The Culprit
I saw a Sports Medicine doctor at the UW Hall Health Center today. Both he and a resident he is training came to the same conclusion: my knee is hampered by an injured lateral collateral ligament, or LCL (see picture).
The good news is that the LCL is not the ACL. The bad news is that it still might be a tear; I won’t know until I get an MRI sometime in the next week. I have been advised to not bike (a bummer!) but I am allowed to put weight on the leg, which makes getting around campus in a timely manner much more doable. I have a huge knee brace with metal (!) hinges on right now, and I can walk without the assistance of crutches, although I have those too just in case. I also get to pop 9 ibuprofen a day. Woohoo druggie Ryan!
October 3rd, 2007 at 01:22:22 pm
that just gave me the heebiejeebies
October 4th, 2007 at 01:35:13 am
So, how bad is the worse case of a total LCL severing considered? Is this one where they go in and replace the ligament with one from elsewhere in the body, or with cadaver tissue? If there is a partial tear, do they just let it heal as much as possible, accepting that you might be more prone to knee related injuries in the future? I hope you are doing all right and haven’t become a total gimp for life. Lack of information scares me.