So, I am scheduled for knee surgery #5 on the 16th. I have been doing some research, and the procedure they are looking to do, called an OATs procedure is a real bitch. I am looking at 6 weeks of no weight bearing, and then crutches, and 1 year minimum before any 'impact sports'. Jogging/Running is considered an 'impact sport'. If the grafts don't take, the only other option I am likely to have is a Total Knee Replacement. So, all of this is bad enough being that I am only 25 years old- BUT the real pisser that has me so distraught at the moment is the fact that the VT home football opener is on the Sept. 1 and there is a very very very good chance that no matter how tough I think I am, I am not going to be able to make it. Right now, I am thinking that doing it in a wheelchair, is probably my BEST case scenario and the only way I could even consider making it... That game is going to be UNREAL with everything that has happened and I cannot imagine having to miss it. I have also had to cancel my plans to go to the LSU game the next week at LSU, which would also be INSANE! OK- I am done whining- just needed to get it out.

Well- my little crying rant did prompt me to call the ticket office about what to do for handicap tix if I am going to be able to use them and go, so I know how to get HCap tix if I make it with a wheelchair...

 

Dude, no matter how much you're a hokie fan I think the important thing is you need to get better. Football games come and go but you only have 2 knees. Hope it all works out...

 

Go in the wheel chair, I would think you could get great placement to watch the games.

 

whats the injury? I tore my meniscus (same injury as Lavar Arrington) in my sophomore year. Had orthoscopic surgery to get it partially removed and repaired. I lost all my strength in the knee and the rehab was tough as nails, even now after 3 years I still dont have all my strength back yet, but I've still able to play football and basketball so its not all that bad..

its just a game dude, don't even sweat it. new season every year man.

 

wow alot of ppl w/ knee injuries. I am grateful i havent had any issues yet *knocks on wood* from all the soccer I played in college and afterwards.

hope you get better

 

Knee problems suck. My knee hurts every day, especially after working out. I have some sort of knee condition, don't remember what it is...anyways, I feel for you man.

 

You asked about the injury(s)... where to start. haha.

Left knee - 3x
1.) Medial Meniscus Removal (too bad to repair) and cartilage body removal.
2.) VMO Advancement, a procedure to reattach the 4 quadricep muscles that hold the knee cap in place due to several dislocations/sublexations
3.) removal of bone spur the grew due to breaking my upper tibial condyle during one of the dislocations/sublexations of the knee cap

Right knee-
1.) Removal of loose bodies (bone chips) from a traumatic dislocation/sublexation
2.) (on the 16th) - OATs Procedure. The jist of it is they are going to take cores of good cartilage/bone from non- weight bearing places in my knee and replace them in the holes left from the chips in the picture perfectly to allow the bones to slide past each other without all the irritation, etc etc. Its sort of an extremely intricate bone graft. The recovery requires a long time for the grafts to take, if they move or slide at all, it wont do any good because it will not form a perfectly smooth surface. IF anyone is interested, you can read about the procedure here: http://orthopedics.about.com/od/hipknee/a/oats.htm


Pics of the bone chips out of my knee. For reference, the coin is a dime. Some of those were actually cut into smaller pieces to pull them out.


As for the game. I am playing it by ear. I have a buddy who has a 4-seater Cessna and his pilots license. He said we could fly down there in about an hour and 15 minutes. So, I could get the handicap seats, we could fly down, and I could do it in the wheelchair. Its going to depend on how I am feeling and whatnot though-

 

One of the departments I'm in charge of is Orthopedics... and I gotta tell you. Do whatever the physician recommends. They tell you to do it for your own health and not theirs. I see patients come in every day who biotch and whine about their issues and its because they didn't follow the directions to the T.

 

that would be me

 

Yeah, I have traditionally been a freak of nature of sorts, in that I have healed fast and been able to really push it. The surgeon who did the first 4 surgeries thinks I have some kind of insane pain threshold. I also don't take hardly any pain pills.... I have enough leftover Percocet and Oxycontin to get rich on the streets, haha. -BUT- I think this time is going to be different and I am going to have to slow myself down in order to let the grafts take. Thats GREAT advice though, I need to learn some patience! WHICH is my other current venture! Haha- trying to design a 'patience' tattoo to go down the inside of my bicep. I am not a creative mind though...

Your in charge of orthopedics? What exactly do you do Lek?

 

That's unreal, I hope you're surgery goes well. If you don't mind me asking what kind of trauma caused you to need all these surgeries at 25?

 

I'm in charge of all billing operations in 3 departments. And that's one of them. Part of being in charge of all billing operations I have to shadow the clinic and make sure the patients are being charged correctly and satisfied with their treatment blah blah blah. It kinda overlaps other manager's roles. So I hear and see a lot of things. And thats a very common thing. You gotta be patient.

 

Well... when I was younger my dad used to beat me... JUST KIDDING!

Sports. I started playing fball, wrestling, and playing baseball year round when I was like 7-8 years old. Apparently, I broke my pelvis as a kid (probably wrestling) and never knew it, so it sits a little crooked. Since I was still young, on leg grew longer than the other to make up for it (again, I never knew). So, anyways, that misbalance in my anatomy has aparently put a lot of undue pressure and stress on my knees. So, I have torn them all to hell in the past years. The more immediate answer first surgery was from Fball, 2nd/3rd from wrestling. I injured the right knee the day after this past Xmas wrestling, I now coach HS wrestling used to wrestle every day at practice... not any more!

 

Whats a very common thing?

 

people not following instructions then try to blame the physician, dept, god... because now their leg is gonna fall off. lol