Carticel

Hello fellow ACI patients, I would like to add my story in the hope that it will encourage those of you who are early in the process. I am now at the 8 month point and am delighted to say that the pain and depression of the first few months, while not forgotten, continues to fade away. I have been living with OCD in my right knee since I was 15, some 30 years ago. I've had numerous surgeries over the years, but only had temporary relief at best. When I had another arthroscopy last June to remove bone and cartillage fragments, my doctor referred me to his colleague who has been doing ACI for about 3 years. I decided to have the procedure, mostly because my chronic pain had gotten so severe that I was pretty much willing to try anything. While the procedure went well, I had problems with rehab. Even though I used a CPM for 8 hours a day for 7 weeks following surgery, I could only bend my leg 65 degrees by week 9. After a month of painful physical therapy, highlighted by strapping a 10# weight on the ankle and hanging the leg over a chair several times a day, my doctor performed a closed manipulation. If you want to talk about depressing, consider having to go back for an outpatient procedure where they put you under and forcibly bend the leg to break through the scar tissue that restricts movement. Unfortunately, they also tore all the thigh muscle that that I had rebuilt in therapy as well. That was actually more painful than the knee surgery. It also set me back 4-6 weeks in the recovery process. The manipulation did work and I slowly gained flexion over the next two months, increasing to about 115 degrees. I stopped physical therapy at about 5 months and have continued to work on my own on a daily basis. I can probably bend about 120 degrees now. However, I still can't fully straighten the leg, I'm a couple degrees short compared to my other leg. I continue to work on that on a daily basis as well and expect it to improve with increased activity. I am now using stairs, but only a few times a day. Any more than that and I have pain in the graft area and overall swelling. The same is true for other physical activities. I have been able to do routine household and yard chores fairly comfortably for the last few months and continue to increase my level and duration of activity. I can walk up to about 2 miles without too much discomfort, although I haven't attempted anything beyond gradual inclines. I have also started to ride a bicycle for modest distances on level ground. It is a nice change from the stationary bike I have come to know so well! My doctor is satisfied with my progress, given my particulars and the rehab difficulty. He continues to warn me not to overdo activities, which has been difficult, especially since about the 6 month point when I started realizing just how good I was feeling. It was only after the chronic pain was gone that I understood just how bad it was and how much it affected my mood and overall health. In fact, one real surprise has been that my long-time high blood pressure has dropped nearly 30 points and is now considered normal. I am convinced it was caused by the continuous pain I was suppressing. One of the toughest aspects of the procedure for me (and everyone around me!) has been the slow recovery. Even though my doctor made it very clear that I should expect up to two years for a "full" recovery, it has been hard to deal with at times, especially through those long days and nights in the CPM, in the brace, and on crutches with no weight bearing. And yet, here I am at 8 months with very little pain, more mobility than before surgery, and the potential for a complete recovery over the next year or so. Three months ago I wasn't so sure I had made the right choice. Now I have do doubts. Its been fun having long-term co-workers tell me how great it is to see me smile and joke again. Its even better to realize I am not stressing and complaining about pointless nonesense with my wife, simply because I feel lousy. For those of you in those difficult early stages, hang in there and stay focused on the long term rewards. Best of luck.

I am a nurse and was hurt on the job Oct.8, 2002. My Doc did a debridement Jan. 16, 2003 and then I had ACIC done May 30, 2003. I am writing to see how other people delt with the pain, rehab, and depression. I am also curious to see if anyone can give me a reasonable time frame on rehab. My Doc just says it will be a long recovery.