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Having Knee Surgery...how long till???
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 2007-05-15 10:54 AM |
Regular  84 |  Subject: Having Knee Surgery...how long till???I can resume activities. Here's the deal...def still overweight however in fairly good shape. I normally do about an hour of high-cardio and resistance training 5 days a week (been a little slack on my logs but they should/could give agood indication). By no means a real runner but more of a jogger. Have lost about 40 pounds but still need to lose about another 40. That being said, i still think I am in fairly good shape..no high cholesterol, blood pressure (all of this i've lowered since working out/dieting). I did two tri's last year and can't wait to do the 2 in August I have signed up for. I wanted to do some earlier however I have 7 weddings this summer (INSANE!) and they take up my every free weekend with subsequent parties/showers and the actual weddings. So...after 3 years of knee pain i finally saw a doc. We did the whole physical therapy and that worked somewhat, but not enough. The pain is the worst when sitting long periods of times, sleeping, in tight cramped spots and AFTER my workouts sometimes. Not necessarily during. I can't do any lunges anymore or naything that involves bending it 90 degrees and bearing weight. Biking has become a prob but im working on it. Turns out I have to have a Lateral Release and get my kneecap to move back over. Currently it is too far dislocated to the right, so they are snipping the ligament to get it back into place, arthroscopically. I'm wondering if anyone has had it done and can give some real-life recovery times. I have a wedding 1 week after as well as a wedding i'm in 2 weeks after (just reading a poem though, not a bridesmaid). Is it realistic to think I'll be off the crutches by that 2nd wedding? Any help is appreciated! Thanks Jennifer |
| 2007-05-15 11:03 AM in reply to: #801106 |
Champion 8766      Evergreen, Colorado | Subject: RE: Having Knee Surgery...how long till??? Jbacon - 2007-05-15 9:54 AM I can resume activities. Here's the deal...def still overweight however in fairly good shape. I normally do about an hour of high-cardio and resistance training 5 days a week (been a little slack on my logs but they should/could give agood indication). By no means a real runner but more of a jogger. Have lost about 40 pounds but still need to lose about another 40. That being said, i still think I am in fairly good shape..no high cholesterol, blood pressure (all of this i've lowered since working out/dieting). I did two tri's last year and can't wait to do the 2 in August I have signed up for. I wanted to do some earlier however I have 7 weddings this summer (INSANE!) and they take up my every free weekend with subsequent parties/showers and the actual weddings. So...after 3 years of knee pain i finally saw a doc. We did the whole physical therapy and that worked somewhat, but not enough. The pain is the worst when sitting long periods of times, sleeping, in tight cramped spots and AFTER my workouts sometimes. Not necessarily during. I can't do any lunges anymore or naything that involves bending it 90 degrees and bearing weight. Biking has become a prob but im working on it. Turns out I have to have a Lateral Release and get my kneecap to move back over. Currently it is too far dislocated to the right, so they are snipping the ligament to get it back into place, arthroscopically. I'm wondering if anyone has had it done and can give some real-life recovery times. I have a wedding 1 week after as well as a wedding i'm in 2 weeks after (just reading a poem though, not a bridesmaid). Is it realistic to think I'll be off the crutches by that 2nd wedding? Any help is appreciated! Thanks Jennifer Talk to Whizzzzz....she had a lateral release. If I didn't put the right number of z's in her name you can link to her blog from mine. I'm having knee surgery in two weeks, but mine is an illiotibial band release and a scope, not a lateral release.... But you know, the surgeon should be able to answer that question for you!!!! |
| 2007-05-15 11:20 AM in reply to: #801106 |
Extreme Veteran 380 Frome, (Nr Bath) Somerset | Subject: RE: Having Knee Surgery...how long till??? hi there I had a similar operation last october. I had a lateral release (shaving of the patella so it sits on teh knee cap better) and also a partial scinovectomy (sp?) which is basically tidying up of the tissue around teh kneecap. I had two weeks off work which is standard with a general anesthetic(sp) however I could walk unaided after about 3 or 4 days - not too far though as it was a little tiring. I was walking a lot better after a week and able to drive after a week and a half. The physio had said I could run after 4-6weeks so I started running on the treadmill after 4weeks :-), I did a 5mile run the day before my 6 week check up with the consultant which he thought had been a bit ambitious. To be honest its now been 6 months and I am still having pain in my knee after running on occasion, my return to running wasn't too bad but it takes a long time for the joint to gain strength so be prepared to take a while to get distance and speed up. All other exercise has been fine and I often find that if I run and then swim straight after i don't get any joint pain at all - probably because the swimming is loosening and stretching the joint maybe. So you may have to do some sitting down at wedding one, you'll be fine for wedding too but take it easy, by wedding 7 you'll be dancing along with the best of them!! By the way - the scars are really tiny and practically disappear after a few months. Hope that helps, good luck for your op Jess |
| 2007-05-15 11:28 AM in reply to: #801106 |
Regular 84 | Subject: RE: Having Knee Surgery...how long till??? You had two weeks off of work just because of the anethesia? Wow i am having the surgery on a Fri and was hoping to at least be working from home on Mon and maybe back by Tues. Maybe i am not quite understanding the severity of this. |
| 2007-05-15 11:35 AM in reply to: #801106 |
Champion 5495 Whizzzzzlandia Silver member | Subject: RE: Having Knee Surgery...how long till??? Here's the PM I sent you: I was just perusing thru the forums and I saw your post.... |
Good Luck! | 2007-05-15 1:14 PM in reply to: #801106 |
Regular 84 | Subject: RE: Having Knee Surgery...how long till??? Well i'm not sure how i hurt it in the first place. I was totally inactive and overweight for a while and am guessing maybe the stress of that is what did it. I just remember about 3 years ago squatting down for something and when i stood up, i felt this horrible shooting pain. It eventually subsided (after a few minutes) but became more frequent. I tried to just shake it off figuring nothing was really wrong. Then i had my epiphany a year later and decided it was time to get in shape. That was June of 05. By August of 06 i competed in my first Tri and wore a knee strap that seemed to help. But afterward it would kill... Finally 2 months ago i couldn't take it anymore. the swelling, the pain going down stairs (i live in a 3-story townhome), the dull pain at night or after workouts. So we did the therapy. They tried taping my knee and that was great bc it was pulling the kneecap over where it should be and it felt better. But not ultimately better..i still had some pain. I am only 29 years old so i figured i should not be feeling like i have 60 year old knees. Esp bc i plan to continue my fitness regime and hopefully work my way up to some longer/bigger tris! Right now i have a personal trainer and we are doing lots of quad/hamstring strengthening moves to get me ready for the surgery. Also some good upper body stuff. I plan to swim swim swim for sure just to get that cardio in bc i still need to lose a lot of pounds and cardio is good for that. Then eventually i want to get back into a walking routine and biking again. I'm just not the type that can take 4 weeks off with no workouts. I know the PT will help but that isn't really gonna keep off the lbs! I'm hoping the swimming will help with that. I can handle a weekend or week off sure..but that's about it. |
| 2007-05-16 9:16 AM in reply to: #801106 |
Extreme Veteran 380 Frome, (Nr Bath) Somerset | Subject: RE: Having Knee Surgery...how long till??? hiya I had my op at the same time as whizzzz then, and my recover was about the same too. I still had occasional swelling around christmas, but I was back running with 4 weeks. Yes the doc signed me off for two weeks because of the anasethtic, are you having a general? Have you ever had one before? I wouldn't under-estimate the effect of a general its surprising how bleurry you can feel up to a couple of days - they should tell you not to sign any important papers or make any major decisions for a least a week after surgery. I had to have two weeks off anyway because I drive a long way to work and my knee wasn't strong enough in the first couple of weeks. You will need to be realistic about your return to exercise, I really felt like I was at a peak with running etc before the op, which was surprising as I'd been experienced a lot of pain for a few years up to that point, but the operation does have an impact and trying to do too much before you are ready will definately set you back in the long term. It will be at least a week before any dressings are removed and the wounds are healing, and it may be difficult to bend or straighten your leg for at least a week or two - it was for me anyway. So please be realistic about what you will achieve, two weeks off will not make a massive difference weight wise as long as you are careful about your diet you will be fine. Also, the reason for my op was over-exercising over many years, I'm only 28yrs and never expected to have problems at my age either. I'm hoping I can get away without having to have the other one done - so far so good! Wish you best of luck with you op and recover let us know how it goes. Jess |
| 2007-05-16 9:59 AM in reply to: #801106 |
Regular 84 | Subject: RE: Having Knee Surgery...how long till??? THanks! Well i definitely plan to carefully adhere to the doctor's orders. I'm hoping to get my quads and hamstrings nice and healthy and strong beforehand. BUt yea, i understand that it might take a while to get back into shape. I hope i can still do the triathlon in August (exactly 2 months after my surgery) but the biking portion is rather hilly and that's where i have a lot of knee pain. And like you, I feel like even though i was losing weight and stuff, because i was exercising more it just kept hurting more than when i didn't exercise. I plan to take it really easy that first weekend and few days. My boyfriend is going to stay at my house and help me out. Not sure about the anethesia. i imagine it will be general. I ahven't had my pre-op interview or whatever yet since the surgery is still a month away. I am wondering about working from home. If my knee is the only thing bothering me then I'm hoping I can return to work like by Tues (the surgery is Fri) at least on my home computer. I am a writer for a magazine so there is not much do besides just sitting. And while i might not be able to drive or anything yet, I can at least hopefully prop it up and work. Thanks for all the advice/help |
| 2007-05-16 10:18 AM in reply to: #801106 |
Expert 1169 Charlottesville, VA | Subject: RE: Having Knee Surgery...how long till??? You will be having PT after the surgery, right? That's the first stage, and everything else will depend on how that goes, so treat it very seriously, like you're training for an important race. I'd consul patience. Take it one step at a time. |
| 2007-05-16 2:21 PM in reply to: #801106 |
Champion 8766 Evergreen, Colorado | Subject: RE: Having Knee Surgery...how long till??? I asked for two weeks off after my surgery and I'll probably get it. Here's my reasoning...last year I sprained my ankle. I don't have a desk job. Since I couldn't do my job, work decided to stick me at a desk just a few days after I hurt it. I ended up with a stay-puff marshmallow foot for a week because I couldn't keep it up/iced as much as I needed to sitting at a desk. You may THINK just sitting there is okay when really, sitting on your own couch with access to a freezer full of ice is better. Because inevitably, sitting at the desk turns into more walking than you'd have on your couch. If you can work from home I would ask them to let you do that. It can only help your recovery. As for the general...ASK FOR PROPOFOL! The gas-passer (I can't spell the a-word) has to stay the whole time it's being administered, but you wake up INSTANTLY when they stop. OH-MY-GOODNESS. BEST STUFF EVER. NO after affects whatsoever...freaking awesome. |
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