Mike Wills

[scotbybirth]

Hey Mike- got a question for you..... what did you have done to your knees? I was recently out for a meniscal repair (not fun....) and was wondering how you handled the down time (how long where you down), and what you did to start getting ready to come back. My doctor told me it was going to be a 3-4 month recovery, and everything I read has suggested that it is a long, slow recovery. Your thoughts, Sir?

Chris

[Mike Wills]

I had an ACL reconstruction done on the left knee in December of 2006. It was a bone-tendon-bone allograft...which means I got a part someone else didn't need anymore! They also did a scope on the knee as a separate procedure during the operation to clean up cartilage and debris.

I had a pretty involved scope on the right knee in March of 2007. Here is what they found and repaired: Major medial plica strip removed, corresponding cartilage damage from plica strip repaired. Removed scar tissue covering entire ACL - must have had a pretty good injury to that one too. Removed multiple "loose bodies" floating around. Excised and "buffed" lateral meniscus tear.

Because the ACL reconstruction was a pretty big deal - with them using bone burring drills to go up into my femur and down into the tibia for titanium screws to attach the pieces of bone - I had to have physical therapy. I was back to walking normal within 6 weeks and cleared for full activity after 6 months. I took an additional 3 months after being cleared to strengthen and gradually build the stresses I would need for throwing. The result was a 35'+ throw with the 56 at Carlisle my first games back!

If all I had was the meniscus tear, the total soft-tissue healing time would have been 6 weeks, and then about 4 weeks to get my strength back before competing. Don't worry at all about the meniscus repair requiring a long comeback...it is simply soft tissue repair. The issue with the ACL is that the nervous system takes a long time to shut down the protection mechanisms, so that's why you don't regain quickness until the 2nd year after surgery...but that isn't the case with a meniscus repair. In addition, the bone has to grow around the insertion points and the ligament itself re-types by basically dying and re-establishing blood supply...so it is most brittle about 6 weeks after transplant.

I know that after the meniscus repair, I walked out of surgery, didn't need crutches, and forgot about it after a week or two. Just give it 6 weeks to heal, start strengthening it per you doctor's/therapist's recommendations as soon as they will allow, and then be prepared to go full bore 6 weeks post-surgery. By 10 weeks post-op you shouldn't have any worries.

[Clancelt]

Here is to hoping my knees hold up. You guys are giving me cold chills. I was in a bad motorcycle accident when I was about 15 where my left knee was pinned between a KD175 and large oak tree. It was messed up for years afterwards. I spent pretty much the remainder of the school year on crutches. After it "healed" it didn't really bother me too much but every once in a while it would just give out, usually while running in football.

I have been praying that it would not come back to haunt me later in life. Arthritis being my main fear

All this knee talk gives me the willies!

[jim]

I will say this much - Mike's footwork was faster at McHenry this past weekend than is was in previous years.

[CelticElf66]

Had a chunk of the cartilage removed from my knee in college after racking it up twice skiing (19 or so years ago). One of the resulting "symptoms" of having that done is a repeated feeling that your knee is giving out on you. Not fun.

I have enough arthritis in there that the doc I saw said it will need to be replaced within 5 - 20 years, yippee! Also have floaters from the arthritis that will sometimes make it impossible for me to straighten my knee or put weight on it. Extremely annoying to say the least.

Have got to say the surgery to remove the cartilage was easy. The most pain I had was from the cuff they used to cut off the circulation. Was walking normally and without crutches two days later.

Alex

[Jeff Storey]

I will say this much - Mike's footwork was faster at McHenry this past weekend than is was in previous years.

Uh oh...

PS. I'm crossing my fingers that they have titanium bone-resurfacing all figured out by the time I'm 50....

PPS. Eric, you want some willies? try watching on TV while they poke around in your knee. "Wow, it's great to work on such nice knees, look, meniscus is perfect, and the bone is still porcelain white and smooth, except for these big grooves over here." at which point he tapped on my femur, and I felt like throwing up a little.

[Mike Wills]

The funny thing is that with all the issues I had corrected with my knees, I expected for the doc to say that I was well on my way to knee replacement and I had to quit. I was pretty surprised when he said he saw absolutely no signs of arthritic tissue or bone and that I had good cartilage thickness left! He said that everything that I had wrong was caused by traumatic events, and it was fixed, so I was good to go.

[scotbybirth]

That gives me hope for healthier knees. What happened was this: the doc told me that I fall into 2-5% of the population with what is called a discoid(?) medial meniscus, which was torn in the center and on ridge. So, he removed the center piece (which normalized the meniscus) and repaired the other tear via stitches or sutures. what I was also told was that the repair was the reason for the lengthy recovery period (as I will have to wear a locked brace for a bit, and must restrict any bending to less than 90 degrees (as not to compromise the repair)). I will be following up on the 24th, in which case I believe we will discuss some type of physiotherapy. He did say that I can start working on a stationary bike for now (good times!). Anyway, thanks for the info, I am starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel!

[Mike Wills]

Yeah...that's probably a little different. I guess the repair has to maintain its integrity for a while in order to heal correctly. Definitely listen to the doctor, but when its healed...I'm sure it will be healed...with no lingering issues.