First 4 days

Hi,

I wanted to give you a quick napshot of what the first few days is like. On teh day of surgery I went to St. francis hospital. I did all the paper work, changed into the gown and sat in the waiting room. Dr. Lewis came in at 9:15 and marked my knees (The bad knee gets YES and good one gets NO).

After that they took you to operation room. I ws out by 11. the whole procedure took about an hour. i was allowed to leave at 12:30 and at home by 2pm. They had put so many drugs in my leg that i couldn't feel anything. I just slept on my bed with the ice machine tied to me knee to prevent it from swelling. My friend Jennifer caqme to stay overnight.

Next morning (Friday) when i work p my left knee was just big blob and I had to use my hands to get my feet off the bed and put them on ground. I knew it was going to be a bad day the moment I got up. I used the bathroom ate something and took my painkillers. I spent the entire day sleeping and icing my legs. Everytime I had to move my leg I was in extruciating pain.

The following day sat I felt a lot better. I still have pain when I move my legs but it was lot more bearable. I was able to love with crutches a lot more easily. I had friends visit me throughtout the day. On sunday the 4th day everyone came to watch football and it was good to see everyone. I feel I am getting stronger and bettre everyday :-)

Day before the surgery

Hi everyone,

Today I went for my pre-surgery checkup - blood pressure, temp etc. They checked my knee other than some swelling they thought I was in fantastic shape and should recover faster than most patients after the surgery (take a look at the pictuer at left. the left knee was 3 times the right knee day after the injury).

They walk you thru the whole process. The waiting room, recovery room and surgery process. They also do the blood test and other tests. They require this so you don't have to go thru them on the day of the surgery. One of the thing they kept on insisting is to never enter the operation room if my knees are not marked with YES (surgery knee) and NO. I am so ready for this surgery.

I'll be spending lot of time on bed doing the rehab, icing my legs etc. I plan setting up a camp in my living room. Last night I moved the furniture and setup my living room for long term stay. I also stocked up on DVD's, odawalls, snackable foods etc. (everyone recomended that)

Well you are probably wondering what am I doing Tonight? I am shaving my legs and do my last load of laundry ;-)

One Month later

Happy New Year!

Let's hope 2009 is injury free for me and everyone else. So it's been 1 month since I tore my ACL. On the day of the injury I never thought I'll be able to walk or do any exercise for while. We have a come long way. I can walk without crutches, sit on stationary bike for 40 minutes. I am also doing a pre-surgery rehab 3 times day. I am at a point I can pretty much at the same strength level as pre-surgery.

I have been doing lot of reserach on the ACL surgery and spoke to few people who have gone thru it. Lot of good info, on getting ready for surgery. I think I am overloaded with info and to-do and don't for pre and post surgery. I am taking the following week off. I'll have good 10 days of rest & rehab at home before I come back to work.

One of the warning I got from everyone is to make not to put on lot of weight. I am watching what I eat. I fell off the wagon during the holidays, but now back on wagon.

The first 2 weeks after the injury

HI everyone,

It's been 4 weeks since the injury. I know I had to go thru the surgery but my doctor won't do the surgery during the holidays. She also wanted to make sure that I go thru some rehab before the surgery to make sure I have my strength back.

I started with Statinory bike for 15 minutes 5 times aweek. The 1st day was absolutley painful i could barely be on bike for 5 minutes before stopping. Within a week I was able to be on statinoary bike for 20 minutes. After 2 weks I can do 450 minutes at almost 90% of the paceand intensity before the surgery :-) Yeehay

I also started some pre-surgery rehab: These include Knee extension and Quad sets. straight leg raises etc. The purpose is to strengthen your Quads and hamstrings.
http://www.aclsolutions.com/rehab_1.php

They are fun the 1St few times but really boring afterwards. I keep doing them since well I have no choice.

ACL Injuries

ACL injuries are in the news more these days. The latest famous victim, Tiger Woods who announced that his season is over due to a torn ACL which he has been trying to play though. Also, some interesting stats also come out today from the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons:

• About 200,000 ACL injuries occur annually in the United States, often in conjunction with damage to other knee ligaments and cartilage. (wow!)
  
• Doctors perform roughly 100,000 ACL reconstructive surgeries nationwide each year, mostly on an outpatient basis.
  
• ACL surgeries have a long-term success rate of 82 percent to 95 percent, depending on numerous factors.
  
• Rehabilitation takes about half a year, or longer for certain athletic activities.Post-surgical limitations can include stiffness, some loss of motion and less stability for the knee than before the injury.
  
• Sports commonly associated with ACL tears and ruptures include football, tennis, basketball, soccer and collision with dogs! (just kidding)
  
• Women have a higher rate of ACL injuries than men, for reasons ranging from estrogen's effects on ligaments to gender differences in the alignment of the pelvis and legs

A great website for ACL realted injuries is http://www.aclsolutions.com/default.php

You can actually watch the ACL surgery on youtube!

So I tore my ACL

Thank you for visiting Fix My Left Knee blog!

I am a very active guy and have been active for almost 25 years. I normally enjoy a wide range of activities. Running, biking, Soccer and crossfit.I used to run track in high school in the worse possible condition (concrete pavements and roads in Mumbai) in the worse possible shoes. In the past 25 years I have numerous friends who had knee injurues specially torn ACL. I was the lucky one who never had any injuries or surgeries.

Alas my luck ran out 2 weeks ago. On Saturday, Dec 6Th 2008 at 9:25 a.m. I was doing my morning workout at Crossfit. We finish the workout with 4X200 sprints. I was doing the last sprint and barely a yard away from finish line when all of the sudden a dog (belongs to one of the coaches) while chasing a ball collided with my left knee.

Immediatly I was in lot of pain and fell on the floor. The pain was nothing like I had experienced before. I just couldn't get up or put my foot on floor. The good folks at crossfit Carl, Meghan and Gretchen (Thanks guys) took me to UCSF Emergency room.

The diagnosis was that it's a torn MCL (inside part of the knee)but I need to get a MRI done to confirm. I went to my Orthopedic on Monday for an MRI. It was a lot worse, I had shattered my ACL, Medial Mencisu and MCL. I have to get a surgery (my 1st time ever). This is not the way I imagined tearing my ACL. I was hoping a trying to score the winning goal at world cup or skiing the black diamond at Tahoe!

In the next few months I will share my experiences of ACL surgery and recovery.