I have just recovered from the ACL reconstruction/meniscus surgery. Dec,16,2011 was my surgery. I tore it on Sept, 18, 2011. PreOp rehab is the KEY to faster less painful recovery.
Sorry Krasi, but you went through the "old way" of doing it.
Mud-Ectomy, did the ER Doc drain the fluid from the knee, that will make a big difference in being able to walk with minimal pain.
I can't stress this enough, since you have not had an MRI yet, there is a chance that you have more issues than the ACL/Meniscus alone. If you can't begin Rehab, get a hold of a stationary bike, put on your knee brace [I went with the CTi custom] and pedal for 3/5 minutes twice a day for the first week. Be sure to Ice [not directly/use a thin towel as barrier for skin] the whole knee down afterwards for 10 minutes or so.
Icing the knee is critical to healing. It "kickstarts" your body's natural healing process.
Week two try to step up the cycling to 8-10 minutes twice a day.
Whenever you have the chance, ICE the knee for 10minutes!
After a few weeks try to cycle for 20 or 30 minutes if you can.
If you have stairs, walk them up and down as many times as you can before hitting the "wobbly" stage.
My surgeon said that typically, they have patients do 4-6weeks of preop rehab before scheduling the surgery. The reason is that the surgery causes immediate atrophy to the first [closest to the knee] 20-30% of the Quad. The last 10-15yrs has shown that the preop [instead of postop only like the old days] physical therapy drastically decreases this effect and shortens recovery time from 1yr [avg] down to 6-9 months [avg]. He also said that they have not figured out the exact reason or cause of the atrophy from the surgery, but it happens. I did my PT and and was ready for surgery after 1month. About 20% of my quad looked like it had died a couple of days after the reconstruction surgery [I opted for the cadaver graft] eventhough I was waking on it [with a brace] around the house without crutches. I did use the crutches most of the time after a scary slip on the stairs for the next 8-10 days.
Rehab began three days after surgery 3-4 days/week. I was doing some light riding [pit bike] following my daughter around after 3 months. PT ended after 2 months and I began walking and bicycle [road and stationary] daily after that. I was cleared for easy riding on my Gasser at the end of the 4th month. I joined a few friends for a charity trail ride and after about 10-12 miles I was done for the day and my knee was very tender. Ice took care of that and I decided to stay away from the bike for another month.
All this time included wearing the brace whenever I was walking and for any straining type of exercise. After 2 months, I would leave it off if I was not leaving the house. the surgeon said that I could stop wearing the brace all the time after 7months but would still have to wear it for any type of strenuous activity [pretty much anything more than walking] for the next 1-2 years. I pretty much only wear it when riding now, or something that requires "cutting" motion like soccer, football, tennis etc..
I am currently able to ride without any pain and can do some light jogging. Complete "squatting" motion is not 100% yet and is the only movement that causes pain now.
I hope this is helpful,
Remember to ice it often, even if you do not do any PT. The Ice is the key to rapid recovery. Heat is not your friend in this situation, just ICE.
Good Luck,
Vince
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