So today is exactly one month before my surgery is set to take place. I have an appointment next Friday with my Dr. to discuss surgical options and get some blood work done. I'm looking forward to the appointment, just to ease some anxieties I have about this whole process.
My knee actually feels pretty good. I keep tweaking it doing random things and it swells a little, but nothing too bad. I'm able to run on an eliptical and do an exercise bike, but when I run on a treadmill or on pavement my knee swells up a bit. I'm still trying to get myself into great shape before my surgery, but we'll see how that works out.
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
Monday, April 19, 2010
The Diagnosis
About 2 weeks after the injury, I stopped doing better. I couldn't squat clear to the ground without extreme pain and there was some definite instability in my knee. The pain centered on the outside of my knee, so I thought for sure I had injured my meniscus (because I'm an expert on the matter... right?).
4 weeks afterwards, I decided I had better check it out. The doctor's assistant pretty much beat the hell out of me at the appointment, and then Dr. Brian Jewell came in to examine me. He said he thought I had injured my meniscus and "tweaked" my ACL, but that the MRI would show for sure.
For the record.... MRI's are the worst. 45 minutes of laying on my back motionless are not my idea of a good time. Also, don't schedule them at 6:30am. Just a horrible idea all around.
So a few days after the MRI, Dr. Jewell confirmed what I had totally disregarded as a possibility. The ACL in my right knee was gone. Despite the fact that my knee had hardly swelled and I was able to continue skiing for a short time, I had, in fact, completely torn it.
My options were simple: 1) Get it surgically repaired, rehab like a maniac and move on with my life or 2) Rehab my knee in the short term and decide at a later date.
After much deliberation, I decided that getting back to basketball and skiing were very important. I also have a wedding coming up and I wanted to be in better condition for my honeymoon than I'm currently in with an injured knee.
May 27, 2010, I will be going under the knife. They figure that by October 9 (my wedding day), I'll be able to enjoy my wedding and, more importantly, my honeymoon without many limitations on what I can do. I can't play basketball or jump out of a plane, but then again I wasn't planning on that to begin with.
I have an appointment on May 7 to get my blood work done, get fitted for a post-op brace, and discuss some surgical options. In the meantime, I'm hitting the diet and exercise like a maniac. There's no better trick to a speedy recovery than good health and fitness beforehand. Here's hoping that holds true.
4 weeks afterwards, I decided I had better check it out. The doctor's assistant pretty much beat the hell out of me at the appointment, and then Dr. Brian Jewell came in to examine me. He said he thought I had injured my meniscus and "tweaked" my ACL, but that the MRI would show for sure.
For the record.... MRI's are the worst. 45 minutes of laying on my back motionless are not my idea of a good time. Also, don't schedule them at 6:30am. Just a horrible idea all around.
So a few days after the MRI, Dr. Jewell confirmed what I had totally disregarded as a possibility. The ACL in my right knee was gone. Despite the fact that my knee had hardly swelled and I was able to continue skiing for a short time, I had, in fact, completely torn it.
My options were simple: 1) Get it surgically repaired, rehab like a maniac and move on with my life or 2) Rehab my knee in the short term and decide at a later date.
After much deliberation, I decided that getting back to basketball and skiing were very important. I also have a wedding coming up and I wanted to be in better condition for my honeymoon than I'm currently in with an injured knee.
May 27, 2010, I will be going under the knife. They figure that by October 9 (my wedding day), I'll be able to enjoy my wedding and, more importantly, my honeymoon without many limitations on what I can do. I can't play basketball or jump out of a plane, but then again I wasn't planning on that to begin with.
I have an appointment on May 7 to get my blood work done, get fitted for a post-op brace, and discuss some surgical options. In the meantime, I'm hitting the diet and exercise like a maniac. There's no better trick to a speedy recovery than good health and fitness beforehand. Here's hoping that holds true.
The Injury
I'm new to skiing, but I've been an athlete my whole life. My first time out, I picked it up very quickly and had a blast. In early March I organized a ski trip to Seven Springs, PA, for a day in the snow. The conditions were abnormally soft and rather difficult on the thighs, but I handled the first run pretty well.
On the 2nd run of the day I fell awkwardly and felt the dreaded "pop" in my knee. There was never really any pain, but I knew that something was wrong. After laying in the snow for about a minute, I got myself to my feet and got my skis under me. As I tried to reach my friends, who were patiently waiting for me, I fell about 5 more times. My knee was weak, shaky, and not very happy that I was still skiing. By the time I got to the bottom of the hill, most of the weakness had gone. I knew something was wrong, but I was very far from the lodge.
After skiing back towards the lodge over the next hour, I didn't fall again. I definitely babied my right leg, but was able to ski without much difficulty. When I got back to the lodge and got my skis off, though, I tightened up like a drum and could barely walk. I immediately got ice on it and called it a day.
Due to the lack of swelling and the low amount of pain (relatively speaking), I figured I had sprained me knee. I continued to walk and, after about a week, got myself back into the gym and on the treadmill. All seemed well....
On the 2nd run of the day I fell awkwardly and felt the dreaded "pop" in my knee. There was never really any pain, but I knew that something was wrong. After laying in the snow for about a minute, I got myself to my feet and got my skis under me. As I tried to reach my friends, who were patiently waiting for me, I fell about 5 more times. My knee was weak, shaky, and not very happy that I was still skiing. By the time I got to the bottom of the hill, most of the weakness had gone. I knew something was wrong, but I was very far from the lodge.
After skiing back towards the lodge over the next hour, I didn't fall again. I definitely babied my right leg, but was able to ski without much difficulty. When I got back to the lodge and got my skis off, though, I tightened up like a drum and could barely walk. I immediately got ice on it and called it a day.
Due to the lack of swelling and the low amount of pain (relatively speaking), I figured I had sprained me knee. I continued to walk and, after about a week, got myself back into the gym and on the treadmill. All seemed well....
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