Anyone here had it done, and if so how was it? Doc informed me Friday that the PCL (posterior cruciate ligament) in my left knee was torn in the crash and is bad enough that it must be replaced. Replacement will either be with a donor (cadaver) ligament or with one from my hamstring. Procedure is reportedly arthroscopic. Three more weeks immobile, a total of six more weeks without putting weight on my left leg (which is the one with the busted ankle, so I am not using it anyway, but...)

I figured knee injuries are common enough that someone here might have gone through this and have some feedback to offer....

TIA!
E

Eric, dang, the news is not getting better :(

You know, it isn't that bad. Other than the 3 weeks with it straight out immobilized again, it's not that bad. If I don't have it done, I will apparently wear the joint quickly and develop arthritis soon.

On the good news/bad news front, my EDR (event data recorder) did not have much in the way of pre-crash/moment of impact data in it, so it looks like it was a complete and total restraint system failure at time of impact. So it truly is a miracle that I wasn't hurt worse. Someone will pay (I hope...).

Sorry to hear of your misfortune. I had my ACL repaired 3 years ago. And while the Doc was in there he said both my PCL and MCL needed tightening. So he went ahead and gave me the bonus treatment. But to make a long story short. He took a ligament from my kneecap (I understand that this is sort of out of date with the hamstring being the preferred donor nowadays) to replace my ACL. And I am not sure how he 'tightened' up the others. But it was my impression that the sooner you start therapy on the knee the better off you are. But since you are laid up anyway maybe it is a good time to have it done. My knee feels better now that it has since high school. Which is 20+ years. So I would say it was a good thing. I still do not have full range of mobility but it is better than it was. Anything specific you want to know?

Same as above, ACL busted, doc whittled me a new one by "borrowing" some from the piece that holds my knee cap in place and attached it with a couple of screws....I guess I should be glad he didn't use duct tape, LOL!

Mine was done about fifteen years ago...three inch or so scar and about a year, year and a half to get back to full strength. I'm sure their procedures are much more efficient and better these days.

Eric My 20 year old daughter had her ACL reconstruction done a year ago with donor tissue they took from her hamstring. Today she is roller blading, coaching high school pom and very active. She'd had 4 previous knee surgeries on the same knee, all scopes except for on lateral release where they cut the muscle vertically to let the knee cap align back to it's normal position. By far the lateral release was the most intrusive and took the longest time to recover. Her injuries were from competitive pom in high school, very common here for joint injuries from that activity, not to mention to fractured lower discs and a fractured pelvis to go along with the knee problems.

She had another minicus tear repaired in December 06 and in March 07 we heard the ACL snap as she was climbing a flight of stairs. We heard it on the next floor and it was loud. Thought she dropped something. The ACL was repaired with her hamstring, they do it all with a scope. Her recovery went well and today a year later she's doing great. I had my right knee scoped for a minicus tear and they found so much damage that ther isn't much minicus left now after cleaning it all up, it looked like a giant balled up knot of cartilage. I've seen a lot of knee scope pics the last few years, mine was a mess. I'm mostly bone on bone now, but there's much less pain than before. I was lucky to have my daughter as an expert to instruct me exactly what to expect. I'd also say to do a little research on your doctor before going forward. The doctor that did my daughter's knee I'm convinced her problem all along was the ACL was loose allowing more movement than normal, resulting in lots of miniscus tears and the cap being off center. It wasn't until it snapped that he admitted he'd considered doing something with it previously, but didn't think it was worth putting her through it. My doctor did an amazing job, he also did a great job repairing my sons collarbone when he broke it in half last year. The guy used to play pro baseball for the Cardinals, now he's an orthopedic surgeon, go figure. At any rate the right doctor can make all the difference in the world.

I think you'll do fine with the hamstring repair. One thing I would suggest is for the recovery have your doctor prescribe one of the ice water pumps from EBI. I can get you more information on it if you'd like. It's basically a ice cooler like you'd take to a picnic, but with an aquarium pump inside. It has quick disconnect hoses that feed into a wrap that completely surrounds your knee. It circulated ice cold water all day. It was much easier than trying to keep ice packs attached to the proper part of her legs during the first few days. I'm convinced it helped her a lot. My insurance company, Aetna, denied the claim to cover the cost of it saying it was "experimental", I disputed it and they searched high and low and found an "expert", probably a stock holder, who claimed to be a doctor and agreed it was experimental and not a covered appliance. Insurance companies are like vampires in my opinion, so it didn't surprise me with Aetna. However J.P. Farley covered their portion of the primary cost, so there still are some good insurance companies out there.

Good luck, it'll be several months whichever way you choose before you move without pain, but it gets better a little each day.

Eric,

How old are you? Age has to do with how quickly you heal verses how much cutting they do on you. I am 40 and I had ACL replacent PCL repair surgery 1 year ago. My knee prror to surgery was weak and unstable (had to wear a high $$$ custom knee brace just to walk). I elected to use the Cadaver method which let me heal much quicker. I have another Sailor that works for me have ACL replavement surgery using a ligiment from him (he is 25 and a body builder). We both healed very quickly compaired to others that our surgens have done. I was up wlking the next day and got rid of the crutches after 5 days.

Biggest thing I can tell you is to do all (every appointment and every exercise) that the PT tells you. I was going 3x a week and was cleared to ride GNCC (words type motocross racing which is where I tore my ACL in the first place)4 months later.

I also agree that if you can get one of the "Cold pack coolers", It was my best friend after PT and I still use it every now and then.

I am back to better than pre-crash condition right now, 12 months post surgery.

See, I knew I could get good advice here!

Dave, thanks for taking the time to type all that. I know the local EBI rep pretty well, because I have been using their SpinalPak bone stimulator on my broken back for a couple of months now. I will ask her about getting me an EBIce setup. Who knows if Aetna will cover, but.

And with all the injuries I have had, it's going to be months before I am pain free anyway. It is just that the surgery was sort of sprung on me Friday, and unlike when I was in the hospital and all gorked out on pain meds so I would agree with anything, I wanted to do a little homework on this procedure.

Tony, I am 38 and have been healing fast, generally. This accident was the first I have had in 22 years of legal driving, and my first broken bones and torn ligaments. I dislocated a shoulder playing high school ball, and have had other minor injuries, but nothing like this. Every one is amazed by how fast I have progessed, but I was in pretty decent shape beforehand, and I am just motivated. I would be walking if the blood flow would just return to my talus (ankle bone), but there's not a thing I can do to speed that up. It just happens when it happens.

I hear you on the PT. I bust my butt and ask for more. My ankle went from immobile to pretty decent in a week, and that's why this knee surgery has me a little off balance, because healing and PT was going so well and this is a bit of a set back.

I'll get through it, and I am glad I have TC to keep me entertained.

Eric, glad to hear you are on the mend.

Hmmm, styrofoam cooler, aquarium pump, quick disconnect fittings (available at aquarium store or hobby shop that sells plumbing for RC airplanes, 20' of vinyl tubing, velcro to hold fabric that vinyl tube array goes into.

This has to be simpler than swapping out one's heater core no?

alan

I have had both ACL replaced over the years. The last was about 12 years ago. Both from the knee. Both are still tight and work fine. I'm 48, and over weight now. Stay on top of your conditioning and weight. I will lose some to help down the road. Make sure you ask your doc about using a PCM (thats what it was called years ago) Passive Continues Movement, They had me in one when I cam out of surgery, it keeps the knee moving post surgery, thus keeping the scar tissue to a min. This was on one of my knees, the one without PCM(20 years ago) the rehab was harder and motion was difficult to get back.

Good luck

I had the ACL replaced with my own hamstring 15 years ago. I think either version will work well.

I agree with the above about the PT. Do it all, and keep it up after the formal part stops. If you stop doing it, the weakness will return, and it's not fun to start over with strength exercises. It leaves the knee susceptable to easy injury.

Bicyles have been the best PT for me.

I woke up from sugery in my room with the leg in a knee flexing machine. The Doc, the Eastern Michigan football team sugeon, stated that during surgery the knee is fully flexed after it's all done. They sent me home with the same knee flexing machine. When I asked the Doc how much I should push the knee (the machine is very powerful,) he stated to "do as much as you can endure." That was not fun, but it did greatly decrease the recovery time. I was in the machine for 6+ hours every day.

Even so, it does get stiff and sore it remains still for too long. It is however, plenty strong enough to push in the clutch!

I hear you on the PT. I bust my butt and ask for more. My ankle went from immobile to pretty decent in a week, and that's why this knee surgery has me a little off balance, because healing and PT was going so well and this is a bit of a set back.

Excellent!!! And yes, your level of fitness and attitude will make a huge difference in speed of recovery. Age isn't really as important as suggested. I had arthroscopic surgery done on both shoulders last year (Aug & Nov). One was very intrusive and the other somewhat less. After my 1st visit to the PT, I told my doc they were a joke and simply sucking money from ins. companies. I've been lifting weights consistently for the past 6 years, and I already knew shoulder rehab exercises that the PT wasn't even aware of :rolleyes: In my case, I'd have been better served by a sports med doc for PT. My doc was amazed at what I could do after only one week. After my 2nd surgery? I installed a new speedo in my 69' the very next day :). Yes, percocet can make you do anything :D. But seriously..... it's a "can do" attitude along with fitness level that can have you bouncing back in 1/4 the time of someone else.

I hope I have entertained you :D. I hope all goes well, and I trust you'll be back in the groove in no time!:thumbsup: