Round 2 - We Can Rebuild Him - The First Five Days

So, here we are again.  More prepared physically and mentally, all my ducks in a row, and really happy to get recovery going. I knew the moment of injury that I had done something severe to my meniscus allograft, and possibly to my ACL.  I was lucky that only the allograft was damaged, but it was pretty severe as per the MRI.  The tear caused daily pain, locking, and giving out so I was really hurting for the almost three months after the injury before surgery.  I was ready to get started healing instead of limping and babying the knee for one more day. 

We arrived at our room at the Marriott in SF, conveniently located next door to the surgery center, late the night before surgery.  We prepped everything for the 7:30 a.m. surgery time, I took the shower with the anti-bacterial wash, and crashed in bed exhausted. Frankly, the crazy day before surgery removed much of the nervousness, but I did waste a great dinner the night before feeling not-so-hungry and thinking about the next day. 

DAY 1-MT Revision Day

I woke early in the morning, showered again with the anti-biotic soap, and we walked across the street to Starbucks so my wife could grab a coffee.  It was torture looking through the glass at the pastries and smelling the coffee knowing I could have nothing!  We walked back across the street to the surgery center building at 6:20 a.m., and rode the elevator up by ourselves.  The surgery prep was very quick, and the pre-op nurse shaved the leg, cleaned it again, and I sat waiting for the call.

Ready to rock and roll.  No drugs were on board at this point!

Dr. Stone went through the procedure, I met the anesthesiologist, and they walked me back to the OR at 7:30 on the dot.  Of course, I was a bit nervous knowing the intensity of the surgery, but things went very smoothly pre-op, and it was time to get this show on the road.


I was positioned on the table, had a great chat with the anesthesiologist and Anne about riding bikes, I felt that feeling of complete relaxation (drugs were now on-board), and the next thing I new I was in the recovery room.

The recovery room was a relatively painless experience.  I don't' remember talking to Dr. Stone, but I was reminded a few times that the meniscus was beyond repair, and they put in a new one.  Surgery had gone perfectly, and I was finally on the road to recovery!  There was some minimal pain, but it was managed really well by the staff, and I was ready to go home before lunchtime.  They loaded me up in a wheelchair, and they graciously wheeled me all the way back to the hotel room. 

Proud owner of a second transplanted meniscus.  Stoked to think of the new adventures ahead.

Day one was so easy I almost wondered if they had done anything in there.  I wasn't hungry at all, but had very little pain.  We kept the ice machine flowing, although the cooling pad didn't help much because it was over the surgical dressings.  It still felt good to have the cooling sensation, and I kept trying to sneak a few extra minutes of ice time.  We kept it elevated, watched a movie, and crashed for the day.  I barely needed any pain medication, but we knew the harder days were coming.

Ice and elevation is key to pain/swelling relief.  The ice-machine is my best friend.

DAY 2

I was going to rent a wheelchair for this round, but found it was cheaper to buy one on Amazon.  It was a great investment ($120).  The path from the hotel room to the car was long, and my wife wheeling me to and from the car was a life-saver.  It also enabled us to eat breakfast in the restaurant, and the staff from the Marriott was so awesome.  It has provided me with a tremendous amount of freedom for us to attend some things I couldn't handle crutching.  So, we had breakfast, and shot over to the Stone Clinic for some rehab.  Trish put me through the Day 2 paces, and while there isn't much going on Day 2 (since they keep the bandages on), we were able to work on the begginings of rehab. 

Trish and me putting in work on Day 2!

After rehab they offered to have me have the post-op MRI that day so we could leave a little sooner on Day 3 to avoid the traffic.  Getting the MRI wasn't that fun.  My leg started to kill sitting still for 45 minutes, but Mark was awesome and we chatted about cars and bikes making the time go by pretty fast.  At least I was done with that task.  The rest of Day 2 was uneventful, the pain started creeping in, but we had a light dinner at the hotel restaurant, and crashed for the night.  I can't thank my wife enough for taking care of me, and you will need help for the first week (at least) after an MT.

DAY 3 

The morning of Day 3, as with my first MT, sucked a little.  I had some pretty severe pain around 5:30 in the morning that concided with the next cycle of pain meds.  I took two percocet, and felt way better when they kicked in.  We had a light breakfast from Starbucks, packed and wheeled to the car, and went over to the Stone Clinic for some Day 3 PT and the bandage change.  The knee looked, well, this is what is looked like:

Smaller holes this time around!

Well leg with compression sock, ready to get this rehab rolling!

I had a really good PT session with Susana, and then we took off for home.  The drive was going to be long, but we thought we would miss the traffic by taking the long way.  We were totally wrong, and the two-hour drive took four and a half.  It pretty much sucked, but we did have a bluebird day as we were leaving SF. 

The exact spot where I proposed to my wife 22 years ago!  I was feeling so great, we stopped for a quick photo!

DAY 4-5

Day 4 I had planned to attend a football game at my alma mater, UC Davis.  I had my chair, our stadium is fully handicap accessible, and I was feeling pretty to very good.  The game didn't go our way, but I was invited to watch from the President's box by some Aggie Staff, and it made the game quite enjoyable.  I was able to keep my knee comfortable in the wheelchair, and things went very smoothly.  I pushed it a little to hard by going out to dinner afterwards, and felt some pain from that poor decision, but overall this was a very sooth recovery.

Aggies lost, but I was able to make my one and only game this year.  Thanks to the wheelchair, we were able to have a great time on Day 4

Day 5, I hit the the gym for some rehab, stretching, and a very light upper-body workout.  The rest of the day was dedicated to the couch, ice-machine, and football.  Pain was very controllable with Tylenol, and a few percocets, and I was excited to start with my local PT the next day.

PT on my own, some very light modified Yoga, and upper-body workout on Day 5

That Was So Much Fun, Let's Do it Again!

This post is not the one I wanted to write.  After 7.5 years of skiing, ice hockey, basketball, Mui Thai, boxing, cycling thousands of miles on my road-bike, ripping down our local mountain biking trials, placing 2nd in an Aquabike (triathlon without the run), catching tens of thousands of pitches from my son and his fellow little leaguers, and most recently taking on yoga as a new passion...disaster has struck.

2 Time Silver League Champions!

While coaching my youth football team, I decided to demonstrate a drill (without my trusty knee brace), and made a cut to my right at full speed to avoid a tackler.  I've made that move a million times, but this time my knee collapsed.  The usual loud pop, searing pain, and in this case, face-plant followed.  I popped up so as not to scare my son and his teammates, but I knew my knee was in trouble.  My knee wouldn't bend, and I could feel it...the dreaded meniscal tear.  I waited a few days, and it only got worse.  Against the advice of those closest to me, I played in my championship hockey game a few days later...and hoisting the trophy (above) was worth a little more pain and suffering.  Two days after that I knew I needed to get into the doctor.  I made an appointment with Dr. Stone a few weeks out, obtained an MRI locally, and saw my local doc to get a preliminary review and diagnosis.  The result was that I had significantly torn my medial meniscus transplant.  Local option was to cut out the tear, leaving me with less than 50% of the meniscus, and no shock absorber in the posterior 50% of my knee.  Despite the fact I have no articular surface damage, this option would require me to make major life adjustments, and essentially, for me to shut down my extrememly active lifestyle at 43.  I would just have to wait until arthritis, which I was told would set in quickly, got bad enough that I would need a replacement.  No question, I needed to go see Dr. Stone.

A week or so later I made a trip to the Stone Clinic to see the Doc.  It had been a long time since I had been in their office, but I was welcomed like I was at a spa.  I was greeted by name as I walked through the door, offered a Joint Juice, and waited only a few minutes before meeting with the team.  The difference in the Stone Clinic approach is obvious from that start.  You don't just tell your story, get five minutes with the nurse, and even less with your doctor.  I spent a good twenty minutes with Hope discussing what I've done, and what I want to do in the future.  Dr. Stone then came in, went through the physical exam, and then we went to look at my films together.  Dr. Stone showed me every detail of my injury, and regretfully, confirmed the first diagnosis.  We spent even more time in his office going over the options.  The key is Dr. Stone gives both options and hope.  He is going on this journey with me, and he wants a successful return to sports as much as I do.  I moved on to one of my favorite people, Trish the PT, and we discused the potential procedures, the rehab, the prehab, and she just made me feel like getting back to my life was not just possible, but the expectation.  "You will be back."

So, November 11, I'll do it again...almost 8 years worth of adventures to the day from my original MT.  There are a few options, and we won't know the final outcome until after surgery, but I'm preparing myself for a revision meniscus transplant.   Knowing the challenge ahead and what I'm in for is the hardest part, but it also makes the preparation a bit easier.  I've made my list of things to get done before surgery, and I'm going to enjoy a few weeks before we get down to the business of fixing this knee.  The good thing is I feel like I'm going into this challenge with the best team I could find, and as an athlete, nothing can give you more confidence.

Full speed ahead...there is just no other way for me to do it!  I wouldn't change a thing...except maybe to wear my knee brace that day.  Good luck to all of us, and happy healing.