:(

12 Days left...

Closer...

I have three weeks until surgery....I'm not so afraid of surgery itself....but everything I've heard about the ensuing physical therapy terrifies me....pretty flipped out...

:(

I have decided to forgo the workouts for the time being. My knee isn't stable enough to take the pounding. I feel it slide around and pop when I do a lot of the moves.

Surgery is Scheduled

I called and scheduled surgery this morning. I go in on January 12. So not excited, but I am tired of my knee feeling like this.

Done waiting

I decided last week that I was done waiting around. I can't have surgery until January, but I can't just sit and pack on the weight anymore either. I was watching tv and ran across the infomercial for Shaun T's Insanity workouts and I took the bait. I ordered it and have just started doing the workouts. I'm in day 3 and I'm sore but I have more energy than I've had in a while. The workouts kick my butt and to begin with I was nervous about my knee, but I can do all of the cardio stuff, at least as far as my knee is concerned. I workout in my livingroom, so it's a very level stable surface. I was using my brace, but today I did the entire dvd without it and it didn't kill me. I'm hoping to drop some weight and put back on some of the muscle I've lost since my injury. I want to get back down to a better weight and lose some body fat. This program is 60 days, so I'll finish just before surgery. My only complaint is that during some of the exercises my arches and the balls of my feet burn like crazy and I have to stop.

October

October is half over and I'm still more or less in a holding pattern. I want to play flag football or rollerderby, but I don't think I better. I keep thinking about getting a gym membership to try to shed some excess weight, but it seems like kind of a waste when I'll be unable to use it for several months come the beginning of the year which is just over 2 months away. I'm frustrated. I'm supposed to call and schedule surgery for January at the beginning of November. I'm still trying to convince myself that this is what I need to do...

update 9/15/09

Ok, so things are still on hold. I bought a brace so I'm able to do some hiking and riding before the weather changes. I've been out a few times and the knee doesn't bother me much in general. Coming back down a mountain is a bit more of a challenge where the knee is concerned than going up. Of course going up is more of a challenge fitness-wise. Riding my horse doesn't kill me until it's time to get off. I have, however developed this random sharp pain on the inside of my knee once in a while. It doesn't seem to matter what I'm doing, it just randomly shows up. Anybody have any ideas?

On Hold

So everything seems to be on hold. I'm sort of afraid to do a lot of things I want to do because my knee might not hold. I don't want to whine or complain. I'm just frustrated I guess. I've barely ridden my horse this summer. I guess I should just brace up and get out there, but it worries me a little...

Postponed

I have postponed surgery until January. It mostly has to do with work. Now isn't really a very convenient time for my boss to have me off work. We have a guy out with a fairly significant head injury, so we aren't sure when he'll be back. It would leave the store really short handed. Also I don't qualify for FML until January 5, so it is more of a sure thing to have a job when I get back if I wait until January. So four extra months to stress about it. :-S

The Saga Begins

As some of you know, on January 10, 2009 I was in a crash on the interstate. My immediate concern, while I was still waiting to be cut out of the car, was that my right foot was broken. My suspicion on that turned out to be correct and I never really gave much thought to the stiffness and swelling in my left knee. I figured it was just some of the inherent soreness from being in a crash. So I went back to Denver for two more weeks training for my new job in a walking boot and on crutches. My knee was painful enough that I had to start putting weight on my ankle before I was really supposed to, but luckily that didn't cause any trouble with the ankle.

When I returned from training I went for a follow-up appointment, where the doctor determined that it was probably that my ACL was torn. I was refered to a knee specialist who determined that it was not, in fact, the ACL, but the PCL that was torn.

Originally, we decided that we would treat the knee conservatively with some strengthening exercises, but after a couple of months there really wasn't much change and the knee still felt unstable. At that point I scheduled surgery to have the PCL reconstructed. I also asked for a brace so that I am able to play at least a little this summer. The brace works well and I managed to scrape some of the finish off of it while playing with some younger cousins and the children of a cousin. I suppose I could wear the brace forever and get away without having surgery, but everything I've heard and read points to a high likelyhood of arthritis a few years down the road.

I have done a little research on the procedure and the recovery, but everyone seems to have their own take. These are the things I know: my surgeon will use an allograft (cadaver graft) to reconstruct my PCL (most likely an achilles tendon); I will be in a full leg brace completely extended for the greater part of six weeks, with no weight bearing; full recovery takes nine months up to a year or more; I will be out of work a minimum of two weeks, with three to four being more likely.

Anyone who comes across this blog who feels inclined to leave their own experiences with this type of surgery, or who has more information than I presently posess, please feel free to leave comments. I will continue to update this as surgery gets closer and then as recovery begins.