ACL Class of 2012

[keipow]

cheer of the day ortho said I don't need to see him again. (two years after initial surgery and one year after scar tissue removal)

[snow gypsy]

It's official. Right ACL is gone. Surgery end of March. Walking, everything is extremely painful - something is caught...somewhere...and is locking my knee into place. PT is helping, slowly. I hear that while my ACL is shredded, my meniscus is pretty sexy beautiful.

Straight-lined a small section of terrain off of North Face towards the cat track, hit an unexpected rock/bump/tree (?), went airborne at an awkward angle, skis tangled in air, something popped, and went down screaming. Husband still can't believe it. Still seems so strange. Of all things that day and that run alone, of all the other hidden sharks, a shark at the edge of a cat track?

Regardless, the snow gods are pleased with the performance, which I hear was funny as hell until the screaming part. 12-24 inches forcasted for Crested Butte over the next two days.
I shall cheer everyone on from my perch below the West Wall lift, swinging my crutches vigorously. Good luck to all the class! Happy knees and a fast recovery to all.

[bendtheski]

cheer of the day ortho said I don't need to see him again. (two years after initial surgery and one year after scar tissue removal)

That's cause for celebration! I can't wait to be told that by my ortho and PT and I'm only at 8 weeks!
I really hope my ordeal doesn't drag on quite as long as yours seem to have, but it's obviously a real possibility for anyone who's had to deal with acl replacement.

Nothing earth shattering to report, but at 8 weeks I'm at least having occasional days where the knee doesn't feel like complete crap. Sometimes I almost forget about the injury/surgery. Then I do my balance exercises and it all comes back to me. Probably doesn't help that I'm right handed and left footed. My right leg balance has never been all that good to begin with. It might actually get to be the best it's ever been coming out of this mess.

Never really got the hang of snowboarding/surfing, but I used to skateboard a lot and always rode with my left foot forward/steering. The right leg was reserved for pushing. I'm told this is fairly common for righties to be left footed and vice versa.

Found out the other day that insurance didn't cover the cryo-cuff. Still, it's the best $210.00 I ever spent!

Gypsy,

My first few days were really painful too, but I was pretty amazed how quickly I was able to fully weight my acl deficient knee and hobble around.

My ortho wrote me a PT script right away and the PT had me doing all kinds of exercises to strengthen the injured leg prior to surgery. It's supposed to help with the recovery post-surgery.
You're probably being told the same thing, I just thought it was worth mentioning.

Anyone else out there curious about the KneeBinding? Maybe between the class of 2011 and 2012 we could work out some kind of group buy? I'm still kind of skeptical, but it would be really nice to be able to avoid repeating this type of injury and the associated cost and hard work of recovery.

[aaskybabe]

Hey All!

I had PT yesterday and my flexion is up to 145 ! Hurray! That's one month out of surgery exactly. I still can only walk though... No running, or skipping or anything like that... HA. My physical therapist said I shouldn't even think about running until the 3 month point. UGH! I will say that now that I'm feeling better I am becoming very frustrated with going so SLOW. But I understand the reason for it.

I went and ordered a new surfboard just to keep my spirits up. It won't be ready for several weeks... Which is probably a good thing. (We have perfect little waves right now... Sigh)

I get my new "functional" brace tomorrow and my PT said we can start doing more exercises once I have that. So I'm looking forward to that. Also my PT said I should be able to get as much flexion on my left knee as my right... So that was very good to hear.

Has anyone hired an Athletic Trainer? If so, how did that work?

[skioride]

Hey All!

I had PT yesterday and my flexion is up to 145 ! Hurray! That's one month out of surgery exactly. I still can only walk though... No running, or skipping or anything like that... HA. My physical therapist said I shouldn't even think about running until the 3 month point. UGH! I will say that now that I'm feeling better I am becoming very frustrated with going so SLOW. But I understand the reason for it.

I went and ordered a new surfboard just to keep my spirits up. It won't be ready for several weeks... Which is probably a good thing. (We have perfect little waves right now... Sigh)

I get my new "functional" brace tomorrow and my PT said we can start doing more exercises once I have that. So I'm looking forward to that. Also my PT said I should be able to get as much flexion on my left knee as my right... So that was very good to hear.

Has anyone hired an Athletic Trainer? If so, how did that work?

From What my doctor has said the new ACL won't be completely healed for 6 months. When you hear about NFL players recovering from ACL's it usually 8-10 months before they can play again. Why a functional brace after 1 month? Don't push it you don't want to be back on the operating table again. I had all my flex back at about a month also. Just keep working on your strength. When you're doing one legged squats and can bounce down a set of stairs the other shit will come.
I'm 7 months post op and I'm skiing again but I'm definitely not 100%.
Today was a really fun powder day but I am dialing it back a bit but skiing strong.
My advice is to go to an athletic trainer when they boot you from PT.
Good Luck.

[synipol]

When: Feb 8th
Where: Marmot Basin, Jasper Alberta
What: While training for Alaska, I was raped by the only manmade snow on the mountain after a week long freeze-thaw cycle. The soon to be fenced race course stole my volkl shiro and my trauma virginity.

On crutches for first week.
Physio started on week 2.
Weight bearing is alright, sharp pains once and a while, dull ache most of the time.

Wait-list in Alberta for arthroscopic surgery: Up to 87 weeks.
Can fully flex knee, can not fully extend knee.
Back to work tomorrow night.

MRI results from this afternoon:

1. Small fracture to tibial plateau
2. Full thickness tear (complete) of anterior cruciate ligament
3. Vertical tear of posterior horn of lateral meniscus
4. Cartilaginous injury to medial facet of patella
5. Strain injury to popliteal tendon
6. Strain injury to lateral collateral ligament
7. Mild strain injury to medial collateral ligament

Excellent.

Pro Tip: Don't ever do this to your knee.

[LoMayn]

Synipol - that sucks. I can't believe you have to wait so long. That said, I did a some of the same damage and it started healing. I had a severe tear on the mcl, complete acl, and then did a lot of the same damage to my lateral compartment - lcl, posterolateral (sp?) corner, popliteal tendon, and a few other things including an impact fracture on the non weight-bearing portion of my tibial plateau.

I have not been weight-bearing since the injury, and I'd recommend that you think about sticking with crutches and giving your knee a break. While you clearly need surgery, you can fix the rest during your waiting time (assuming you can find a faster way to get scoped? Because thats just nuts). I waited 3.5 weeks because my knee was effed, and already my doc thinks my mcl is 50% healed. Patience is your friend.

Update on my progress. I'm 24 hours out. Had an allograft (cadaver Achilles) and had a tiny "hangnail" clipped off my meniscus. I've got in a femoral block via a catheter inserted under my femoral nerve. I'm also taking oxcycontin every 12 hours and oxycodone every 4. Leg in a CPM as much as possible.

At the end of the 4-hour pill cycle I'm pretty miserable, but once it's going again I'm ok. My knee aches, but it feels like someone took a baseball bat to my quad.

Wall slides, patella manipulation, quad sets, ice, CPM, and 4 weeks on crutches (extended because of the rest of the mess in my knee). We shall see how it goes. I'm focused on slow as steady so I'm still skiing in 2040.

[bendtheski]

Synipol- 87 Weeks??!! That sucks!
I had the same Vertical tear of posterior horn of lateral meniscus and full thickness tear of the ACL, but fortunately none of the other stuff. Hope you can get fast tracked somehow.

LoMayn, sounds like you've got the right mindset. The goal for me is hopefully coming back trouble free and being able to enjoy skiing and other sports for many years to come!

Took my first bike ride on Saturday. 10 miles and 1000 ft of climbing. 9.5 weeks out of surgery and my knee felt great! Felt a little funny the first time I stood on the pedals, but fine after that.

Ortho says he wants to introduce some running and jumping in 3 weeks or so. Running and I don't get along real well since having disc surgery in '03, at least distance running anyway. I'd like to be able to run a little though, just to be able to catch a frisbee or play a little tennis. Not sure if he'll want me to do that much quick direction changing, but it might be fun to hit a ball against a wall outside VS all the gym work I've been doing.

I talked to the ortho about my insurance denying the cryo-cuff. He said he went to school with the guy who came up with the idea and started DJO. He was pretty disgusted that most insurers consider it a luxury item. He said icing is obviously beneficial, but the real benefit of the cuff is that it also provides cycling compression that really helps improve the blood flow which assists in the healing process. I'm going to relay that to my insurer, but don't really expect any change in coverage. The ortho said DJO is a great company to work with, and will stand behind their product and quickly repair/replace any parts should something crap out. I expect to be using this thing on a regular basis, especially when I return to skiing in the fall, so hopefully the $210.00 was money well spent.

Ortho made a funny remark about frozen peas not providing compression. He's my age and I really appreciate his taking time to explain things and just shoot the breeze. We're both pretty psyched about the progress I'm making and I'm glad my primary care referred me to his office; Panorama Orthopedic in Golden, CO. Ask me again in a year or so, but at least for now I would highly recommend Panorama and Douglas Foulk for anyone needing an Ortho in the Denver area.

[LoMayn]

Hey, bendtheski, what did you think of the Kneehab XP? I didn't have one, but on week 5 of crutches with 3 left to go, so my quad is gone. I'd love to get working on it sooner. Worth asking my doc about it?

[bendtheski]

LoMayn,

The Kneehab is pretty cool. Makes the quad and vmo contract independently. I was weight bearing right after surgery and did a month of prehab, so my quad wasn't too badly affected. I probably didn't end up using it for more than three weeks or so, but I'm pretty sure it helped.

If you're interested, I'll give you mine. The sticky pads picked up a few dog hairs, but can easily be replaced. I still have the reps card, and I'm pretty sure she'd be happy to replace them free of charge. I could even call and ask for replacement pads before handing it over. It's a size medium. Don't know what size you might need, but the size affects the placement of the contacts/pads so let me know if you're interested/it's the right size and I'll make the call for new pads and arrange handing it over to you.

Of course if your insurance covers it and your doc is willing to write you the script you can always go that route. I just hate to see the thing sitting around collecting dust (and dog hair) if someone else can use it.

Let me know.

[bendtheski]

Going once

Going twice

aaaaaand given! to pbourdon because he's gimped out and doesn't have insurance.

LoMayn, fwiw insurance covered the kneehab unit 100%.

[ticketchecker]

In for the '12 class. Tore an ACL last Sunday that was reconstructed in 1994, meniscus were repaired then as well. Most likely looking at meniscus damage this time as well, MRI results to be shared Monday morning and strategic planning will commence.

And to really make this time real special. I had just had an MRI on the other one last week for pain on a joint that has had ACL repair 2x dating back to 1983 and was scoped last Spring for a meniscus repair. I go to the appt to get that MRI result on crutches with my new baby, much to the doc's dismay. Said results on knee #1 showed a new tear that needs to be attended to which is now on the backburner as that battered old war horse is now going to have to be the work horse for a bit until #2 gets under way.

FML

And you know what I hate the most, beyond the injuries themselves of course? All the stupid fucking people that want to say things like 'shouldn't you just play shuffle board or golf? Fuck them is what I say

As a multi ACL survivor one of my best pieces of advice to the freshman class here is buy a bike, or a surfboard, or skis, anything. Make plans like normal. One thing I'm doing different this time, maybe because I'm 47 now is what I call the 'way of the warrior'. Stopped drinking coffee and beer a week ago with no timetable for how long it lasts but the point is single focus, heal thyself and prepare to shred again. YMMV.

Time to rock and roll.

[LoMayn]

Bendtheski - so sorry for the delay and I really appreciated the offer. Gotta love the generosity of TGR. Asked my PT yesterday and they said that since I am firing really well on my own they didn't think it was totally necessary - and since I can't drive, getting to Georgetown would be a rough one. Hope pbourdon loves that thing up. Again, really appreciate the offer.

Ticketchecker, I am so sorry about the knees. I dig your attitude though - and I'll do it. I may not upgrade my MTB this summer but I sure as hell will be planning out some new gear for next ski season. Anyone tried the knee binding? What kind of graft are you getting?

Update on me ten days post-op:

Hurdles are way more mental than physical at the moment. Still have 2+ weeks until I can walk. Generally just sick of being in crutches and working from home, especially when it's been in the 70s in Denver.

120 degrees and full extension. Still sticking with the basics - patella mobs, wall slides, quad sets - and allowed to do leg raises on my side and on my stomach. Ice is my best friend in the world.

Still have a lot of pain around the non-surgical injuries, especially on the right outside of my knee (the lcl damage and posterolateral corner (?)) so while I want to walk I can tell my knee is just not ready. That being said, knee feels ok and the 5 incisions are all healing. Tylenol during the day and Vicodin at night.

I started taking Nutriex Sport. It's probably an overpriced scam but I figured some extra vitamins and supplements couldn't hurt.

Bendtheski, how's your progress?

[ticketchecker]

If anyone needs a brace I've got a donjoy gold point left medium. It's an off the rack thing but works.

Comp me for shipping in some way and it's yours

[snow gypsy]

ACL Surgery officially: Done

Surgery went well. In for about an hour - though it felt like 10 minutes. Spent about an hour at the clinic getting the low-down on what comes next.

As of this moment, things I am thankful for:

1. pain meds (religiously every four hours, seriously, on a scale of 1-10 I've been at about a 6 WITH all my meds)
2. off season (two months of nothing to do or say but get that knee back in shape)
3. online universities (still teaching through it all and thank god for that)
4. COBRA (I hate you...i love you...i hate you)
5. the hubbie
6. ice cream
7. cadavers - writing thank you note as we speak
8. To have it just be done and have something close to a recovery to work towards

As of this moment, I especially dislike:

1. stairs, notably the 2 flights of old, metal rusted stairs leading up to my apartment.
2. crutches. I'd rather crawl.
3. soft ice active therapy pack that i didn't buy. REGRET.
4. lying friends and internet folk who described the pain as "not all that bad"

Physical therapy session 24 hours after surgery = painful but that was only because the blocker was wearing off I suppose. Starting with bend and extension at 72 and 7 respectfully. One leg raise every hour. Stretching that hammy like its my job. Eyeing the bike with a slow, burning passion.

[bendtheski]

Ticketchecker,
The thought of never skiing again never entered my mind. Dialing back a bit yes, but only because of the initial pain and instability. Thankfully I'm past most of that! I'd like to avoid going through this process again as it's expensive and I'd like to preserve what's left of my meniscus, but I figure I made it 41 seasons with ACLs intact, so if I don't do dumb things I'll probably make it another 41 and then take up golf.;-)

The ortho says the chances of things like acl tears increase with age as tendons and ligaments tend to lose their elasticity, so I'm aware of the posibility of re-injury, but I'm optimistic that I'll be able to return at pretty close to 100% pre-injury.

I did do a shit-ton of upgrading to my road and mountain bikes, bought a GapePro too!

LoMayn,
I actually forgot about the knee for a second the other day and started running up a flight of stairs. Didn't bother the knee at all, but I remembered on the third of fourth step that I'm not supposed to be doing that yet and so dialed it back to walking.

I started working a 2nd job wrenching at a bike shop two days a week. I'm a desk jockey at my full time job which has been great for the first few months post surgery. I brought the cryo-cuff to work and after daily PT could ice for 6-8 hrs with intermittent compression. I really think that this has helped speed up the recovery process greatly.

The bike shop job has me standing on concrete floors for up to 8 hrs a day which I was a little leary about at first, but it doesn't seem to be causing any significant discomfort or swelling, and is probably beneficial for strengthening the surgery leg.

As I'm sure you're aware, Colorado is experiencing an early spring, and I'm hoping to get out on the bicycle more and ride the stationary less. The stationary I use is a recumbant and therefore impossible to stand on, and I feel like climbing out of the saddle will be really helpful for rebuilding leg strength. Not to mention riding outside is infinitely more fun than riding a stationary!

I think I've said it before but I'm pretty OK with the timing of my injury, Dec. 2. If there was ever a season to miss, this has been it! I'm not tempted to try to ski again this season and should have plenty of time to get healed up before the snow starts to fly again. At this point I don't feel like I have to hold back on the bike at all, and I'm pretty confident that if I continue to stick to my PT I'll be all set next ski season. Of course the real test won't come until sometime in Oct. or Nov. and I'll be posting updates as soon as I know what's what.

There's a thread in TechTalk re. the KneeBinding. I was pretty underwhelmed with the overall response and just picked up a pair of FKS's for the 186cm Lhasas that are waiting patiently in my garage. I can't think of a better motivator for getting strong for next ski season!

Good luck with your recovery everyone. I'm looking forward to hearing about everyone's progress and return to action! Best advice I can give is stick to your PT and R.I.C.E.!

[devon]

Count me in too.

This past December, after 20+ years on tele I switched back to alpine. After getting too far in the backseat following my kids off jumps in the terrain park I fell and hurt my knee. Went to the Doc who thought it was a torn meniscus and sprained MCL.

I wanted to hold off on the MRI until January so started going to PT. My knee felt better, with the exception of one incident on some moguls early on.

So I thought all was good.

A couple weeks ago I was skiing back in the East Vail Chutes (one of the few good weekends of the season) and did a power turn with my weight too far back and felt a lot of pain. A few turns later--more pain and a pop.

Saw the doc a few days later and after a MRI: Completely torn ACL and complicated meniscus tear.

Good news--the snow is melting fast and the season is almost over.
Bad news--well the whole surgery, rehab, getting fat, pain, etc. kind of sucks.

I'm walking with minimal discomfort, which is really weird, knowing I have no ACL, but at least I can get around. Funny thing, a couple weeks ago I skinned up at Vail, but rode the lift down so as not to injury myself more.

I had to wait a few weeks for surgery because of work travel commitments, but am scheduled for April 6. Can't wait to get it done and move on to the rehab.

[LoMayn]

Need help solving something.

Had surgery on 3/13, just got cleared to walk yesterday (though I can't yet - leg is shot from 7 weeks of no weight-bearing).

I've got tickets at the end of April to Jazz Fest in NOLA. Lots of walking, drinking, bars, unstable concert grounds, etc.. I don't know if I should bail on the trip or not. I'll take it easy - stick to one or two stages, skip the late night shows, bring crutches and wear a brace, and take ice breaks. My doc said it's fine to go, but I need to be prepared to set myself back 1-3 weeks due to swelling.

I can't tell if I will go and be uncomfortable/miserable the whole time, or if I'll just have to take it easy but still be able to enjoy it.

Any thoughts?

[snow gypsy]

One week in with my allograft and steadily improving
or so I thought.

Xrays and first post op today and it turns out that steady progress may be all in vain.

In short explanation, for all those who may not know (as I didn't), the surgeon drills a hole through your tibia and femur. The surgeon then pulls your ACL through (? i think that's the layman's way of understanding it) with a 'very strong string' and attaches/nails/latches the string outside of the femur. Gloria, the doc, kept using the word 'latch' and 'string' so I'll keep that up. Normally, the latch is just outside the hole and against the femur; the bone grows around the latch and presto! strong, secure ACL.

Somehow, someway, the latch failed and it and all else fell back down into the bone hole catching and settling part way through. Gloria hasn't seen this before. In some thousands of her ACL allograft patients, I'm the first to have this happen.

It's not always fun to be the first.

Best case scenario: extra 4-6 weeks recovery time with extra restrictions to prevent it from dislodging (only if the ACL is strong and secure where it lies)
Worst case scenario: surgery to fix said mishap and we start all over again.

Anyone have any experience with something like this? They seem to imply - no big deal. But the doctor who looked at it today called my surgeon out of the OR to look at the xrays. I'm nervous as hell, it's beautiful out, and i'm just ready to focus on getting well and getting back on the bike.

[Cedrik]

I've got tickets at the end of April to Jazz Fest in NOLA.

I can't tell if I will go and be uncomfortable/miserable the whole time, or if I'll just have to take it easy but still be able to enjoy it.

Unless the show is equivalent to the Dead's last gig (or whatever the equivalent is for your music choice) or you'll be proposing to your honey, skip it.

Standing that long at 6 weeks out you will almost certainly be very uncomfortable. But more importantly, with crowds, dancing, drinking, unstable ground, you could easily re-injure the knee. Even without re-injury, if the swelling causes other problems you might be set back more than 3 weeks. All for a concert?

Cedrik
ACL Class of 2011

[4020driver]

i will jump in, tore mine acl and meniscus on 2-3
sugery on 3-9
used my patella to fix acl, the Dr started to explane what he was going to do and i about fell over an told him to just fix the damm knee
therapy started on 3-20, today finely got knee to 0 degrees and 133 of flex
the whole process is is new types of pain
just keep thinking of next ski season, that is what keeps me going

[montanaskier]

One week in with my allograft and steadily improving
or so I thought.

Xrays and first post op today and it turns out that steady progress may be all in vain.

In short explanation, for all those who may not know (as I didn't), the surgeon drills a hole through your tibia and femur. The surgeon then pulls your ACL through (? i think that's the layman's way of understanding it) with a 'very strong string' and attaches/nails/latches the string outside of the femur. Gloria, the doc, kept using the word 'latch' and 'string' so I'll keep that up. Normally, the latch is just outside the hole and against the femur; the bone grows around the latch and presto! strong, secure ACL.

Somehow, someway, the latch failed and it and all else fell back down into the bone hole catching and settling part way through. Gloria hasn't seen this before. In some thousands of her ACL allograft patients, I'm the first to have this happen.

It's not always fun to be the first.

Best case scenario: extra 4-6 weeks recovery time with extra restrictions to prevent it from dislodging (only if the ACL is strong and secure where it lies)
Worst case scenario: surgery to fix said mishap and we start all over again.

Anyone have any experience with something like this? They seem to imply - no big deal. But the doctor who looked at it today called my surgeon out of the OR to look at the xrays. I'm nervous as hell, it's beautiful out, and i'm just ready to focus on getting well and getting back on the bike.

that blows, never heard of that but not impossible I guess....+++vibes+++

[snow gypsy]

that blows, never heard of that but not impossible I guess....+++vibes+++

I guess nothing is impossible...the universe just keeps reminding me

[bendtheski]

snow gypsy,
That's a bummer. My ortho said something like 9 or 10 weeks until the graft anchors would be securely fastened by bone growth. Prior to that, the anchors can slip under strain which detensions the graft and will most likely cause laxity in the joint.

It seems like the tension of the graft is of significant importance; too tight and you'll have difficulty regaining full ROM, too loose and you might not have the stability you had pre-injury.

For this reason I'd recommend LoMayn that you skip the concert. I see this whole process as an investment in my future. Fortunately nothing's really come up in the last 3 months that I've felt like I'd be missing out not to attend.

I did three road bike rides this week, all around 25mi and felt surprisingly great! Two with around 1100ft of climbing and one with a little over 2200ft. I did one mountain bike ride, 10mi and around 1800ft of climbing. Felt really tentative. No mishaps, but my front disc brake was squealing like a stuck pig! I should be beyond the point where I would risk having a graft anchor shift due to a unplanned dismount, but I've got to address the ghetto front caliper set-up on the mountain bike anyway, so I think I'll be backing off on the mountain bike riding for at least a few more weeks.
IMO riding tentative is a good way to get yourself hurt.

On an almost completely unrelated note; an IS caliper/160mm rotor can be adapted to a post mount fork with an adaptor made by KCNC, however the caliper will sit at an odd angle and the brake pads will not make full contact with the rotor. The only remedy I recommend is ponying up for a new post mount caliper.

Anyone need a IS mount M-975 XTR caliper for 160mm front or 140mm rear?

Also, that right medium KneeHab unit is back up for grabs. Stupid me forgot that pbourdon's injury was to his left leg, not his right!

Good luck with surgery/recovery everybody! I'm actually pretty happy I did my knee now VS ten years ago. From discussions I've had with friends who had this surgery ten years ago, techniques and recovery times have improved significantly and will likely continue to do so. I honestly never thought I'd be riding a bicycle as strongly as I did this week after only 3 months, and I'm pretty goddamned stoked about it!

[StuntCok]

Sign me up for a late entry onto the list! Only 1 week before I was meant to be in Valdez and 4 weeks before my houte route trip! Great timing for an injury I have dreaded and did all I did to avoid my whole life!