In November of 2011 (about 8 months after Jeff's first knee surgery) he was playing a pick-up basketball game and felt like he landed wrong and hyper-extended his knee and re-injured it somehow. He took it easy after that, and the joint got stronger again, but then last August (2012) he joined a soccer team and during the first game, while wearing 2 knee braces for support, he still managed to twist it enough to seal the deal and knew his knee was history.
He waited till the new year to go in and get it checked and Dr. Jackson determined that he had in fact ruptured his ACL graft. (Last time he tore his ACL, MCL, LCL, and miniscus.) This was exaclty what Jeff was thinking, since it wasn't real painful, but his joint was weak and he couldn't do more than walk on it. They went ahead and scheduled the surgery for the next week so Jeff could get it over with and on his way to hopefully playing sports again. They bypassed an MRI to save money, since Dr. Jackson knew for sure that the joint was unstable and most likely torn.
Jeff went in for surgery on Wed. January 16th. It was scheduled for 11:30am, they called to have us come in early at 11am, but they didn't get him in till 12:30pm or so.
When Dr. Jackson got in there he said that one of the anchors had slipped and the graft was actually still attached but had been stretched, so there was no tension which made it useless.
Because Dr. Jackson did a hybrid graft last time, (part Jeff's hamstring, part cadaver,) he said he couldn't harvest anymore tendons to create a new ligament so he had to use all cadaver this time. He used the tendon part of a semitendinosus muscle to do it.
Around 4pm Jeff was out of surgery and post-op and in recovery so I was able to go in and be with him.
It took him till around 6:30pm before he was able to keep his o2 sats up on his own after which they discharged him.
Jeff's family was at our house to welcome him home and bring us dinner. Nikki was wonderful and watched Shad for us while I was at the hospital. I had dropped him off while I took Jeff to UVRMC, went back after Jeff was taken to pre-op and had waffles with her and Spencer, and then went back to the hospital to wait for Jeff, during which time she took Shad to our house and put him down for a nap and stayed there till everyone showed up later. Thanks for your help Nikki! Also thank you to Jeff's parents for bringing us dinner that night, and to Rachel Rogers and Trina Esklund for bringing us dinner Thursday night, it was a big help!
Jeff started physical therapy Friday morning. He is going to Orrock/Mendenhall again. Shad and I went and hung out since Jeff couldn't drive himself...
Shad had fun playing on the machines. He is one strong little dude!
He also was very helpful. He held Dad's crutches and helped the aids wipe down all the machines...
Then on the 24th Jeff and I had joint appointments with Dr. Jackson, Jeff for his first post-op appointment, mine for the popping/grinding sound that my post-surgery knee makes when I load it and extend it. It was kinda funny, and pathetic, that we were both seeing the same doctor, and both had to go in and get x-rays while there. And we were just there 2 weeks ago for Shad (info on that to come...) Dr. Jackson basically said that my joint and anchors look great still, so he's assuming I have some deep scar tissue causing the sound when I extend, though he can't be sure without an MRI or scope. So depending on our finances this year and how much it would cost us since our deductible is already met with Jeff's surgery, I may be going in for a scope to see if he can take care of the scar tissue so it doesn't cause problems later.
That makes 3 knee surgeries in 3 years for us! Crazy!
(And pricey, I wouldn't recommend it...) ;)
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