Mamma Faz' has confirmed she will be coming to Ottawa to take care of me for the few days after the 23rd...probably until the Friday. I will prob. be sleeping most of the time, but I am supposed to be "mobile" or encouraged to move around after the first week, so hopefully I will be able to get out and see the world again!!
thats all for now....
Friday, August 29, 2008
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Who, What, How.
For those of you who may not know I am a 21 year old female and I tore my ACL in early Feb. of 2007 while playing indoor intramural soccer at University.
With my left foot planted, i turned quickly to pivot to the right. My left foot stayed in place, while my knee over turned. Conseuquently, the twisting and impact of the knee caused a loud "pop", followed by excruciating pain, and my left leg collapsing. (Probably the most pain I have ever felt.) While screaming/swearing on the floor of the field house, a lifeguard showed up to tend to my injury. Not being able to bend my knee, i was lifted off the field to the bench.
While sitting on the side, trying to describe this ungodly pain in my knee, I became very unsteady... I was very dizzy, feeling like I could faint at any second. Struggling to stay awake, while icing my knee, I already knew that my ACL was F****ed.
While hobbling around Ottawa, I managed to make it to the doctor within a few days, who told me to my relief that my ACL was "fine" and there was only damage to my meniscus.... Phewf...
After 4 months of steady physio, and hundreds of dollars spent on a physiotherapist, who also confirmed that my ACL was not torn, I was told I could play soccer after 4 months...So I did...This was bad news. Another "pop" followed by more pain, left me thinking that my doctors needed to go back to Med. School....
The confirmation came after 3 cancelled appointments by my knee specialist, and 4 months of waiting for an appointment. I was sent for an MRI which came back inconclusive as they could not tell how much my ACL was torn, but two doctors were certain that sports were not in my future if surgery did not happen.With surgery dates backed,
I have waited 1 year and 7 months for this silly surgery, and it won't be over until 6-9 months of recovery. 2 years and 4 months of not playing soccer.
April cannot come soon enough.
With my left foot planted, i turned quickly to pivot to the right. My left foot stayed in place, while my knee over turned. Conseuquently, the twisting and impact of the knee caused a loud "pop", followed by excruciating pain, and my left leg collapsing. (Probably the most pain I have ever felt.) While screaming/swearing on the floor of the field house, a lifeguard showed up to tend to my injury. Not being able to bend my knee, i was lifted off the field to the bench.
While sitting on the side, trying to describe this ungodly pain in my knee, I became very unsteady... I was very dizzy, feeling like I could faint at any second. Struggling to stay awake, while icing my knee, I already knew that my ACL was F****ed.
While hobbling around Ottawa, I managed to make it to the doctor within a few days, who told me to my relief that my ACL was "fine" and there was only damage to my meniscus.... Phewf...
After 4 months of steady physio, and hundreds of dollars spent on a physiotherapist, who also confirmed that my ACL was not torn, I was told I could play soccer after 4 months...So I did...This was bad news. Another "pop" followed by more pain, left me thinking that my doctors needed to go back to Med. School....
The confirmation came after 3 cancelled appointments by my knee specialist, and 4 months of waiting for an appointment. I was sent for an MRI which came back inconclusive as they could not tell how much my ACL was torn, but two doctors were certain that sports were not in my future if surgery did not happen.With surgery dates backed,
I have waited 1 year and 7 months for this silly surgery, and it won't be over until 6-9 months of recovery. 2 years and 4 months of not playing soccer.
April cannot come soon enough.
Sunday, August 24, 2008
The countown begins..
30 days until I go under the knife.... well, maybe that's wrong- I don't think they uses knives anymore!
Here is a summary of my operation...
Autograft is the most widely performed orthopedic ACL reconstruction. The technique involves moving (harvesting) the patient’s own tissue. Commonly used autografts are the mid-third of the patellar tendon with bone attached at both ends, one or two medial hamstrings, or the quadriceps tendon with bone at one end. Results are somewhat similar and secondary effects are unique to the harvest site.
...Allograft, via hamstring is the winner for me!
This is what it all entails for me. (Graft refers to my hamstring they are taking to form a new ACL)
Well, this will be fun...
30 days until it all begins.... oi-vey.
Here is a summary of my operation...
Autograft is the most widely performed orthopedic ACL reconstruction. The technique involves moving (harvesting) the patient’s own tissue. Commonly used autografts are the mid-third of the patellar tendon with bone attached at both ends, one or two medial hamstrings, or the quadriceps tendon with bone at one end. Results are somewhat similar and secondary effects are unique to the harvest site.
...Allograft, via hamstring is the winner for me!
This is what it all entails for me. (Graft refers to my hamstring they are taking to form a new ACL)
During the procedure:
The patient is anesthetized using general, spinal/epidural, regional or in some centers, local anesthetic with sedation. Arthroscopy allows determination of associated injuries, which are usually treated at the same setting (e.g., meniscal tears or chondral trauma). The space in the knee where the PCL and ACL reside, the notch, is often narrow and in those cases it is widened (notchplasty) to accommodate the graft.
Then through a small separate accessory incision, a TUNNEL (yes, it says tunnel) is DRILLED through the tibia (lower leg bone) AND through the femur (the upper bone) in the same position as the original ligament attachment sites. The graft is fashioned to fit into these tunnels. The graft is fixed to the femur and tibia (upper and lower leg bones) by a variety of means.(pretty sure this might mean drilling into my bone) Once secure, the graft is checked for proper tension. The knee is placed in a compressive dressing with allowance for cryotherapy. Usually the patient is released as an outpatient.
Well, this will be fun...
30 days until it all begins.... oi-vey.
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