Knee surgery..been there? done that?

Silverfox said:

I go in with an open and optomistic mind..the best specialists that I could come up with recommended the similar course of action..I liked one of the docs and facilities much more that the others..the die is cast..wednsday is the day

I fully expect that i will be back on trail midsummer...might not be a 9 hours bond's traverse this year but here's hoping...
thanks for your thougts and trip reports...keep them coming

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I wish you all the best, and I hope your recovery is as swift as it can be.

I have never had knee surgery, but I did fracture my patella two years ago. Took 2 months to walk again, took a year before I could jog again. Soon after that, I was able to do everything normally.

It will be very difficult for you in the short term, but in the long term it will all be okay -- more than okay, actually.

I'm sorry you have to go through the short-term aspects and can't just skip to the long-term. Looking forward to seeing you out there in the summer.

yup

yup,
been there. knee injuries suck.
Torn ACL and MCL while snowboarding, along with meniscus tears, March of 2006, surgery in June.
Was snowboarding in Colorado December of that year. Physical Therapy was pretty rough and painful, especially the first time on the stationary bike(the day they made me do a full pedal). Glad i had suggested aggresive therapy. Was biking begining of July and jogging end of July, Snowboarding in November.
the bad news is my knee still hurts everytime i jog/bike/snowboard/hike.
Just something you have to learn to live with. The doctor told me it takes years for the nerves to rebuild. I used my own Ligaments for the graft, not a from a cadaver.

hey Mark,

Good Luck! I know it'll be worth it in the long run!

jason

I'm still recovering from arthroscopic surgery in mid November for a torn meniscus. It is not going all that good. The knee still gives me some sharp pains though in different spots than it used to. I'm in the "grumpy" phase.

There is actually a pretty good article on this subject in the style section of the Sunday NY Times. I'm not smart enough to set up a link, but I know you can access it online.

I don't think your expectations are unreasonable and I think a lot depends on your activity level before surgery and your motivation. Take your pain medicine so you can do your therapy. (I'm a surgical nurse) Being in the hospital is boring. Bring music, books, your laptop, etc. You might not feel up to doing anything, but at least there is an option besides television. Drink a lot of fluids so the pain medicine doesn't cause constipation (sounds like a joke, but not funny in real life) The CPM machine is easier to tolerate if the head of the bed is low. Be patient with yourself.

Good Luck to you! We'd be happy to do some 'rehab hiking' with you when you're ready.

Good Luck!

Best of luck tomorrow, Mark! Will see you out there soon!

K, J & E

Go get em Mark, best wishes on a capable surgeon and a quick, speedy, and successful rehab! Just remember why you're gettin it done: it will make hikin so much better, that attitude will get you through any rehab!

Thanks friends from VFTT..Appointment got moved up to first thing this morning..kind of good as no sitting around getting nervous all day..Getting picked up at 4AM for the journey south..

Thanks for the good vibes!!!!

Keep sending those trail reports....

Good luck!

Silverfox said:

Thanks friends from VFTT..Appointment got moved up to first thing this morning..kind of good as no sitting around getting nervous all day..Getting picked up at 4AM for the journey south..

Thanks for the good vibes!!!!

Keep sending those trail reports....

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Am thinking of you right now and sending you good vibes. Good luck, in the long run this will absolutely be worth it.

I hope they don't dope him up too bad. They hit me pretty hard. I took the drink, then the IV, and they told me the usual, start counting backwards from 100. I got to 91 and the nurse said I started to make the motion of striking flint to start a fire (with no materials of course) then I started "measuring", she said, "in grains", which confused her. She said I kept using the numbers 65, 80, 100, and 110. I told her that those are black powder grain measures for when I flintlock. Then I went out. It was a good laugh. They also let me put the big black "X" on the right knee before all that stuff.
No regrets to getting it done whatsoever. He'll be fine!

Fisher Cat said:

I hope they don't dope him up too bad. They hit me pretty hard. I took the drink, then the IV, and they told me the usual, start counting backwards from 100. I got to 91 and the nurse said I started to make the motion of striking flint to start a fire (with no materials of course) then I started "measuring", she said, "in grains", which confused her. She said I kept using the numbers 65, 80, 100, and 110. I told her that those are black powder grain measures for when I flintlock. Then I went out. It was a good laugh. They also let me put the big black "X" on the right knee before all that stuff.

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I found surgery to be pretty easy (6 surgeries in 16 months for my leg and wrist injuries)--after all, I got to sleep though them. I had both day surgeries and stay-in-the-hospital surgeries.

* The anesthesiologist should talk to you before hand about the type of anesthesia to be used. (My choices were general or spinal block. I used both (at separate operations) and had no problems with either.)
* The surgeon should talk to you about the surgery, verify the operation, and mark which knee by writing on nearby skin. (My surgeon wrote "yes" at the site.)
* I already had an IV in, the anesthesia was given via the IV and I simply drifted off to sleep (general or spinal block+sedative) or into a semi-conscious stupor (spinal block).
* A while later I woke up. (The doc had the hard part, all I had to do was sleep.)
* The short-term recovery from the anesthesia was easy for me.
* The longer-term recovery may take a bit more effort on your part...

The above summarizes my experience, of course YMMV.

You should be asked for your birth date everytime someone gives you something. I found it annoying at first until I realized that this was a check to make sure they were giving the correct drug to the correct person. (Part of a program to minimize medical mistakes.)

Fortunately I had no complications--I don't know how much of it was luck. In any case, even though mine went fairly well, it isn't something I would do for fun. (Besides, I could have bought several full Tele and AT ski rigs for what it cost me.)

Good luck with it and I hope it gets you back to full function.

Doug

Well, it should be done by now ... fingers crossed that all went well today!

MichaelJ said:

Well, it should be done by now ... fingers crossed that all went well today!

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He's going to be disappointed to have slept through all the "New product for women on the go" posts today!

Hah! His green light is on. Doesn't that mean he's online?

wardsgirl said:

Hah! His green light is on. Doesn't that mean he's online?

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He is listed as last being on at 4:13pm. So either he or someone using his login name was on.


Hmm... Guess my last post was too late to be of any help.

Doug

Oh, he's online alright. C'mon, dish! How'd it go???

Allow me to be the first to welcome back the NEW and IMPROVED Silverfox AKA "Walks With Bionic Knee" back to the forum!

MichaelJ said:

Oh, he's online alright. C'mon, dish! How'd it go???

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He might not be feeling up to par quite yet--give him a day or two.

Doug

Here’s Mark walking . . . he’s good as new . . . Uhhh . . . well . . . almost!
Hmmm! Seem like there might be some things missing. Uh oh!
Is this another case of the “Humpty-Dumpty Syndrome?!



(It might take a few seconds for Mark's image to show;
But if it doesn’t show up, then try clicking attached image below.)

Best wishes Mark for a super-sonic speedy recovery!