The Real Culprit
A week ago I pointedly blamed the LCL for all my troubles, and mentioned that the good news was that the LCL was not the ACL.
Well, it turns out that while the LCL is still not the ACL, the ACL is, in fact, the ACL. This is all a roundabout way of saying that my ACL and my LCL are both torn, as in all the way through and not-going-to-heal-on-their-own. Along with a bunch of bone contusions (or bruising, but contusion sounds more appropriate for this situation), it means that my right knee is basically in just about the worst shape possible, short of any bones breaking, which apparently doesn’t happen to me, ever.
(*Knock on wood.)
Tomorrow I get to call a surgeon to (presumably) schedule surgery on my knee. Recovery afterwards is supposed to be about 6 months to full strength, which is a shorter time frame than I expected to hear — but maybe the arthroscopic surgery is just that good these days? The time line I received was as follows:
1 month to biking
2-3 months to running in a straight line
6 months to full recovery, including ultimate again
This is a heck of a lot better than the 6-12 months for partial and probably incomplete recovery that I was expecting to hear. Was this sugarcoated or are my chances really this good? I guess time will tell.
October 9th, 2007 at 04:48:07 pm
Sorry to hear that the injury turned out to be the worst case scenario. Would you like me to find out the name of the doctor who patched Carolyn’s knee back together? Seems to have done a good job, as she is now doing Iron Man and whatnot.
October 9th, 2007 at 04:53:51 pm
Well that’s a bit of a bummer – 6 months without ultimate. On the other hand, it is only 6 months. However, from former coworkers who had such surgery, the knee is never 100% afterwards. I’d suggest maybe easing up on the hard physical games – maybe take a laid-back (but still enjoyable and competitive) approach to ultimate in the future. Best wishes and here’s looking at a speedy and 100% recovery!
October 9th, 2007 at 09:15:53 pm
All I know is ligaments don’t heal very fast. Make sure you get the best treatment possible, because your knees are important, and ligaments need all the help they can get.
October 12th, 2007 at 11:57:33 am
So, how about that Cribbage? I hear it’s fun, while not being too physical.
Seriously though, that’s a pretty bang up job you did, but before you know it, 6 months will be gone and you’ll be mostly back up to speed. :)