TTT/LR Surgery

I'm not sure if you still check out this site but I have to say Thanks. I am 29 years old and have dislocated my knees so many times over the last 19 years I can't even count. Well 2 weeks ago I dislocated my left knee once again (worst of all I dropped my one year old son) I went to a new OS who is recommending surgery. He has been the first to really diagnose the problem, I have patella alta, my kneecap sits to high and is very unstable. i have be in denial and a little scared but you and Cara have both made me feel a lot better. I have been doing a lot of research and you find a lot of horror stories but you two have made my decision so much easier. I now know what to expect for recovery time and what to do and not to do. Wish me luck and good luck to the both of you

Rose

Hi Cara,

Well, you are on the other side of surgery and on your way to a better knee. It sounds like you are doing well and I am glad to hear that you requested PT. I was NWB for 10 weeks due to OS's orders. Because of the procedure I had done, a modified Maquet, the OS was very concerned about getting a non-union with the 2 bone grafts. And because the bonegrafts were also taken from the tibia, the strength of the tibia was severly compromised. I do have to admit though, I wasn't real good about following the OS's orders. :-) The pain from the surgery was minimal, except for the wonderful blood rush upon lowering the leg from an elevated position. Experienced that yet?

An immobilizer is a brace that is removable but keeps the knee from bending at all. Some people are put in a ROM brace that allows the OS to set it to varying degrees of movement as healing advances. Yes, an immobilizer can be removed to shower and believe me it is so wonderful to shower once the cast is off. And showering is the only time that I was allowed to have the brace off. How long do you have to keep the cast on? 3 1/2 weeks just about drove me nuts, I think I forgot to mention that for this 3 1/2 weeks, I was also confined to bed 24/7. I think having the cast on was one of the worst parts of the surgery.

As far as driving, as soon as the cast was off and I was in the immobilizer I started driving. When I had the rt knee done I just put the leg across the seat and used the left leg to work the brake and gas pedals. With the left one, I had to keep in on the floor and it was a lot more uncomfortable, especially on long trips. At 8 weeks with each knee, the OS released me to start driving. Hey, if you don't ask they can't say no and if they don't say no then it must be OK. :-)

Good luck with your rehab and keep me posted.

Patty

Hi Cara,

Wish I had seen this post before your surgery. How are you doing? I have had TTTs on both knees in the last 4 years. I will attempt to answer some of your questions.

I was in the hospital overnight, but a lot of surgeons due them as outpatient surgery.

I was NWB for about 10 weeks

I had a cast from hip to ankle for 3.5 weeks (the OS wanted to keep it on longer but I threatened to remove it myself). Was in an immobilizer for another 6.5 weeks.

With the first one I did not go to PT. I assumed that after having gone to PT many times over the years that I could do it on my own. Actually did reasonably well. With the 2nd I again tried to do it on my own. After 14 months of struggling (I am incredibly stubborn) I went to a PT only to discover that neither knee was right. They are both off 10-15 in extension and the last one is lacking about 25 degrees of flexion. Scar tissue has tightened the patellar tendon, resulting in a slight case of patella baja. I would strongly recommend going to PT. Request it if your OS doesn't recommend it.

I really don't see anyone returning to sports 2-3 months after a TTT. At 8 months I slowly began adding my physical activities in. Some people return sooner, but I wouldn't expect it before 6 months.

Best of luck. I hope the surgery went well. Take care, keep me posted and I will be happy to answer any other questions you may have.

Patty