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The Operation and Recovery
Finally the day came for me to go under the knife.
Inside the knee-A.C.L injury
Although the Anterior Cruciate Ligament is only a few centimeters in diameter, it is an important part of the knee joint. Without a stable A.C.L your knee is free to slide forward and back over itself. This can lead to further damage of the joint by wearing away of the cartilage (meniscus) and tearing of surrounding tissue and muscle. Because the ligament runs vertically, when it snaps (much like an elastic band) it cannot reattach itself due to gravity. Both ends recoil and the ligament just dies.
So the only option is to repair the ligament by surgery. The surgery requires the doctor to create a replacement ligament from either a piece of my hamstring or from the quadriceps muscles. Then they would be attaching the ‘new’ ligament to bone with a couple of titanium screws. It would be months even up to a year before I would know if the new graft had taken or was unsuccessful.
I was nervous as hell as this was my first operation I had ever had. A doctor came to see me during the morning and ask me what knee I would be having the operation on, and I replied ‘the right but I’m pretty sure you would have the scans so you should know’. He didn’t seem to have a clue, went on my ‘advice’, and placed an X to mark the knee. I thought to myself geez…this ain’t doing much for my confidence in doctors.
I was placed on the operating table and before I could blink, the doctors had whacked the ’sleeping gas’ on me and I was out. Under the knife I went and I woke up some time after feeling groggy with my knee all wrapped up. It felt like my leg wasn’t a part of my body, seemingly detached from me. I could barely move it and I was drugged up to my eyeballs. As the night went on I was told the pain medication would wear off and I could beep the nurse if the pain got bad.
Early in the morning the painkillers started to wear off and my knee was really throbbing now. I beeped the nurse and requested she give me some painkillers. She seemed reluctant to give me anything and hesitated then offered me 2 Panadols! This was just not going to cut it. I told her I definitely needed something stronger than headache tablets but again, she would give anything. A couple hours went by and by this time it was unbearable, so finally I am given some stronger stuff with some tablets I could self administer once I was home and recovering. Then she made a comment that I better not go selling them to my mates. I couldn’t believe it! I’m in pain and she’s thinking I’m going to peddle drugs. I was thinking to myself, the only person taking these pills will be me!
The next few days they got in a Physiotherapist that looked like she was straight out of university. She advised me that I should try standing on my knee, but as soon as I took her advice I folded like a deck of cards! There was no way I would be doing that again.
Recovering from a knee reconstruction is a slow, tedious process. I had to learn to walk again basically. Crutches became my best friend and watching your mates play while you are injured isn’t exactly fun. The physio lessons all seem like little torture sessions as the Physiotherapist tries to get your knee back to some flexibility. Once the knee is kept for a long time in a straight position, the scar tissue from the surgery keeps your knee stiffer than a piece of cardboard. The aim of the Physio… no make that her mission, was to get my knee to perfectly bend. Every time I said ‘no thats as far as I go’ she would try and milk a few more degrees out of it. Massage and gel were the order of the day. And I’m not talking soft and gentle, she hammered my knee trying to get that extra degree of bend.
Then the hydrotherapy sessions began. After so long without using my right leg, the muscles had completely wasted away, so my right leg looked like a chicken drumstick compared to my left leg of ham. I had to walk up and down a pool, do funny things with a big elastic band and started wearing ankle weights as I walked.I t was hard at first because my knee was prone to swelling and I would subconsciously favour my left leg. I couldn’t stand for long periods of time and running was out of the question. But gradually my knee was able to handle more weight and I was given more advanced drills like practicing side to side movements. I was warned that the most vulnerable time for the graft to take is the period of 9 months to a year after the operation. It is at this stage when the graft is taking blood and forming that is most likely to be damaged.
I think apart from the obvious physical scars there are the psychological ones. In the back of your mind you always fear it happening again. Before you have an injury like his you do feel invincible. But now when you head for the ball in a 50/50 contest you become a bit wary of what’s around you instead of just running straight in. Even now subconcsiously i will still favour my left knee when standing sometimes.
No amount of physiotherapy can repair that damage.
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March 27th, 2008 at 8:07 am
Think the nurse trying to hold you off the drugs with a fear for peddling was funny as
So the ACL which you did, how is that different to the knee that Scott Lucas did on Easter Monday?
And lastly how was your come back game? Did you get a kick?
Jermayn’s last blog post..Frew 1504: The Great Deception pt1
June 18th, 2008 at 12:33 am
Man, I know the psychological damage, I stumbled on your story and although I had the pop and snap, i was running straight towards a disc (Playing competitive Ultimate frisbee) and I hyperextended my knee and POP. I still get edgy when i think about it. I’m glad to hear you made a good recovery I know I’ve got a long road ahead.
cheers
June 18th, 2008 at 8:48 am
Popped when running straight?? Man that must suck!
How long has it been since you did your knee and thanks for your comments.
June 18th, 2008 at 11:16 am
Ive got to get a follow up from the sports doctor near mine just to see if the graft was successful or not. Its been close to a year since the operation.
The knee definitely feels more stable but I still get the aches and pains on cold mornings.
Might get up for a couple more footy games if the grafts successful just to feed the hunger..but fitness is a big issue haha
Good to hear that someone else can relate