Knee Surgery

[02csnow]

Just wondering if anybody on here has had knee surgery?I have had a problem with my knee for a few years now. I have been told it is arthritis, not enough fluid to the knee, and so on. I went and saw a knee specialist on tuesday and he believes I have a tear in the tendons. So I am going to get a MRI saturday and have to go back to him next friday to find out the verdict.I am just trying to find out if anybody has had knee surgery, what type, and how long of a recovery.

[lovemyraffe]

I had my knee done a few years ago...what do you want to know?

[02csnow]

What needed to be repaired and how long did it take you to recover?

[lovemyraffe]

I had a little scar tissue on the meniscus. A simple arthroscopy, would have healed alot sooner if I didn't trip and fall down the stairs the day after my surgery. I was walking on it the day after surgery, then i tripped down the stairs.

[02csnow]

Well they think I have a tear and will need surgery, but not a definite yet.I am just concerned on how long before I can be active again. I bowl 3 days a week and I am in construction.I am hoping a week for recovery. Do you think that is about right?

[lovemyraffe]

Ummm...no. It took me almost 6 months before I had full range of motion back in my knee. I could walk without limping in about 3 weeks, but if i pushed it it would swell up and I would have to take it easy for a couple of days.

[02csnow]

That is not what i wanted to hear. I guess I will just have to wait and find out what is gonna happen.Thank you for all the info and help.

[lovemyraffe]

Are they going to do an arthroscopy? It really isn't that bad.

[02csnow]

Im not sure if I have to get surgery yet, but he did say most likely. Just have to wait for the results from the MRI. He did an ankle surgery on my mom and that was arthroscopic, so I would think he would also do arthroscopic on my knee.

[WaveAction]

that sucks mike, hopefully everything works out..closest injury to my knee was a sprained MCL

[lovemyraffe]

I hope it all goes well for you. It sucks, I can still tell when the weather is changing. Let's just hope it doesn't effect your driving.

[coldmm803]

snow, that sucks. i have issues with my knees and expect that i'll need surgery eventually

[ramenboy...]

hey mike, you're still young, you'll bounce back quick. but not in a week. have you used a brace before? that could maybe keep you active for a bit longer without surgery. when i strained my mcl, my sports doctor recommended a brace with hinges. as it got stronger, i was able to remove the outside hinge and leave the inside one to help the mcl, then eventually went to no hinges. whichever happens, good luck

[joholste]

yeah knee surgery can be very tricky...i've blown out both MCLs. the first time i didn't pay attention to the doctor and was playing basketball with a brace in about 2 weeks and i put sooo much stress on my other knee that the first practice of the next season i blew out my other one. I listened to the doctor and within about a month and a half i was able to play...keep in mind I was a high school kid and i've always healed fast...but now i'm healing quite a bit slower and i expect it would take me about 6 months if i had to do it now. right now i'm looking at a possible shoulder surgery but i'm putting it off until i redeploy... i'm currently in transit back to the states for my R&R leave. and in a couple weeks i'll be headed back to africa.

[Atomic]

In my twenties, I was in a bike accident, a car pulled in front of me and I broadsided her just in front of the driver's door, I had no time to swerve, and just went flying. (The flying through the air part was neat, the landing not quite as much)I broke my kneecap (and my wrist when I landed) on something (most likely a part of the car, maybe the road when I hit), and it was casted for about two months. I had about 3 months of physio to build up the strength, I was amazed at just how quick the muscles weaken while I was healing.For me, it was about six months until I was able to run at full steam, and bend down, it still feels a little tight sometimes, and I can't kneel on it for more than a couple of minutes before it starts to ache.Do as much as you can to work on your flexibility and strength before and after you get the OK to do so.I still have the occasional twinge of discomfort

[Lancer]

A few years ago when I was firefighting, we were trainning with our new infared camera. I was scootin pretty fast on my knees and came down hard once and roolled over in paind for a few seconds. Limped my way through the course and walked it off after awhile. Pain went away after a day so I didn't think much of it. But every once in a while my knee would lock up and I'd be yelping in pain. This went on for just over a year. Finally had one of my ER doc's check me out while at work (Used to work in an ER). First set of x-rays didn't show much. Next month I was dancing and it locked up really bad and had it checked again. This time the same doc thought he saw something. Got an MRI done and turned out that I had a bone chip from my knee cap floating around in the joint and every once in a while it would get wedged into the joint.My surgery went great. My dad picked me up from the hospital in a firetruck and I walked out to it and walked around a little at my folks home. Felt good enough to go to my house, so they dropped me off. Woke up the next morning almost screaming in pain cause the anisthetic wore off! And my Vicodin was in my living room. My cat wouldn't get my meds for me so I had to crawl to my meds. Popped two with had a beer and just drooled infront of the TV for a few days. Remember to take your meds before you go to sleep! And elevate and use lot's of ice!!It took 3 months before I felt back to normal. But I was back at work (in the ER) after 3 weeks.

[02csnow]

I get my MRI tommorrow. Hopefully I will find out what is wrong right away, if not I have to wait till my appointment next friday to see what is gonna happen.

[kevera]

Dude,Hope your knee is OK.I had a few probs with my knee,mostly from playing hockey,but when I got the stuff done to it,it took a while to heal.It's a sign your getting old.

[02csnow]

I have another appointment today. My last one was last wednesday and that is when I found out that it is an inferior tear in the medial meniscus.Pretty much I am gonna find out when I am having surgery and what they will be doing exactly.

[02csnow]

Surgery it is on the 19th. Then on crutches for at least 3 days and a 2 to 4 week recovery.

[KNINE]

Do you have workman's comp so you can get paid while you're laid up at home?

[02csnow]

I have disability insurance, but I don't think I will need it. The owner of the company I work for is gonna put me in the office for a while, instead of out on the job sites.

[lovemyraffe]

Good luck with the surgery. It is tons of fun. What you described sounds almost identical to what happened to me. I had to have a tear in my meniscus repaired and then alot of scar tissue taken off.

[02csnow]

The Doc said that he doesnt think it is gonna get repaired, but taken out. He thinks it is a flap and not a cut. He he justs takes it out it will heal quicker than repairing a cut.

[futureviber]

Good Luck! I will probably need knee surgery in the next 5 years. They just hurt all the time so bad, and are really weak and give out a lot when just walking. I've always been pretty active running adn dance team and all that, but its hard to do a lot of that sort of stuff anymore.I hope your surgery goes well!

[maryannhou]

hijust had a knee replacement in sept had a menisus repair in jan and just went down hill from there. so far so good .. healing takes long long time.. still not bending it as good as i should be pain is alot better than it was.. good luck!

[02csnow]

Just got out of surgery about 3 hours ago. Sitting at home now. The are giving me some good meds for the pain. Can remember what it is called but the nurse said it was the strongest pain reliever on the market. The surgery went good, don't remember much. The doc said there was a part of the tissue in there that created a hook and hardened up. So pretty much the point of it was poking at the medial meniscus when I was walking that would create a pinch and swelling in the knee, causing me pain.He removed that and re-smoothed out the meniscus to where it looks like it should be. But for now, it is all wrapped up and I am just relaxing in the recliner for the next 3 weeks. I will try to get the pics up of what the doc was able to take if anyone wants to see them.

[ramenboy...]

hey mikegreat to see it went well.. now relax. you don't want to be driving in this crappy weather anyways (at least in chicago)get well soon

[keithvibe]

glad to hear that they didn't remove something they weren't soposed too. Or add something such as ... a "D" cup.. HAHANow get up and walk it off... Honestly, glad to hear it went well... rest up

[kevera]

Glad it went well,Buddy.Stay off it for a while,don't aggravate it.I told you drugs were good. .Tell the wife I told her to play the skin-flute for you,Eh. That package should be there Tomorrow,hopefully that will make you feel better.

[02csnow]

I appreciate all the good lucks. It just sucks sitting around the house. I'm just not that type of person. I will probably take it real easy the first week and then slowly start walking a little next week.Kev, the package came today, but I wasn't around of course. Gonna get it redelivered tommorrow.

[KNINE]

The boredom is going to hurt more the knee. I have a buddy who just had hip surgery. He's going stir crazy sitting around at home all day. At least you have us to keep you company.

[02csnow]

Well the first night sucked. I had no pain problems *knocks on wood*, it's just I could not get comfortable to fall asleep. Having to have the leg proped up really blows.I have not got bored yet Brad. I have the TV, internet, and the Wii so I should be ok. Plus I have to get alot situate with the moving into the house and I have been searching online for some deals on all the goodies going into the house.

[lovemyraffe]

Now the fun starts. Just don't fall down the stairs the day after the surgery. I did that and my knee never did heal properly.

[02csnow]

I came straight upstairs after I got home and have not gone down yet. But I do have a PT appointment tommorrow, so I will make sure I am careful.

[02csnow]

All I can say is that I hate swelling.

[keithvibe]

OUCH!!

[02csnow]

Well, I thought my recovery was going good. I started to get these sharp pains a few days ago and today one really hit me hard. I went back to work today and throughout the day the knee was bothering me, so I left a little early. Came home, put some ice on it and took some of my meds. A couple hours later I jumped in the shower, got out and put a little pressure on the knee. Well a pain hit me so hard that it put me to the ground and had me crying like a baby.So now I don't know when I am going to be able to go back to work. I just know now I need to set up an appointment with the Doc and see what is going on and what is going to happen.

[coldmm803]

Quote, originally posted by 02csnow »Well a pain hit me so hard that it put me to the ground and had me crying like a baby.So now I don't know when I am going to be able to go back to work. I just know now I need to set up an appointment with the Doc and see what is going on and what is going to happen.gotta love knee problems. been there for the most part and never had surgery. take it easy for a while and let it heal, not something you can rush. good luck especially with the move

[02csnow]

Today marks a full 3 weeks and it seems like it has not gotten any better but worse. It just sucks. With the move coming up and not being able to work. The first week of I got paid for it, but the last too I got no paycheck. I have disability insurance, but when I ask the boss about it, he said it was long term. Well I found out that he was wrong and it is short term, so I think I will be giving them a call tomorrow. I am just worried with the whole new mortgage thing and not working. I just want to get back to work asap and make that money, so I can live a life. First house and I don't want to ruin it.

[Blanco_Diablo]

I tore my ACL a few years back playing flag football. What helped the most was this electric unit called the "game ready"...it was awesome for helping to curb swelling. Imagine an ice chest that is motorized, you fill it with ice and water and let it work it's magic. It pumps ice cold (literally 32 degrees) water through a tube to a wrap around your knee. But what makes it different from the typical cold water chest is that it also adds alternating pressure/constriction that helps to keep the swelling down. At the time insurance did not cover it, but there was a local sports medicine place that set me up with one for free based on a request from my surgeon. I guess they are testing it out and trying to convince insurance companies that it helps to speed up recovery from surgery and ultimately saves the insurance company money. Anyways, ask about it, if you can score a free one it will be well worth the effort.

[02csnow]

Hopefully I can get into to see the Doc tomorrow cause it seems like the swelling has not gone down at all. But I will definitely ask about that and anything else that could possibly help me out. It feels a little better with Arctic Ice wrap that they gave me. But I kept the ice wrap on me for 5 days straight for roughly 16 hours a day and it just didn't help. I personally think I have water or some kind of fluid in there and need to get it drained.

[lovemyraffe]

When I had my knee surgery 5 years ago, the first 2-3 weeks seemed like I wasn't making any progress. Right after the surgery, it seemed great. Then my knee started swelling. It takes time to heal. Don't get too anxious with it. I fell down the stairs the day after my surgery and that didn't help much. Just be patient. I would definitely get in to see your doc and see if you do have some fluid in there. Good luck!