Here we go Under the knife!!!
Elk
Well time for round number 2!
About 6 years ago I totally blew my right leg cal and ended up with parts from a dead guy. It went well but ever since then I have notice my left knee not working well etc. This last season I slowly went from 6 miles a day to a couple hundred yards before reaching my pain thresh hold. Recent doctors visit and MiR confirmed my ACL completely tore and a chunk of the meniscus is gone as well!
Last time this happened I had surgery in June and was good to hunt in September! I am thinking about surgery in March to allow extra healing time!
Anyone else had ACL surgery? How long for you to heal?
Good luck. Hope the recovery goes fast!
Just had mine done yesterday, so far, I'm not healed. ;). I completely ruptured my ACL, tore my miniscus and cracked my tibia on an April AK Brown Bear hunt.
I opted to wait until now, as I had a Dall sheep, mountain goat, caribou and Coues deer hunt scheduled. All hunts went off without a hitch and I am laying in bed recovering from surgery as I type this.
We opted for an Allograph. (Cadaver parts). So far I have had little to no pain and start therapy on Friday. My motivation: Stone Sheep in August.
I completely separated my calf muscle from the bone playing softball. From wheelchair to cane to walking stick to healed was less than 3 months. In less than two months I archery hunted (unsuccessfully) elk in New Mex unit 10 with a cane. I wasn't at my best but I was hunting.
I hope you'll heal quick and if in March you should be golden!
Best of luck, you guys!! As you well know, do ALL of your PT religiously.
Kota-man, good luck on your Stone's hunt!!!!!!!
I went the patellar route. Took a full 6 months to start playing basketball, really a full year before I didn't notice it anymore.
Had mine done a couple years ago. It sucks. Do EVERYTHING the PTs tell you to do. Hardest part for me was managing pain while not reacting well to pain meds. Had it done in Dec. and was in Colorado elk hunting in sept. Good luck!!
Gonna help that my brother is my Physical Therapist...He was solely responsible for getting me up and running for this years hunts after the injury.
Good luck guys, you'll be good for next year's hunting seasons. Make your rehab your religion.
Idyllwild, I took all your rehab advice to heart with my new hip, and by elk season I was doing 6-8 miles a day with a pack. It felt like a teenager's hip. Thanks for your coaching during my process.
Right knee allograph 20+ years ago. Never felt 100% but I could do everything I wanted. Started to get more pain and feel loose the last few years. Went in and it turns out the original surgery probably never really took and I haven't had an ACL that did anything for probably the whole time.
Knee is about shot and full of arthritis and the Doc say next step is a total knee. They would rather I be a 5- 10 years older before doing it if I can hold out. So, knee stinks but I still do most of what I want and can pack and elk out...I just go real slow downhill.
Good luck and you should be fine for season.
Good Luck!
Kota we'll make a hunt together before we slam!
Scoot...You're so good that way...BPM...we gotta figure something out...
I had my ACL repaired with an allograft procedure 10 years ago. My surgery was in July and I was given free reign (no knee brace required) after 10 months. Like said above, be absolutely religious with the physical therapy and follow their directions to the letter. My surgeon told me they used dissolving screws to hold in the new ligament, and right about the time you're feeling good and want to get active is the time when the bone is growing in to replace the hardware, i.e. the repair is at it's weakest. I had a friend who went overboard on her rehab and ended up having to redo the whole surgery. My knee feels good but I have the residual athritis-type aches once in a while that go with bad knee injuries and cartilage tears. Good luck!
My problem right now is to not overdue. It has been three weeks and I feel pretty darn good. After 5 days I got rid of crutches and at the 10 day mark I hiked out and sat in my ground blind. The brace that I was supposed to wear for 6 weeks has found a spot in the corner of the bedroom. (But I'm wearing my Don Joy Brace)
I'm doing PT 3 days a week and lightly working out 4 days a week. Today, I went for a short hike, did 30 minutes on the elliptical and 10 minutes on the stairmaster. Hope to start lifting light weights with my legs next week as the atrophy to the bad leg has been brutal. Hope to get the clear to snow shoe after the 1st of the year.
I just can't stand laying around watching myself get fatter (gained 20 since this happened) and need to move without over doing it. Holiday cooking isn't going to help matters.
My therapy has been amazing. At the 4 week mark we get to start some new stuff. Bring on the Stone's in August!!!
Getting a "new" left knee jan 8 after fighting it for 22 years. Dreading the re-hab but know what needs to be done.
Had two ACL repairs on the left knee one on the right. Accompanied by other procedures to fix the cartlidge, etc... Left knee has no meniscus, as it was removed completely the last ACL surgery and, a chip out of the humorous bone in the joint. Right knee is in pretty good shape. I had lots of repair work over the last 15 years, scraping, trimming, etc... No regrets about it at all other than not getting it done quickly enough.
Healing time will be related to damage you do while going without the surgery, the condition of the knee, what needs done, your physical fitness, etc... It hurts but, that will be gone soon enough after the surgery. Be prepared, you are going to loose a lot of muscle off the affected leg. 90 percent will come easily back. That last 10 percent is a real war. You are going to be sore, hurting, etc... Push through it. Be prepared for the electrical shocking to stimulate muscle growth. It is FUN!
My first go around, I was tuned up, training for college football. It took 6 weeks from start to finish. Second time, both knees at he same time, took 9 weeks. Not as tuned up, older, but still healed quickly as I was in great physical condition.
Do the rehab like it is your job. Communicate with the PT's. The first time was with Collegiate doctors, the next time was with regular docs. Both were good but the PT's in the average world aren't used to working with physically fit people driven to get better ASAP. So express your point. And don't go too long before you get the surgery. You are doing far more damage by doing so than good. Get it ASAP and get to healing. Good luck and God Bless
Utah ski crash cost me my right ACL. Went with the patellar graft after much research and debate.
I think the healing and rehab is much tougher this way but the rate of re-tear is lower and worth it, in my opinion.
All that said, it totally sucked! Took me about a year before the knee felt strong again. I'm now three years since my wreck and except for a little numbness on the patellar, I'm about 100%. I've been skiing hard every weekend since Thanksgiving and the knee feels great. I'd say, honestly, that it was two years before I felt totally normal again.
Good luck, guys....heal quick!
Have had both done. Surgery recovery is really fast compared to when my first was done.they still did a big cut and restricted movement for a long time. Made it much worse getting movement and strength back. Just do the work and when it first starts feeling real good remember that is not back yet.
Coelker, did you have the surgery yet??
