Chairlift up...Snow stretcher down...The mountain always wins!

[Dee*Jay]

So picture this: There is an avalanche rushing behind me and further down the mountain I can see a little boy petting a baby bunny and so I swoop down to save the boy--of course the bunny was saved too!--(there is also a school bus full of pregnant nuns in this story too...I just haven't 100% figured that part out yet...)--and in the process of all this somehow I managed to fly like a whirlybird through the air and land in such a way that my knee was in a position that no knee should ever been in.

(For anyone interested in the *real* story I, um, was skiing on a blue run (not even a black!) in Aspen, tried to turn, caught an edge, and tore my ACL. Not nearly as good a tale as the one involving children, baby animals, and nuns, huh?)

Fortunately I was with the XHH at the time and he took care of all the paperwork at the emergency room...partly because I think he felt guilty (sure, honey, this is an *easy* run--you can do it!) and mostly because I was on my cell phone trying to wrap up a $950K house deal from my hospital bed, LOL.

And those ski patrol/medical people--they are AMAZING. I don't think it was 10 minutes from the time I hit the snow to when I was at the clinic at the base of the mountain.

Honestly I feel lucky this is all I did. The person in the bed to one side of me broke her femur right above the knee, and the guy on the other side was an expert skier (competitive racer and everything), had a four year old fall in front of him, threw himself down so he wouldn't run into the kid, and snapped both his tibia and his fibia. Really, I'm GLAD to have just a torn ACL. I feel like doing a happy dance that that's it. (Well, OK, maybe a dance of any kind is not going to happen for me any time soon, but you get the picture.)

Plus, I had the thrilling experience of a wheelchair ride in both the Denver and Chicago airports on the way home, so we'll chalk that up to another new thing (although people who have been waiting in line for hours at customer service to find a connection home do get a big pissy when you get wheeled right up to the counter ahead of them just because your knee is the size of a cantaloupe... Offering them a Percocet for their troubles doesn’t help…)

Now for the question part: Who else has torn their ACL? What should I expect? How is the surgery? Recovery? And I can’t even get in to see my doctor ‘till next Tuesday (this happened last Saturday). His take on it was, well, once the ACL is torn it’s not an *emergency* any more. Great...

 

[canuk-gal]

Date: 3/10/2010 10:41:15 AM
Author:Dee*Jay

So picture this: There is an avalanche rushing behind me and further down the mountain I can see a little boy petting a baby bunny and so I swoop down to save the boy--of course the bunny was saved too!--(there is also a school bus full of pregnant nuns in this story too...I just haven''t 100% figured that part out yet...)--and in the process of all this somehow I managed to fly like a whirlybird through the air and land in such a way that my knee was in a position that no knee should ever been in.

(For anyone interested in the *real* story I, um, was skiing on a blue run (not even a black!) in Aspen, tried to turn, caught an edge, and tore my ACL. Not nearly as good a tale as the one involving children, baby animals, and nuns, huh?)

Fortunately I was with the XHH at the time and he took care of all the paperwork at the emergency room...partly because I think he felt guilty (sure, honey, this is an *easy* run--you can do it!) and mostly because I was on my cell phone trying to wrap up a $950K house deal from my hospital bed, LOL.

And those ski patrol/medical people--they are AMAZING. I don''t think it was 10 minutes from the time I hit the snow to when I was at the clinic at the base of the mountain.

Honestly I feel lucky this is all I did. The person in the bed to one side of me broke her femur right above the knee, and the guy on the other side was an expert skier (competitive racer and everything), had a four year old fall in front of him, threw himself down so he wouldn''t run into the kid, and snapped both his tibia and his fibia. Really, I''m GLAD to have just a torn ACL. I feel like doing a happy dance that that''s it. (Well, OK, maybe a dance of any kind is not going to happen for me any time soon, but you get the picture.)

Plus, I had the thrilling experience of a wheelchair ride in both the Denver and Chicago airports on the way home, so we''ll chalk that up to another new thing (although people who have been waiting in line for hours at customer service to find a connection home do get a big pissy when you get wheeled right up to the counter ahead of them just because your knee is the size of a cantaloupe... Offering them a Percocet for their troubles doesn’t help…)

Now for the question part: Who else has torn their ACL? What should I expect? How is the surgery? Recovery? And I can’t even get in to see my doctor ‘till next Tuesday (this happened last Saturday). His take on it was, well, once the ACL is torn it’s not an *emergency* any more. Great...

HI:

In one word, narcotics. You''ll need them.

SO sorry for your injury!

cheers--Sharon

 

[somethingshiny]

OY! Glad it''s nothing worse, but what a way to end a vacation! Looks like you''re in good spirits!! Hope they stay up during your recovery!

Lots of *****dust***** for you while you heal!

 

[Dee*Jay]

Sharon, well fool that I am, I really didn't think I would need anything beyond Advil so when I left there I didn't take a script. The next morning I got up and immediately realized I was WRONG, so now I have percocet. It does help, but it makes me pukey, so I only take it at night. And speaking of at night, on Sunday I had my leg up on pillows but I must have turned in my sleep...and I SCREAMED. I'm sure the neighbors thought, well, she's put him through a lot, and he finally must have decided to do her in...

Shiny, thanks for the dust! I'm doing my best to be positive, and I really feel lucky that was all I did!

 

[Lorelei]

Oh Dee!! Hugs to you!!! Quite a bit worse than dropping a frozen chicken on the toe huh???

 

[canuk-gal]

Date: 3/10/2010 11:09:54 AM
Author: Dee*Jay
Sharon, well fool that I am, I really didn''t think I would need anything beyond Advil so when I left there I didn''t take a script. The next morning I got up and immediately realized I was WRONG, so now I have percocet. It does help, but it makes me pukey, so I only take it at night. And speaking of at night, on Sunday I had my leg up on pillows but I must have turned in my sleep...and I SCREAMED. I''m sure the neighbors thought, well, she''s put him through a lot, and he finally must have decided to do her in...

Shiny, thanks for the dust! I''m doing my best to be positive, and I really feel lucky that was all I did!

HI:

I hear ya on the meds and nausea--you might need to get some gravol for your post-op/recovery period. No pain = better recovery/healing. When I worked in daycare we did a lot of ACL repairs, many doc''s used the cryo after (cold pac) and it helps with swelling. I''ve had many many friends tear their ACL''s skiing, and although they all complained the first few night post op were "quite" painful, all but one said their recovery was unevenful and went on to physiotherapy and a full recovery. It helps if your Orthopod is a "knee" guy (sports med guy).

Take care! ( for what it''s worth, I think of you as a faithful, boy-bunny--rescuing type)

cheers--Sharon

 

[Dee*Jay]

LOL Lor, even *thatI* situation could have been worse--could have been a turkey instead of a chicken, LOL!

Seriously, based on the other injuries I saw that day I am THRILLED to have a torn ACL.

 

[peaches5]

this sucks, dont worry though, my mum broke her CL and was skiing the next year, i think she was quicker at recovery than usual, but there are good odds on skiing again. Hope its all ok

 

[April20]

I haven''t torn an ACL so I don''t know anything about that, but wanted to tell you I hope you heal quickly all the same! If you''re going to tear your ACL, at least you can say you were skiing and didn''t slip on a grape in the Walmart like a friend of mine did.

 

[Dee*Jay]

Sharon, yes, I plan on a very uneventful post-op experience! My guy does the knees of the Chicago sports figures (yet another reason, I''m sure, that I couldn''t get in for a while; some *star* tearing his whatever gets priority over Crazy Dee tearing something, ha ha).

As for full recovery, do you think I will be able to ski again?

Oh, and the real B!TCH of this is that it was my GOOD knee!!! I SO wish it had been my bad knee because then I could have killed two birds with one stone (not that I advocate the killing of birds by any means, with stones or otherwise!).

 

[Dee*Jay]

Peaches, thank you for the encouragement! I hope I can ski again, but I am afraid that I wiill be hesitant... did your mom have a hard time getting over her fear (if she had any)?

April, a grape in Walmart?!?

Oh dear, the poor thing! My trip down the mountain in a snow stretcher wasn''t pleasant, but I''ll take that over being hoisted up onto the casaba mellon stand by some 17 year old produce boy while waiting for the ambulance to arrive...YIKES!

 

[Lorelei]

Date: 3/10/2010 11:34:11 AM
Author: Dee*Jay
LOL Lor, even *thatI* situation could have been worse--could have been a turkey instead of a chicken, LOL!

Seriously, based on the other injuries I saw that day I am THRILLED to have a torn ACL.

HAHAHA!

Oh you poor thing....I do feel for you....I pulled a CL in my knee years ago and it was so painful but it did get better, you will have to take it easy for a while and stock up on chocolates and glossy magazines....

 

[fleur-de-lis]

Hey DeeJay-- yeah, been strapped to the ski patrol sled myself. Good times.

Date: 3/10/2010 11:38:59 AM
Author: Dee*Jay
Sharon, yes, I plan on a very uneventful post-op experience! My guy does the knees of the Chicago sports figures (yet another reason, I''m sure, that I couldn''t get in for a while; some *star* tearing his whatever gets priority over Crazy Dee tearing something, ha ha).


As for full recovery, do you think I will be able to ski again?


Oh, and the real B!TCH of this is that it was my GOOD knee!!! I SO wish it had been my bad knee because then I could have killed two birds with one stone (not that I advocate the killing of birds by any means, with stones or otherwise!).

Well, I have good news for you. Though my, err, sledding experience did not involve my ACL, my best friend in college tore hers on the slopes on a group trip. She was given crutches day-of, and like you her surgery was a non-emergency-consistent 10 days later. She skied again the following season, though she said it took about 2 years before she felt "confident" in her knee again.

But yes, you will be able to ski again. No prob.

HTH!

 

[Kaleigh]

Oh Dee,
I am so sorry, gosh that must be sooooo painful. I hope you heal quickly!!!!! xxxooo

 

[Dee*Jay]

Fleur, verry sorry to hear you had a sledding experience too! And thanks for the info on your friend. Honestly, I''m not sure I was ever *confident* to begin with, ha ha.

Lisa, really it''s not so bad right now. The most painful thing was when I rolled over the other night. Seriously, that hurt more than when I did it initially, I swear. YOWCH. But it seems like as long as I keep the brace on and don''t make any sideways moves I''m OK. I can even hobble around the house without my crutches as long as I am careful. I did almost launch myself down the stairs head-first on Monday morning before I got the hang of stairs on crutches, but now I''m OK. (And whose idea was it to live in a four story house anyway?!?)

 

[Delurer]

Hey,

Well she tore it one December, had the operation in march I think and then just slowly rebuilt it with a small amount of very reluctant work on the cycling machine (not very much at all though. It was a bot achey for most of that year if she had a very active day or a particularly long dog walk, but it was fine for everyday life. Almost completely better by Novemeber and then she did a weeks skiing that December with a specially made knee brace. I think she might have had an afternoon off because it got a bit tired at some point but it was fine every year after. You just have to try to build it back up gradually after the operation and be sensible when you go back skiing, but I wouldnt worry about your confidence, if youve skiied before and it was fince then you know you have always been fine before the accident so you should be fine after it too.

 

[Bella_mezzo]

I''m so sorry Dee-Jay!!!

I tore my MCL 90% after college (in a tobogganning accident

) I think the treatment is somewhat similar. It''s gonna hurt a lot and I had like 16 weeks of physical therapy 3 times a week. It''s fine now, just a twinge here and there.

The Er doc put me in the wrong kind of leg brace--stationary instead of articulating--and it hurt like a b$%^h when the orthopedist bent my leg for the first time 2 weeks later.

Other than that, it wasn''t so bad after the first few weeks, just a PITA to get to therapy, do the exercises at home, and be in a brace/on crutches.

 

[Dee*Jay]

Delurer, thanks for the vote of confidence. I hope I can bring myself to try again!

Bella, YIKES about the wrong brace! I am in a stationary one too...do you think I should be trying to bend my knee? Just the though of it makes me a little nauseaus though... Hopefully if I am in the wrong kind of equipment my doctor will fix me up on Tuesday when I see him. But I am worried stiff (no pun intended) about trying to bend it for the first time.

 

[Hudson_Hawk]

OMG Dee, I hope you''re ok and you have a very speedy recovery!

 

[Gayletmom]

I''m so sorry, Dee-Jay, but you have such a great attitude. I think that is half the battle.

I have a dear friend who tore his ACL a few years ago and was skiing about 8 months later. He says he''s a bit more cautious since the surgery but attributes it to a better sense of what can go wrong rather than any lingering problem with his knee.

Hope you are healing soon!

 

[Dee*Jay]

Thanks Hudson! I''m just chugging along the best I can at this point!


Advice needed please! Anyone who has had this or knows about it, I will have been in this brace that immobilizes my knee for 10 days by the time I see my doctor. Is that good? Should I try to bend my knee at all on my own before then? The idea scares the hell out of me but I wonder if I''m causing a bigger problem by keeping it totally straight 24/7 for all that time? When they put me in this thing at the emergency room they told me to keep it on, but they also said to see my doctor ASAP... as in perhaps not a week and a half out... I tried to find info on the internet but all I can locate is brace info for after the surgery, not what to do at this early stage.

 

[BeachRunner]

Oh my, DJ! How awful of an injury! I have no experience stories about the ACL, but wanted to give you my condolences.

Ouch to the injuries you saw next to you, sounds awful. I''ve noticed the mtns in CO are a little bit steeper than on the east coast. I''d say some of the east coast blacks are comparible to midwest blues.

I''m glad you are OK!

 

[Dee*Jay]

Gayle, thanks for the info about your friend. This seems to be such a common injury, and I hear over and over about skiiers who are right back at it after the surgery, so I hope I am one of them! As for attitude, my philosophy is it could have been much worse. Nothing broken, no (likely) permanent damage, no trees involved, didn''t take anyone else down with me, so I''m "happy" about it. Plus, it makes for a lot of free drinks at the lodge bar, LOL!

 

[Dee*Jay]

Beach, funny you should say that about the "color" differences between the east and west! I''ve heard that things out west are steeper, and I''ve noticed that things vary even in CO from mountain to mountain. While I won''t go so far as to imagine this blue run was really a black, I certainly consider it a *black and blue* run after my experience!

 

[Bella_mezzo]

Hi Dee Jay-Could you maybe call your DR to ask? It hurt A LOT when the Dr. moved my leg for the first time after the brace, but then it was over

I was is in it for 2 weeks without moving it. Also, he didn''t warn me that it would hurt, just climbed on top of me and jerked my leg (orthopedists are kind of rough and violent

)

Anyway, MCL is different than ACL so I''d call your Dr. (I think ACL is harder to heal, and often requires surgery...I know for me, the Dr. said if I''d had the same tear in my MCL it would have meant surgery first.)

I''m not trying to freak you out

I also was nannying for infant twins and lived in the 4th floor of the family''s walk-up during this time. I kept working the whole time. Difficult and awkward and sometimes painful, but manageable.

 

[Dee*Jay]

Date: 3/10/2010 3:41:51 PM
Author: Bella_mezzo
Hi Dee Jay-Could you maybe call your DR to ask? It hurt A LOT when the Dr. moved my leg for the first time after the brace, but then it was over

I was is in it for 2 weeks without moving it. Also, he didn't warn me that it would hurt, just climbed on top of me and jerked my leg (orthopedists are kind of rough and violent

)

OK, now I'm scared...

 

[Maisie]

Get well soon Dee! I knew there was a reason why I don''t ski!

 

[zoebartlett]

Dee -- I''m so sorry that happened. I''ve never been through it so I have words of advice but I hope you have a quick recovery.


Bella -- when I first read your post, I read it as "It hurt A LOT when the Dr. REMOVED my leg for the first time after the brace..." I thought, "well YEAH, that WOULD hurt." Clearly, I read it wrong.

 

[portia]

Hi DeeJay

Sorry to hear about your accident. I wish I had some advice for you. I''ve skied many years but never had an injury (knock on wood!). Sending lots of healing vibes your way! Were you skiing Ajax or one of the other mountains?

 

[yssie]

oh boy.. DeeJay, I hope you feel better soon!!




your story made me giggle