Bond

iTrader: (6)

They took a chunk of my patella (kneecap) to make a new acl ligament. Then they just connected it with some dissolving screws.

gospeed81

iTrader: (51)

Man, good luck with your recovery...missed the story.

I had a tumor removed from my right knee at MDAnderson when I was 15...really sucked. The worst part was being out of sports for almost a year.

When they went to knock me out they said I wouldn't stop talking either. Was talking with the doc about chambers of the heart or something, he was surprised I knew what I was talking about. Then they asked me to count to ten...I may have made it to four.

I woke up partway through surgery. I still want to strangle the anesthesiologist. I was on my stomach, turned around and looked, and they had this huge 14" section of the back of my knee spread open. Was weird seeing it and not being able to feel it. They knocked me back out pretty hardcore after that, and I didn't wake up until the next day.

There was a stinkin' McDonalds that I could see from my window, and I asked my stepdad for a box of nuggets every day for a week, always threw up on the 3rd one, probably from the morphine.

I was hardcore on the pills, and took vicodine for a long time (~1.5-2 months). If I could go back I would have layed off as much as I could. They are incredibly addictive, and that probably spurred a lot of my addictive behaviors a few years later.


I would have also been much more serious about physical therapy. It took forever for me to get back into shape, and I'm still missing strength at certain points in the range of motion. I'll also never be able to run right again. That was over a decade ago, and up until a year ago I consistently trained, so time and effort won't make up for the work you can do now to improve not only the rate of recovery, but just how far you can recover.

thesnowboarder

iTrader: (15)

How are you feeling now dude? I get it done in 7 days. My doc recommends using a cadaver so that's what i am going with.

Preluding

iTrader: (10)

Got my ACL re-done and some tissue removed a few years back...
the recovery hurts more then when it was torn to begin with. after the first 2-3 months... start being hard on it again...running is great...it'll be good in no time

Bond

iTrader: (6)

I drove a miata today which helped me stop being depressed. I have 120* of motion now, and am making sure I do all my workouts and stuff. It seems to be coming along. I can walk decently now, but it still tender on full extension and compression.

The cadaver seems like a good idea, I feel like most of my pain is from having a chunk of my knee cap missing lol.

It is coming along though, I can't wait to go out and drink finally, sitting at home ******* sucks.

Bond

iTrader: (6)

Round 2 bitches!

JasonC SBB

Good luck.

My surgery was the easy part of this whole ACL thing. The worst thing is the inconvenience of being on crutches for 5 weeks and counting. (due to meniscus repair)

Get a prescription of 10mg 12-hr ("CR"= controlled release) Oxycontin. It's far better than Vicodin. Start taking it after surgery, then wean off it as needed. I ended up doubling the Oxy, taking it every 6 hours for about 36 hours. I did not feel any "addiction" nor "withdrawal". That risk is overblown. You may get dizzy, so you will need help crutching to the bathroom.

DO NOT wait for agonizing pain before taking the strong stuff. Ask me how I know. If you wait, it will SUCK and you will end up taking a lot more of the pain meds and end up even more dizzy.

Read this:
http://www.orthosupersite.com/view.aspx?rid=3276

Bond

iTrader: (6)

I have familiarized myself with pain meds over the past year, and re-reading this reminded me of the steps I took.

Hopefully I do not need meniscus repair, they said they will see if I need it once inside.