Monday 29 April 2013
pictures 3 weeks post op
3 weeks!
Well i had my first follow up appointment this morning, three weeks till the day.
My surgeon was happy with my progress removed my bandages (i;m impressed hardly a scare and gave my leg a bit of a bend, ohhh boy did that hurt!, was probably the most pain my knee has given me in three weeks. Also told me to throw away my crutches.
Had my brace switched over to a hinged one, with 90 degree range of motion, which i've got for a month.
Been walking on it around uni today, so it is a little sore and swollen tonight.
He also set me up for a physio appointment later this week, to start my exercises other then the leg raises the Surgeon gave me.
Will update this with my exercises when i get them.
Cheers Jamezy
.
My surgeon was happy with my progress removed my bandages (i;m impressed hardly a scare and gave my leg a bit of a bend, ohhh boy did that hurt!, was probably the most pain my knee has given me in three weeks. Also told me to throw away my crutches.
Had my brace switched over to a hinged one, with 90 degree range of motion, which i've got for a month.
Been walking on it around uni today, so it is a little sore and swollen tonight.
He also set me up for a physio appointment later this week, to start my exercises other then the leg raises the Surgeon gave me.
Will update this with my exercises when i get them.
Cheers Jamezy
.
Sunday 21 April 2013
Almost 2 weeks down!
Two weeks down and everything is going pretty well, a little bit of swelling every now and then, especially when i walk around to much with out my crutches.
Still wearing my straight leg brace, which is beginning to annoy me a little me, as i said before being a tallish person not being able to bend my leg just makes the simple things difficult.
I've pretty much weaned my self off painkillers, and i'm only using crutches when i'm out and about, around home i'm pretty much off them. Only incident i've had so far was i tripped over the dog in the middle of the night, and fell backwards i did have a real sharp pain at the back of my lower leg/ knee, and it ached for a while, but no swelling so hopefully it was just my hamstrings playin up and not the graft.
I have another week of restin up and studyin for Uni, before i go back to my surgeon and get started on me physio/rehab. which i'm lookin forward too, 3 weeks on me backside will just about drive me nuts.
I'll post updated pic shortly!
Still wearing my straight leg brace, which is beginning to annoy me a little me, as i said before being a tallish person not being able to bend my leg just makes the simple things difficult.
I've pretty much weaned my self off painkillers, and i'm only using crutches when i'm out and about, around home i'm pretty much off them. Only incident i've had so far was i tripped over the dog in the middle of the night, and fell backwards i did have a real sharp pain at the back of my lower leg/ knee, and it ached for a while, but no swelling so hopefully it was just my hamstrings playin up and not the graft.
I have another week of restin up and studyin for Uni, before i go back to my surgeon and get started on me physio/rehab. which i'm lookin forward too, 3 weeks on me backside will just about drive me nuts.
I'll post updated pic shortly!
Saturday 13 April 2013
6 days post op!
So where am i know?
Well it's been almost a week since i had the surgery to reconstruct my knew PCL.
The surgery went well , although it did go for four hours instead of the estimated one hour.
They used a graft from my hamstring to replace my PCL. I stayed in hospital over night.
My anaesthetist said i would wake up after surgery in quite a lot of pain, so he would put a nerve block in my legs which would lessen my knee pain however i would still feel pain in my hamstrings.
Well if i can give any advice to anyone having a reconstruction weather it be PCL or ACL it would be to get the nerve block if available, because i woke up in very little pain at all with just a slight tingling in my hamstrings, nothing a little pain medication couldn't fix though.
I had a PT come visit me before i went home to train me how to use crutches and how to tackle stairs.
The biggest difference I've seen from the blogs on PCL's to mine is that most of the people seemed to be completely none weight bearing, wheres as I'm basically just using crutches to lessen the weight. I use them and I'm wearing a big clunky brace that has to stay on to stop me bending my knee except for a brief shower, i can tell already its gonna get a fair old stench to it, as i do seem to sweat into it allot. My surgeon has given me 3 weeks rest before i go back to check my wounds and to start my rehab.
I'm in surprisingly little pain, with it generally being restricted to my hamstrings and my calves, I'm not really sure what causes that. However if i do too much like i have walked around without crutches a few times (naughty), my knee swells up and i have to put my leg up and apply a fair bit of ice to ease the swelling.
I do find somethings difficult getting changed being one, trying to get shorts, jocks and pants over the brace is quite difficult especially when you can't bend your leg also being 6ft2 my legs are rather long and trying to get in and out of a car (ohh thats another thing i can't drive at the moment so i
m back depending on Mums taxi service) with out bending then is near on impossible, so i have to sit with my leg stretched out on the back seat.
That's all i can think to right for now but i will endeavour to keep this updated as my rehab progresses.
Well it's been almost a week since i had the surgery to reconstruct my knew PCL.
The surgery went well , although it did go for four hours instead of the estimated one hour.
They used a graft from my hamstring to replace my PCL. I stayed in hospital over night.
My anaesthetist said i would wake up after surgery in quite a lot of pain, so he would put a nerve block in my legs which would lessen my knee pain however i would still feel pain in my hamstrings.
Well if i can give any advice to anyone having a reconstruction weather it be PCL or ACL it would be to get the nerve block if available, because i woke up in very little pain at all with just a slight tingling in my hamstrings, nothing a little pain medication couldn't fix though.
I had a PT come visit me before i went home to train me how to use crutches and how to tackle stairs.
The biggest difference I've seen from the blogs on PCL's to mine is that most of the people seemed to be completely none weight bearing, wheres as I'm basically just using crutches to lessen the weight. I use them and I'm wearing a big clunky brace that has to stay on to stop me bending my knee except for a brief shower, i can tell already its gonna get a fair old stench to it, as i do seem to sweat into it allot. My surgeon has given me 3 weeks rest before i go back to check my wounds and to start my rehab.
I'm in surprisingly little pain, with it generally being restricted to my hamstrings and my calves, I'm not really sure what causes that. However if i do too much like i have walked around without crutches a few times (naughty), my knee swells up and i have to put my leg up and apply a fair bit of ice to ease the swelling.
I do find somethings difficult getting changed being one, trying to get shorts, jocks and pants over the brace is quite difficult especially when you can't bend your leg also being 6ft2 my legs are rather long and trying to get in and out of a car (ohh thats another thing i can't drive at the moment so i
m back depending on Mums taxi service) with out bending then is near on impossible, so i have to sit with my leg stretched out on the back seat.
That's all i can think to right for now but i will endeavour to keep this updated as my rehab progresses.
What now!
The surgeon says your an unusual case, we see very few people with PCL injury's and even fewer with a tear and nothing else that's injured.
He explained how in years gone by they where largely left untreated with surgery being more difficult and less succefull then the more common ACL reconstruction. PT was favoured to build up muscles around the area and to somewhat compensate for role the PCL plays. He also said if i was over 40 or inactive this is the treatment path he would favour.
However he also said methods of reconstruction had improved and with the PCL being the strongest and hardest to tear ligament in the knee, it's role is just as important as an ACL. He also said surgery techniques had advanced so the success rates arnt much lower then ACL's
I'm a pretty active person, i play football, like to run and jog, swim, and also being from a farming background this also keeps me pretty active. So the surgeon said with this in mind the likelihood is that the knee would deteriorate and eventually i may need surgery in the future so i would be better off doing it now while i can afford to be of my legs for a bit.
So i booked in for surgery a further three months down the track to give my self a 3 week break from uni. My surgeon said i may need 4 but we will cross that bridge when we come to it. He then set me up with a physio and i have been doing exercises and weights on my legs to build up strengthen to help with my recovery after surgery.
He explained how in years gone by they where largely left untreated with surgery being more difficult and less succefull then the more common ACL reconstruction. PT was favoured to build up muscles around the area and to somewhat compensate for role the PCL plays. He also said if i was over 40 or inactive this is the treatment path he would favour.
However he also said methods of reconstruction had improved and with the PCL being the strongest and hardest to tear ligament in the knee, it's role is just as important as an ACL. He also said surgery techniques had advanced so the success rates arnt much lower then ACL's
I'm a pretty active person, i play football, like to run and jog, swim, and also being from a farming background this also keeps me pretty active. So the surgeon said with this in mind the likelihood is that the knee would deteriorate and eventually i may need surgery in the future so i would be better off doing it now while i can afford to be of my legs for a bit.
So i booked in for surgery a further three months down the track to give my self a 3 week break from uni. My surgeon said i may need 4 but we will cross that bridge when we come to it. He then set me up with a physio and i have been doing exercises and weights on my legs to build up strengthen to help with my recovery after surgery.
Introduction
G'day I'm Matthew I'm a 24 year old Uni Student From South Australia.
I have noticed how there is so much information and advice around the Internet about ACL surgery and recovery but very little on PCL's. There are a couple of great blogs here but they are a little older and medicine does advance quickly so my storey may be a little different. So I've decided to start a blog so other people experiencing a similar injury can get a little bit of an idea what to expect.
So lets got to the start! about 4 months ago i decided to do some work on cattle/sheep station for a few weeks over Uni's Summer break. About a week into this i got knocked off a motorbike by grumpy steer, i wasn't going that fast but my right knee was driven rather hard into soild ground.
My very first though was "ohh I've broken my leg", just because i felt something snap i had a very weird sensation in my leg. However i quickly realised that although very swollen my knee or leg definitely wasn't broken as i could stand up, so i got the bike going again and got back on with work.
I worked for a further 5 weeks which looking back was probably a bit silly struggled running, climbing, lifting and my knee was even aching while i was sleeping.
When i returned home i enjoyed Christmas and New years with family in friends, but this whole time i could still sense something with my knee wasn't right. So i went to the local Dr who sent me in for a x-ray which showed nothing other then a large amount of "Knee Joint Effusion" She said it was highly possible i had some soft tissue damage so i got a referral to a Orthopaedic surgeon.
I was unable to get into to see this surgeon for a further 4 weeks, when i did he examined my knee and said to have so much swelling after such a long period is a worry, but he though that my only damage may have been to my knee cap and maybe some cartilage damage, He sent me off for a MRI just to be sure.
The MRI came back with the results showing i had a "complete or near complete tear of my PCL" however there was no other damage visible. After further physical tests the surgeon was also surprised how much play and movement my knee had and these where signs that my PCL had "shat it self"
I have noticed how there is so much information and advice around the Internet about ACL surgery and recovery but very little on PCL's. There are a couple of great blogs here but they are a little older and medicine does advance quickly so my storey may be a little different. So I've decided to start a blog so other people experiencing a similar injury can get a little bit of an idea what to expect.
So lets got to the start! about 4 months ago i decided to do some work on cattle/sheep station for a few weeks over Uni's Summer break. About a week into this i got knocked off a motorbike by grumpy steer, i wasn't going that fast but my right knee was driven rather hard into soild ground.
My very first though was "ohh I've broken my leg", just because i felt something snap i had a very weird sensation in my leg. However i quickly realised that although very swollen my knee or leg definitely wasn't broken as i could stand up, so i got the bike going again and got back on with work.
I worked for a further 5 weeks which looking back was probably a bit silly struggled running, climbing, lifting and my knee was even aching while i was sleeping.
When i returned home i enjoyed Christmas and New years with family in friends, but this whole time i could still sense something with my knee wasn't right. So i went to the local Dr who sent me in for a x-ray which showed nothing other then a large amount of "Knee Joint Effusion" She said it was highly possible i had some soft tissue damage so i got a referral to a Orthopaedic surgeon.
I was unable to get into to see this surgeon for a further 4 weeks, when i did he examined my knee and said to have so much swelling after such a long period is a worry, but he though that my only damage may have been to my knee cap and maybe some cartilage damage, He sent me off for a MRI just to be sure.
The MRI came back with the results showing i had a "complete or near complete tear of my PCL" however there was no other damage visible. After further physical tests the surgeon was also surprised how much play and movement my knee had and these where signs that my PCL had "shat it self"
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