Knee surgery

[Graham1984]

Has anyone here had knee surgery and how did you get on driving when you were allowed back on the road. The reason I ask is because I had a ACL reconstruction yesterday with a patella scrape and a cartilage clean up and my leg feels pretty fu**ed today.

I was told I wont be able to drive for probably just over 6weeks and even then I have to get an all clear before I do attempt it. Any information anyone has about dealing with this surgery or any tips would be great especially if it speeds up recovery and gets me back to work quicker as I was told I wont be able to go back roofing until next march and even then I see that it is likely my knee wont even be 100% stable by that time either and due to that line of work I need to be as agile as possible.

[bradleyh_15]

You need to go to a good physio and actually do the exercises they give you, also hit the gym when they allow you and speak to the people there ( they should have a programme that people have been specially trained in post and pre op exercise) and they will be able to devise a programme to strengthen your quads and hamstrings which will aid in the recovery and take the strain off your knee joint. They will probably get you doing squats up against a wall to begin with then introduce a bar and so on as well as a wobble board but that will be later on. However don't over do it. Also if you can't get a plan of which I speak drop me a pm and I will speak to one of the oasis team at the gym I work at.

[SupraAyf]

I know of a few guys who have experienced something similar and it seems that the first 6-weeks was just the allotted healing phase; the next 2-3 months were then considered to be the rehabilitation period to get them fully up and running again.

 

It takes time mate

[Geo]

iv had spinal surgery on my lower back, L4-L5 fused together, and Elbow surgery. You've had surgery dude, someones been poking inside you with surgical equipment, your going to be sore and tender for the a few wks i reckon. i was off work with my back for 6 wks, but i was driving after 2 wks, walking after 12hrs of surgery. we are all different and you will know when you are ready to drive again, use the time off to heal up, keep moving, eat healthy(this helps speed recovery).

[Graham1984]

Yeah they had me doing that before I had my opp to strengthen my leg and due to the NHS making me wait 11months to have this operation (even then they bumped me to another place over an hour and a half away) I will have to do my exercises all at home though as where I have been out of work for so long now I can't afford a gym membership and had to give up the one I had before as when you earn zero 30-40quid a month feels a tad steep on top of rent and a loan repayment lol.

The thing that worries me is being healthy enough to employ as doing roofing and standing in the batten gaps and being agile and mobile getting up and down carrying tiles etc is standard practice and I cant just bumble along and it somewhat concerns me as I don't want to run the risk of hurting myself as soon as I get back working but being off work sucks arse. Looks like I am a shoe in for arthritis in a few years time now as well which is good going as I was 25 when I first injured myself in May 2010.

[mellonman]

i broke my leg and had to have a metal rod put inside my tibia to hold it all in place they had to remove my knee cap i guess to put the rod all the way down as i have a 4" scare on my knee, i spent a week in hospital and was bed ridden for about a month where the playstation was my savyour, rest is best but do some stretches to keep it free

[Graham1984]

I believe the xbox will get a hammering soon when I am more in the mood. Lack of sleep the last few days makes my interest levels pretty low as if I do nothing I tend to not sleep at all I think I nodded off at 6am today and was up at half 8 and somewhat similar yesterday.... Maybe I should invest in a bottle of JD and just get hammered on my jack (as long as I don't pee myself on the way to the toilet or better yet get a room bucket!)

I made sure I gave my car a good hammering just to say goodbye for the moment and I try and tell myself work wise I will miss the winter which for outside workers is pretty crappy due to weather effecting work and I suppose it keeps me from driving the car in the ice and snow if we get any this year.

[neilp9876]

I had my Cruciate done a few years ago.

My biggest regret is not doing the physio I was supposed to do, mainly because of the pain. You really have to straighten the leg regardless of the agony, and kneel down on it so it bends fully, otherwise the new ligament will harden and you will never get full movement.

If I remember correctly I could hardly walk for the first two weeks, six weeks to start getting back to normal, 6 months before it was painless.

[mellonman]

funny you say about the sleeping thing, cos when i was bad i would be up all night and sleep all day, i think it was down to no one being there in the day so i would just get up for my dinner

[bradleyh_15]

Yeah they had me doing that before I had my opp to strengthen my leg and due to the NHS making me wait 11months to have this operation (even then they bumped me to another place over an hour and a half away) I will have to do my exercises all at home though as where I have been out of work for so long now I can't afford a gym membership and had to give up the one I had before as when you earn zero 30-40quid a month feels a tad steep on top of rent and a loan repayment lol.

The thing that worries me is being healthy enough to employ as doing roofing and standing in the batten gaps and being agile and mobile getting up and down carrying tiles etc is standard practice and I cant just bumble along and it somewhat concerns me as I don't want to run the risk of hurting myself as soon as I get back working but being off work sucks arse. Looks like I am a shoe in for arthritis in a few years time now as well which is good going as I was 25 when I first injured myself in May 2010.

 

Speak to your doctor and get a doctor referral to the gym. My gym offers a 12 week rehab plan (oasis programme) at £60 with your own trainer for each session and your own tailored programme specifically for your op recovery! So well worth the money and looking into weather or not your local gym does such as they will motivate you and push you to actually do the exercises and get you mobile and most importantly mentally comfortable with your knee

[Graham1984]

I have read sooooo many threads on here to pass the time which some where quite interesting. I always hope if I stay up then I will sleep better the next night but it never seams to happen for some reason and I do the same process having the odd small cat nap which I can't seam to stop doing. It seams such a waste of a day to be asleep during it but I suppose in reality I wont be going anywhere so why worry.

 

My apologies for my newbie NA-T, TT NA mod questions when I signed up a month or so ago as where I have read so many of them lately I see why they annoy everyone.....I am wondering why every night I am up late I keep looking at stuff to buy for my car like the whifbitzs NA-T kit or 2jzgte engines when I am absolutely potless! I suppose it is nice to dream now and then.

[Graham1984]

Well annoyingly my knees been playing up again. Was referred to the physio a few weeks ago and just completed my second session. The physio says I have too much laxity in my knee so have two choices: keep doing exercises and hope for the best/surgery.

 

If I have surgery I will be off from roofing again for 6-9 months and have 15% less chance than before of fully recovering. If I don't have surgery I can't really ever play sports again or do anything too risky and will just have to hope it lasts for work. I work as a roofer and am self employed so no sick pay, plus I'm still paying off the last few grand of debt from the first time around.

 

I don't like either of the options really as there's nothing to say I will fully recover yet hate having no choice in my activity levels and essentially being old early. I've got arthritis in my knee and have had that for the last two years and i'm only 29 years old.

 

My other option is to find a new line of work but am not qualified to do anything else nor if I do this will I have the money to drop down in wages, I'm so annoyed and imagine I will be heading down the pub to get hammered soon to cheer myself up

[The Raven]

Thats a real pants deal mate.

 

I have little in the way of advise other than i hope it all works out for you.

[Gaz6002]

That's crap mate. I've spent the past three months off with foot problems. Had a steroid injection in one yesterday under X-ray and it hurts like a bastar6. Looks like I may need surgery in both of them if it doesn't clear up, which is boring.

 

Hope it gets better for you without going under the knife.

 

- - - Updated - - -

 

Oh, and getting hammered always helps.

[Kaan W]

Sorry to hear this, when your self employed there's nothing worse than having to take time off work.

 

If it was me I would book the surgery and hope it gets better quicker than it should.

 

My girlfriends Dad has just come out of surgery he's been dreading almost all his life after a nasty bike accident as a youngster. He's waited and waited as he's also self employed but he took the chance and went in for surgery. Turns out he's back driving again and walking after a couple of days, still not fit for work but it's not as bad as he originally thought.

[Graham1984]

Sorry to hear this, when your self employed there's nothing worse than having to take time off work.

 

If it was me I would book the surgery and hope it gets better quicker than it should.

 

My girlfriends Dad has just come out of surgery he's been dreading almost all his life after a nasty bike accident as a youngster. He's waited and waited as he's also self employed but he took the chance and went in for surgery. Turns out he's back driving again and walking after a couple of days, still not fit for work but it's not as bad as he originally thought.

 

There's no flexibility in the recovery time sadly; plus due to my job I could end up killing myself if I went back while not ready.

 

if there's a god I want to know wtf he/she/it hates me so much...... I mean two knee surgeries/debt okay, but throwing a NA into the mix sheeesh

[Abz]

Sorry to hear this dude.

 

Honestly think it might be worth reconsidering another type of job role as once problems arise with knee's they never go away.

 

I have torn ankle ligaments on both feet from playing football and have never really recovered. I still play football quite a bit but I am always nervous twisting and turning on my foot like I used to and still fell pain sometimes. I'll keep playing until my knee's go and once they do then I'll buy a Jag and just play golf

[Andy-No-Knee]

I destroyed my knee 10 years ago. I went skiing and dislocated it, shattering the left hand side of the joint as the left folded in that direction and tore all 4 cruciate ligaments. I had I op in Italy where I did it, then 2 ops over here...the first was royally fucked up by the clown NHS surgeon. I'm a fire fighter and ex soldier, and after I pointed out that there was still 25mm of movement in the joint after he operated on my while my leg was locked his reply was...'so?? You can still walk!' W anker!.

A year or so passed and then I found a mad genius who gave me 4 new ligaments from some dead bloke and then broke my entire lower leg off fromt the knee joint and reangled the knee joint so I'm now walking on an undamaged part. As I saw, that was 10 years ago. I'm still a fire fighter, and I can run. Get a swiss ball and a home TRX kit, with those 2 bits of kit you will be able to do all the rehab work and muscle building you could ever want for a fraction of the price of gym membership.

 

Best of luck mate, it may be a long haul but you will get there.

[Graham1984]

Cheers guys.

 

Abz I did consider another line of work but nobody in their right mind would employ me with this coming up (If I decide to go that route) and I couldn't exactly not say anything as I am doing physio for the near future each Friday.

 

The bit that I can't stand the thought of is the post op time at home. Last time I spent 6 weeks pretty much confined to my room and only sleeping a couple of hours a day.

 

The recovery and lack of money in a new job scare the hell out of me, I'm still in debt and at home due to last time with no scope to ever own my own home at this rate, just seems to be one thing after the other which makes me wonder why I bother at times.

[Gaz6002]

The thing is, you have to fix yourself before you can get on with life. If you do anything else it'll remain hanging over you. Spend the time off planning what you're going to do about moving out.

[Graham1984]

The thing is, you have to fix yourself before you can get on with life. If you do anything else it'll remain hanging over you. Spend the time off planning what you're going to do about moving out.

 

I just can't afford to not work as I have a loan and rent etc to pay which won't stop regardless of my choice, and obviously being in debt I don't have a penny to my name nor any chance of help from family.

 

When I was off last time I was on incapacity benefit and I lost god knows how much money each week while just letting the bills go out. I had the benefits people call me in and want to examine me/question why I couldn't work when all I wanted to do was get back to work. In the end they cut my benefits as they deemed me too fit for incapacity benefit and that I would have to get job seekers, therefore receive less money.

 

I've spent 4 years nearly in bad debt as I had to wait a year and a half first time round for the op and just tried to grin and bear it, and mentally I just can't deal with saddling myself for even longer financially when I'm nearly free from it.

[Kendo11]

I've had knee surgery 3 times now, after doing a degree (and getting into massive debt) to get into the sports industry.

 

What I would say is persevere with the physio and light exercises you can do at home, but seriously consider having a new career and getting the surgery done.

 

I've had it tough financially too due to similar reasons but your health is number one at the end of the day. You've got to ask yourself the question of what is more important, going bankrupt before you're 40 or being wheelchair bound.

[Graham1984]

I don't know what to do job wise though. I don't really have any interests that can translate into a new career, I don't have the time or patience to try and pursue a new career and find out I hate it.... I'm just feeling lost and moaning really.

 

C'mon lottery numbers.

[Abz]

I don't know what to do job wise though. I don't really have any interests that can translate into a new career, I don't have the time or patience to try and pursue a new career and find out I hate it.... I'm just feeling lost and moaning really.

 

C'mon lottery numbers.

 

Whilst you are off you can study and work towards a new line of work. First you'll need to sit down and work out what you want. Second you need to work towards it, you can only do that with a plan & schedule. Setup phone reminders every day reminding you to hit the targets.

 

I'd be happy to help you go through this and work out what you need to do. Discuss idea's and extract what works for you. It's sometimes easier when you can bounce idea's off people.

 

Whatever you do as a career you need to be happy with it, money isn't the bee end of it all my friend. You could be earning £100k and still be riddled with debt! An worse you could be still unhappy!!

[Graham1984]

Well I just got home from the pub after visiting the hospital, it turns out I have got to have another arthroscopy in a couple of months followed by my second Acl reconstruction if the surgeon finds what he expects even though my MRI was fine to look at.... to put it lightly I'm mortified. I only just cleared off my loans with my last remaining debt sorted when I do my tax return in a month-only to find out I'll be straight back in the red.

 

I'm supposed to be my mates best man for his wedding, but due to the expected dates, I won't be able to do that nor go on the stag do.. I'm also 100% finished as a roofer now this is happening again. I don't have things nearly as bad as some but just wish I could catch a break.