Ever tear your ACL?

Shea Ralph looked at this thread and chortled.

 

I ripped mine in two playing high school basketball. But that was back in the late 80s when the reconstructive procedure was far different and more invasive than it is now. Took me six solid months of tedious rehab before I could play anything again, hope it goes better for you.

 

You could always go with a hamstring graft. I felt like the long-term rehabilitation was easier. Of course, I get a lot more muscle pulls in that leg now, because I only have three quarters of the hamstring muscle in my right leg now.

The bike thing is a good idea. So is an elliptical. There's a lot of resistance. Just not cutting or planting, then you could screw it up more.

 

First, I appreciate all the kind words/high-fives both here and in PMs. I honestly don't think I did anything most SJ guys wouldn't have done, especially if you had heard the woman's screams. Just to close the loop: I had to attend a hearing for the "perp" yesterday and it turns out he was out on parole and violating a court order on top of the domestic violence, so he's going to plea to an 8-year sentence, but he's making a stop at the psych ward first for eval.

As for the ACL advice: good stuff here. The more I learn about the surgery, the less I like...especially since I'm able to walk around on it OK at the moment. As my wife said this morning, "so you're going to go in and have them screw it all up again now that you're walking OK?" Yep, I guess so.

FYI, I'm going with a cadaver transplant, as per my surgeon's suggestion (my meniscus is not getting the knife, it's not that bad). He's the surgeon for USC athletics and assisted on Andrew Bynum's, so I'm going to stick with his idea. He says it makes for longer rehab but much better results.

The good news is my rehab facility is literally across the street so I've got no excuses not to do it!

 

Good job TV and good luck with the surgery and rehab.

I trashed my right knee three times playing ball (1981, 1983, 1987). The dreaded "terrible triad" injury, never did anything about it other than keep the muscles strong and wear a brace playing hockey, softball, hiking etc.

Finally after all these years, and attempting numerous PTs/injections, the ortho surgeon and I decided to at least clean the meniscus up (as he smugly (and kiddingly) put it, 'It's 20 minutes out of my life' ha!!). He showed me the pre-/post-pictures and the meniscus was a mess, as were the remnants of my ACL floating around the joint. Now, I gots nothin' there. But he said unless there was a big change in my status, we won't do reconstruction and I can just wear my big-ass brace for any athletic endeavours. Had the surgery in November, and the knee is starting to feel a lot better now (but I can definitely feel the lack of stability at times when I move a certain way- previously the pain from the debris in the joint would prevent a lot of that movement before it got to that point).

Wish this kind of surgery was readily available 20-ish years ago when I was still a youngster and jacked it up in the first place. The advancements are mind-boggling...

 

Great news about the meniscus. Being able to put weight on your foot shortly after the surgery will make things much easier during the first few months of rehab. The cadaver graft will also help you develop muscle strength in your hamstring. The stronger your hamstring the less chance you have of reinjuring your leg.

A common misconception with people is that knees grow stronger by building up the quadricepts. You actually need to build up your hamstrings. Ask your doctor about some good excercises to do. I used to lay on my stomach and attach 10 lb ankle weights to my ankle, then lift the leg backward. It has to be done slowly, but it is a very good workout.

Also make sure you never do the following things, or you may risk injuring your leg.
-Leg lifts/extensions where all the tension is on the center of the knee. They have those leg extensions machines at the gym. They aren't good for people with good knees. Stay away.
-Hurdler stretches. I tell my runners this all the time, don't force your ligaments to do things they don't want to do. You can achieve a sufficient stretch by sitting on your butt and reaching for your toes.
-Lock out your legs. Don't do this for squats, or anything sports related. Not golf, baseball or anything like that. If you have to lock out your leg, wear a brace.

 

I partially tore mine when I flipped a four-wheeler as a 12-year-old. A few years later, I finished the job playing basketball.

I didn't do the rehab. Biggest mistake. I don't feel like my knee has ever been the same, but I have no one to blame but myself. Until recently, I've always had knee pain when doing any activity. About six weeks ago, I started training for a half marathon. For some reason, my knee has held up thus far and my legs are getting much strong.

IF YOU READ NOTHING ELSE OF THIS POST: DO THE REHAB!

 

Yes do the rehab and be patient with yourself. I'm not sure how old you are, but forget about all those stories about athletes coming back in 6-9 months. Remember their motivation. They have to get back on the field because you're talking about how they make a living. You have a real job with real time issues. Swim as much as you can as part of your rehab and if you really don't have to do a lot of jumping and moves that require a lot of torque on your knees, don't worry about it.

 

With rehab 3 times week you are looking at being 75 percent after about 6-9 months. It takes about 2 years to get 100 percent.

 

Be prepared for your leg to basically be a limp noodle after the surgery.

That is awesome that you are getting a cadaver ligament. I got my patella tendon cut, and it was MONTHS after I was released from rehab before I could even slightly kneel down on that side.

Rehab will be excruciating. It will be incredibly, white-hot painful pretty much from the second you come out from under the fog of surgery. I remember VIVIDLY the pain I was in when they turned on my passive-movement machine after surgery, then 100x the pain when Nurse Cratchet yanked the main drainage tube out.

I wanted to punch out my rehab folks pretty much daily for the first month or so. I hated the bike, hated the balance exercises, hated the stretching they put me through ... pretty much hated everything until about three weeks before my rehab was up and I took my first running strides in the hallway. Still painful, but I was stable and improving by leaps and bounds.

Now, four years later, I have better flexibility, endurance and durability in that knee than my other one -- which is getting tendinitis pretty quick.

In other words, be mentally prepared for the daily, punch-in-the-balls pain for months.

But hey, MAJOR UPS for doing what you did en route to getting injured.

rb

 

Did mine playing beach volleyball a month before turning 40. Sad part...no contact involved - I just made a bad turn on a ball hit behind me. I also tore my meniscus, and a few days later, when I was walking without crutches before receiving my diagnosis, I sprained my MCL trying to open a sticky window.
Luckily, I had never had knee problems before that. I was able to get by without reconstructive surgery - I just had my knee scoped to have the meniscus removed and the flapping remains of my ACL trimmed away. Fun to watch on the monitor, and my doc gave me Oxy!
I had to be serious, faithful and intense about rehab to make it work, though. He had a PT facility in the same building (loved the stimulator where my leg was thigh-deep in dried rice LOL), and did a lot of work at home and in the pool at the gym, mainly to develop the remaining muscles and ligaments to function as my ACL had. Without about two months after my surgery, I was able to do about everything I could do at the gym before the injury (except kneel - the flexibility took awhile longer to come back).
Exactly a year after I blew my knee out, I played beach volleyball again, albeit with a big brace I have since shed. About 7 1/2 years later, save for maybe 10-15 scattered days a year when it gets a little stiff and reminds me something's missing there, it's fine.
One more thing: please reconsider using a cadaver tendon. There have been a number of cases of people contracting fatal infections from cadaver tendons (including a Texas A&M football player the year I got hurt). If you're reconstructing, use your hamstring or patella tendon instead.
And if you can possibly avoid full reconstruction, see if you can get by with a scope. My sister is a workers comp lawyer, and she's had a number of cases involving ACL reconstruction gone bad. And local PGA pro Brad Faxon's playing career has pretty much crashed since his ACL rebuild failed and he had to go in for a do-over.
P.S. I remember watching Shea Ralph's third torn ACL, as she was driving to the basket. I could hear her scream before she even hit the floor.

 

Cripes, Terrier, I wish I'd never clicked on this thread tonight!

just kidding. I know I'm in for a treat the next few months.