KJ's PCL Story

Hello everyone and welcome to my blog.
Here is another pcl survivor story! Thanks for sharing KJ.
Skinnygurl

First, I love your blog! I just found it yesterday and I'm almost done reading the entire thing! Thank you for sharing your story and giving others a place to share theirs.

My story is a little long because it took me 6 years to get the surgery. A little history: Original tear occurred in April of ’03. I took an awkward tackle straight-on below my knee during our Midwest Rugby Championship match (we won at least).

The MRI showed a partial tear of my PCL so they advised PT only and no surgery. The next 5 years looked like this:

- Played at Nationals in June ’03 right after the injury (dumb & painful)
- Missed most of fall ’03 season due to pain but resumed regular playing in spring ‘04
- Played at the Midwest level in ’05-’06 (grueling training schedule) and attributed knee pain to over-training. I know now it was due to the original injury.

- Tweaked my knee playing volleyball in spring ’07. It sent shooting pain through my knee that radiated out into my upper leg and I had to stay out of activity for 3 days. After that it didn’t hurt anymore. In hindsight I should have had it checked because that’s most likely when I completely tore my PCL.

- Kept playing rugby and played my final season in fall ’08. I barely made it through that season though because of knee pain

I went back to my original ortho who basically did nothing; saw a 2nd ortho who ordered another MRI. Follow-up:
- He saw the complete tear so I tried PT for 2 months at the end of ’08 and cortisone injections but nothing relieved the pain.
- Was referred to a 3rd ortho, Dr. Noyes at Cincinnati Sports Medicine, who happens to do an incredible amount of research on PCLs
- Stress test revealed a 11 mm drop of my tibia from my knee. I was questioned on how I kept playing; surgery is generally done once the tibia drops 6-8 mm. I told him it was easy since I didn’t know there was actually something wrong :)
- I was scheduled for surgery 2 months later (March 25, 2009)

I’m not gonna lie, I had no idea what I was getting into with this surgery because I’d never had so much as a stitch in my life; that’s probably a good thing.
- They used my quad tendon for the graph and surgery surprisingly took under 4 hours.

- The next 2 weeks were full of plenty of tears at rehab because of the pain. I had scar tissue issues and couldn’t hit 90 degrees flexion by the end of the 2nd week so back to the hospital I went for manipulation under anesthesia. That may have been worse than the actual surgery!
- I immediately jumped up to 106 degrees after that and made steady progress from there on out. I never had issues with range of motion after that and never had a problem with getting my leg completely straight. That was the only thing I could do from day 1!
-I spent 9 weeks total on crutches with my hip to ankle brace (I think I got a sleeve the last 2 weeks). The first month my brace was locked straight which is awesome when you’re trying to sleep. In all, the healing process went well though and my knee is solid and stable. My stress test at 1 year showed my tibia only dropped 2 mm which is normal so the graph has held. However, my strength test at 1 year was depressing and still showed a 33% deficit.

I should probably mention that 2 months after my surgery (while still on crutches) I got engaged! I was married 4 months after that so admittedly my rehab suffered a bit from months 3-7! Heck, is suffered the 2 months after we got married too :)
Current Status:
I coach high school girl’s & senior side rugby now and ran around all spring with a limp. It caused enough pain that I headed to a new rehab place in July to see if I could do anything about it. Manual therapy helped some but I think it’s as good as it’s going to get.

I think I'm glad that I didn’t have this surgery at 23 years old but the downside of having a janky PCL for so long: grade 3 chondromalacia of the patella with chondral fissuring and suchondral reactive osteoedema. Basically the same grinding & snap, crackle, pop others have mentioned plus I'm awfully close to being bone on bone (grade 4). I have arthritis in 2 of the surfaces along with effusion (water on the knee) & a baker’s cyst (in the back of the knee) that came back pretty much as soon as they drained it. I've also developed painful tendonitis in my good knee. They say this put off knee replacement an extra 10 years though so I have to look at the bright side.

By 18 months out I was done babying my knee even though I continue to have a lot of pain. I could do quick starts and sprint at rugby but always paid for it with LOTS of pain afterward. I am back to boxing & zumba which haven't bothered my knee too much. Running a 5K isn’t in the picture yet and may never be (I never really liked just plain running anyway - ha!) and I have no plans to return to competitive rugby, although I still feel my 12-year career was brutally cut short. Strength is still a nagging issue but it's better; pain is still my number 1 nemesis!
The Future:
I go back in March '11 for my 2-year and final check-up. I’ve skipped all the strength tests since my 1-year mark because they are expensive and I don't need them to tell me that I'm weak. I may get another one at 2 years just to see where I am. I still have 1 1/4" difference in my quad size and the catch 22 is I can't do extensions because of pain and I'm not supposed to do squats (I still do them with <20 lbs). Tough to get my full quad back with just straight leg lifts!

Unlike you, I'm not always sure if I'd do this again! :) It changed my life forever.

Speedy and His Story Of PCL Surgery and Recovery

Two Years Ago Today! It's been two years since my surgery. This blog now belongs to the world. It's my pleasure to introduce to you Speedy.

Walking gingerly on crutches while the two "spotters" look on in case I fall down












I spent a lot of time with this remote







At home 5 months after the surgery
(no contact happen during this game...the guys were kind enough never to tackle me)








Mount Kinabalu.....hope the knee will hold when the time comes






Here is his story..
My PCL incident happened during a rugby practice on 23rd Feb 2006. As a result of the injury I couldn’t run at all, and I normally needed to sit down even after a mere 20-minute walk. I tried physiotherapy for two years without much improvement to my condition. I finally had the PCL surgery on 25 Feb 2008 (at about the same time as the blog owner, Skinnygurl). I discovered during the surgery that my PCL was completely severed from the incident.

Post surgery recovery was agonizing especially the first two weeks when my leg was put on a cast. I underwent physiotherapy religiously at the hospital for about 9 months. Initially, I did a lot of resistance exercises using elastic bands, then slowly migrating to various other exercises to improve muscle strength and flexibility. I started to run again at about the 4-month point. At first I tried doing multiple short distances in various modes (forward, lateral, backward etc.) before gradually increasing the distance.

I have now regained full ROM in my knee. It’s still painful especially after an exercise, but I can now jog for up to 5 km at my own pace and complete a round of golf without too much of a problem. I am also actively involved in rugby coaching which requires me to be on my feet for at least 2 hours for each session. Glucosamine is a supplement I can’t live without now and ice pack is my best friend after an exercise.

My life has definitely changed after the PCL incident. However, I am glad I never gave up, both after the incident happened and especially after I had the surgery (believe me......there were many reasons to do so). The pain is something that I am accustomed to now, and I have to be content that there are many things that I can probably never be able to do again like playing in a full contact rugby match or sprinting after a ball in a soccer game. However, I can’t count my blessing enough for the progress I’ve accomplished now two years after the surgery.

My advice to you guys who are in your own battle towards PCL recovery; be realistic with your target and your chance of recovery, believe in yourself, work hard although the progress is slow and last but not least, have faith........we need a lot of that to keep us going forward.

I wish all the best to Molly, Hamlet, Chris and the rest of you PCL survivors out there. Thanks Skinnygurl for allowing me to share my experience in your blog.


It's My Pleasure To Share Your Story Speedy. I love forward to the day you climb Mount Kinabalu
Skinnygurl
Click Here to read Speedys Blog

Chris - His Story Of PCL Surgery And Recovery

This Is "The" Bike. After the accident.









Oh wow, lots of riding in the back seat with this surgery.











Taking a break from that itchy brace. It's pretty much 24 hours and 7 days a week.








In June of '08, I was involved in a motorcycle accident. Broke right femur (in 2 places), right ulna, right elbow, dislocated the metacarpals in left hand, broke left ankle and last but not least, tore PCL, ACL and LCL in the left knee. After a 13 hour surgery to fix all my broken bones, two weeks in the hospital and almost two months resident in a rehab center I was able to walk again.. as long as I had a brace on left leg to keep the knee somewhat stable. The doctors did not repair the ligaments during the first surgery because of too much swelling and they wanted to wait till the right leg was healed/strong enough to handle "full weightbearing". Needed a good leg to stand on, right??
Originally scheduled for Oct, then mid November, the triple ligament reconstruction surgery was in Dec '08. To use the words from Molly's story, it is now a "nice tight knee". So far so good, it's still pretty "tight". Lost some ROM (can't touch heel to butt anymore), but it's all good. I've been hitting the gym hard to get back in shape. Also been riding the bicycle, started doing short runs and scuba diving. Two weeks ago I did a 12 mile hike in the mountains. The knee felt sore after that! Then last week we just did a 5 mile hike. No more motorcycles....at least for now..
Had awesome doctors who literally put me back together and the PT crew who helped me get moving again. Can't thank them enough. Oh, lets not forget the nurses who made sure I was comfortable and of course the donor There are so many more people to thank, but I think I've said enough.
- Peace.

Day 126 Of My PCL Surgery/Recovery

I can do so much more now that my hamstring can be gently used!
Dagan The Doberman. See why I have to be so careful in my house? He's like a small pony!

I'm using my CPM Device three times a day for an hour at a time and it's really paying off. So far, I'm able to get all way the to 108 degrees towards the end of the hour long session. I started off barely getting to 90 degrees.
I am still icing my knee, especially at night. I'm practicing my heel strikes when I walk and trying to follow through the walk with pushing off at the toe. There is so much to remember when learning how to walk. During physical therapy I was asked to walk without my crutches and it's been so long that I walked stiff armed! I forgot how to naturally swing my arms while walking which just cracked me up! I had no idea I was doing that until pointed out. Well? It's been months! You're bound to forget some things!! Things are getting fun now!!

Day 115 Of My PCL Surgery And Recovery

See that against the wall? That's one crutch baby! We're coming right along! My knee was measured while doing this exercise at 95 degrees! Not long ago I was squirming on the table while trying to get even close to that. I can do it on my own now!!! See?


LOOK AT THAT! Wow, are things getting interesting now. Day 115 gave way to 117 degrees range of motion. I was being stretched this morning wondering how I could put into words what that felt like. Um, intense doesn't even come close. Glad when it's over, that's for sure.


I want to welcome everyone that has been following my blog or just found it. Stay tuned for more pcl recovery fun. Some day I am going to tell you that I ran really fast on a treadmill. I promise.

Day 100 Baby!!!!!!!

It's been 100 days since my surgery! WOW! Today in physical therapy after much pushing my knee was measured at 105 degrees. I really thought it was going to be more and I almost broke down in tears with frustration when he told me. I look back on my blog at day 23 or day 44 or 55 and think wow if I only knew then what I know now. This has been a struggle to say the least. The only thing that keeps me going is knowing that I'm getting better. Slow going but at least getting better. I am still using my ice machine when I sleep. I am working so very hard on my exercises. My ankle is a bit of a concern but with my continued efforts, it will be just fine.
Stay tuned. 80 more days and I can run? Cross your fingers!

Day 95

This is a weight and I have to push my knee straight. It's a strengthening exercise.
Yup, looking pretty much the same.

Hey everyone. Because I'm not putting much weight on my ankle, it's getting a little weak. I have been assigned to do ankle exercises twice a day along with my other tasks to improve my range of motion. Every day I work hard to get my quad muscles firing and every day I'm a little bit closer to recovery.

To update on how my knee is feeling: it still burns like crazy. Some times it aches, deep from the inside somewhere. My leg is still extremely weak and hard to pick up. Stay tuned!

Drop me a line.

Day 85 Of My PCL Recovery

Day 82, I'm using my brace but took it off for the picture.
day 83 using 3 pound weight. I think I see a muscle on my leg!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! See?? Look real hard, I know it's there.


I never would have guessed in a gazillion years that I would still be walking on crutches and in so much pain. I'm still using my Kinex ice machine at night and ice packs through the day. My quad is so small that now my knee cap is tracking wrong. The Knee flat out won't bend. It gets to 98 degrees or so and the pain shoots me right off the table. We're working very hard in pt. Once the hamstring heals, if my knee still isn't bending plan B is to put me to sleep and force it followed by daily physical therapy sessions. Stay tuned.

Today Is Day 77 And I Have Big News From My Doctor

DRUM ROLL
READY OR NOT HERE IS THE NEWS.

Another month of the same. No driving, No working, still walking with crutches. My new prescription is to get my knee to bend but still no hamstring strengthening. Quads need to get bigger and stronger too. Last measurement for my knee was 97 degrees. I'll have to get 120 degrees or more before I'm cut loose to drive and all that fun stuff. So it looks like August before I get my car out of the garage. Drop me a line, is anyone out there?

Physical Therapy. Today is Day #55

Wonder what I get to do in physical therapy? I still can't use my hamstring yet so my exercises are pretty much the same. I don't think I've shown quad sets yet. Put a towel under your knee and push down. Hold five seconds - 20 times.