PCL Surgery Recovery

[jnicole]

Yesterday, I had surgery to repair my torn PCL in my right knee. I want to document my recovery journey here since the NF community is so supportive, and I'm excited to get moving toward a better, faster, stronger leg!

 

Going in to the procedure - I was told that aside from a total knee replacement, PCL surgeries are the most painful that you can have.

 

The procedure was arthroscopic, so my knee wasn't opened up - just a couple incisions for the cameras and tools. They did drill a hole through my tibia to be able to insert the ligament graft.

 

Everything went well - the whole procedure lasted about 2-2.5 hours, and then I was in the recovery room for another two. The procedure is outpatient, so I was able to go home yesterday afternoon!

 

I've been pleasantly surprised at how little pain I'm in. The pain I do have is easily assisted by the medication given by the doctor.

 

My leg is probably doubled in size - the repaired knee has surgical dressings, an ace bandage wrap, compression stocking, cold therapy sleeve, then a giant locking brace to keep my leg locked in an extension. All those together have made finding clothes that will accommodate the size quite difficult.

 

The next two weeks are about rest, ice, and more rest. I go back to see the doctor in two weeks, and after that, physical therapy will begin. We can remove the surgical dressing tomorrow, and I'm allowed to shower on Friday (without getting the wounds wet).

 

I'll be in physical therapy 2-3 times/week for the next 6-7 months. There's a long road ahead, but it will be so good to finally have a knee that is stable and works!

 

More fun post-surgery updates to come.

[Donar]

Good luck to you.

 

I had multiple surgeries to repair almost everything a couple years ago.

 

My one tip: be serious about your mobility work

 

I did everything they told me to do.....and I still will never have full, terminal knee extension.

[jnicole]

Thanks, Donar.

 

Day 2 Post- Surgery

This morning was really rough. The side-effects of my pain medication make me dizzy enough that I have to get flat or I will faint - and considering that bending my knee is not an option right now - neither is fainting. So - we've been making an effort to make sure that I get to the restroom to brush my teeth, etc. before taking meds in the morning. Today - the pain was AWFUL, and I cried just from the feeling of gravity on my leg after standing up. No. Good.

 

My pain levels have been increasing since surgery. First day wasn't bad, yesterday was a little worse, and today it made me cry. Thankfully, the pain meds do take all of that away, and the cold therapy machine helps, too. Unfortunately, the pain meds lay me out and don't let up (of a 4-hour dosage period, I'm unable to sit up for 2+). So, that's a give and take.

 

I've spent the rest of the morning/afternoon lying flat on the couch (thanks, Percocet). Some time this afternoon we will be changing the surgical dressing around my knee. I think it will be nice to get all of these layers off, even just for a few minutes.

[jnicole]

Day 3- Post-Op Recovery

 

Sleep, sleep, and more sleep. My body's natural response to stress and trauma is to sleep, so I guess it's a good thing that I'm able to. Though I'm sure that one of these days the amount of sleep I'm getting in the middle of the day will come back to haunt me at night. Hasn't yet.

 

Yesterday, we took off the original dressings - leaving steri-strips but replacing the gauze. The wounds themselves looked great - no leaking, no bleeding. Stitches, etc. won't come out until my follow up appt. in two weeks. Re-wrapping everything in the same layers was the hard part - I'm not allowed to bend my knee, so the leg has to stay flat - but we have to wrap gauze and an ace bandage around the whole of my leg. THEN - put on a compression stocking, and finish with the cold therapy sleeve and locking brace. That took up a lot of time.

 

Today, at some point, we'll get to unwrap everything again, wrap my knee in saran wrap, tape it off, and then I'll be able to shower for the first time since Monday! woohoo!!! We need to get a stool/seat for the shower that I'll be able to sit on and still reach things without needing to stand. I wasn't able to find one before the operation, so my family who's here visiting has been wonderful going on errands and finding things for me when I need them.

 

I'm able to get off the couch easily (staying here since my bedroom is down a couple small sets of stairs), but getting back on is harder. I think it would be easier if my operated-on leg was the first one on the couch, but with its current orientation, my good leg is on first. So that makes maneuvering a fun thing. I can do it alright when I'm on my own and there's no other option, but if my mom or someone else is in the room, I definitely ask for help in getting situated again.

 

I was running a bit of a fever last night, but the doctor says that's normal in the first few days after surgery. No high temperature today, so we should be good on that front.

 

Generally really tired, and feel pretty weak - especially when trying to open my pain meds bottle or hold my water bottle steady. My body is all-over achy, but I'm guessing that's a typical feeling of "hey - something major just happened. Let's slow down and recoup."

[jnicole]

Day 4 - Post-OP Recovery

 

I TOOK A SHOWER!!!!

It was a production. We made a seat out of a couple shelves, and it worked well. My leg didn't like being in a non-parallel position (to the floor), but I can grin and bear it as necessary. It's so nice to be clean, though! Once I can get downstairs to my own bedroom, we'll use a bench inside the shower, but the upstairs bathroom I'm using now has a tub, so a different kind of seat is necessary.

 

Only one of my incisions is still bleeding a little - nothing fresh, but just a smidge. This incision is probably the biggest one, and is the most sensitive when I need to maneuver my leg to get up or down.

 

I'll post a few pictures of pre-op stuff soon.

 

Pain level is still minimal. I take the pain medication at night, just to avoid waking up in major pain. I'll probably try to half the dosage and see if that's okay. Mostly, I'm just uncomfortable. Can't wait for my post-op appointment to finally get the millions of layers off my leg and let it just be the brace.

 

No PT yet. My Dr. will start me on PT appointments after we have our follow up in 10 days.

[jnicole]

Day 8 Post-Op

 

Things are going well here in couch-land. I am able to (and do) get up several times a day, and I find that my energy is returning! My knee is definitely feeling less swollen and stiff (woohoo!), though I'm still not allowed to bend it. I need the ice machine less for swelling/pain, and more to contain itching/heat. When I'm not using the ice machine, and especially when I've just gotten up, my knee feels like it's throbbing, and quite hot. The skin around it is starting to itch, but the ice helps to calm that down as well. I'll be really excited for next week when I can take all the compression socks & ace wraps off my leg and let it BREATHE!

 

It's definitely the most comfortable to keep my leg parallel to the floor - it starts to throb and get hot when I let it sit with my foot on the ground. 

 

Getting in & out of my house is an adventure -- there are stairs everywhere. We've found that the easiest thing I can do is to grab the railing along the front stairs and hop down with my left leg, using the railing to support my weight. It's a nice little exercise, and makes getting to the sidewalk easier. Going up is the hardest, as I have to rely on the strength of my left leg to help me stand at the top of the stairs. This is the most difficult. But, it does make me think that by the end of this whole thing, I might be able to do left-legged pistol squats...that would be fun.

 

It's definitely good to get out of the house. I've been trying to get out almost every day if possible. Yesterday was the first day I missed getting outside since Saturday, but today I'll be going out in the evening for a couple hours.

 

I keep dreaming about walking and weight bearing, which after barely a week into the initial TTWB 8 weeks, I'm not sure is a good thing. There are moments when I wonder if this was a good idea -- and then I remember all the things I was unable to do because of instability or pain. This will be better. I've just got to be patient with the process of recovery. (I think it will be easier/better when I get to start PT).

[jnicole]

Day 20 Post Op

 

Not a ton going on between the last post and this one.

 

I did start PT last week, so that's a good step on the road to recovery. I'm allowed to bend my knee on my own up to 70 degrees, with the physical therapist, I can go to 90. Last week, my max angle ended up at 45 degrees. It hurts to bend, though. There's a lot of tension in the patella, and it only gets tighter when the knee bends. So, each exercise happens slowly, and is repeated for a couple sets, trying to bend a little further each time.

 

For now, my PT is something I can do on my own. So I'm going once a week until I see my doctor for the 6-week follow up appointment. After that, if I can start to drive, and ditch my crutches, I'll begin going to physical therapy 2-3 times per week.

 

Everything takes 10x more effort and 3x more time to do. I'm definitely having to plan ahead more than normal, communicate plans that I usually wouldn't, and rely on others WAY more than I want to. My energy levels are generally low, and I'm really tired, especially when coming home from work.

 

I have a desk job, so I'm back at work, and it doesn't hurt my knee to be there.

 

Have lost quite a bit of muscle in my right leg - and my incisions are healing up. The doctor says they look good, though there's one incision that makes me a little nervous for how it's going to heal. The stitches should be dissolved by now, and I don't have to keep my knee wrapped when showering! Hooray!

 

NOTE: If you've ever gone through a long-term recovery period with mobility limitations, I salute you. This is so much harder than I expected it would be. And it's still just the beginning.

[Donar]

I TOOK A SHOWER!!!!

 

 

I remember finally taking my first shower after my first surgery.....I tied a trashbag over my leg to keep the knee dry....and it took like 30 minutes to get situated....but it was soooo  worth it.

 

I remember it feeling like fairies were pouring some magical pixie-dust infused water from a mythical river over my body.....lol

 

 

 

I'll be really excited for next week when I can take all the compression socks & ace wraps off my leg and let it BREATHE!

 

 

I had my first surgery in the summer. And when I finally got to take off the compression sleeve.....I literally went outside so I could feel the breeze on my leg....lol

 

 

It's definitely the most comfortable to keep my leg parallel to the floor - it starts to throb and get hot when I let it sit with my foot on the ground.

 

 

Yeah....does yours feel like someone is pouring scalding hot lava into your lower leg? That's what I remember.

 

 

 

ditch my crutches

 

And this ends up being one of the happiest days of your life. It defines the term: grateful.

[jnicole]

Day 35 Post-Op

 

Donar - yes on the magical fairy water. Showers continue to be amazing and magical.

 

Fair Warning: I'm going to complain now.

 

So, today is one of the few days where my thoughts go like this: "I take it back. Can we reverse this process and go back to my pre-procedure knee? I don't even care that I'd be in pain. I don't want to deal with this anymore." There aren't many days where I feel this way, but today is definitely one of them. Between trying to bring a box from a shipment inside the house, to the four trips I had to make to/from the kitchen just for dinner, I don't want to have to do this anymore.

 

Things are still going well, though. Physical Therapy sucks - it's painful. But we're making progress and I've got two more weeks to get my knee to bend to 90 degrees. My PT is optimistic that I'll get there just fine. I can't tell how much my knee is bending, but I know I'm still a ways from 90. Doing PT every day, straight leg raises, hip flexing exercises, and bending the knee while using my bathrobe belt as a rope.

 

This week I have been working on mobilizing my scars, and massaging the area around my patella. Warming up the knee really helps to make it bend farther, so I've been using different techniques to warm it up and mobilize everything. That's been fun!

 

One thing I will say: Crock pot freezer meals are a LIFE SAVER. I made a pot last week, and it lasted me probably 5-6 meals. I've got several more in the freezer, and cooking is such a chore at the moment that I'm SO glad for the ease of thawing in the fridge and popping in the crock pot the next day. We put several meals together before my surgery and being able to use them is fantastic. Plus, it keeps me from spending money, and because the meals are healthy, I'm eating better too!

 

So, good and bad thoughts happening today. It's a hard day, but tomorrow will be better!

[MasterOfCows]

I have MRI's on both knees scheduled for Monday.  I will be following this closely, although if I do have to have surgery, I don't think it will be PCL, it is still nice to know that there may be light at the end of the tunnel.

[Donar]

Things are still going well, though. Physical Therapy sucks - it's painful. But we're making progress and I've got two more weeks to get my knee to bend to 90 degrees. My PT is optimistic that I'll get there just fine. I can't tell how much my knee is bending, but I know I'm still a ways from 90. Doing PT every day, straight leg raises, hip flexing exercises, and bending the knee while using my bathrobe belt as a rope.

 

 

I don't know much about the PCL....as it is pretty much the only thing I didn't tear....

 

....but I wanted to throw this out there.....

 

*DO NOT* be complacent about being able to straighten your leg. My first PT never really made a big deal out of it.....but it is one of the contributors to me having follow up procedures and the fact that I will likely never have terminal knee extension again. Ever.

 

That is all.

[jnicole]

*DO NOT* be complacent about being able to straighten your leg. My first PT never really made a big deal out of it.....but it is one of the contributors to me having follow up procedures and the fact that I will likely never have terminal knee extension again. Ever.

Thank you! That's actually something we're not worried about. My knees naturally hyper-extend, and from the beginning of PT my angle of extension matches that of my normal leg. I've heard that others have had a harder time getting the knee to extend, so perhaps I was lucky that it hasn't been a problem for me.

 

Sorry to hear that your extension won't be terminal.

 

 

I have MRI's on both knees scheduled for Monday.  I will be following this closely, although if I do have to have surgery, I don't think it will be PCL, it is still nice to know that there may be light at the end of the tunnel.

 

Good luck with your MRIs! I've had a really good recovery experience. It's certainly not a cake-walk, but in several ways, it's been easier than I expected. There is a light at the end of the tunnel, for sure. Sometimes, there are days like Tuesday when I want to take it all back. But then I went to Physical Therapy on Wednesday: I could bend to 75 degrees by the end of our session, and there's a light at the end of the tunnel again!

[jnicole]

This was a BIG week in the story of my recovery!!!!

 

Wednesday 11/13 :

Allowed to unlock the brace while walking, start to get rid of crutches slowly (still using except for things requiring less than 5 steps)

Reached 81 degrees of flexion!

Able to sit in the front passenger seat of a car.

[up till now I've been sitting across the back seat, with my right leg horizontal across the whole seat - haven't been able to wear a seat belt because of it, either]

 

Monday 11/18:

Doctor says I'm healing really well!

I'm CLEARED TO DRIVE!!!

Get rid of the leg brace

really start to get rid of the crutches (down to one for the most part)

 

The Downsides:

Since I'm starting to use my leg again, all my leg muscles are sore and tired. I'm also able to bend my knee more easily than ever (still not quite at 90, or possibly a couple degrees past). All the walking and bending is making me in more pain than I have been since the first few days after surgery. Ibuprofen helps a lot. As does ice. The knee has been more swollen and a few patches of skin are irritated.

 

More happy news: since having this surgery on 10/1 -- I've lost 10 pounds! Woohoo!!!

 

This has been a very, very happy week and it's like the world has suddenly opened up!

[Donar]

This was a BIG week in the story of my recovery!!!!

 

 

Indeed.

 

Ditching crutches and open up the brace are a couple of those "reclaim something that resembles a normal life" milestones.

 

Awesome stuff.

[jnicole]

Day 62 of the recovery journey:

 

The big stuff between my last post and today:

--NO MORE CRUTCHES!

--I finally took the bench out of my shower - I can do everything standing up now!

--96 degrees of flexion at the last measurement!

 

My PT gave me some exercises to do that aggravated some weird pains around my kneecap, so we stopped those. I'm doing lots of wall squats, straight-leg raises with resistance bands, and single leg step downs on the stairs. Between those and a couple other small things, my leg is getting really tired! My muscle shape is starting to regain normalcy in my calf. The quads still have noticeable differences in size, though.

 

Driving is fine, the hardest part is getting out of the car because of the bending needed to get my knee from the pedals to the door.

 

I'm walking with a moderate limp, and my PT wants me to work on walking normally - bending the knee, and no limping. This is probably the hardest part for me now. It requires that I spent A LOT of energy just thinking about how my legs are moving while walking. I'm not used to thinking about how to walk, so I just want to do what will get me from point A to B the fastest. Can't do that anymore.

 

Tomorrow I'm re-activating my gym membership, so I have access to an exercise bike. PT says that's the best thing I can do right now to help get my range of motion to where it needs to be. My plan is to stop in after work every day and spend 15-30 minutes on a bike and do a bit of track walking for practice.

 

I go back to see my surgeon for a 12 week follow up on December 30, so I have until the end of the month to get the ROM back to a normal level. It's all strength, strength, strength, and movement, movement, movement from here 'til January.

[Donar]

Yay for progress!

 

...and yes, the stationary bike is your friend for now.

[jnicole]

Day 90 - Rehabilitation

 

Saw my Dr. on Monday, and he kept using the words "shockingly good" during the exam. He said I've healed very well, and that he wishes all reconstructed ligaments felt like mine does!!! (Yay!)

 

Strength testing at PT on Thursday...my surgical leg is 78% of quad strength, and 50% of hamstring strength. I'm not surprised, but it's good to put numbers on where I'm at so we know how much work I need to do. PT is going to start feeling more like workouts and less like stretching/motion now. Still biking, but will start adding in gym exercises - leg press & hamstring (curls?) to be specific.

 

Still about 20 more degrees to go until full range of motion in my surgical leg - Dr. isn't concerned - I still have a lot of fluid that's creating pressure and swelling, which is partly contributing to the lack of bend. I've been given clearance to do most active things. No running, jumping, cutting, or heavy lifting for a while. Heavy lifting is on hold until April. Running/Jumping will come when my strength is more even between both legs.

 

Can go up stairs with one leg per step. I can almost do the same going down. Getting very close. On steps that aren't very far apart, I can go down with one foot per step. Stairs that are farther apart still have to use two feet per step. Progress is progress, though.

 

Things are going well, here. Feeling good - no pain, no problems.

[Nymeria]

I'm glad to see that your rehab is going so well, even if it has been a slow, frustrating process. I tore my ACL and MCL 2 weeks ago, and I'm having my ACL reconstructed in a little less than 2 weeks. It's nice to have other people on here to commiserate with.

Good luck with your continuing rehab and strength building!

[MasterOfCows]

I'm glad to see that your rehab is going so well, even if it has been a slow, frustrating process. I tore my ACL and MCL 2 weeks ago, and I'm having my ACL reconstructed in a little less than 2 weeks. It's nice to have other people on here to commiserate with.

Good luck with your continuing rehab and strength building!

You are getting surgery basically a month after?  /jealous.  

I am waiting 8 months (I've been told) for a surgical consult.  Completely torn ACL in both knees as well as meniscus tears. 

It took me two years to find a doctor that would refer me to an MRI clinic to confirm this.

[jnicole]

Day 106 - Rehabilitation

 

Today, I've got a happy physical therapist, and a happy doctor. I passively flexed my knee to 130 degrees!!! Just 10-15 degrees more! I can't quite actively flex that far, but that will come when there's less fluid in the knee and hamstring strength comes back.

 

My orders are to keep doing what I'm doing, because it's working! So, yay for good gym workouts, and flexion work!

[MasterOfCows]

Awesome!  Happy to hear it!

[EVILRAGE1]

I had surgery on my knee on September-21-2016 I fell at work and torn my pcl witch is on the opposite side of the acl the surgery I had was cleaning out my torn cartoleg and placing a diner akillies tendon in Mt pcl the pain verries. I feel at times it spikes from 1 on the pain scale to a 5 and 6 but the pain pills turn the pain down the work outs are hard I have to straighten out my leg and tighten up the mussels , lift it up in to the air for 30 SEC's 10 times , bend it 90°s for 5 to 10 SEC's and roll my foot and flatten my foot and bending my foot. It kills me at times but it's helping a lot the worst thing is that I fell in depression , stress , anger and hate cause I lost my independents and it sucks but I have a great support from my fiance who backs me a lot and try to keep me level headded. A support is a really good thing to have for any surgery and time is against you not getting out much getting around is a challenge and is stairs are a joke but going up on your but helps and going down using chairs also helps. Having love and support is key and pushing your self to do things is also good playing video games or reading or watching movies or Sleeping can keep your mind off the pain and depression and stress and hate. Good luck and hope what I told you helps 

[mistermagoo]

I had PCL/LCL reconstruction surgery a month ago and have read through these posts so many times, comparing my injuries and learning about what's to come, that I was inspired to keep a journal myself: mrhoneywell.wordpress.com. I hope it someday helps someone in the way that this thread has helped me.