Tag Archives: ACL recovery

Jul7

ACL Recovery: Weeks 8 and 9, and 9 addendum

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ACL recovery, week 8 (24-Apr-2017)
Hi all!  I’m feeling good!  I don’t want to jinx it, but I’m actually feeling kind of good!
This last week has been remarkable progress; Since Ed (my physical therapist) told me to stop using my brace and start weaning myself off the crutches, I’ve gained a lot of strength and stability in my knee.  It still locks out on me every once in a while (from weakness, not from ACL damage), but I’m able to walk and move around significantly better than any time since the accident.  I still limp a bit… but it’s a lot less noticeable now.  And I need to spend less mental energy focusing on how to walk, which is really awesome.
With that strength and stability, I’ve started doing walks during lunch!  After the accident my phone was tracking between 600 and 1500 steps per day, max… Yesterday, I tracked over 8500 steps.  I’m going to keep taking it semi-easy, but continuing to ramp up the walking and mobility is the name of the game for now, at least until next Monday when I get the next round of X-rays and Lockman testing.
Aside from all that… life’s moving on.  My and Sarah’s moods and outlook are steadily getting better now that I can actually move around, help take care of the house and just take care of myself.  I can’t drive the Mustang yet… though I’ve been cleared by the Physical Therapist to drive it.  The problem isn’t safety now; it’s strength.  Mustang’s have a very heavy clutch, and I’m just not physically strong enough to depress it safely yet.  So – more workouts.  More squats.
And being able to help Sarah around the house more has been really helpful to my mood as well; Everything’s a bit more positive around the house, even with all the rain we’ve been getting here in the gorge.
ACL Recovery, week 9 (30-Apr-2017)

A new Sunday, a new elevation. 16,400 ft this week… They’re really cranking it up this time. But it’s a fun challenge… Even if I can’t do more than 10min at a time on the arm bike.

But I’m working on it, and actually working my leg this time , which is a pretty huge change. Ed, my Physical Therapist, has me doing strengthening exercises now, though they’re being a bit hampered by this one small section of extension that’s being really annoyingly painful. It’s not a bit range, but it’s right in the range that I need to go up and down stairs, which makes it imperative that I work through it.
Aside from that, no real news. I still (knock on wood) haven’t had it give out on me, so we’re still tracking pretty well. Tonorrow we’ll see Dr. O’Shea, so there will be some more definitive information, in terms of X-Rays and new displacement tests. Here’s hoping that it’s good news!
And with that, I’ll sign off. I’ll send an update tomorrow after the appointment!
Love to all,
-Ben
ACL Recovery, week 9 addendum (sent 01-May-2017)

Well, that appointment wasn’t super helpful.

I mean, it was, to a point.  We learned that the bones are knitting back together pretty well, and the swelling is going down.  But the displacement test showed that my ACL is still stretched… and it may have even gotten a little bit worse since the first time O’Shea tested it.
But I haven’t had it buckle on me.  And it’s feeling better as time goes on, becoming more stable and more capable of what I need it to do.  Dr O’Shea even mentioned that, as my quads get stronger, the muscles actually unload the stress from the joints… meaning that the stronger I get, the less painful things will be and the more stable the knee becomes.
So we’re still in a holding pattern.  None of the doctors are recommending surgery right now, but none of them are ruling it out, either.
So we wait, and keep testing it.  Right now, the plan calls for Sarah and I to go camping next weekend, try out some light hiking.  Push me a bit, and see how I can handle uneven and tiring terrain.  And I’ll keep hitting the gym throughout the week, working to bring my strength back up.
Past that… we’ll see what we see.
– Ben
May3

ACL recovery: Weeks 4 and 5

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Continuing on the theme of compiling and writing out my emailed ACL recovery updates…

 

ACL emails: Week 4

The stress keeps building… But thankfully we’ve got a lot of stuff to be working on, which is keeping us semi-sane and active.

This week was more Physical Therapy appointments and more fighting with Tufts – both came out with pretty good results. I’m still on crutches, and will be for the forseeable future, but my gait isn’t deteriorating too much, and my mobility is coming back up. I don’t have full active extension anymore, but I do have passive extension – which means that the joint itself is fine, it’s just that the muscles are being inhibited by the swelling. Which just means I need to work on reducing the swelling.

With insurance, I finally got in touch with the appeals department (after filing a greivance against our contact there… after filing it, she called me within a day! Funny how that works…). It’s not looking good, but it’s at least moving again.

On the surgery note; I’ve started getting quotes, and it’s not as bad as we expected. It’s still expensive, but not outside the realm of possibility. And the better doctor is actually much cheaper, so that gives better reason to go into Portland, instead of staying in Hood River.

On Hood River note – we’re hitting the gym pretty regularly! My upper body is getting the best workout, and I’ve started doing cardio on some arm-bike machines. I’m actually writing this email from 16,600 ft elevation (it’s equivalent) in an altitude room in Portland, which is giving me some pretty sweet cardio gains.

 

ACL emails: Week 5

I’m feeling good! I’m walking a lot better, and while I did have one day of some pretty bad pain (I think it was a big storm front coming in), I’ve been feeling a lot better over all.

Mobility is still a bit weak, but I’m more confident and walking (with crutches, of course) is getting more and more smooth. I’ve still got extension, and my flexion is slowly returning. I can’t really bend it all the way back still, but supposedly that’s a much easier movement to recover, unlike extension.

Things are going slowly… but hey. They’re going.

May2

ACL recovery: Weeks 2 and 3.5

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ACL emails: Week 2

This is going to be the first in a whole series of email updates that I’ve sent out, detailing my diagnosis and hopefully my recovery from this latest injury. I’m still in the thick of things right now, without a real path forward or light at the end of the tunnel, so writing these out has helped me keep focused on what’s happening, and where I need to go.

The Story So Far: I went skiing. I fell, skiing. Went to the urgent care, and got the diagnosis that every athlete dreads: Ruptured Anterior Cruciate Ligament. I went to a surgeon in Hood River, who doubled down on the diagnosis, telling me that I’d also torn my Lateral Cruciate Ligament, and tore my meniscus as well. Things were pretty bad, but the tunnel did get a bit lighter right at the beginning…

MRI is the news of the week; Sarah and I were out the door at 6:00 Tuesday morning for a 6:30 appointment… That we didn’t get called in for until 7:10.

But the MRI went fine, and we got the results on Friday during my two appointments; one for Dr. Burgoyne (a surgeon) and one with Ed Andree (a physical therapist).

The results are good! …Maybe.

First – the LCL. The good news. My LCL isn’t torn, and seems to be completely intact and undamaged.

Second – the Meniscus. Also good news. Undamaged, looking happy and healthy.

Last – the uncertain news. My ACL might not be torn. It appears to be an avulsion fracture; basically, the ACL was stretched, but didn’t tear. Instead, the bone at the Tibia cracked, but didn’t fully pull away from the tibia. They think. It’s not majorly displaced, but it is displaced. There’s also some damage to the tibial plateau, similar to the damage that drywall receives when you bump into it. Minor, in comparison to everything else.

But, the last news is uncertain. Since it’s not a full tear, treatment is less certain. And since it’s not completely displaced, or completely non-displaced, it’s even less certain. So the path forward is… wait and see. It’s also more scary, since the damage isn’t complete. Which means I have to be exceptionally careful with it, to avoid making it worse.

I started Physical Therapy, and have a whole list of exercises to do now. I’ll have at least one appt. per week, and for the next month will focus on regaining strength, mobility, and range of motion. Then, they’ll probably take another MRI, and see how well the tibia has healed.

And to confirm all of that, I’ve got two second-opinion consultations coming up this week. So maybe that other orthopedist will have a different opinion?

Slowly but surely. Depending on whether it heals (no surgery) or it doesn’t (probably surgery) recovery time could vary anywhere from 5 months, to over a year.

– Ben

 

 

ACL emails: Week 3.5

It’s been a tough one… Lots has been happening this past week, but unfortunately not much of it is good / actionable information. But recovery is going, which is all I can really ask for.

I’ve been focusing on Physical Therapy the best that I can – It’s a little tough not over-doing it though, since home-exercises always make me think that I should be doing more of them. But the quad contractions are getting a lot better, and standing is getting less and less painful, so the drills are definitely paying off. Now it’s just keeping it up, getting full extension back, and trying to reduce the swelling to normal levels.

From appointments, I got the frustrating news. We saw Dr. O’Shea on Friday – he was really impressive and pleasant to speak with, and explained everything really well to both Sarah and myself. He even did an objective test to measure knee displacement (my right knee is 8mm, my left is 12mm)… which definitely points back toward surgery. Which was his strong recommendation.

The real name of the game now is a split. Getting a third opinion to decide between the “wait and see” option, and the “wait and see… but schedule surgery anyways” option comes first. Second, comes convincing my insurance that getting care in Oregon is medically necessary.

So the battle rages on.

– Ben