Last Doctor Visit Before Surgery

I had my last doctor appointment before my surgery (set for 7:30 AM on Wed, July 27th) this morning. He checked out my knee one more time and asked me a couple of questions regarding how it was feeling. Based on what he saw and my lack of pain he said it was encouraging that my meniscus may not be torn or may be healing itself. If this is the case, then my recovery will be significantly less. So naturally, I am hoping that he didn't just get my hopes up. There is no way to know for sure until they actually get in my knee and start looking around.

If they don't need to repair my meniscus or if they are only removing torn tissue, then the time on crutches will only be a few days to a week. Whereas if the meniscus can be repaired and sutchered, then it will be more like 4-6 weeks on crutches. If you've never been on crutches before (I was on them for 4 months in 2005), then you'll just have to trust me that you don't want to be on them for long.

The main reason for the appointment this morning was to get me a brace for post operation. This isn't the brace that I'll wear when actually participating in sports again, it's more of an immobilization brace to make sure that the knee holds up and stays in place while it is healing.

Essentially, i'll have to keep the brace locked at 0 degrees (completely straight) while sleeping and as often as possible after surgery. If this is not done, there could be future complications. I'll add some more information about the brace later.

Blood Work

I got up at the crack of dawn yesterday to have my blood work done before work. Nothing too exciting there. Just something to prepare yourself for if you're ever in my situation. Got the results back today and everything is approved for me to have the surgery so that's good. My next appointment is July 25th. Not planning any other posts between now and then.

Pre-hab

I go under the knife in 16 days. The better shape you are in pre-operation, the quicker you will be able to rehab and get back to whatever it is you like to do. I'm working out 3-4 times a week. I always do full-body workouts with ab days inbetween. My focus currently is on leg extensions, romanian dead lifts or leg curls (but I find that RDL's are easier on my knees), and calf raises.

I add these to my upper body workouts (which vary from day to day). I also prefer to do more complex leg exercises, but I am limited by what my injured knee is currently capable of.

Here are the descriptions of these exercises:

Romanian Deadlift:

Start: stand tall with a slight bend in your knee or knees (about 15 degrees of bend if you want to be specific). Push your hips back so your weight starts to go to your heel or heels, as your hips push backwards your torso should start to lower to the ground. I encourage athletes to fall backwards, this way I know they are pushing back into the heels. I would rather have too much weight going back than none at all. As they fall back the torso needs to balance out the falling and they need to learn how to balance this position. From a visual point they should feel as if they are mooning someone. The position of the upper body should be a straight line from shoulder to hips. If the lower back has an anterior or posterior tilt the pressure will be directed at the low back and will cause pain or discomfort. The initial depth for me is just to the tops of the knees. I want the student to understand the movement of the hips pushing back. The lower back should maintain a neutral position. Since the hips started the movement by pushing back, they will initiate the return by pushing forward. The body should return to the start position.

Leg Extension:

This is pretty simple really. Just find a leg extension machine and extend your legs from bent to straight.

Calf Raise:

There are 2 methods - machine or free. I prefer the machine because it allows me to focus on my calves and not on the dumbells. I also believe it keeps my form better, and it doesn't bother my knee as much.

With all of these exercises (and any others that you choose to try), make sure you are using a slow, fluid motion. Do not swing the weights or try to create momentum, this is a complete waste of your time and you are more likely to hurt yourself. Make sure you keep in good form and do as many reps as you can with good form.

I always follow up my workout by stretching. Hamstrings, calves, quads, groin, hip flexor, lower back, and whatever upper body parts you feel fit. As this is about kne rehab, I'll stick to talking about legs mostly.

My Story...

Here's a little background on my situation. In the fall of 2009 I was playing flag football in a recreational league. I played quarterback and was scrambling away from a defender on a 4th down play when I planted my right foot to make a cut and felt a pop and a sharp pain in my knee. I immediately stopped running, threw a the ball to an open receiver (which got the 1st down by the way), and then left the game.

The pain alleviated shortly after the initial injury, but my knee began swelling almost immediately. I sat on the bench and iced it for the remainder of the game (which we ended up losing unfortunately) and then hobbled off the field.

I did not sleep well because of the pain and swelling. I did not know how serious the injury was, having never had a knee injury before. So, I went to the doctor to have it checked out.

The orthopedic surgeon that I went to did several different pulling and bending techniques on my knee to determine what ligament or muscle in or around my knee I may have injured. He determined relatively quickly that it was my ACL. I scheduled an MRI.

MRI's are not too bad, just loud and boring because you can't move for about a half hour while you're lying on the table in the giant magnetic machine. They are also not cheap. Depending on your insurance coverage, they can range anywhere from $250-$1000.

About a week later I saw the doctor for the results of my MRI. He said that it was a partial tear in my ACL (which I have since learned is similar to saying that you're "a little big pregnant") and a possible slight tear in my meniscus and that surgery wasn't necessary but to take it easy for a while and then rehab as hard as I could to 'brace' my knee with my muscles. I was also fitted for a DonJoy ACL brace (also not cheap) and got it a few days later.

About 6 months went by (now May 2010) and I worked my legs out harder than I ever had before (even harder than I did during High School Basketball season). I was in pretty good shape at that point and feeling good. I had been itching to get back to waterskiing (which is my real athletic passion) so I decided to take a wakeboard run.

I neglected to wear my brace because it would not stay in place when it got wet and it made me nervous to think that if it slid too far down my leg it might cause an even worse injury than not wearing it. At any rate, I was on the water and everything felt great. I took a few minutes to warm up and then started throwing inverts. My knee was not bothering me at all. I landed the first 2 cleanly and was happy to be on the water, but the 3rd (a roll to revert) did me in. I landed standing up on the board like normal, but there was a huge pop in my right knee and I could feel the whole knee shift. I let go of the rope and ended my set.

The pain was much worse than the first time i hurt it. I got in the boat, propped my foot up, popped open a beer, and put some ice on my knee until we got back to the dock. I could barely walk and within minutes my knee looked like a water balloon.

I knew that this time it was worse than the last, but I never went to the doctor to get it checked (BIG MISTAKE!). I am convinced that this is when I tore the rest of my ACL, but I'll never know for sure.

Fastforward to October 2010 and I had done the same thing as before - worked out my legs once the swelling went down and the pain was minimal. I decided to play one game in the season of my former flag football team (but as the center and safety this time). I played the first 10 minutes with no problems (wearing my brace this time) and then ended up tweaking my knee again. Still didn't go to the doctor because this time was not nearly as bad as the first 2 and the swelling and pain were both gone within a couple of days.

Fastforward again to May 2011 and another wakeboard set. Landed a tantrum then tried a toeside backroll...landed it but felt a sharp pain in my knee. A few beers later and some more swelling I was tired of this cycle that I had gotten myself into. So that brings us pretty much to present day.

I went to the doctor (a different, better one this time), had another MRI, and this time it was certain. My ACL was gone and I have a real tear in my meniscus. I have opted for Allograft ACL Reconstruction Surgery. This means that I will be getting a replacement ACL from a cadaver(dead guy). My operation is on July 27th.

In the meantime, I am attempting to keep my legs as strong as I can (Pre-hab). The ortho doc recommended this because it will cut down on recovery time. I am limited by the ability to do certain exercises or anything high impact (like running/jogging). It's been a rough couple of months since the injury because I am unable to be very active doing much of anything other than walking around. But work limited my ability to have surgery any earlier than 2 weeks from this coming Wednesday.

Anyway, that's how I got here. I hope this site helps anyone who is going through a similar situation as I am or who has the misfortune of going through it in the future. I have done as much online research as I could but didn't find much in the way of comprehensive rehabilitation plans, they all seemed pretty vague. So i'm going to do my best to stay on top of this and provide you with as much information as I can to help you along with your own surgery and rehab. Wish me luck and good luck to you!