This is the blog of Adam Kalsey. Unusual depth and complexity. Rich, full body with a hint of nutty earthiness.
This is the blog of Adam Kalsey. Unusual depth and complexity. Rich, full body with a hint of nutty earthiness.
27 Jul 2004
Last May I was playing soccer at a local indoor arena. During the course of a game, I planted my right foot and turned to my left. I heard a sharp pop, my knee buckled, and I collapsed. The pain was unbearable. After several attempts to get up, I was carried off the field and given an ice pack. I tried to go back on the field, but I couldn’t seem to put any weight on the knee. So I limped out to the parking lot and drove home.
That night, my knee was feeling better so I started to hobble around the house. I seemed to be improving and the ice (and beer) was certainly helping. Late that night, I stood up out of a chair and the pain exploded from me knee. I saw stars. I was nauseated by the pain. I gasped for breath. Then I noticed I was lying on the ground. My wife says I screamed. It was then I decided to visit the doctor.
A few xrays showed that there was nothing wrong, but my doctor suspected ligament damage in the knee, so he sent me to an orthopedic specialist. As I waited in the examining room, I saw from the pictures on the walls that the specialist is a soccer player and plays at the arena where I hurt my knee.
After asking me what happened, the doctor grabbed my knee, twisted it into some contortions, pushed, probed, and looked for expressions of pain on my face. He saw many, I’m sure. After the exam the verdict was a torn ACL.
The ACL is a ligament inside your knee that holds the two halves of your leg together. Without it, your leg moves like a broken hinge. It bends in strange ways. There’s nothing to keep it from bending slightly sideways or from shearing front to back. Your knee pops and shifts and dislocates as you walk. And each of those abnormal movements hurt—a lot.
At first I was placed in a full leg brace that immobilized the knee. The contraption reached from my ankle to mid-thigh. After a couple of weeks the swelling went down and I was able to take the brace off. Now I can walk without the brace, but if I’m going to be doing any real activity I need to wear a smaller brace that just covers the knee. It has hinges and straps and hydraulics. Okay, so it doesn’t have hydraulics, but that would be cool, wouldn’t it?
The ACL is stretched tight, like a rubber band. When it tears, the two halves separate completely and can not be reattached. To repair the damage, they replace the ligament, either with a donor ligament from a cadaver or with a portion of one of your other ligaments.
The surgery is in a few weeks and I’m getting a bit nervous. I’ve never done anything like this before. I still have my tonsils, my wisdom teeth, and I have no cavities or fillings. I have no point of reference at all for what goes on in a surgical environment. An anesthesiologist friend of mine says that the surgery will last 3-5 hours. That seems like a long time to be under.
Randy, I had a 80% tear to my left acl about 5 years ago. I had an arthroscopy to tidy up the knee but no repair. I have played netball and skiied on it ever since with no problems (but have done lots of hamstring and quad exercises). 6 weeks ago I got a partial tear to my right acl (again playing netball, perhaps I should give it up). My specialist said to see how stable it was and to go from there and I was sure it was OK however 2 weeks ago my knee completely collapsed when skiping down a step and now I think I have torn the rest of the acl and probably done some cartlidge damage to. I am 40 and will be definately getting the reconstructon on my right knee. So all I can say is see how it goes but I try it our before automatically getting op. I wore a brace on my knee more for piece of mind and I think this helped. Good Luck.
I had 100% torn ACL, I still can play competitive basketball, however, I can’t find time to do the rehab
Hey all, I had ACL recon. with the patellar tendon graft almost 6 months ago… I have started running again, have full extension and close to full flexion… However, I still have a lot of pain on the back outside of the knee (where the fibula head/ hamstring attachments are) and am at a loss for getting rid of this pain. My patellar tendon is also flairing up a ton too which makes staying on a pt regime really hard… i also have a grinding/popping most of the time when I extend my leg… has anyone ever had similar problems or have any suggestions. Anything would help…thanks a ton.
Completely tore my acl (and a lot of damage to my meniscis) during a basketball game on February 15. Popped out of place. Done deal.Swelled up like a balloon. They wanted to wait a month to have surgery. So before surgery you should try to gain as much motion back and do as much stretching etc on your own. I went in March 12th for surgery. Everything went great. Surgery was probably the easiest part so far. Put ya to sleep. Bam! You wake up. The first couple days are the hardest. The pain is pretty bad, but the pain pills help a lot. You’ll def. start getting better by a week. Its been almost 2 weeks since surgery.. and I am walking with barely any pain in my knee. With probably about 100 degrees bent and almost full extension. I would recommend getting off the crutches as soon as you feel like you can reasonably move around. I know people who stay on crutches for a long time.. and the recovery process just seems like it takes a lot longer in the long run.
I would def. recommend getting surgery if you are young.. or a competitive athlete. On the other hand… Elders who do not play sports any more may not have to worry about getting surgery due to them not being as active and into sports as others are. But that is def. a biggg decision.
I hope this helps. Good luck to everyone. Best wishes.
ELIZABETH
I had a Patellar surgery for my acl almost 1 year ago. I too get an awful popping and cracking in my knee. I get it deep in my knee when i extend it which i think is from the tib and fib not gliding with one another right. and also my knee cap does not track properly so i get popping there as well. My therapist says i just need to have full extension and flexion so i worked my butt off to get it and now i do. I have a feeling mine is do to scar tissue which my body makes a TON of and yours may be too. My symptoms have gotten better but it still does make my life awful! if anyonne has any advice PLEASE email me at mcmurtk@wwu.edu or if u have any questions about the surgery i would be glad to answer thanks
Randy, I dont know if you still check this blog, but can you please let me know how you are doing and if you had ACL Surgery. I am 42 and active (snowboard, hike, dirt-bike) and my Dr. did not recommend surgery. She advised me to strengthen my leg and wear a brace, which I would have to do either way. Can you tell me how you are doing?
MikeN
Randy, I dont know if you still check this blog, but can you please let me know how you are doing and if you had ACL Surgery. I am 42 and active (snowboard, hike, dirt-bike) and my Dr. did not recommend surgery. She advised me to strengthen my leg and wear a brace, which I would have to do either way. Can you tell me how you are doing?
Adam, would you be willing to forward this to Randy (see post above 11/28/07)
MikeN
Hi, I am 13. i tore my acl while playing soccer. I feel really depressed because I LOVE sports specially soccer and skateboarding and I don’t know when I will be able to play again (I play competitive soccer). They say that about the surgery is very hard because I still havent had my growth spurt so the surgery can harm my growth plat, but probably we will find some surgeon with experience in teen surgery. After that I don’t know how long until I can go back playing. I am not the kind of guy that enjoy taking things easy or going soft. Please if you can give me some answers. Joseph
Hey everyone!!! Thank you for your helpful comment. It’s good to know that one’s not alone. Hope this helps.
I fell on my knee hard on my concrete patio while hanging pottery in my back yard 8 months ago! I broke my leg and my doctor said I have an ACL injury too. I’m a young 43 and exercised regularly lifting weights too. I had surgery which included rods and pins in my lower leg. I have been undergoing serious and extremly painful PT (screaming like a baby) since then and I am still limping severly and still in need of therapy. I probably won’t be able to walk smoothly again until next year! My bones pop and grind around my knee too and its hard to straighten my leg out. My doctor found out I was walking on a bent knee for months!! I was in a wheelchair for about 2 months then walker, crutches, and now I’m on and off the cane. So don’t feel so bad about your injury. It could be much worse. However God did bless me to be able to slow-dance on my recent 25th wed anniversary! Thank God that you’re young or better off. I’ve been praying that I will be able to walk without limping sometime in the near future so I can better spread the good news of Christ. My hope is in God, yours should be too. Follow the doctors instructions and lean on God. God bless. Jesus is really all that matters. Hopefully you’ll find that out sooner rather than later before your life on earth has expired. Keep your head up.…to heaven. PEACE!
My daughter is 13 1/2, just tore her acl playing soccer, and like everyone else at this age, she is supposed to wait for her growth plates to come together. We are trying to figure out the best, and safest way to get her back on the field as soon as possible. Does anyone have any suggestions? If she waits for 6 months to a year to have surgery, and then another year to recover, that’s a very long time to wait, especially in the life of a adolescent. Does anybody use the medical knee braces to play in before the surgery? Any specific knowlwedge or experience would be greatly appreciated. Thanks
Hi Mitch- Our daughter also tore her ACL playing soccer. Soccer has been her life since she was 4. We opted to wait to have the adult ACL repair instead of the Kiddie ACL repair. She has been going to PT and passed all the test to begin running, juggling, and shooting. She has a brace and she will be able to play in September. We are not sure how it will go. However, she does know that she will have to have the surgery as soon as her growth plates come together. Her doctor said he would do an MRI every 6 months to see when she can have the surgery. I don’t know if playing is the right decision. However, I think for her it is because she loves the game.
My 16 year old daughter (15 at the time of surgery) had ACL reconstruction this past December. She was back out on the soccer field playing in July, full speed again. She currently wears the Don Joy Defiance brace (and will for an entire year). It gives her the mobility she needs and still gives her the support and protection she needs as well. She used her own hamstring for replacement and went through months of physical therapy. It was painful, but she loves soccer so much, that she really did everything she was told to do. Her recovery was faster than her Dr. thought, she was ready to play with in 5 months, however we made her wait and rehabilitate longer, to be on the safe side. Doing Physical therapy before surgery to have full ROM and build quad strengh definitely worked in her favor. As well, immediately after surgery we used Polar ice and a CPM machine. She started Physical therapy again a week after surgery.
I am a skateboarder i am 14 i fell about a month ago it hurts when i skate,go up steps,sit down for a long time it pops when i extend my leg i think i tore something can anybody tell me what it is
I am 23 years old and recently tore my Acl playing indoor soccer. I have been playing for 10 years and i am very active. I am very confused on wheather or not i should get surgery. It’s been 2 months now and I am able to walk normally and do everyday activities, but i miss soccer. I am currently doing PT and have regained almost full ROM. The doctor told me that i can choose not to get surgery if i am willing to give up soccer, and i am not sure if i am ready to do that. Has anyone succesfully played soccer with a torn ACL and no surgery?
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Randy
November 28, 2007 10:31 PM
I’m a young 42 and an avid sports weekend warrior. I play flag football and high level competitive soccer. I tore my ACL about 4 weeks ago and have been rehabbing my knee pretty hard. I’m able to run on it, although still with some pain from the meniscus. My doctor told me that for people over the age of 25 that unless they have a very good reason that they don’t recommend doing ACL surgery. I have no intentions of giving up my sports and they say that even John Elway played about his entire career with no ACL in either leg. So do I get a 2nd opinion and should I get the surgery?