GoodBye MCL, PCL, ACL...
 

1 week ago today I took a spill while slalom skiing on Torch Lake in Northern Michigan (yes, my first day of vacation.) While floating in the water I knew I was going to have to go to the hospital, but I didn't think it would be as bad as it is.

This was my first major injury, first ambulance ride, and first time in a hospital over night since I was born 27 years ago.

The NorthernMI surgeon told me that he'd never seen someone dislocate their knee the way I did, and that he had no reccomendation other than to go 'down state' to a more experianced surgeon.

Aparantly most knee injuries have to do with the patella, mine was my leg coming completely out of my knee. Sweet.

So, the specialist today confirmed that I have no chance of not needing surgery, that my MCL is likely completely severed, my PCL is toasted, and my ACL is severly stretched, and possibly torn, will know for sure on Saturday when I get the MRI.

Some pics of the day it happened (yes, inbetween muscle spasms I asked my GF to snap pictures)

http://www.onesevenonetwo.com/wp-con...5DDF0D786.jpeg


http://www.onesevenonetwo.com/wp-con...8EBE22AC3.jpeg


http://www.onesevenonetwo.com/wp-con...28F14878C.jpeg

that's what you get for skiing!

i'm just kidding man...just trying to make light of the situation. hope surgery goes well. just do everything your physical therapist says and your knee will come out better than before. take care man.

Whats funny is that we were planning on pulling the boat out for the night, so my GF was pulling the trailer around. I didn't have any equipment on the boat except for my GF's mother's ski. She went for a pull, and I decided that I'd loosen up a little and go for a quick set on her ski (since I left mine at the house.) I ride a pretty agressive ski, and she doesn't. Apparantly I expected a little more response from the ski, and instead I got ejected. Lesson learned, only ride equipment you are used to! Needless to say I will never ride a toeplate ski again, definately sticking to my doubleboot setup.

Sorry about your accident. I still ride my double boot a few days a week. Toeplate ski's freak me out, especially since my bad knee (2 ACL's) is my right knee and I ski right foot forward.

Bummer.

Do your PT and don't get discouraged.

I severed my ACL/LCL/MCL/PCL + medial meniscus tear 20+ years ago and I'm still active, thanks to a good surgeon, staying in shape and a Cti2 brace.

Try to contact Dr. William G. Clancy in Birmingham AL. He is the father of the PCL surgery. Really knows whats up. Most Dr. don't want to do PCL tears. ACL's are the common surgery but these can be kinda tricky. Ask Dallas Friday. She just did the same thing.

I just might do that, once I get the MRI and know exactly what's jacked. Thank you!

Sorry about the spill and here's to a strong recovery...any chance you can provide more details about the spill that I might avoid the same?

Wait till you see the bill for that ambulance ride.

that sucks man. hopefully you heal fast!



nice post.

I normally ski on a Radar Senate with double boot. The ski I injured myself on was flat bottom half of a combo set. I made a small cut, and when I was crossing back into the wake I put a little pressure on my back leg to slow down a little, and when I did that my back foot slipped out of the toe plate. As I was falling the leverage from the ski still on my front foot twisted my leg completely out.

Long and short, I probably wouldn't have hurt myself if I had been smart and put my ski on the boat, lol.





I'm curious to see the bill for everything. I had 2 ambulance rides, (first hospital transferred me to a different hospital after they reduced my knee), and an overnight stay because they couldn't find a pulse in my foot (luckily, it came back!) Thank you BCBS insurance!

My wife had a snow crash in early 2009 and lost her ACL. It was replaced with an Achilles tendon from a cadaver donor. She still has some creaks and pops but she’s fully functional for running, water and snow sports. The only weird part of the deal is that some of the anchor screw heads stick up under her skin. (She says that they look like little Aliens getting ready to pop). Yes, they can look a little freaky and create some nice bruises from time to time, but she has no limitations.

Don't rush into the first doctor that says he can fix it up. Do your research, find the best doctor you can. You want to find someone that does several of these procedures a week. Maybe even someone that pioneered some of the repair techniques that you'll need. You don't want to be someone's practice dummy. Research, research, research.

Good luck in your quest and be patient!

Man that sucks! Get well soon! Please though, check out Dr. Mark in Houston Tx.. He gets people all across the states coming to him specializing in active sports injuries. Gives great advice too. Check out http://www.thumpertalk.com/ and look midway down on the left side of the page.

Good luck!

Here's a doctor at the Cleveland Clinic that's known for doing knee work for NFL players: http://my.clevelandclinic.org/staff_...?doctorid=6714

Sorry, too late to edit my post....

Dr. Mark Sanders website:
http://www.sandersclinic.net/

One of the worst pains I ever felt was a knee injury with a slalom ski w/ just a toe strap. I switched to dual boots after that.

Good luck with your surgery and recovery!

How do you do that on a water ski?

When one leg comes out, your knee is vunerable to all kinds of twisting forces.

:lol: Just got a copy of the invoice for my transfer from the first hospital to the second: $689 for 18 miles. Thank god for insurance!

Yeah, I wasn't trying to be a smart a$$ with my first post, ambulance rides are just damn expensive. I had a car accident a few years back. An ambulance responded (it looked worse than what it was), an I ended up getting some alcohol and a couple of bandaids (not exaggerating) from the paramedic, 110.00 was the charge.

Good luck with your recovery.

Sorry to hear about the crash and best of luck for a quick recovery. I'm 6-7 weeks out from fracturing my ankle from a similar 'front foot stayed in' fall from an RTP ski. I'll also be switching it up before I get back out next season.