Mark's ACL Story

by Mark
(Chicago, Illinois)

On January 16th 2010 I tore my ACL playing a pick up game of basketball. I went for a layup, my knee gave out on me (I didn't feel the signature "pop" however; it felt as if my knee dislocated it self and then came back into place) and the next thing I knew, I was on the ground. I was able to get back up and walk on my own power, but I knew something was wrong.

I was lucky to be able to see my orthopedic surgeon (Team Ortho Physician for the Chicago.....Go Cubs!) that following Monday, and had an MRI that following evening. The next day, the dreaded results of the MRI came back.............a complete rupture of the ACL in my left knee. It was devastating news.

I am a 31 year old man, and this brought me to tears. In the last five years, I've had right shoulder surgery for the repair of a torn labrum, and then right knee surgery for the repair of a torn meniscus. Both surgeries required me to refrain from sports and even normal everyday activities for an extended period of time. To have to go through this yet again, was difficult for me to accept.

It took me a while, but I accepted it. Now that I accepted it, I had to deal with it and move forward. I had to wait 3.5 weeks before I could schedule my surgery, to allow the swelling of the initial insult of the injury to subside. I even worked during that time.

My surgery date was February 9th 2010. We decided to use my patellar tendon as the graft. I did a lot of reading about graft choices, and felt that my graft choice was best. Surgery was the easy part. The anesthesiologists placed a femoral block for my knee (which I totally recommend). They wheeled me into the OR room; I slid over onto the OR table; they placed the oxygen mask on my face; they performed the lachman test on my knee; they asked me what my favorite food was; I said cheeseburger; and then I was out. The next thing I knew, I was in recovery, shivering, and in a significant amount of pain. The nurse gave me 1mg of dilaudid throughout my recovery, and I slowly woke up after about 1-2 hours. My wife was with me the entire time, and she took me home.

I would have to say that the first 1 to 2 weeks were the most difficult. The first week was the most difficult for me. The block wore off on day 2, so getting up to the bathroom was a challenge. All that blood rushing down on my knee caused a great deal of pain. Being on three different medications tore my stomach up, and I ended up seeing my primary care physician because I was having a ton of GI discomfort. I had to discontinue all of my pain medications because they were making me sick. FYI: always drink a full glass of water when taking any medications to allow for full absorption. Apparently my doctor believed that parts of my pills may have been stuck in my esophagus, causing my heartburn / nauseated feeling.

No more pain meds for me, so the Ice machine they supplied me with became my best friend. My Ortho doc took a conservave to tive approach towards rehab and wanted me to wait until I achieved 110 degrees on my CPM machine. I started the CPM on February 10th and used it for 2 hours 3 times a day. Slowly, but gradually I started to lumber around with crutches.

It's been hard, and frustrating at times. I finally went to Physical Therapy on February 22nd. I'm starting to walk around on my own, however; with a limp. Not being able to work, not being able to do the normal things I used to do, and the thought of not being able to to certain things in the future are quite upsetting. But I have decided to think positive, and stay positive. Things happen for a reason. God has a plan for me, and I'm confident that it is a good plan. I'm at 2 weeks post op, so stay tuned! P.S. I couldn't have made it this far without my wife!

Mark