of some kind and not graft impingement. I am so happy now that I don't care about those nagging issues right now, crossed a big hurdle today and gonna proceed with the next phase.

I do plan to have the utmost respect for the priveledge of putting a giant lever on my leg this winter and have no intentions of pushing things in the same way I have biking, realizing it's a totally different ball game.

Nice pictures boys. I'm 5 weeks today. My leg is straight and I have 135 flex. I still get Gumby leg at any given time and I still limp more than not but I'm doing some squats.(not too deep, and it hurts and cracks) I can't walk up or down stairs without a wobble. I walk without a crutch but I bring one when I go to a crowded venue cause I'm still fearful of physical contact.
My only advice at this point is to concentrate on every step you take. The better you knee feels the more you forget about walking. The couple of times I jammed my knee was a slip and a 2 hop save on a hard wood floor and a Gumby leg save that caused me to hyperextend it. Nothing major but some not needed swelling and soreness.
As far as a timetable? I'm told that most doctors won't recommend full activity for 6 months. Mine definitely won't for ANYBODY. Even pro athletes.
Good luck

So two years ago early season at Flail I flailed trying to keep up and caught a tip, star-fished and heard a POP, could not put much weight on the right knee... PT and steadmans did an exam and sent me back to Maui thinking I was done... swelling went down, back on the bikes after 2 weeks and it felt....okay. Ski'd all winter with a brace and it hurt a little, skiing actually made it feel better. Rode bike and horses all summer, skid 35 days last winter on it no prob. Clicks sometimes at work and come a little out of joint, it just pops back in. Rode Vail on my MTB 6 days straight, up Bowman's, up Elk Elk Connector, road ride 4-6 hours a week, feels okay...

Last week a very well known surgeon, just retired was in Maui and asked how it felt, he gave a look and manipulation and said " you ski on this knee?" and then "how long have you been cycling and skiing with no ACL?"

Seems mine is somewhere under chair 5 with all the single gloves and iphones.

Any one else rolling with just one?

I'm rolling without either acl, crampedon. 1st one popped probably 20 years ago and my 2nd popped Easter Sunday this year

hahaha, i love how i top the list.

so sorry i never updated on mine

i did it off kt on november 29th, nine months to the day!.... pretty awful time to do it. fortunately i work at squaw as a lift op and was blessed by my bosses to work in the office and eventually walked to baileys beach once i was able.

i opted to go with my own hamstring to replace my acl and i have no complaints with my decision. i have focused on my rehab because i NEED to go skiing again, and because my hamstring is still very diminished it keeps me honest about going to the gym and it has enabled me to focus on my overall personal health more than ever before.

so even tho it sucked terribly, it has been a blessing in the long run! and i am excited more than ever to be back out there again. good luck to you all!!

Originally Posted by Crampedon

Any one else rolling with just one?

I rolled with 1 ACL for the last month of last ski season and the rest of summer up until about 3 weeks ago. To be honest it was sketchy and I had zero confidence to ski the way I wanted. This summer with 1 ACL I got some good mountain biking in, but still feared my knee and didn't completely push myself for fear of falling or something. I also tweaked my knee a few times just running around at the beach, dismounting off my bike, being drunk and waking up with a sore knee, ect. I don't see the point in not getting the surgery unless your fine with not pushing your limits. I'm only 21 so obviously I have a lot more I want to do with skiing, the last 4 years of my life I have been pushing myself and getting more confident in my abilities. There's no way in hell I'd opt out of the surgery, especially this young. I don't see how anyone can ski fully confident without an ACL (or even push yourself in other pivoting sports, ect)...but maybe some of you can...Also, running around without an ACL runs the risk of messing up your meniscus and causing even more problems. At my age, a year break from hard skiing is nowhere near the end of the world. I'm gonna take the time to not only rehab my knee, but also to get healthier and stronger for next season.

Crampedon- It seems your situation was very similar to mine the past 5 months....My original plan was to ski this season with a brace and get the surgery after ski season and rehab over the summer...but I ended up tweaking it around 4 times over the summer and then again 3 weeks ago just stepping off a curb wrong (that same day I was running around playing frisbee and felt totally fine, not having your ACL is a ticking time bomb)...I didn't want to deal with constantly worrying about my knee and not being confident to push myself so I got the surgery (even though it wasn't the best timing). I'm no doctor, but if your ACL is torn and you like to huck yourself like I do, I'd figure out a plan for surgery and do it when you have time to rehab it back. My PT said a constant rehab for about a year will be needed to get the strength back I need to ski the way I want.

2 Weeks out for me and I feel pretty good. Working on the exercises the PT has assigned and going day by day. No pain anymore and my swelling has gone down a lot. Still inflamed around my knee. My quad and calf and still mush but that will take time to get back anyhow. Good luck everyone.

I'm no doctor, but if your ACL is torn and you like to huck yourself like I do,

How big of a huck are we talking? I think small hucks are reasonable

I don't see how anyone can ski fully confident without an ACL (or even push yourself in other pivoting sports, ect)...

it is possible to ski, play football and baseball with a torn acl.

by the way shogun, you definitely made the right decision to fix your acl, no questions asked.

Woot -- class of 2011! I tore my ACL, MCL and meniscus while skiing with my 5 year old between my legs in January. I can ski double diamonds no problem, but evidently a 5 year old between your legs is much more dangerous! After 8 weeks of pre-hab, I had a double bundle ACL repair and meniscus repair (3 tears) in March (5 months post op as of this post), and things are going great for me! The first few months were horribly tedious, but I'm back to about 80% of my normal self now. I was cleared to run about a month ago, but it still doesn't feel "right". My doctor said it might not feel "right" until a year after surgery. I walk about 25 miles a week now, and enjoy swimming a lot. I still can't do the breaststroke kick with my surgical leg, but I have patience that it will come with time.

I do want to share with you something that has been life changing for me... I have a desk job, and found that after sitting for long periods, my knee got very stiff and caused me to limp quite a bit. I recently purchased a treadmill for my office (www.treaddesk.com). I walk 1-3 mph all day long as I work, putting in an average of 4 miles per day in my office. My knee feels GREAT with all of this exercise, and I don't get stiff at all anymore! I take a break at lunch to head to the gym and do some strengthening exercises.

I'm hoping to return to skiing this winter, though my doctor has cautioned me only to do beginner and intermediate runs (boo!). I got me a bright pink DonJoy custom fit brace to help me with skiing.

I hope all of you are doing as well as I am! It is amazing how the human body can heal itself (after a little help from my rock star surgeon!). I posted about my reovery at my blog http://rebellin.net/category/gimpy-momma/ .

Originally Posted by Piggity POW

How big of a huck are we talking? I think small hucks are reasonable



it is possible to ski, play football and baseball with a torn acl.

Not trying to say your decision is wrong, and obviously your older if your first tear was 20 years ago...I was only a newborn ha. I'm just giving my opinion that a younger active person should just go ahead and get it done, since the positives outweigh the negatives...My PT actually told me today one of his friends has torn both ACL's on both knees twice...and now skis telemark with both blown ACL's...I know skiing, as well as other spots can be done, but at my age I'm not ready to stop hucking myself.

I drop 40ft+ on occasion and I ski fairly hard, resulting in some gnarly crashes from time to time.. But my skiing is also unpredictable...Hucks, jumps, rails, groomers, bumps, I even snowboard.

Either way, I hope your knees stay solid and you know yourself better than I do... I wish I didn't have to get frikkin holes drilled thru my bones and a piece of my hamstring taken out for my new ACL....but thats life haha.

I hear ya man, you're doing it right with surgery. I know I'm not young but you're making me sound ancient .
I think I was in my teens when I tore my left but still played college football/baseball, skied bumps and dropped small cliffs with it.

I am worried about my right one though. It was a gigantic mental blow tearing my other one this year. Mental recovery has been as tough as the physical recovery.

Cheers to us all having a strong recovery!!!

ahaha...you can use the interwebz so you cain't be as ancient as my pops! The mental part is very hard with knees....Even before I tore my ACL, just tweaking my knee would mess with my head from time to time. I'll have to go thru some mental training in a year from now...standing on top of a decent sized drop...no doubt my knee will cross my mind, even in a brace..

In other news, I got my surgery uploaded on youtube. The doc edited the video to make it only about 7 minutes....the good stuff starts around 2:00

ahaha...you can use the interwebz so you cain't be as ancient as my pops!

Lmao! Thanks, I think


Edit: is anyone else experiencing tightness in their calf muscles? Its almost like I walk differently or something causing tightness

Piggity - no knock on your choice to go without a repair, but my wife decided (after a couple failed ACLRs) to just ski/run/bike/swim on her knee for the last three years. This year, she finally bit the bullet and saw the doctor to figure out the damage. Turns out she had worn a hole in her femoral condyle, obliterated her posteriolateral corner, and nearly torn most of her medial meniscus off the joint. She had mega surgery (five hours under the knife) and spent a month on a CPM with no weightbearing allowed.

As for me, I'm almost at five months, and have been mountain biking every chance I get for the last six weeks. PT says it is the best way to rebuild leg muscle, and I have to agree. My doc/PT are very aggressive, and they are okay with me going on 15+ mile rides with a couple thousand feet of climbing as long as there's no swelling or pain. It's a good thing I've got a knot of scar tissue on the outside of the femur (reaction to the interference screw) to remind me that I've got to take it easy.

Originally Posted by Piggity POW

Lmao! Thanks, I think


Edit: is anyone else experiencing tightness in their calf muscles? Its almost like I walk differently or something causing tightness

This has been my biggest issue since about a month before surgery.
70 dollar massages help, but I can't afford many of them and my insurance doesn't cover them. I finally tried muscle relaxers after a couple months of intolerable pain and they helped massively. For the most part now it's under control although it still spasms. Right now I am actually awake because of it. It was real tight last evening, and now that the relaxers have worn off it's hurting again. Luckily it's not a daily thing anymore. At one point I would get up in the morning and the first step would cause a spasm. Surgeon acted like that had never happened to anyone. GP doesn't really have any idea either. LMP says I have a few trigger points. Two of those seem to have gone away, but I still have one quarter size area that seems to be the trigger.

FKD, I hear ya, I sometimes question the choice. That sucks about your wifes knee, I pray I can avoid that. I was basically faced with bilateral ACL tears (1 old and 1 new), so a lot of questions had to be answered such as which one do you operate on first, Am I really going to miss 2 seasons???, do you operate on both or only repair one...It was a huge undertaking to do a bilateral ACL rehab. My doctor and wife (AKA my PT also) both pointed out to me that I had performed athletically at a collegiate level without the ACL in my weaker leg, then why can't I do it in my dominant leg at a non-competitive level? Neither of them thought I was making a terrible decision in giving non-surgery a try as the first option. I doubt myself fairly often with my decision but their supportive logic also makes sense. I dunno....

DBS, I worked with my PT, again mi esposa, to figure out that I was guarding my knee and landing on my toe while walking instead of my heel. She has me now focusing on landing on my heel and walking more naturally but I still sort of guard my right knee. My calf is much happier when I walk like this so hopefully the tightness will subside with some stretching over the next few weeks. Praying anyway

Interesting when I step down with my heel lifted I feel pain in my trigger point. Something I'll be paying attention to.

Originally Posted by Piggity POW

FKD, I hear ya, I sometimes question the choice. That sucks about your wifes knee, I pray I can avoid that. I was basically faced with bilateral ACL tears (1 old and 1 new), so a lot of questions had to be answered such as which one do you operate on first, Am I really going to miss 2 seasons???, do you operate on both or only repair one...It was a huge undertaking to do a bilateral ACL rehab. My doctor and wife (AKA my PT also) both pointed out to me that I had performed athletically at a collegiate level without the ACL in my weaker leg, then why can't I do it in my dominant leg at a non-competitive level? Neither of them thought I was making a terrible decision in giving non-surgery a try as the first option. I doubt myself fairly often with my decision but their supportive logic also makes sense. I dunno....

DBS, I worked with my PT, again mi esposa, to figure out that I was guarding my knee and landing on my toe while walking instead of my heel. She has me now focusing on landing on my heel and walking more naturally but I still sort of guard my right knee. My calf is much happier when I walk like this so hopefully the tightness will subside with some stretching over the next few weeks. Praying anyway

My friend has towed into North Shore bombs for over a decade with no ACL. He was in a cast to protect the MCL for a couple months.

Listen to the wife.

I got a patellar tendon ACL. It crunches and pops. Neato...

Rehab and training worked for him just fine. He quit skiing 20+ years ago and only boards so... take it FWIW

Shogun: awesome video. Hey, you've got a purple acl! The best part was the drill popping through unexpectedly. Now we know why our knee hurts after surgery.

Gimpymomma: 25 miles per week walking - that's impressive! I, too, have a desk job and I'm always trying to get up and walk around to beat the stiffness. I'll see you on those greens and blues!