T Minus Two Weeks

Surprise!!! I was originally supposed to have surgery in two days (January 23, 2013) however my insurance will not cover the allograft if I have my PCL reconstructed at the surgery center I was originally scheduled to use. In order to keep my out of pocket expenses to a minimum I reschedule the surgery to February 4th and will have it done across the street at the hospital proper.

So I had my pre op appointment today and all systems are go. The woman came to the appointment so she could get my post-operative care instructions (Translation, she came because the handouts given to me by the doctor would most likely never make it out of my truck). Here is my tip of the day.…You know PCL reconstruction surgery is the correct option when the assistant surgeon says “Oh Wow!” and the woman cringes just before hiding her eyes during the tibia push/pull test.

So how did I get to this point?

On September 14, 2012 I was training with my Brazilian Jiu Jitsu instructor, prepping for a competition that was being held in October 2012. This was the first roll (BJJ term for sparring match) of the evening. At the very beginning of the roll my instructor performed a sweep, which I have had performed against me hundreds of times, and when I landed on the mat after countering I felt a pretty good “sting” in my left knee. The sensation I felt was uncomfortable but it did not have me writhing in pain. I continued rolling, BUT I had limited use of my left leg. At the end of the roll my instructor and I both heard my knee “pop,” but again the sensation was more of discomfort and not debilitating pain. I took a break and then continued to roll the rest of the evening, working around my sore knee.

The next day at 3:00AM I woke up with severe pain in my left knee, I could not walk. At the suggestion of my wife I went over to urgent care where the doctor gave me a generic knee immobilizer, crutches, and sent me home with some pain meds. He told me to make an appointment with my sports medicine doctor for follow up. At this point I am thinking, ok this probably isn’t too bad and I should be back working out in a week or two.

A few days after my urgent care visit, I had my consultation with my normal doctor who specializes in sports medicine. My doc and I talked about how the injury occurred, he then had me lie on my back and bend my knee while he sat on my foot and push/pulled my shin. He then uttered the following words, “You tore your PCL.” My first question was, “what the hell is a PCL?” Now for
those of you reading this blog for educational purposes the following is a definition of a PCL:

http://www.webmd.com/fitness-exercise/posterior-cruciate-ligament-injury

My definition of a PCL is a lot more vulgar and since I want to keep this blog rated PG, I will not post my personal definition.

When my doctor told me I had torn my PCL I, my initial thought was that he hit the crack pipe pretty hard that morning. Seriously, I thought I should be in a lot more pain. When he ordered up an MRI, I figured I would play along and prove my doctor wrong.

On September 25, 2012 I went in for my MRI and later that day I received a phone call from my doctor’s office. At this point I am thinking to myself, quick turnaround equals negative on the MRI. Well it turns out my doctor was not smoking crack after all…I had a high-grade partial tear of the posterior cruciate ligament (Grade 3 tear). Next stop orthopedic surgeon where the news kept on getting better.

On October 26, 2012 I go to my orthopedic surgeon’s office and at this point I had done a ton of research and been a good little monkey by following doctor’s orders and staying off the knee. My OS had the chance to review my MRI and well it turns out I really messed things up. In addition to my PCL tear, I had separated my meniscus, sprained my ACL, tore a bit of my MCL, and ruptured a tendon. My OS’ biggest concern was the meniscus and MCL. He told me how NFL players would often tear their PCL and not require surgery, so he wanted to see if physical therapy would stabilize the knee. We decided to take a conservative approach and try to avoid surgery. I would stay on crutches for three more weeks and start light PT.

Three weeks passed and it seemed like the pain from the meniscus and MCL was getting better, but I still had greater than 10MM of movement between my femur and tibia. My OS and I decided to take physical therapy to the next level, but we realized this was going to be a last ditch effort. Up to this point I was doing my own PT three times a week. I was now scheduled for formal PT and in four weeks if I still had 10MM of play in my knee my OS and I would discuss surgery.

The following Monday I started with formal PT. It really sucks when the most basic of moves will bring a tear to your eye. Looking for reassurance I started to talk to my therapist about how NFL players will often tear their PCL and not require surgery. It was at this point I had my “Incurable Shitty Ankle” experience. My Therapist looks me dead in the eye and said, “NFL players have thighs the size of tree trunks, you don’t.” For reference please view the following video its 2:19 in.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ey4WSb-BVDQ

About half way through my 5 weeks of physical therapy I took a small jaunt to Disneyland where my knee did not hold up at all. Upon my return home I was also attacked by my son’s potty stool (those things are lethal). It should be noted that “attacked by potty stool” is officially in my medical records now. Anyways after Disneyland and the potty stool incident, my therapist and I switched from rehabilitation mode to strengthening the knee for surgery. At the end of December my OS, PT, and I came to the conclusion that surgery would be needed.

Since finishing up formal physical therapy I have been working diligently on strengthening my knee in preparation for surgery. My therapist and I are hoping that going in strong will lessen my rehab time on the backend.

Introductions

I created this blog for a couple of reasons. The first reason was due to a lack of information on PCL injuries and the second really was to keep a journal of my recovery post PCL reconstruction. I was inspired to write this after reading information from two PCL blogs and all the comments associated with them. My hope is that this blog will also be able to help others get through their PCL injuries/recoveries. I would encourage you to read the following blogs:

http://skinnygurl-mypclsurgeryandrecovery.blogspot.com/

http://pclrupture.blogspot.com/

I guess introductions are in order…My name is Jon, I am 39 years old and I live a very active life. When I am not chasing around my four year old son I practice Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, run, lift weights, scuba dive, and play guitar. While playing guitar is not a strenuous activity, getting into and maintaining the appropriate rock guitarist stance requires healthy knees. All joking aside, the point I am trying to make is that my life has been disrupted because I tore my PCL. I am looking forward to the months ahead with both excitement and apprehension. My PCL reconstruction surgery is scheduled for January 23, 2013.