Just got back from the doctors....i need acl replacement on my right knee. last year i tore it wakeboarding. june 11 is my surjury date, my whole summer, fall & part of winter is spoken for.
this news comes after i droped crazy money on mods for all the bikes(not even mentioning what was spent on the boat).
well i guess i'm ready for next year.sob, sob, sob.

 

That sucks about the surgery, I had my ACL done in '94. It really isn't that bad. I thought I was going to be out of commission much longer than I actually was. The best advice I can give you is get those legs in shape! I was in the Army when I had it done and I was in great shape, before the surgery I tried to go through physical therapy so I wouldn't have to go through surgery but that didn't work. I did benefit from it though, my recovery time was cut in half because my injured leg was so strong and had great muscle strength. The doctors weren't even sure if my ACL was torn for quite a while because my leg was so strong and really stable, of course when they went in it was completely torn and stuck inside the joint. I can't stress this enough, the more work you do now the less time you will need for recovery. I was in great physical shape when I hurt my knee, but I was so surprised how much stronger I made my legs through physical therapy before the surgery. I almost didn't go through with the reconstruction but I was glad I did. Hopefully you are getting the newer and better surgery, I had the one where they take the middle part out of my patellar tendon and use that for the ACL. That worked but you get a nice big scar. Good luck!

 

Pboy, the only surgery techniques that know about are: patella tendon which leaves a nice scar but more reliable, hamstring which could stretch after some years, cadaver which heals the fastest(no grafting) but you run the risk of infection(aids, hep-b, staff, ect..) and weaker from cleaned & frozen).
Is there something else available?

I know there's research ongoing at Tufts where they use your stem cells to grow new tendons, to bad were 3-5 years away still.
BTW I'm starting rehab next week, just hope there is enough time before the surgery to make a difference
http://enews.tufts.edu/stories/021302CuttingEdge.htm[/L]
At 33 they can just about skip the patch job and transplant my brain into a stem-celled titanium roll-design body/chassis

 

I've had that surgery! It's a good one![img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img] Get in great shape like pboy says it will make all the difference in the world...also make sure your surgeon gets you a ice thingee...a cooler full of ice/water with a pump that circulates the water through a plastic bladder that fits your knee...you can have freezing cold temp running across your leg all night no ice pack mess...knocks down swelling extremely fast...oh yah last time I did my knee and when I broke my ribs I took Celebrex instead of Vicadin(I hate that stuff). MMMmmm what else Ohh Yahh get some knee braces perscribed(CTI or Asterisk)or buy them yourself if you have to...my left leg is total junk, but I can ride nearly every day because of those braces.

 

I had that too, along with 4 other surgury's on the same knee ( crashed my bike ) they can take a piece of tendon from another area and use it to reconstruct your ACL. They've come along way since I had my first reconstruction in 86' BUT, just like an old ford you'll most likely be back for "minor repairs" i.e. chunks of menicous that don't want to stay put. Hey, but at least you'll be able to walk - and most importantly .... RIDE...



Good Luck !!!!

 

CWS, you listed the types I was aware of. If Lovemud is correct about taking the tendon from somewhere else, I might have gone with that option. Since I was in the Army, I only had their option. What I don't like about them taking my patellar tendon was that the scar was fairly large and it fused to my knee cap. I am one of those people who scars pretty good so a small piece of scar tissue is permenantly stuck to my knee cap. I'm sure they could fix that but I haven't asked yet. Also, with a cut that long they are bound to cut through some nerves. I still don't have full feeling in the skin on one side of my scar. Not a big deal, just makes it feel weird when I kneel down on it. The feeling is slowly coming back, it's been nine years. You should have plenty of time to rehab before the surgery, with the extra muscle I put on my leg I was back to jumping out of planes six months after my surgery. I don't know how they do it now, but they had me walking to the bathroom the day of my surgery. Thank goodness for Demerol! Even if you can't wakeboard this year, do what I do, ride the tube. It's still fun. I stopped wakeboarding last year because I injured my lower back, I bought the tube and found out you can have a blast if you do it right. Double tubes are best, then you can have wars.

 

I did indeed have some nerve damage, It's just on the skin surface though. They really layed me open on both sides of my knee beacause I also had to have a plastic tendon put on the right side of my knee and they took tendon material from the left side to replace the ACL. but they stiched it up on the inside so there's only a small line instead of railroad tracks.- lots of fun, but I'm still amazed at how much they can do.... "we can rebuild him, faster, better..."

 

I just had surgery in both knees 8 months ago. I wrecked on my bike. 3 days later I was in rehab. Making sure I keep movement and helping the swelling go down. 3 weeks later I had surgery on both knees. I completely shreaded the acl and mcl in my right knee,and tore the mcl in my left knee. They used an achilles tendon from a cadavor. This is the strongest and quickest way to go. All the athelets are doing this. I was able to ride 2 months later with lots of rehab,brace,meds and patience. This has been the worst pain I have ever felt when it tore. I thaught I broke my legg in half when me and 6 other friends heard the snap over the noise of the quads idleing where I wrecked. So far my right knee is great. I am stiff every morning and after work from the long drive home. The weather likes to mess with me. I still have some problems with the left knee. The doctor says they will have to go in to clean it out. I am dealing with it for now because I cant afford to be off work again. I was off for 4 months before I could go back. In the end all the surgery cost $36,000. It definately is not fun. Just keep ice on it,do the excersizes that they say to do,keep up on the meds and take advantage of the rehab. They say it will take at least a year before I am 110 percent better. The first 6 months are very fragile. Dont go crazy. What really sucks is that I cant run and play with my kids like I used to. Its funny that my 5 year old can easily out run me!LOL good luck!!

 

I feel for ya man_ I tore my ACL and MCL playing football in highschool
However this was done in '84 and back then the surgery was invasive
and as a consequence, have many scars. It seems like every year
the medical field progresses rapidly in new techniques and therapies,
so you shouldn't be down long. I keep telling my wife I need a bionic
knee(and arms,legs,etc..) but she just rolls her eyes at me LOL
Good luck man-The harder you work, the quicker you'll be ridin' [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/img]

 

2manytoys, That must have been one gnarly crash! What the heck were you doing? Heal clicker? Rag doll?
I was throwing a simple back roll on my wake board… finishing my rotation spotted my landing and woe cased the wake and watched my leg just fold backwards! O-yea the PAIN!
Guess I was lucky, another guy shattered his femur same trick.

The recovery would be cut in half with an allograft (donor tendon), sadly my doc (and my girl) really wants to use my patella tendon and trying to shy me away from a cadaver tendon says the risk for infection is to great since donors are only checked for hepatitis & aids. It would be coming out of Florida,’” the retirement capital” where they require licensing but graft might already be twice my age!
Man i wish this would grow back!
I’m guessing the acl was replaced on your right knee with the cadaver Achilles? Was that a bone to bone, or tendon to bone graft? Also did they use a stainless or absorbing type screw?
Thanks for your support!