ACL Reconstruction Surgery Pics (mildly disgusting)

[splat]

He's dialed on a bunch of products, bought a house down the west side. End up on the chair with him from time to time. Three time national xtreme snowboarding champ and never got any respect cause he used poles. Shame.

[Lance_K]

Three time national xtreme snowboarding champ and never got any respect cause he used poles. Shame.

That is for sure.

[jonski]

...Was on crutches for only the first week and I can already walk without limping. Almost got a full revolution around on the stationary bike in PT the other day...can't wait to start pedaling again...

Mang, it sounds like you'll be back on (one of! ) your bike soon, and getting good to go. Hell, by the time all the SA threads start coming to fruitition, you'll be wishing you still had the SuperNobis' to go rip up LL! (although I'm sure the Bro's will do you fine... )

keep at it

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

Hell, by the time all the SA threads start coming to fruitition, you'll be wishing you still had the SuperNobis' to go rip up LL! (although I'm sure the Bro's will do you fine... )

yeah I have my eye on South America for sure. I hope I can be 100% for that if I go. I wouldn't want to go down there, look at all that amazing terrain, and only feel like 75% or whatever...so I'm going to work really hard with that in mind.

The SuperNobis's are missed already. I was just out in the garage and it looks so empty without them

[Lance_K]

Chile or Argentina?

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

Chile or Argentina?

Most likely either Bariloche or Las Lenas. Or Both. I'll get serious about planning this in the spring I guess.

[basom]

we should get the killer green braces together at lenas ty.

nice pics... you surgical slut.

i had my first productive day on the hill yesterday. felt strong to quite strong, which was surprising. finally back making turns at speed, feels sooo good. i'm confident i'll be charging again in 6 weeks or so. the last six months of work and pain and unknowing are now forgotten. a mere bump in the road. i can see the finish line, i feel so good. soon you will be where i am ty, and you will be just as excited. keep the faith, keep working, and keep keeping shit in perspective.

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

i had my first productive day on the hill yesterday. felt strong to quite strong, which was surprising. finally back making turns at speed, feels sooo good. i'm confident i'll be charging again in 6 weeks or so. the last six months of work and pain and unknowing are now forgotten. a mere bump in the road. i can see the finish line, i feel so good. soon you will be where i am ty, and you will be just as excited. keep the faith, keep working, and keep keeping shit in perspective.

YES!!! that's awesome....

...I'm not here right now. I'm 6 months down the road. Visualize. I see it.

(gotta get this compooper outta my "gym".....now back to work....)

[Lance_K]

Most likely either Bariloche or Las Lenas. Or Both. I'll get serious about planning this in the spring I guess.

Dude Las Lenas as I've heard is the shit. Been to Chile a couple times... gotta make it over the Andes next time.

Speaking of knee progress; went for 3 mile run today... no problems running on asphalt, even downhill.

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

Speaking of knee progress; went for 3 mile run today... no problems running on asphalt, even downhill.

That's awesome...keep at it.

Lot's of people from here go to Las Lenas every summer. If you do a search for Las Lenas here, you'll pull up tons of trip reports and images.

[altagirl]

I've been contemplating the same thing. Maybe we'll have to do a SA trip for knee people who will be fixed this summer...

I danced a little bit in heels this weekend at my sister-in-law's wedding and despite that and the round trip flight to Houston, no new swelling, pain or problems.

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

I danced a little bit in heels too this weekend....ooh wait a sec....did i say that?

[xboat]

oh my freakin god. my knee was feeling pretty good until i saw those. i'm going to have visions of that drill dancing in my head for a month now.

glad you're doing well. i'm hoping to only miss 2 or 3 days of work after surgery. what do you think the chances of that are?

[basom]

i'm hoping to only miss 2 or 3 days of work after surgery. what do you think the chances of that are?

minimal. depending on what day you get cut, and if you can sit in one palce with an elevated leg all day, and if you don't have to drive.

edit: your steelers got mad lucky last night. you guys are going down in the afc championchip game, again.

[altagirl]

oh my freakin god. my knee was feeling pretty good until i saw those. i'm going to have visions of that drill dancing in my head for a month now.

glad you're doing well. i'm hoping to only miss 2 or 3 days of work after surgery. what do you think the chances of that are?

What do you do for work? I missed 3 days, but I work at a desk, and currently am only working 4 hours a day anyway. So it wasn't a problem. Surgery Tuesday afternoon, back at work the next Monday with my foot up on top of my desk with ice.

[xboat]

i have surgery on monday - which kinda sucks. i'm at a desk but the worst part about it is that my office is up about 20 stair steps. once i get up here though, i have a bathroom, fridge and everything. shouldn't have to go down until the end of the day. it's my left leg so i'm hoping i can drive no prob after a few days. i live by myself so that's going to suck. unfortunately, i don't have much help at work here so the more i miss the longer it's going to take to get caught back up.

not looking forward to it

oh yeah B - if the steelers will let ben throw the ball, no one is going to stop them. they played like crap and still pulled it off.

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

xboat --I "officially" took only 2 days off of work. Which were the day of surgery and the day after. "unofficially" I took 4 off...but I work out of a home office and I was checking emails and whatnot while laying on the couch with my knee elevated and iced.

To be honest with you, aside from missing the ski season, this isn't all that bad. Granted, the first week SUCKS....just be sure to get yourself a good book or something and do everything you can to ensure you'll be comfortable. But after the first week (at least for me), you start progressing, and that makes you feel much much better. After about 7 - 10 days I was pretty mobile without crutches and go pretty much anywhere I wanted within reason.

[Big E]

I had surgery on a Tuesday and returned to work the next Monday. Didn't work full 8 hours for the first week or two back, mostly because it took so long to do everything with that boat anchor of a leg. I seemed to take a bit longer to get completely off crutches than all you doctor's pets but whatever, everyone's surgery and recovery is slightly different.

Are you going to be by yourself that first week? Cause that would really suck. I don't think they'll even allow it the first night. Seriously, you definitely want to find someone(s) to help during that first week. I mean, just getting your leg up into bed will be awful that first day if no one's around.

Good luck, though, life (eventually) goes on.

[altagirl]

Are you going to be by yourself that first week? Cause that would really suck. I don't think they'll even allow it the first night. Seriously, you definitely want to find someone(s) to help during that first week. I mean, just getting your leg up into bed will be awful that first day if no one's around.

Good luck, though, life (eventually) goes on.

If you set everything up well and have someone come to check on you, you'll probably be fine. I was in that situation the first surgery. They did NOT let me come home the first night even though I had a friend who said she'd come and check on me and stay if needed. I was nauseous for an hour or so after waking up that time too, though so it was probably the combo that caused my doc to make me stay in the hospital overnight.

Anyway for that solo knee recon, I had my computer/sofa/phone/remotes/cooler/puke bucket just in case, etc. all set up ahead of time. Along with a bag to carry stuff with my crutches, food in containers in the fridge so I could carry it, the freezer filled with bags of ice, and the numbers to every restaurant I knew that delivered, etc. And then I had friends check in and bring me anything I needed until I flew out to Mr.AG's parents house at day 4 or 5. (I wouldn't recommend that, but the Army gave me 5 weeks convalescent leave so I went to Tampa as soon as my doc let me fly and I did PT there.) Anyway, once you get past the first day, you'll probably be fine on your own. Just make sure you have a nice clear path where you can crutch from the sofa to the bathroom.

[basom]

Just make sure you have a nice clear path where you can crutch from the sofa to the bathroom.

and dont fall down. especially in the shower.

[altagirl]

and dont fall down. especially in the shower.

You probably won't be taking a shower for a few days anyway, but yeah - you've gotta be super careful with that. We now have a walk in shower that only has a couple inch lip to step over with a seat in the corner so it's no big deal, but if you have to step over the edge of a tub and stand there the whole time... that's not easy. Make sure you have non-slip mats and maybe a rubber footed stool to sit on or something. If you're alone, I'd stick with just using a washcloth outside the shower for a while.

[basom]

You probably won't be taking a shower for a few days anyway, but yeah - you've gotta be super careful with that.

i took one on day three. fuck it was hard. old tub, big step in. i wore my brace into the shower and then took it off because i was so scared. have no non slip mats, but do have a burly towel holder that i white knuckeld the whole time. getting out was just as hard. man, i think that was the hardest thing for me. way harder than any of my exercises or walking without crutches. just getting the confidence to swing that leg over the tub and put full wieght on it while swinging the good leg in and not collapsing from the pain rush was really a big deal. [/flashback]

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

oh crap yeah forgot about the shower issue (i think I blacked it ou actually). Pain in the ass trying to hold your leg out of the water while it has a garbage bag over it.


Posi news: Just got back from PT and I got a fULL ROTATION ON THE BIKE!! WOHOO!! (it hurt like hell though)

[basom]

oh crap yeah forgot about the shower issue (i think I blacked it ou actually). Pain in the ass trying to hold your leg out of the water while it has a garbage bag over it.

trash bag? hold leg out???
i just dumped the brace and goter wet. steri strips can get wet. was told to not scrub the inciaion, but soapy water was supposed to be good for it.
west coast post surgical cleansing must be different that esat coast post surgical cleansing.

[gincognito]

Posi news: Just got back from PT and I got a fULL ROTATION ON THE BIKE!! WOHOO!! (it hurt like hell though)

Congrats! I can still remember how good that felt...grinning like an idiot over something that once seemed so simple...good times.

SaAaH (and progression feels good),
d.