Crippled Cosmetologist LOL
My injury was 2/28/11; 1st run on the 3rd day; I struggled with 151's so rented the next shorter the 2nd day& felt great the 3rd morning so used my 151's. BIG MISTAKE. Not getting any younger, 47. Gorgeous powder day...making fresh tracks,( snow to my shins, I've skiid deep powder many times) & a left turn & I was DONE! The usual endos with the yard sale. I got off the mountain with the help of the ski patrol, I had nothin under my left knee, I really thought I just twisted it really bad, but could feel the swelling under my ski pants. All I wanted to do was get ice on it. I was on the back side of Keystone on Anticipation. Refused medical treatment...got back to Kansas, went to get an x-ray on the 4th of March & found out I needed surgery. Tibia plateau fracture. Found a surgeon, finally had surgery on 3/14/11. A plate & 8 screws. OUT-PATIENT. Do NOT let them do this to you!! I recommend you wait for an OR in a hospital!!! Since I am in Kansas I can tell you they don't get many of these, even my surgeon said my x-ray was "impressive". I would post pics if I knew how. Anyways, I'm 8 weeks out from surgery & I believe I will be able to weight bear in 2 weeks. Just wondering about what to expect with the pressure & pain. Thanks in advance, Crippled Hairdresser
14 weeks post op - Looking back
Quick recap -skiing fall, plateau fracture, plate, screws, bone graft, torn lateral meniscus. Surgery was on 2/25/11. Thought I'd write this because not many people check back in after they're given the go ahead to walk and be active again.
I'm now 14 weeks post op, been walking for about 4.5 weeks. Things are going very well now. I walk 95% normal with no pain. My PT says I still limp but its a muscle memory thing. The strength test on the biodex machine says my injured leg is about 35% deficient in strength. I've been riding the road bike quite a lot. Trying to put in good miles, but I can tell that the left leg is weak and it gets tired pretty quick. I rode 40 miles with my wife 4 days ago and that overdid it. Not the knee, but my hip, I think since my quad is weak I was letting my leg compress into the hip socket more and push the pedal from the hip. I still plan on racing road races and MTB races later this summer. Just bought some supplements from GNC to help build the muscle over the next 2 months or so. I'm in the weight room 2-3 times a week doing leg extensions/curls/squats and 2 x a week small muscle stuff and balance/core workouts.
Things I wish I would have done differently - 1. Worked out harder during my 9 weeks post op (before I had the go ahead for weight bearing). I pretty much laid on the couch and didn't really do too much, occasional quad sets and leg raises. The thing I notice the most as far as muscle loss was in my hips/glutes/quad. Wish I would have done some lateral leg raises (the kind when you lay on your side) and more quad sets. That would have made walking so much easier during the first 2.5 weeks. Also, I didn't get into PT until after I was weight bearing. Wish the Dr. would have gotten me in there sooner even though he said it wasn't worth it. - it would have forced me to workout more and preserve more muscle.
2. Instead of going from 0% weight bearing to 100% in one day and trying to make that work - walked more with 1 crutch for awhile. The bottom of my foot hurt the most when I tried to walk because the fat pad atrophied. I had to go back to 1 crutch for about 10 days to help ease into it. However, I still developed a "learned limp" as the PT puts it and I have to concentrate on trying to walk without sinking and swaying to my bad side.
The knee is somewhat stiff and I'm about 5 degrees off from the good leg. It aches after lots of activity but not much. There is still a long way to go, and I know it won't be truly 100% until close to 1 year, but I'm going to push it. Haven't tried anything close to a run and probably won't for a very long time yet.
So for everyone reading this - hang in there, it gets better, and it is possible to make 100% recovery.