Benjy Posted March 9, 2015 Share Posted March 9, 2015 Shit news mate. If I can help you in anyway, barring financial (because I'm skint)...or sexual (because you're not my type...) help, let me know dude! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Graham1984 Posted March 9, 2015 Author Share Posted March 9, 2015 Cheers Ben. Atm I just feel like going to the pub and starting smoking again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scooter Posted March 9, 2015 Share Posted March 9, 2015 Graham how is the knee day to day? I'm sure you can put off the dates re the wedding/best man thing. I had a ACL reconstruction late November, they performed microfracture as well once in there which was unexpected and saw me on crutches with nil weight bearing for 6 weeks! I know it's a long haul back but if the knee is lax and giving way on you in day to day activities then really you have little choice but to go under the knife again... You could put it off for the wedding and save like mad for the couple of months down time. Which leg is it? if the left perhaps you could look into driving (auto) work for after as I know roofing and other physically active jobs aren't ideal for up to 4 months or so. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Graham1984 Posted March 9, 2015 Author Share Posted March 9, 2015 Graham how is the knee day to day? I'm sure you can put off the dates re the wedding/best man thing. I had a ACL reconstruction late November, they performed microfracture as well once in there which was unexpected and saw me on crutches with nil weight bearing for 6 weeks! I know it's a long haul back but if the knee is lax and giving way on you in day to day activities then really you have little choice but to go under the knife again... You could put it off for the wedding and save like mad for the couple of months down time. Which leg is it? if the left perhaps you could look into driving (auto) work for after as I know roofing and other physically active jobs aren't ideal for up to 4 months or so. Day to day is just that really, either okay or pretty bad. The problem with delaying NHS care is you get shafted and pushed way back down the queue. As the surgeon who I saw earlier is the only one that does the procedure in the hospital I just need to go with when they can do it and as soon as really. It took over 7 weeks just to get an appointment with the senior physio's earlier this year let along being picky for operation dates. Last time I was banned from roofing for a long time, and told that everytime the reconstruction is done. you have 10-15% less chance of a full recovery; which considering I'm on my second go round isn't good news. I hated the recovery last time and am not looking forward to doing it again. The self employed bit and no health insurance (couldn't get any after having this opp the last time) means I'm in a tight hole. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scooter Posted March 9, 2015 Share Posted March 9, 2015 I appreciate and empathise with your predicament, I heard the same about further acl reconstructions being % wise less successful. I'm not sure mines has/is/will be a complete success (the mental side of these long term knee recoveries is hard) but it's still early days for me and I'm the wrong side of forty and have a sedentary job, so it won't be as hard on me either way. Do you wear any braces for work? I found these some help between injuring my knee and getting surgery? The knee tends to be only unstable when the leg was fully extended and you can get braces that restrict your extension and flexion to help reduce instances of giving way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Graham1984 Posted March 9, 2015 Author Share Posted March 9, 2015 I appreciate and empathise with your predicament, I heard the same about further acl reconstructions being % wise less successful. I'm not sure mines has/is/will be a complete success (the mental side of these long term knee recoveries is hard) but it's still early days for me and I'm the wrong side of forty and have a sedentary job, so it won't be as hard on me either way. Do you wear any braces for work? I found these some help between injuring my knee and getting surgery? The knee tends to be only unstable when the leg was fully extended and you can get braces that restrict your extension and flexion to help reduce instances of giving way. I have a brace but don't always wear it. A few weeks ago I had a MRI and it turns out that the bio screw has something going on near there and my tibial canal is widening which is adding to the pain in my knee. The MRI actually shows my acl graft is intact but the surgeon is certain that it is too lax therefore hardly working. The mental side of the recovery sucks All I remember is sleeping 2-3 hours a day mainly 5am-8am and feeling like crap... along with becoming bitter about everyone else. When I tried to do sports or anything similar, I just avoided it as things never were the same, and quite frankly, I was crapping myself about getting hurt and doing it all again. The only good thing is that I can easily double my post count during this whole process Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
supra matt Posted March 9, 2015 Share Posted March 9, 2015 I have a brace but don't always wear it. A few weeks ago I had a MRI and it turns out that the bio screw has something going on near there and my tibial canal is widening which is adding to the pain in my knee. The MRI actually shows my acl graft is intact but the surgeon is certain that it is too lax therefore hardly working. The mental side of the recovery sucks All I remember is sleeping 2-3 hours a day mainly 5am-8am and feeling like crap... along with becoming bitter about everyone else. When I tried to do sports or anything similar, I just avoided it as things never were the same, and quite frankly, I was crapping myself about getting hurt and doing it all again. The only good thing is that I can easily double my post count during this whole process Hi Graham im really sorry to be reading this not good, Im worried now as im 35 and a electrician and have bad knees i have just had mri and start physio tomorrow, dont see the specialist to find results of mri till 26 mar, I pray I dont need an opp 6 weeks of bed riden can not be great and as you say will definitely take its toll mentally [emoji17], I hope all goes well for you mate, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Graham1984 Posted March 9, 2015 Author Share Posted March 9, 2015 Hi Graham im really sorry to be reading this not good, Im worried now as im 35 and a electrician and have bad knees i have just had mri and start physio tomorrow, dont see the specialist to find results of mri till 26 mar, I pray I dont need an opp 6 weeks of bed riden can not be great and as you say will definitely take its toll mentally [emoji17], I hope all goes well for you mate, Cheers Matt, let me know how you get on. The 6 weeks of doing nothing sucks, but it's actually more like months of having no life at all, mainly due to the amount of time you have off work. From memory it was six weeks of no weight bearing at all even though I could sort of walk after four, followed by a few months further off work. The senior physio told me the other week that the result today might be "You have a job that makes your knees hurt, don't do it anymore".... which to some degree makes me glad they're going to open me up like a turkey again. I was looking through my records earlier before my pre -surgery screening, and it's been going on since I was 25 years old and will be 31 before I'm hopefully better I must be due a lottery win surely Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tkddav3 Posted March 9, 2015 Share Posted March 9, 2015 I feel for you mate, I've always had dodgy knees from doing taekwondo and kickboxing since I was 10, the other day I woke up and was in agony with my right knee, could hardly walk. If I don't extend my knee fully for around 20 mins I'm in pain even when driving, I feel I'm going down a similar path to your my pedigree chum Hope everything improves with yours mate, bad knees are a nightmare Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scooter Posted March 10, 2015 Share Posted March 10, 2015 The 6 weeks of doing nothing sucks, but it's actually more like months of having no life at all, mainly due to the amount of time you have off work. From memory it was six weeks of no weight bearing at all even though I could sort of walk after four, followed by a few months further off work. You must have had some more work than the ACL recon last time as I think with that they try and get you up and about within days? I went in for my new acl expecting to be walking in a few days or even out of the hospital (on crutches) but then woke to find me non weight bearing purely due to the microfracture work. I'd find out exactly what you had done and research it, micro fracture doesn't always work or wears out prematurely, but there are other cartilage repairs that are possible. Try not to get down (easier said than done I know) about it, there are lots of success stories amongst all the long sufferers especially on the net, few return to say how well they are doing whereas loads of people post up in the bad times/when things go wrong. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Graham1984 Posted March 10, 2015 Author Share Posted March 10, 2015 You must have had some more work than the ACL recon last time as I think with that they try and get you up and about within days? I went in for my new acl expecting to be walking in a few days or even out of the hospital (on crutches) but then woke to find me non weight bearing purely due to the microfracture work. I'd find out exactly what you had done and research it, micro fracture doesn't always work or wears out prematurely, but there are other cartilage repairs that are possible. Try not to get down (easier said than done I know) about it, there are lots of success stories amongst all the long sufferers especially on the net, few return to say how well they are doing whereas loads of people post up in the bad times/when things go wrong. The surgeon I had previously was really tough on my recovery due to the job I do and how dangerous it could potentially be. I had arthritis by the time I was 26 due to being left to wait nearly a year after being diagnosed. I was just told to not weight bear but do my exercises which I did after surgery. After looking at the notes quickly yesterday I had cartilage,meniscus and Acl work done along with Patella scraping to remove arthritis. Today I'm trying to enjoy work although it's tough when I know it will end, which personally makes it hard to keep any enthusiasm or commitment going. I could happily just quit now but nobody will employ me with my upcoming issues which puts me in a hard position. I think in a few weeks time I will try and have a think about what I should do with my life after this is sorted work wise, and try and spend my recovery time pushing for that. I found it hard last time to be enthusiastic, as frankly you feel pretty useless laying on a bed watching daytime tv. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scooter Posted March 10, 2015 Share Posted March 10, 2015 I understand completely and I could work from home through some of it to help mentally. It does sound very much like what I had done (bar the Patella scraping) just much earlier in life for you I'm hoping that as my knee, they say, was otherwise in pretty good shape that I can tone down what I do intensity wise but still do most things if you see what I mean. Wait and see what the MRI results bring, I would advise you to open up to any medical staff and express your concerns and try and instigate a conversation about options and get a vibe for their expectations of how good the results can be. My recent experience is that the staff are good and competent but that they are under time pressure and so you need to prepare beforehand and make sure you get some answers rather than leaving an appointment wishing you'd asked about this or that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mellonman Posted March 10, 2015 Share Posted March 10, 2015 The surgeon I had previously was really tough on my recovery due to the job I do and how dangerous it could potentially be. I had arthritis by the time I was 26 due to being left to wait nearly a year after being diagnosed. I was just told to not weight bear but do my exercises which I did after surgery. After looking at the notes quickly yesterday I had cartilage,meniscus and Acl work done along with Patella scraping to remove arthritis. Today I'm trying to enjoy work although it's tough when I know it will end, which personally makes it hard to keep any enthusiasm or commitment going. I could happily just quit now but nobody will employ me with my upcoming issues which puts me in a hard position. I think in a few weeks time I will try and have a think about what I should do with my life after this is sorted work wise, and try and spend my recovery time pushing for that. I found it hard last time to be enthusiastic, as frankly you feel pretty useless laying on a bed watching daytime tv. Graham your surgeon sent me over your x-ray.which I have been studying. I can safely say you still have a lot to smile about.so try not to let it get you down , things look bad now but they will always get better and make you a stronger person I will post it up and hope you agree [ATTACH=CONFIG]198648[/ATTACH] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Graham1984 Posted March 10, 2015 Author Share Posted March 10, 2015 Lol cheers, when they did my X-Rays they thought I was female. I had my MRI results but it shows the acl graft in tact which when I was told about a few weeks ago I was happy. Yesterday the surgeon said he feels it's too slack so will have to have it all redone. Everything options wise is the result of having a chat with either a surgeon or senior physio, both stress to me that roofing wise that's it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Graham1984 Posted March 27, 2015 Author Share Posted March 27, 2015 Well just to update this I've got an arthroscopy booked in for next Thursday. Not sure what the end result will be but it looks like I will be looking for a new job regardless. On the plus side I will get to go to Prague in May which will be a result. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hitbox Junkie Posted March 27, 2015 Share Posted March 27, 2015 Hope it goes well for you knees are rubbish. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kendo11 Posted March 27, 2015 Share Posted March 27, 2015 Hope everything goes well mate. It took 3 lots of surgery over a period of about 8 years to get mine right, I was fortunate in that I wasn't dependant on a certain sector for employment though - so I hope that works out for you too mate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scooter Posted March 28, 2015 Share Posted March 28, 2015 Getting that done will at least help them to 100% confirm the state of everything in there and the best course of action. I'm sitting here feeling sorry for myself, had an hour gym session at the hospital yesterday and paying for it today, it's hard to keep the positivity on the backward step days but you must try (I'm talking to me as much as you here!!). Best of luck with it all and enjoy Prague! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Graham1984 Posted April 2, 2015 Author Share Posted April 2, 2015 It's camera in knee day again...... I might write "Can I have a bigger penis please?" on my leg to give the surgeon a surprise Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benjy Posted April 2, 2015 Share Posted April 2, 2015 It's camera in knee day again...... I might write "Can I have a bigger penis please?" on my leg to give the surgeon a surprise It's a knee op, not a gender re-assingment... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kendo11 Posted April 2, 2015 Share Posted April 2, 2015 It's camera in knee day again...... I might write "Can I have a bigger penis please?" on my leg to give the surgeon a surprise Do it do it do it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Graham1984 Posted April 2, 2015 Author Share Posted April 2, 2015 It's a knee op, not a gender re-assingment... If they used the fat off my area I could dabble in porn. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hitbox Junkie Posted April 2, 2015 Share Posted April 2, 2015 If they used the fat off my area I could dabble in porn. Still got to have stamina for porn Hope all goes well though Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Graham1984 Posted April 2, 2015 Author Share Posted April 2, 2015 Still got to have stamina for porn Hope all goes well though Good point, could always make short films or do still photos Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hitbox Junkie Posted April 2, 2015 Share Posted April 2, 2015 good point, could always make short films or do still photos Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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