What a fun 6 months it has been. Why? Well, that would be the time period covering the moment I blew out my knee to the moment that I am once again cleared to do anything and everything. Good stuff.
How did I blow it out you might ask? Jumping and landing. Not awkwardly, not on anything. Just jumping and landing in the middle of a game of basketball. The wet ripping sound might have clued me in that something was bad. But really, the fact that at one point my knee was technically next to itself was the big issue. Sure, I walked it off like a tough guy, but the subsequent and repeated hyperventilation over the next 24 hours raised concerns.
What did I hurt. Well, if it runs through the knee and can be torn, I tore it. ACL, gone! LCL, gone! Miniscus, mostly gone! While roll calls can be fun, that was less so.
To fix things, surgery came into play. Due to the extreme length of my legs and the torque involved, I got me a fresh new cadaver ligament implanted. I remain hopeful it came from someone with a good vertical leap, but I’ll just settle for someone that wasn’t a major league catcher or a former sumo wrestler.
My rehab? Manic and non-stop. My recovery? Guaranteed and rosy. My ability to get back to normal life? Excellent. The odds I will go back to playing sports and start this whole cycle over again? Likely.
As a bonus, my knowledge of knee structure and rehab is now quite in depth.
Now you ronly worry is that it may have been the knee of a serial killer! Signs to watch out for include realizing you’ve ‘lost’ several hours, and then seeing on the news how several people have been viciously kneed to death. Good luck with that
Lemme know if you need a replacement knee joint. I got a nice one in Size #7 (The Rosie Greer size) sittin’ here on my desk. Well, the upper-half for the left lag anyway. Ain’t bein’ used for nothin’ more’n holding down paper.
It’s the whitish thing on the bottom of the femur in this picture. And I might be able to get more, if’n ya don’t mind one from the “scratch & dent” stock. I got a buddy who makes 'em.
Yikes! I cringe every time I hear of a knee injury. I can’t imagine too much that would hurt as much. Glad you’re back in the saddle. Now don’t go doin’ somethin’ stupid.
Oh the joy of knee injuries. :rolleyes: I’ve felt (some of) that pain. It’s been 1 year since my 1st and 6 months since my 2nd knee surgery for a stretched, then later torn ACL. I feel (some of) your pain.
It’s great that you’ll be able to get back into sports and activities.
I have one question for you. Did your whole leg bruise? With the torn ACL, my leg was bruised in streaks of green, purple, blue and yellow from the knee down. Very weird, and disgusting.
My uncle died suddenly a few years ago. Because he died outside of a hospital his organs were non-transplantable, but his corneas, knee ligaments, and some other bits and pieces were taken for later transplant.
I know you didn’t get his ligament, Mullinator, but it’s nice to know someone did.
Hmm, interesting. I am a big advocate of organ donation but I’ve never really thought much about the issue of ligament donation before this. It’s good that your quality of life has been improved by someone’s donation!
You know, there are times in the blackness of night when my knee tells me to burn things. I thought I was just going crazy, but it seems there is some good medical logic behind the voices.
I also now have a deep appreciation for 1 legged squats. Those’ll get the blood flowing in the morning.
