PT/rehab sucks. Just got the bill for surgery.

[RKS]

Currently 5 days post-op for ACL reconstruction (allograft) and had my first PT session yesterday. I did scream out 'shit' once and caught the attention of the senior citizens at the office.

I've been playing soccer long enough to have very muscular legs but my quad is almost non-existent in just 4 days. Trying to regain flexibility and quad control is both frustrating and painful. There is also the fear of hurting something in my knee. This hesitation has also affected my walking, now I am very apprehensive about putting any pressure on my left foot even though I have been cleared to do so as tolerated.

I was fortunate enough to get a femoral nerve block along with general anesthesia to kill most of the pain until hours after the surgery. Now I am living on ice-packs and anti-inflammatories. The ortho was kind enough to prescribe some percocet/oxycodone but didn't mention the severe constipation so now I have most of my pills left over.

Thanks for reading as I am locked in my CPM (constant torture machine) for another hour.


Update: I got the bill for the hospital today and it was a whopping $25,948.82 with $4875 for the allograft itself. Thank goodness for good healthcare coverage. Our portion is just $245.88. We still haven't got the bill for the ortho or anesthesiologist but I don't expect those to be too outlandish.

 

[surfsatwerk]

When I had my acl done the swelling and associated pain sucked balls. Oh yeah, it took me two weeks before I could shit normally. I suggest lots of fiber and olive oil to grease up the works.

Good luck man in six months you'll be glad you went through all this crap.

 

[RKS]

When I had my acl done the swelling and associated pain sucked balls. Oh yeah, it took me two weeks before I could shit normally. I suggest lots of fiber and olive oil to grease up the works.

Good luck man in six months you'll be glad you went through all this crap.

lol, I ate fruit, had prune juice, raisin bran, and finally had to resort to delcolax and stopping the pills.

 

[highland145]

Don't know the reason, way back when 1980, but I was in a cast for 8 weeks and immobilizing brace for 6 more after that.

Good luck.

 

[SociallyChallenged]

The apprehension is something that'll slow your rehab and decrease your confidence in your movement. Yeah, there's gonna be pain, but you'll have to trust your PT a bit and try to push yourself. Essentially, what needs to happen is your quad needs to be woken up. Your nervous system is guarding it to prevent further injury. To get past that, you have to actively contract it to improve your proprioception and strength and to decrease your pain. I know it's not very fun and you may have to take it little by little, but if you push yourself, you'll be better off 6 weeks from now. When I work with people, I typically tell them to work at a level that is uncomfortable, but not unbearable. You'll see the most gains there.

 

[marvdmartian]

Don't know the reason, way back when 1980, but I was in a cast for 8 weeks and immobilizing brace for 6 more after that.

Good luck.

Damn.......that must have been one helluva party, if you don't remember what happened!!

RKS, SociallyChallenged hit it right on the head. Your physical therapist isn't going to let you do anything that's going to hurt you, so push it until they tell you to quit/ease up. My buddy had to have his ACL replaced (left leg) with a cadaver part, since he tore it all the way through (snapped it in half, like a rubber band). He said the PT was a pain, but he was glad he did it.

Oh yeah, and I (naturally) asked him after the surgery......."Dude, since you got a cadaver part in you now......can you see dead people???" :sneaky:

 

[highland145]

Damn.......that must have been one helluva party, if you don't remember what happened!!

There was this girl, a bottle of booze, some pills....Now, I've got this tattoo with "Shelia" on it. 30 years and a few brain cells ago.

For whatever reason there was no P.T. and the range of motion has never been better than ~80 percent.

 

[StageLeft]

"When I work with people, I typically tell them to work at a level that is uncomfortable, but not unbearable."

Sounds like good advice.

I haven't had surgery but I have had chronic knee pain and I started (and still do to an extent) guarding it. I'd even (and still do a little) deliberately weight my other leg when getting out of chairs and things and over time the muscle lost size and, I feel, just exacerbated the problem.

 

[RKS]

Damn.......that must have been one helluva party, if you don't remember what happened!!

RKS, SociallyChallenged hit it right on the head. Your physical therapist isn't going to let you do anything that's going to hurt you, so push it until they tell you to quit/ease up. My buddy had to have his ACL replaced (left leg) with a cadaver part, since he tore it all the way through (snapped it in half, like a rubber band). He said the PT was a pain, but he was glad he did it.

Oh yeah, and I (naturally) asked him after the surgery......."Dude, since you got a cadaver part in you now......can you see dead people???" :sneaky:

My ACL snapped and and from what I heard, it also popped out of it's canal/hole?. I saw pictures of the cadaver part and it looks a lot better than the frayed fibers in the 'before' shot.

I am back at work today but moving slowly. Luckily I don't carry much more than a few folders but it is still a pain in the ass with crutches. I am going to attempt some rehab exercises today and go to rehab after work. I am definitely going to push to get off my crutches as soon as possible.

 

[marvdmartian]

If you can't stand the standard crutches, see if they'll let you use some like this.

Personally, I can't stand them, myself. Would rather use a damn walker than a pair of crutches!!

 

[cliftonite]

Hope you get better soon. How did you injure your knee?

 

[RKS]

Hope you get better soon. How did you injure your knee?

I popped it playing soccer on FieldTurf though I think it might have happened on any surface. I was trying to plant and change direction while running after the ball.

7 days post-op and I am able to drive our SUV which is an auto. It may be a few weeks before I have enough quad control to drive our stick.

I am able to see some quad definition, bear weight on the leg during rehab, and getting closer to 90 degrees in flexion.

 

[RKS]

18 Days post-op and I can get around without a crutch, and only need one if I need to walk far. There is still some stiffness but flexion is over 120 degrees. I can ride a stationary bike and will go back to the gym tomorrow to start working the upper body again. Just 6.5 months until I can play ball again.

 

[eits]

:thumbsup:

keep it going, man. don't do anything stupid. don't forget... improper biomechanics = degenerative changes.

 

[RKS]

Currently concentrating on heel-toe walking so I won't limp. Walking down stairs is kinda scary and I hold on to the banister just in case, going up is fine.

 

[OptimumSlinky]

Give it time. I got a patellar autograft not six months ago. I was very fortunate in that I had very little overall pain post-surgery. My ACL had ripped out completely, and my surgeon was very good. There was swelling, but I kept it elevated and within 48-hours had no need for percocet or crutches.

What takes forever is learning to trust your knee again. I started seriously running again with my unit this past month and there are still days when I'll hit an angle or start to push a sprint and I feel nervous. The first couple runs I compensated with the other leg horribly.

And yeah, stairs sucked for a good 2 months. Going down was just an experience until I had full range of motion again. It'll pass though. Keep at your physio; I had to stop for almost 55 days because of a field training rotation, and it put me very behind. I'm catching up now, but burpees still hurt like hell.

 

[StageLeft]

Soccer seems to screw knees up like almost nothing else. I hope things are going well.

 

[Murloc]

If you can't stand the standard crutches, see if they'll let you use some like this.

interesting fact: in europe those crutches you linked are the standard. I've never seen american crutches in real life, only in american telefilms.

 

[RKS]

Give it time. I got a patellar autograft not six months ago. I was very fortunate in that I had very little overall pain post-surgery. My ACL had ripped out completely, and my surgeon was very good. There was swelling, but I kept it elevated and within 48-hours had no need for percocet or crutches.

What takes forever is learning to trust your knee again. I started seriously running again with my unit this past month and there are still days when I'll hit an angle or start to push a sprint and I feel nervous. The first couple runs I compensated with the other leg horribly.

And yeah, stairs sucked for a good 2 months. Going down was just an experience until I had full range of motion again. It'll pass though. Keep at your physio; I had to stop for almost 55 days because of a field training rotation, and it put me very behind. I'm catching up now, but burpees still hurt like hell.

the autograft has a longer recovery because of two surgical sites.

I am at about 6 weeks post-op and am able to go up and down steps pretty well. Most of the PT really doesn't push me too much and my therapist advised me to go down to 1/week or even 1/ 2 weeks. I'm still not allowed to run until 3 months and after I am fitted for a brace so the next 1.5 months are for building more strength and confidence. There is some tightness if I sit too long but the limp is almost gone. Flexion is at 140 degrees or the same as my good knee.

 

[Koing]

Good luck!

My MCL injury took about 12 weeks to fully recover from...first 2 weeks I was limping...

Koing