Hello Everyone!
My journey is over but yours just might be beginning. Feel free to leave comments, questions or concerns in my comments sections. I have several people that have gone through this same surgery and are willing to help you as well as myself.
Posts
7 years ago
35 comments:
hi there: Good to know that your surgery was a success. I have a grade III tear, four years old, that I'll be having surgery on this December. I was looking at your pix, wondering how you fit pants under the brace. Did your pant leg fit under the brace ok, or did you cut one pants leg into shorts? I know--not the most important question, but the weather in winter is going to be cold and wet, and I'm trying to plan ahead for wardobe choices. Better to plan now, I think, than regret later.
Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks for the info on the blog.
Hi AJ!!
Well, that's an excellent question. I was very surprised when I came home from the hospital and none of my clothes fit over the brace! What I did was cut the legs off some of my work out clothes. As time went on I was able to wear some black work out pants with the one leg folded way up my thigh. My leg got pretty skinny so that wasn't a problem rolling the pants up!
Please be so very careful on those crutches. I would love to hear back from you. If you have any concerns or questions I have a team of PCL survivors!!
When you're recovery is complete, you're invited to send me a picture and short story of your journey. I'll put you on the front page of my blog. :)
hi! i'm 17 years old, i had PCL reconstruction 21 days ago, now i am starting to do Physical Therapy, i just can bend my knee 60 degrees.. and it hurts so much! is that normal? what do i need to do so i can bend more without pain? thanks :D
Hi Steven,
Welcome to my blog. Going back to day 21 of my blog I had mentioned rehab and how I had to massage the top of my knee cap. Are you doing that too? I remember the pain.
I wasn't standing while rehabbing at that point although in the post it said I would be standing doing some rehab exercises the following week.
It would be interesting for you to follow my blog to see how closely our victories are. I'm pretty sure you'll heal faster because of your age.
You'll grit your teeth a lot. I was still on pain medication on that point in time. Stay on top of the pain, I took a couple pills before rehab. That seemed to help a little bit. It hurts, that's all there is to it. It just plain hurts!
Molly, can you chime in here and give some advice?
Good luck to you Steven and please stay in touch. We all would like to cheer you on and when you're all done with your recovery I'll put you on my blog with your picture (of your choice) and a short story of your recovery if you like.
hi again! thanks for replying me :D it helps a lot, now i can bend my knee 60 degrees, but it hurts so much!! how do you message your kneecap? i am doing wall slide like you did.
oh ya, my doctor already allowed to walk, is that okay because i am still in days 21, i am afraid to damage my knee. my doctor also said that i can playing basketball again in 3 months after surgery haha, can't wait :)
thanks so much, i will keep in touch, and i am already took some photos maybe it will be helpful for others
Steven,
You'll find lots of support here, I'm so glad you found my blog.
When I said I wasn't standing in rehab I meant when I had my rehab sessions I was laying on the table while they bent my knee for me. You would have to go back to the beginning of the blog and read what it says at or around my 21 day mark. I was walking on crutches but in rehab they wouldn't let me stand to do any exercises yet.
Does that make sense?
I don't want to give you any advice outside of what your rehab team and doctor say. So if they are asking you to massage your knee cap then please do. I used something called 'free up' cream and it's pictured in my blog somewhere. There is even a link so you can buy it from Amazon. I linked my large ice pack too. I had a very hard time finding a good ice pack and that's the one I thought best. It was expensive but worth every penny. I used it long after I was released from my doctor.
I am very interested to hear when you'll be able to start engaging your hamstring. Let me know, would you?
3 months seems pretty quick but you're much younger than I and your doctor might be more aggressive. Mine took the conservative approach. Let me take a look at where I was at three months.
4 months my knee got to 122 degrees.
3 months it was about 100 degrees.
Go back and read those earlier posts to see.
I'm glad you're taking pictures! Like I said, if you want, when this is all over, I'll feature you on my blog!
Keep in touch and ask a question anytime.
Hi,
Well, it's been 9 months since my skiing injury in which I completely did in my knee. My MRI showed a complete (Grade III) tear of my ACL, PCL, MCL and some meniscus damage. I am getting a second opinion on October 20th regarding surgery. Just wondering if there was any debate whether to surgically treat your PCL? The first surgeon believes that perhaps just ACL surgery and tighten up the MCL will provide enough stablility. I know that PCL surgery is problematic to Orthopedic surgeons so I am getting a second opinion with a top surgeon in our area. Curious too, how long was the surgery to repair your PCL?
Hi Judy,
Welcome to my blog. In terms of hours on the table for the actual surgery? Is that your question? If so, I believe my surgery was close to eight hours.
Please keep us posted on your next appointment and good luck to you.
Hi Steven! Your doctor has given you great news about the length of your recovery. Three months to play sports is just great! Like skinnygurl says, follow your doctor's and PT team's advice and don't push beyond what they recommend. Take care not to fall during these early days of recovery. Keep a positive attitude - the pain will diminish quickly. For now, the pain meds are your friends.
Judy - what can I say? The unholy triad! YIKES! I had PCL/MCL reconstructions about 4 months after injury. My surgery was long - 12 hours - and successful. One year post-op I had a tight knee, full movement, and no pain. However, I had developed arthrofibrosis during the recovery/rehab phase and the effects of that (inappropriate immune system response) resulted in eventual failure of the PCL reconstruction. You have many things to consider - graft choices, number of surgeries (the rehab is different for the PCL/ACL and MCL and can conflict with one another. You may want to know who your surgeon consults with. ACL and MCL surgeries are more common than PCL surgeries and consultation with a PCL expert (Noyes, Lowe, Paulus) may be appropriate. Good luck. I would be happy to talk with you. Skinnygurl can give you my contact info.
hi again skinnygirl and Molly! thanks for the information about the cream and ice pack, i am still looking them in Indonesia, hope i will find them soon.
about when sleep, should i put the pillow under my leg or behind my knee? and how to reduce the swelling? my knee conditions now are swelling and looks red on the knee, and it hurts around the kneecap
Thanks for giving me your thoughts. The surgeon that I'm seeing on the 20th normally has a one year wait list - however, one surgeon speaks to another and I'm in within two weeks. Anyhow, he is tops in the area (I'm in Ontario Canada). Can't wait to hear what he has to say. Wow - 12 hours, that's CRAZY.
Thanks Molly!
Hi Judy, stick around and let us know how you're doing.
Steven, as far as sleeping, just be sure to have your leg supported and not let your knee sag. Your doctor and rehab team will know best about the swelling. This is a very long and painful recovery.
I had my leg propped up for so long that the heal of my foot got sores on it. Molly had a good solution for that.
Do you have an ice machine to use at home?
Please do go through the pages of my blog. There is so much helpful information for you there.
hello again! i don't have ice machine, my doctor didn't tell me about it. can i use ice?
i am practicing to bend now, and i reached at 70 degrees, without therapist.. but it hurts so much!!
Steven,
I know it hurts, use your pain medication. I know your excited to get it over with. Please be patient and don't rush the recovery. It's going to take time and it's going to hurt.
If you look through my blog and the pictures you'll see my ice machine and also the ice pack I used with a link from Amazon to buy one.
Ask your doctor, repeat, please ask your doctor if you can ice your knee with either an ice machine or a large gel filled pack like I used.
I can not advice you to do anything outside of your doctors orders. He knows your case best. My best advice is to read and look through the pictures of my blog and make a few notes to take with you to your next rehab appointment and doctor appointment.
Just take it easy. You'll get through this. It hurts, I know. Oh boy, we all remember how bad it hurts.
Hang in there Steven
I have started my own blog and I hope you are here with me on my soon to be journey http://judysknee.blogspot.com/
hello again!:D
i just bought 2 cool ice packs, can i use them on my surgical wounds? and how many times and how long should i use them?
i push my skin around knee wounds (not the wounds) it felt like electric shock(hard to explain) did you have this experience too?
I started following your blog the first day you posted to mine. Lookin Good Judy! Be sure to pop in here from time to time and let us know how you're doing, k?
Steven,
Call you doctor and ask him about the ice packs. I can not advice you regarding your wounds. I can ask you to read my blog and see how I did things and if you chose to do some of the same things I did, I would mention your ideas to your rehab team and or doctor to see what their thoughts are.
Getting back to the ice packs. They really helped me a lot. For a very long time I was on an ice machine which swirled ice water over the wound. I'm not sure if you have these in your area, some do not. Seemed like there were a few people that replied to my blog that did not use ice. Every doctor is different and I can't advise you to do things outside of their orders.
I had to massage the skin around the knee to break up the scar tissue. I recall that yes in fact it did hurt very much. I cried a lot through out the entire ordeal. Steven, it's hard but you'll get through just fine. Do what your doctors say, take your pain medicine and please don't try to rush this process. Taking it easy now will pay off for the rest of your life. As Molly said, be very careful in the early days of recovery. If I were you, I would go back to the beginning of my blog and read the early postings and the comments. Maybe read the whole thing. Seemed some days I went forward 1 step and backwards 2 or 3. It's just the way it is!
Molly? Is there anything else you can add ??
Anyone else?
Hi Steven,
Hi, I am a PCL survivor who has the pleasure of becoming a fan of Skinnygurl. She has posted a lot of information about her ‘journey’ to recovery in this blog. I said journey because it is a very long and slow process. If I can give you a word of advice, you need a lot of patience and perseverance to get through this. There will be times when you see very little progress or no progress at all. Do not despair, do not give up. Your doctor is very optimistic about your recovery in 3 months, and with your young age that may just be possible. However, please do set realistic small targets in getting to the 3 month point (maybe you can discuss with your doctor in setting these small targets for yourself). I can see that you are tracking the degree of movement in your knee, that’s very good. Keep monitoring your little ‘victories’ because you need all the encouragement and mental strength to get through this.
Pain is part of the PCL recovery, all of us PCL survivors went through our own battles to comprehend the pain we felt throughout the process. Use the pain killers if necessary, and follow your doctor’s instruction on how to manage your recovery. PCL recovery is really a true case of ‘no pain, no gain’ and we must learn to manage the pain. Again, as Skinnygurl has said in her responses, you must continue to consult your doctor or other specialists (in my case the physiotherapist was also a great help as I only got to see the doctor once a month).
I wish you the best of luck and hope to hear about your progress and eventual recovery from your PCL surgery. Be patience and follow your programme as set out by your doctor religiously. Sorry to hear about all the pain, just know that you have our support and we are all rooting for you to succeed. All the best Steven!!!!!
hi again! good news, my doctor allowed me to walk, so i try, and now i can walk with one crutch, still inflexible tough, but my knee is getting better, no pain when i tried to walk :D
Excellent news Steven! I'm so happy for you! Remember now, do everything your rehab team and doctor advise you to do. Please don't rush. :) We all want you to succeed!
Excellent news! Take it slow and remember that this is a two-steps-forward, one-step-back deal.
i am little bit sad today, because one of my therapist who did ultrasound said, after surgery, my leg won't be normal anymore, He said someday it'll hurt again and it can't be perfect ..is that true? do you have that experience?
Steven,
I believe everyone has a different experience with their pcl recovery and truly no one will really know how it's going to end up or turn out exactly.
Try to stay positive. In answer to your question. No one said that to me. Don't take it to heart. Your recovery is Yours.
hellooo again :D, it has been 38 days since surgery, now i can bend my knee 105 - 110 degrees, still swelling.
now i am doing some training to build my quaddriceps and hamstring
i have 2 problems that still disturbing my mind, 1. i can't extend my knee more than 5 degrees. 2. after i bend my knee, i can't walk without crutch, and i should strengthening my knee so i can walk without pain.
did you have these problems too?
Looking back at day 38 I wasn't allowed to engage my hamstring at that time. Up until then I was still on the rahab table and didn't do any stand up work at rehab until day 38. I had lots of swellling. Looking back at my blog, which I encourage you to do also, I see that I had trouble and really had to work on straightening my knee daily. There are a couple pictures of that.
You're doing great. Keep letting us know how you are!
Anyone else have something to add? Join in!
helloo, new update : my doctor allowed me to walk without crutches now, but i should wearing brace. there is weird feeling inside the knee, and my doctor said the inside is healing and i should move my knee as much as i can. My knee can bend at 110 degrees. My therapist use ultrasound on my knee everyday.
Congratulations Steven! I'm so glad for you!!! :)
I wish I'd found your blog last year! I had PCL reconstruction on March 25, 2009. I'm 20 months out and am still frustrated.
Your blog makes me feel better and worse at the same time about my situation :)
Welcome to my blog KJ
Feel free to mail me.
sprinter2fun@hotmail.com
Saying hi... your blog has been great for me these past few days, I just had my own PCL reconstruction, and started a blog to pass the time. Link here: http://susanv85.blogspot.com/
The blog and others like it are great for me to see what to expect in a way, and know that there is a light at the end of the tunnel. It's only been about a week, and I'm about to lose my mind because I am normally active and always on the go, this laying around not able to do much is incredibly frustrating.
Welcome Susan.
You're invited to share your story on my blog. Good job blogging and getting word out there.
When you're towards the end of your recovery, shoot me a short story and a few pics and I'll feature you.
Good luck to you and I'll be keeping on eye on your blog to see how you're doing. Stop by anytime Susan.
Skinnygurl
Hi, I had a PCL reconstructive surgery 2 and a half years ago on my right knee. I did some physiotherapy straight after the surgery and then I excercised with a biokineticist thereafter. I had a lay-off period from the gym for a couple of months afterwhich i started to attend pilates classes and spinning classes. The knee has been keeping up well, but when i twist it in a certain way i get this clicking sensation. And also when rotating the knee while it is bent 90 degrees I hear some grinding noises, like some bones are rubbing over eachother. I am a little bit concered about this. Another problem I observed last week was that when climbing stairs,it feels like there is some paining sensation on the kneecap when pressure is put on the knee. Could this be due to weak muscles around the knee?
I am desperate to know since i would like to start playing golf( i am right handed) and would not want jeoperdise my chances playing, since a wrong swing could put some extra pressure on my right knee.
Thanks in advance for your advice.
Regards
Ashwell
Hi Ashwell,
I have the same feeling when climbing stairs at times and I'm three years out. Also I hear clicking sometimes. Not really so much any grinding though.
I was shocked the other day when I went to apply a lot of pressure to a spade so I could turn some dirt in the garden. My knee actually Hurt! Wow, shocked me. Of course I stopped and asked my husband to dig that hole for me.
Quad strength may be lacking although from the sounds of what you're dealing with, it wouldn't hurt to check with your doctor. Always 'better safe than sorry'
I remember being advised to wear my brace for any pivoting sports but that limitation was lifted a long time ago.
I still feel pain over the knee cap at different times.
Yes, I am thinking a doctor visit just to ease your mind would be a good idea.
good luck to you and please let us know how things are going for you.
Skinnygurl
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