Monday, October 6, 2008

Day 174 Of My PCL Surgery And Recovery

Check it out! Balancing on the Bosu!!

I was hoping by now my IT Band would stop hurting so much. Now when I'm standing still my knee makes a loud crack and it pops a little bit. It's alarming to say the least. I'll be bringing this up in rehab to see what they think.

I found a great web page to help explain surgery and recovery. Patient Guide To PCL Injuries Give it a read. Well worth your time.

These are great but be careful. Make sure you have someone there to help you while you're learning how to balance again.

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

You originally hoped to run one day 180. Are you going to try?

Anonymous said...

Sorry, that's "on" day 180.

Skinnygurl said...

I want to but will wait to see my OS next Tuesday. I'm still having the IT Band pain and my knee crunches like a bowl of cereal. I'm concerned about the new pain I am having along the front top as well. I doubt he'll release me to do any running just yet.
I can always dream!!

How are you doing Molly??

Anonymous said...

Oh, I think your pain above the knee is a good thing! It's probably a tight area that you've not been able to stretch yet because of your reduced flexibity. When my IT band pain started to go away, it was replaced by the stretching pain above the knee. Then that went away in favor of new stretching pain higher up the quad. As you stretch through each tight spot, the pain diminishes in favor of the next tight spot. I think you're healing. The crunching is interesting, though. I would like to know what your PT or OS thinks it is. My knee makes a lot of popping and cracking noises, but my OS said that was to be expected and wasn't anything to be very concerned about (as long as the pain didn't get worse). My functional fitness guy told me to work through it and the pain would lessen. In my case, he was correct. As I manipulate the joint, the noises lessen.

I'm doing very well - I went to the beach this weekend, am getting around in the world without my brace (don't tell Dr. A), and feel healed at 11+ months post-op. You're not even 6 months post-op yet and look at all the things you can do. Things progress really quickly now.

Linda said...

Thanks for the PCL link. Great pictures and explanation. Skinny gurl, please keep us posted on your Tuesday visit. I am so hopeful to hear your released for a run.

Dan's big news is that he's released for "long walks". Not quite the cardio training he's used to, but for now, we'll take it.

Dan is doing campus visits and selecting a college for next year. I'm grateful his recovery and rehab is occurring now instead of next fall. It would have been very difficult to tackle recovery and rehab on top of freshman year at college!!!!

Unknown said...

hi, my name is charlie and im 20 years old and play division 1 soccer. my goal is to become pro in the next year or two but i recently tore my pcl and have to have surgery in the next couple weeks. i guess my question is the recovery time. next season starts late august but that means i have to be back to playing soccer and in shape and back to 100% normal by then. I'm trying to plan my surgery around tests. I also just had sports hernia surgery on both sides of my groin last week. When walking down the stairs a day after i tore my pcl i fell down the stairs and broke my wrist and elbow. I had to wait until my groin heals, cast off my arm comes off and my scaps on my knee heal in order to get pcl surgery. The surgeon told me that he will use a piece of my Achilles to fix my pcl. My recovery for the hernia should just be another 2 or 3 weeks and my cast should come off in 2 to three weeks as well. How long do you think getting back to normal will take for 20 year old that has physical therapist 7 days a week as disposal through athletic dept. Thanks

Charlie

Skinnygurl said...

Hey Molly,
Getting around w/o your brace eh? Wow, I am surprised! Good deal! Just be careful.

Thanks Linda! Give Dan a big pat on the back with congratulations for his long walks! We all have to start at the beginning! He'll just keep getting better and better!!! Way to go!!!!!

Charlie,

Wow, I sure am sorry to learn of your injuries and challenges you will be facing. I wish you a speedy recovery and the best of luck to you.
Because you're 20 and would probably heal quickly it's hard for me to guess how long it'll be before you're back in the game. My advice to you is listen to the rehab folks, follow their advice along with your doctors orders. Don't try to rush your recovery and be prepared to work hard. Harder than you've ever worked for anything. This is a long road and there is no sugar coating it. You're going to have struggles but there is an end in sight. Just don't rush it.
Please post and let me know how you're doing. If there is anything I can help you with, please ask. I will do my best to help you. Reading my blog from beginning to end, you'll see approx. what you'll be up against. Make sure you have someone to help you through this. It's really hard and I couldn't imagine doing it alone. (like some others around here) LOL
Thanks for posting Charlie and hang in there!

Unknown said...

Hi, I just happened to come across your blog because my 17 year old daughter is having surgery this coming Thursday. She fell doing a tumbling pass at cheerleading practice and tore her ACL, PCL and. . . well just about everything you can tear in there. Her doctor called it an around the world. After reading a little bit I have realized that she and I didn't have a clue what she is about to go through. She is very active in cheerleading and this is going to be her senior year in high school. She thinks she'll be back tumbling and jumping and stunting in time for the world championships in April. It looks like she has a long road ahead of her. Well, anyway good luck to you and I hope you don't mind if I come by occasionally to check in and maybe compare notes. Thanks - Donna

Skinnygurl said...

How is your girl Donna?

Send her my best!
Big Hug!

James said...

I hope for your speedy recovery Skinnygurl! By the way, you are right, you really need a spotter, whenever you do that kind of exercise because you aren't completely healed yet and you might easily lose your balance. When I got discharged a few days ago with me being completely recovered from my biking accident, the sight of the billing software by the medical billing companies greeting me goodbye is sure the best, because I can go on with my life again (and not to get injured in the process).

Skinnygurl said...

Congratulations James.
Thanks for stopping by and leaving a comment.
I'm so glad you're A-Okay and moving forward with your life!