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.
i think im in the same boat as you guys and gals. i was doing kicks in my tae kwon do class and landed funnie, and heard a pop, it was definitely my knee. i can walk, but not fast, and it hurts when i try and straighten it. it feels like its gonna give out when i put my wait on it.
Hi, I am a thirteen year old girl who loves sports. Sports are my life. I mainly enjoy playing soccer, basketball, and lacrosse. One day me and my family had went to go skiing. Well I ended up taking a really bad fell. It took me a while to get back up but i was finally able to do it. Well weeks later my mom took me took the docotrs and i had a x ray and they found nothing so then i had to have an mri. They then discovered that i had torn my acl. I gad the surgery on April 6, 2007 and as of today june 4, 2007 i am feeling very well. i have to go to physical therapy 3x times a week. Physical therapy helps alot. It has really been killing me not [laying sports but i know it will be all worth it in the end. The doctor says that i should start jogging ina week and should be able to play soccer in August. I reccomend that if you are athletic and you tear yoyur acl get it repaired. You will be so happy you got it repaired.
I am 24 years old and was playing basketball about 6 weeks ago. I pretty much got body checked and tore my ACL and meniscus. The surgery is on Tuesday. Any words of encouragement.… What I can or can’t do… For some reason I have psyched myself out and really don’t want to have surgery. Thanks!
Hi everyone!! I am 17 years old post ACL reconstruction on 11/20/06. I am doing a research project so I can try and get a scholarship for college and I am wondering if any of you out there could answer the questions below and email me the responses to dlabsmith@aol.com. You don’t have to include your name. Any help at all would be greatly appreciated-thank you sooo much!!!!
Gender: Female or Male Age: Did you strengthen your surgical leg before surgery? Yes or No If you answered yes to the above question, briefly describe what you did to strengthen your leg? __
Did you wear a brace after surgery? Yes or No Surgical Graft: Patellar Tendon, Hamstring or Cadaver Ask your physical therapist for the following information: Your range of motion one week after surgery: __ Your range of motion two weeks after surgery:
Three weeks after? _ Four weeks after? _ Five weeks after? _ Six weeks after? _ Seven weeks after? _ Eight weeks after? _ When did you reach your full range of motion? __
Your information will be used for research purposes only
I,m 41 and I finally found the right doctor and my ACL surgery is going to be on October 18th. I fell at work back in December of 2006. I tore my ACL,MCL, AND MENISCUS.The doctor that workmans comp. sent me to only wanted to repair the meniscus. He wanted to see if the rest would heal on it’s on. After I fell a couple more times I found out on my on that the ACL does not heal on it’s own. WISH ME LUCK!!
hi im 15 yrs old and i have undergone acl surgery just this past tuesday..im trying to move around on crutches and its very painful..i try to sit down and stand up on my own and its working but i cant sit still for a while. does anyone have any tips for what i should be doing? thank you very much..
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?
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
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Adam Kalsey
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Lewie H
March 10, 2007 1:46 PM
Many thanks to everyone who has posted their ACL stories on this site. It’s been immensly reassuring to me. I (39 years of age) hyperextended my right knee in a basketball game on February 12. I’ve had worse pain from bone breaks and sprains, but as I crawled off the court, I was worried. I limped back to my car and drove home. Days later, MRI confirmed ACL tear and medial meniscus damage. I had the reconstructive surgery two days ago. For anyone out there who is dreading surgery, don’t worry too much. It’s cake. I was put to sleep and when I was revived about two hours later, I was comfortable (and groggy). Some pain arrived the first night, but my painkillers are working for me.
I feel fortunate to have a surgeon who was highly recomended. Still, I believe one must be proactive in dealing with an injury/disease and in this respect I may have failed. What little I was told about my post-operative care took place just after being revived and I do not really remember much of it. I wish (all of) it had been written down (Instructions included: Partial weight on my damaged leg was OK (?) . My knee is bandaged but without a brace. Last night I sat down rather carelessly and my leg bent to a point beyond it’s range of comfort. Pain was immediate and lasting. Now, I am worried that I damaged my grafted ACL! Frustrating, But this is where I am …