Post Knee Surgery Info
 

Just had surgery on my left knee last week to remove a some bone growing off my femur, fix a tear to the meniscus and to remove a cyst that was between the PCL and the knee itself. I am starting physical therapy on Friday and would like to know some of the issues that anyone else had while recovering from knee. Since I did not have any real damage to my ligaments I figure my recovery will be a little less involved, but will still be interested in any advice that others have had. I know I have to take it somewhat slow since he had to cut the muscle to get to the bone and have to let it heal, but I hate to think I will be off the bike for 2 more months.

Hey sorry to hear that you had surgery it is never fun. Anyways I had displaced my kneecap and it was not tracking correct....after finaly getting into the doctor after not being able to walk for four days because my kneecap was on the like side of my leg. I was told that one ligament wasn't strong enough. Anyways I did physical therapy and was back in the bike in about a week. I didn't want to overdue it alot since I didn't want to injur myself again. Anyways when I went to physical therapy I mentioned that I was a cyclist, so after doing a few days of PT they suggested I try one of those bike pt machine things. Anyways they suggested that this would help me out with my recovery and also let me know if I would be able to ride soon.

After getting back on the bike took me about three of four days to get back into my normal rythm.

I would just suggest telling the PT people that you are a cyclist and see if they can do any exercises that will get your knee ready for cycling. Also ask them how long they think it will be before you get back on the bike.

And if they give yoi stretches to do at home DO THEM! If you don't it might not fully heal right.

To this day I still do the stretches I was told to do.

Hope this helps, and hope you are back in the sadle soon!

^^^ I will let them know I cycle. The stationary bikes I have ridden in the past always seem like they were from the 12 level of hell. Just painful, but has to better than nothing at this point. Yea, I have been trying to stretch a little, but the swelling in my knee is still pretty bad. They pulled my staples today so hopefully that will help some, they kept pinching and pulling, but now I have this lovely tape over my wound that is pulling at each hair I have left in the area. I asked her why she just didn't use duck tape, it works on everything. :D She was not amused, but I laughed and the wife just rolled her eyes :rolleyes: and told her she could rip the tape off if she wanted to.

Heh, yeah those people who always put bandages on and the such have no sense of humor!

Anyways hope all goes well, if you ever want to ask me any questions about somthing you can always send me a PM and the such. Hope all goes well!

Will have to do Physical Therapy 3x a week for a month and I have really lost a lot of movement out of my left leg since he had to cut the muscle to get to the bone, so I feel a lot of painful stretching in my future. Told me to go without the crutches and it's ok for me to drive now. Cabin Fever alert is now over.

The day after the surgery I weighed myself out of habit when I got home and I was 309 :eek:, then I remembered that I had mondo bags of fluid connected to my hand, plus they filled my knee up with fluid for the scoping. It's been exactly 7 days since the surgery and I weighed myself this morning, 293. Initially I was kind of happy as this was a couple pounds lighter than when I went it, but then when I thought about it, my calorie count is way down, probably less 1500, and I know my hydration is down, forcing myself to drink water or tea, should I be real concerned with a 13 lb drop in 7 days?? I figure most is water, not sure what I need to be doing at far as proper diet for recovery of the muscle.

I'm down a total 82 lbs since I started riding in June 2006 and while I have had a couple of months of double digit weight loss, never had it in one week.

Thoughts?

Well as I am not a doctor I couldn't tell you anything that is like MD related. But I do hear that you lose a bit of weight after a sugery depensing what kind it was.

Any chance you know how much you weighed when you went in? Then you would get a bit of understanding on how much you really lost, if any. To me it doesn't sound bad.

As for the painful stretching. It may feel a little tender when you first start, but it won't be anything dramatical. (all of this comes from experience).

Hope all goes well, keep us (me) updated. heh, I would like to know how you heal up.

I was 297 the morning I went in. I figure most is water and they rest is the body working double time in the repair mode and me not taking in a lot of calories. I'll have to do some research and see if there is anything special I can consume for muscle rebuild after being cut. Anything to help regain the strenghth in my knee area is really critical to me. I always feel like it is going to fall out from under me right now. Thanks for your input.

Surgical trauma does make you retain water and they were hydrating you out the wazoo as well. The 13 pounds is water weight. Nothing to be really concerned about.

After my arthroscopic meniscus surgery, I got on the rollers about a week later and just spun easily in zone 1 for a week or two. Then gradually added outdoor rides, riding with slower groups at first. Even months later, I would have bouts of considerable knee pain, which I mostly ignored, rationalizing that it was just scar tissure coming loose. It took a year for it to get pretty much back to normal.

You will learn your limits as you try out riding for the first time. Then you will get better as you go...(as suggested by others posters)