Sitting around after knee surgery -

Off-topic Chatter
1

Sitting around after knee surgery this week. Had a torn meniscus they went in and cut the torn part off. Had my other knee done in 2012 but it does not hurt like this one does.

wondering if anyone else had arthroscopic surgery done before. My first one healed up and felt great short time later. This knee my quad muscle feels like a charlie horse every time I try to move it. It gets real tight and stiff.

Other than that being playing games with the kids and and dialed in there laptops for them. I just finished rebuilding my headlight so haven’t modded anything lately.

2

First arthroscopic knee surgery for me was the mid 1970’s. Then early 1980’s. Last one took over two months to get better. all in all surgery A+. Get well soon and hope all works out.

3

All the best for the recovery.
I’ve averaged the same operation approximately every 17 years on my right knee. Had the third one done a few years ago. The first time I was of work for three months, second time two days and the third time I was inflicted with an unwanted bonus which had me in agony for 7 months before they diagnosed the problem.
If yours is not playing the game I can only suggest that it was a bit more severely damaged than the first time everything else being ok.

4

Thanks, got a feeling this one is gonna take a little time but thats okay. I will just have to find some projects to do in my down time………oh wait I don’t have much of that. My 4 kiddos get all my extra time :slight_smile: thats great though they love tinkering, fishing, building stuff.

thanks for the input.

5

Well look at the bright side, time with your kids is priceless. As long as all of your ligaments are healthy as in, your knee is stable, you should heal fine. I had surgery on my knee about 20 years ago and brought home a bad staff infection to boot. It still healed fine. Now 20 years later I’m can still pack out my Deer and Elk each year.
Best of luck on your recovery and do the exercises. The more I exercise my knees the less they hurt.

6

i never had knee surgery? But, thats likely only because i did not have medical insurance when i got the bad knee injury.

several years back, i was “fighting” and completely destroyed my knee. I say “fighting” because while i was grappling around with a friend of mine that was very large? it wasnt a FIGHT fight… we were laughing, having fun at work. Heck… i made him do it, it isnt like the bigger guy was picking on me or anything, i insisted on roughhousing with my large friend.

fighting was a lifelong… hobby? you know, for working out… for sport.

anyways, i’ll never know exactly what happened, but… there was suddenly a weird noise (it was my knee, lol) the nloise had 2 components… ONE component of the noise? was a high pitched “eeeeeee” squeaking/bearing squeal noise… very eerie… the other noise was like a bite being taken out of an apple… imagine a large man RIPPED an apple in two? thats what that part sounded like.

me and my buddy BOTH heard the “weird noise” and neither of us knew what it was at first. I “tapped him” to indicate to QUIT roughhousing, and he just stood up and put his hands in the air, and i just let myself fall down to the ground… i knew SOMEthing bad happened, i didnt know what, i just knew it was my knee.

i could limp around a little that night? but… after going to sleep (very painful) when i woke UP? I was effectively a complete cripple. I stood up, to see what my knee was like… i tried to put some weight on it, and, well… it just “buckled” and did nothing like a knee should… it could be bent in about any direction i wanted to bend it, lol… I thought i was a cripple, honestly.

I was on a walker for a month or two… then on a cane for another couple months. I had a hip to ankle brace. My mom loaned me a spare walker she had, and, another buddy had a leg brace that happened to fit me, lol… the knee slowly froze up solid with very little movement over the first month. I could only get ONE VISIT to a doctor? In that ONE visit, he forcibly (with another doctor) “broke” my knee free… they FORCED IT to move from straight where it was about locked thru almost full movement.

it popped, it snapped, it squeaked, it felt like wet sand grinding… and it was excruciatingly painful.

this was at the one month point, but, it got me onto a CANE and off the WALKER.

===

i had a cane for another couple months, and my bad limp slowly got better. Took a little over a full YEAR to walk without a limp.

i get around and walk well enough if you didnt KNOW i blew the knee out, you might not know, but… trust me, i know it will never be “right” like it used to.

i slowly gained just about full movement of my knee. I can years later “squat” down and jog and run down the block… but, i avoid too much “climbing” and i am slow to kneel down and get back up… and i can only kneel for VERY short periods without really good knee pads? and even then not a long time… and i pay for it the next week.

the pain for the first couple months was excruciating, getting around limping on walkers and canes. I just kept trying to USE IT, until it figured out it was going to get used, is the only way i can describe it.

doctors best guess, in that ONE VISIT was all i GOT? he said the “eeeeee” sound was the tendons stretching too long, and the apple crunching noise was my meniscus tearing and ripping. Describing what me and the big guy were “doing” wrestling around with our legs? Basically my knee came “apart” and bent “backwards” the wrong way, and sideways too. (ouch!)

i went broke unable to work for months, and i am lucky i can walk without a limp years later. i dont feel “lucky” when the WEATHER changes, but… i guess it was very close to me being a cripple.

really, for not getting any medical help (couldnt afford it, lol) i am amazed with all i CAN do with my knee, to be honest.

you have my 100 percent genuine sympathy, and count your lucky stars you can GET medical help and surgery. Speaking fro experience, from having been ona WALKER and a hip to ankle brace? a year or two from now, you will probably be doing all kinds of stuff you cant do right now, dont sweat it. Give it one YEAR, and see how it goes, i bet its light years better than now.

7

Get well!
The knee is prety complicated, the only joint one has with litteraly a floating piece of bone held in place by some grooves and tendons.
When recovered try “skating” for a few minutes every morning and evening.
Bending through the knees with feet right and left of shoulders as starting position, then displace all your weight from left leg to right leg making about the same movement as long distance ice skaters do.
This strengtens the muscles around the knee helping the recovery and reduce changes of new problems rising later on.
Only start this if you can do it without pain and stop when you feel pain coming up.

8

Your all making me cringe with your stories and advice. :frowning:

9

My gf tore her ACL and she colder walk for half a year without support. I’m hearing these stories and it’s making me feel really grossed out! Get well soon man! So I guess you should take this opportunity to make some money by offering your modding services to members here! :wink:

10

I’m not trying to gross you out with the descriptions? I’m just trying to show that someone can explosively blow a knee out? And a year later walk without a limp, and within a couple years post injury, work and get around well enough no one would “know” what had happened by watching you get around well.

i wasnt young when this happened either, i was in my early 40s…

i kept my sense of humor thru it all… when i was hobbling around on a walker and a hip to ankle brace? I told everyone it was my “robot chicken leg”, LMAO…

11

12

I insisted on staying awake for my surgery. My surgeon was fine with it and talked to the anesthesiologist to make sure she was cool with it too. I had them prop me up so I could see my knee and the TV screen. My surgeon talked me through the entire procedure. It was quite fascinating. The tools looked HUGE on the screen! He just laughed and pulled it out and showed it to me and said “it’s only 5 mm”. An Intern came in and asked a lot of questions that I would not of known or thought to ask. Post OP recovery was no fun. I was stuck in a room full of groggy people trying to wake up. Confusion, Crying and concern for someone’s dangerously low oxygen. They could of just wheeled me straight to my room and skipped all that drama.

Good advise from Miller above. Getting strength back in the supporting muscles is crutial for a long term healthy outlook. Saturday I ran stairs with my Daughter, Daughter-inlaw and the new Grandbaby. Then we hiked up to the falls and back, did some more stairs. Saturday night I ran the Hounds with my hunting buddy. Tried to jump a creek and fell back into it :person_facepalming: Sunday I went with the girls again for a little 5 mile hike. Monday I was supposed to do elliptical with them but opted to hold the Baby! :slight_smile: That’s exercise right?

My point is that twenty years after a knee surgery I’m still going strong.
Give it time, it will heal. Torn meniscus generally have a very good long-term outlook.
Soon it will be a distant memory :wink:

13

You probably already know this but along with competent rehab a positive attitude is huge. Whatever it takes to avoid depression(and the lack of adequate oxygen in the blood that goes with it) helps a great deal. I like wheel chair rides, races or play of some sort(short court badminton?) that gets you moving but doesn’t stress the joint. Don’t rely solely on pt for all your recovery needs. Anything that gets you breathing deeply. :innocent:

14

Ihad 7 arthroscopic surgeries this last surgery they had to do a knee replacement because I have no more cartilage left you’ll heal up fine and I hope your recovery goes well good luck and God bless

15

I broke my toe today, if it makes you feel any better. Until now I’d never broke anything.

I’m batshit blind without corrective lenses and doorframe’d my pinky toe.

I have a pannelikker taped to my foot.

16

When I get to Heaven I’m going to ask God why he made knees, toes and funny bones.

17

doh….that’s sounds painful. My swelling is going down some which is good. I thought I would go sit at my desk by end of the week but doc says no back to work until next Monday……that’s fine with me. Then a month of restricted duty. No climbing on or around the machines at work.

18

I had gout in my knees, mostly the right one, which effectively rendered me unable to work. But I got lucky- eliminating beef in my diet eliminated almost all of the pain and the problems. An elastic knee brace is now my constant companion too. I sure miss the steaks and burgers but considering how bad the pain was it’s a very good trade.

Hope you heal up completely and quickly.

Phil

19

I understand my baf knees amongst other health issues caised me to have a pretty bad accident as a aircraft mechanic ,i fell outvof a 727-200 rear door tore my rotataor cuff and caused the knee replacement reaattach acl ,take your time to heal about 6 weeks youll be back at work.