I had a 730 appointment this morning for pre-op preparation. Dr S did a assessment of my knee again, flexion was 113, thats down from 120 last week (said it wasn't a big deal). I noticed my knee was a bit swollen yesterday for some reason.
Anyway, the surgery is at 2pm today. They said it should be a 2-3 hour procedure followed by 2 hours of recovery. So I should be home by 6 or 7 pm. I'm a bit nervous, but probably more excited than anything. I just want to get back on the road to recovery. The doc is pretty funny, he got out the sheet you see below and marked all over it. The gist of it is:
- I will feel like shit for 3-5 days, w/ the only consolation being the painkillers
- Goal: walk w/o limp, no crutches, no brace at 3-6 weeks
- Expect to be training 5-6 DAYS/WEEK (no rest needed for the legs)
- Getting back to what he calls a High Performance Leg will take 9 months on average, with 7 months being exceptional
- I can expect a Medium Performance Leg in 4-5 months (this would be moving around normally, hiking etc, but not returning to full bore sports)
- Expect that I will begin to wane and demotivate on training at around the 4 month mark. This will be the CRITICAL time to really stay with rehab and training.
For the next 2 weeks, Tracy will have triplets, so if anyone reading this wants to help her, give a call
2 comments:
Hey... here is the guy from snowchasers.blogspot.com! It is fun to have some info about your recovery!! I was wondering why you chose the patella graft? I am a little bit worry about the pain that some people get... specially since I telemark! Any thought?
The doc I am seeing now is a big fan of allo-graft (cadaver). Any thought on that?
Thanks!
Alexis
Hi Alexis, good to hear from you, but sorry to hear the knee news. I had read that in the blog, what a shitter to end the trip.
Anyway, I went with the patellar graft for the following reasons
- My buddy is good friends with Daron Ralves, he has had PT grafts and said that all the US ski team guys do as well
- After all the research everyone recommended that you get the best doctor that you can afford (go and meet with them, get 2-3 opinions) and then go with what they specialize in. In other words you don't want to get a PT graft from a guy that has his expertise in allografts
- PT grafts are supposed to be the strongest from my research, kinda the gold standard for the industry
As far as pain goes specific to the PT region, I really have none. I had people telling me that I might be screaming in pain when I go to kneel for the next 1-2 years. Well, 2 months after surgery I can kneel and I only have a slight discomfort.
And all in all, i think i trust my own body parts more than i do from someone elses.
Good luck and keep in touch. Stay strong.
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