Posted by Shraaaag on 2010-07-28 22:30:50

Did you take any pictures? We can compare them with my surgery ;P

Posted by Apojar on 2010-07-28 23:58:51

I had PCL surgery done on April 12th. It is similar to the ACL, but this is the ligament in the BACK of the knee (the ACL and PCL cross in the knee to form an X). The PCL is more difficult to tear, but involves somewhat of the same procedure. I believe you can repair/reconstruct an ACL with mere arthroscopic surgery, but the PCL opens up the whole knee.

Much the same as you, I had to have part of my hamstring cut out and bundled with a cadaver's Achilles Tendon. The PCL is stronger, thicker, and fatter than the ACL, but they both involve the same amount of FULL recovery time (9 months to a year).

You should notice that in the first month after surgery, you have muscle atrophy around the knee/thigh that will make your legs look rather uneven (I had over 1cm of atrophy when physical therapy began post-surgery). As you progress with PT, you will begin to strengthen all the areas around the knee as compensation until the knee comes along.

I'm 3-1/2 months along now, and I'm back working, though it still feels "weird". I still feel quite a bit of scar tissue in the kneecap, as well as still having no feeling in the outside of my right shin (due to nerve damage from the surgery, but that will come back). If you stay true to the exercises that the therapists give you, it will make your recovery that much smoother.

I wish you a speedy recovery, and please feel free to email me if I can answer any other questions.

Apojar

Posted by harvestmouse on 2010-07-29 05:57:40

So thats where you got to!

There are various ways they replace these things, however after replacement it'll be much harder to ever tear again.

I partially tore my ACL a long time back, and often have minor problems with it.

I also keep Rottweilers in England, and they are very prone to ACL injuries, I'd say 1/3 has to have the op at some point.

Usual replacement is with muscle from the thigh/hamstring. Artificial ACL were becoming popular but suffer from host rejection.

Now I think they pick and mix depending on patient size and which ligament.

Recovering is brutal. Modern rehab pushes you hard, but is necessary. Once a month with your new ligament, it's extremely unlikey to snap again, so exercises to get the rest of the leg balanced again are pretty full on.

Posted by Skolopender on 2010-07-29 09:56:35

I tore my ACL while skiing back in 2001.

Got surgery in the beginning of 2002, in my case they took part of the tendon by the kneecap for the new ligament and they removed a very small part of my meniscus.

The difference between mine and yours, was that they took it from the kneecap ligament instead of the tendon by the hamstrings, as it wouldn't weaken my jump ability, instead I can't crouch on the knee for to long as it will get sore.

I played my first football game 8 months after the surgey and never had any complications. The only things to remind me of it, are a few small scars and the sligth pain when crouching on that knee. But recovery was tough... But well worth it, as I have no complications today. And as a bonus for my motivation for the rehabilitation, one of the nurses and the physiotherapist were a couple of hotties. Propably helped me grit my teeth through some of the pain.

Best advise I can share would be to walk as much as possible. I felt like I didn't trust my knee in the beginning, thinking it would get damaged again. You simply have to use it, to regain the trust. Slowly test the outer positions. A balance board is very good for rehabilitating your knee.

But keep up the good work and you will be back in shape in no time.

Posted by Archevol on 2010-07-29 14:14:48

37 broken bones, facial reconstruction, reattached tendon in my hand, torn ligaments in both knees, bulging disc in my back, bones debris in my ankle... I've been though a lot of surgery and a lot of rehab. Most of it from a car accident.

Blood supply to tendons sucks, which is why it takes so long to heal. Best advice I can offer is that you should try to keep working on strengthening it well beyond the end of your therapy, ad infinitum. As skolo says, balance board is a good one, as you need to make the joint as stable (and strong) as possible. It really reduces the chance of arthritis in your knee in future.

I hope you're keeping your spirits up. For me, I found the worst effect of it all was the temporary loss of self confidence. Keep focused on things you really want to get back doing, or maybe start making plans to do something really, really ambitious. 8p

Eitherway, best of luck for the rehab!

Posted by Balle2000 on 2010-07-29 18:12:40

Thanks a lot lads!

I got a lot out of reading your experiences and will take some of the advice with me for sure!

Archevol: Your experience dwarfs mine into a new perspective. Still the last month have been quite boring. But can start walking without crutches again within a couple of weeks I hope. My goal is to get back on my surf board next summer, and rejoin my 7s football team. Really ambitious might be joining a Kozak dance troupe doing the kalinka-dance. Hope you have recovered well yourself!!

Skolopender: Never got the option for patellar graft, so I guess I traded in some jumping for some crouching huh? :) Thanks for the walking advice. I guess Blood Bowl just became bad (boo). My physio's a milf.

harvestmouse: Surprisingly perhaps, I didn't have you pegged for a Rottweiler herdsman. Getting yours fixed btw?

Apojar: They did mine athroscopically, which maybe lessens some of the inner knee scar tissue? When operating they also snipped of a bit of meniscal tissue, and found some cartilage damage, which kept me from stepping on my foot for 6 weeks. I guess that set me back a bit further. Really glad to hear you are back at work though, and I will probably drop you a message.


Thanks again guys! I benefited from this.

Posted by Balle2000 on 2010-07-30 00:24:41

Btw.... 37?!

Posted by harvestmouse on 2010-07-30 04:17:57

I think what we are all saying is "The rehab may seem crazy and bound to cause more damage than good, but the harder you work, the better in a long run." Follow your physiotherapist to the T, and ask if it would be better to do more.

1 year to get back on a surfboard seems achievable, once you have recovered your ligament will be stronger and thicker than it was before.

No, mine doesn't give me enough problems to get it fixed, and I haven't redamaged it since the accident that hurt it. The problem with ligaments and tendons is that if you partially tear them more than a light sprain/strain, the scar tissue on mending isn't as good as the orginal thing.

Yup, been keeping Rotties since I was 13. We help to rehome ones with bad or no families now. And have between 3 and 7 all the time. They're what I miss the most being out here.

Posted by rokash on 2010-07-30 11:47:00

Hope you have a speedy recovery, Balle2k.

I'm also curious about something in the procedure you went through:
Will the hamstring grow back, or is there a lot of them back there so we don't really miss one if it is removed?

Posted by BiggieB on 2010-07-30 22:02:52

I have had numerous injuries in my time. I always neglected the rehab process to my peril. All I can say is to work even harder then anything youve done before and look for additional resources and be willing to work harder and go farther then anyone else and you will end up top shape. Doing the work really makes a huge difference, so is keeping doing it after you are on your own. As for improvement its really hard to notice any kind of improvement on yourself, you have to trust the process and know that in 6 months, 1 year the difference will be massive. My favorite quote:

Ordinary actions taken consistently produces extraordinary results.

Make consistency your goal never miss a single session!

hope this helps :)

/B

Posted by danielcollins on 2010-08-05 08:08:10

i've had 4 knee ops on my left leg balle. 2 arthroscopes, 1 reconstruction and 1 to remove a screw that didn't dissolve properly. eventually i didn't have to go to physio because i knew what to do. ask me in irc for the tips.

Posted by Balle2000 on 2010-08-12 01:22:01

@danielcollins: thanks for taking the trouble to give me some advice!

@BiggieB: I like that motto. Going for consistency. The physio thought I should consider coming there a little less... She was afraid I'd grow bored. I'm trying for 5 days a week for now though. That's after reading your post. Inspirational.

@rokash: thanks. good question. i will ask, and PM you any answers...

@harvestmouse: conserning your injury, as long as the muscles weigh up for any slack in it, i guess its as good right?