Recovering From Microfracture Surgery

Easy run at Fort Knox.

Easy run at Fort Knox.

Ran Freedom 5K with son James. He did not run well as he was feeling sick.

Easy 2.5 miles.

Easy run. Also did Army Physical Fitness Test and scored a 345 on extended scale, 300 is max and you can score more for going beyond maximum scores in each event. I did 83 push-ups in two minutes, no resting allowed, then 90 sit-ups in two minutes. My goal is to be able to do 100 push-ups and 100 sit-ups so I am getting there. I know I am getting stronger as my max bench press is at about 200lbs which is 140% of my body weight.

Hilly run with cadets plus a bunch of push-ups and sit-ups.

Easy run with cadets plus 250 push-ups and sit-ups.

Ok, I have been back in town since 3 July trying to catch up at work. I have been running everyday and the knee pain has been minimal but still present. So, although I have been trying to talk myself out of knee surgery I am going through with it today. I head in this afternoon and go under at around 5:00pm. I can't eat or drink anything all day so I will be starving. Maybe this is to distract me from the thought of the surgery. I am hoping that the Dr. finds the issue and is able to fix it. I guess I will know soon enough.

So today I did a track workout as my last run. I bet their is not many people who can say they did a track workout the morning of their knee surgery. The knee was ok overall for the workout. Still some nagging but very minimal. Again, hopefully just my mind playing tricks on me trying to pretend nothing is wrong. So I did 8x400 repeats with a 400 jog between. 400s were all between 1:15 - 1:16 except the last one was in 1:12. Not bad considering the shape I am in. The 1:12 felt a lot tougher than it should have.

Hopefully, all goes well today and I am able to bounce back quickly. Supposedly if all goes well I can be back running again in 7 to 10 days. I would love to be back at it next week. I will try and post some information after the surgery as soon as I feel up to it.

Below and on the following days blogs I will be blogging about my recovery from microfracture surgery. As a runner I did not find much in the way of others stories of recovery so if you happen to stumble across this feel free to follow my progress. If you happen to have microfracture surgery and have any questions feel free to ask or share your experiences as well.

Well the surgery is complete and it is not good news. I did not have torn meniscus. In fact a torn meniscus would have been great news compared to what was found. Just about anything would have been better. I had cartilage damage where a section of cartilage about 1cm was damaged all the way to the bone. In this case the only chance at healing and recovery was a procedure called microfracture surgery. If I had continued to run with this the cartilage damaged would have continued to get worse until I would have needed a knee replacement surgery at some point. This procedure has the rough areas of cartilage cleaned up around the damaged area and then the bone has several holes (microfractures) made in it so that bone marrow (stem cells) and blood seep out of the bone and in the process allow for new cartilage to form in the cartilage hole. However, this takes a long time and while this process is going on the leg cannot be allowed to bear weight. So the Doctor says I have to be on crutches for 4-6 weeks and put no weight on the leg at all during this time period. The best case scenario for a full recovery is 4-6 months minimum before running or doing any impact type activities. The most likely cause was my car accident as this is normally a trauma associated injury. I am on percoset which is a major pain killer. So right now I am pretty down. At this point I have a long road to recovery ahead and even then it is no guarantee that I can return to the marathon again. My doctor feels my chances for a full recovery are good but it will not be easy. I will start some physical training next week to work on keeping some range of motion in the knee without any weight bearing or resistance. The doctor has called for 4-6 hours a day of spinning on a bike with no resistance whatsoever. I am not sure how I will manage to get that many hours in but I am going to go look for a good spin bike tomorrow as the only way I will get in anywhere near enough hours is if I have a spin bike in my house and I spend every spare minute on it. Well, all I can ask is for everyone to keep me in your prayers as things are not so hot right now. For now I am sidelined with the hope that it is not permanent.

Knee surgery plus 3 days (K+3).

Took bandages off for first time today. 3 very small cuts, two below knee and one on top inside of knee. Very small incisions about the width of a pencil. Surprised but happy to see minimal swelling at this point. Tonight I did 30 minutes on the spin bike but it was not really spinning. It was very slow range of motion (ROM) work. Just barely moving the pedals around for 30 minutes to keep decent ROM. The knee was tight but not much pain to speak of which I assume is a good sign. I am suppossed to get up to at least 4 hours per day of spinning as soon as I can. As long as it does not hurt then I assume I am ok. I will inquire more with the doctor later this week. I hate the crutches but if all goes well I should be off of them sometime during the Olympics this summer.

Thanks again for the support FRB. Run some more miles for me!

Knee surgery plus 4 days (K+4).

Minor swelling still but not much pain at all.

AM - Did 1 hour Range of Motion (ROM) on the bike.

PM - Did another hour of ROM on bike.

Going this slow on bike is very boring but the worst part is how sore my butt is. My butt is bruised pretty dang good at this point. I need to go to the store and invest in a good pair of biking shorts. I may add some swimming to my routine later this week or next. If I can run in the pool that will help and then I can also just swim with upper body only. That would at least give me some cardio work.

With all of the biking and swimming I am planning on getting over the next several months I guess I should look into doing some tri-athalons when I am fully recovered.

Still hate crutches but staying positive with bruised butt and all!

K+5 (Knee Surgery + 5 days)

AM -1 hour Range of Motion(ROM) on spin bike.

PM - Another hour of ROM.

Getting a little faster each day but the butt still hurts from the seat. Also doing a few leg exercises as well, just trying to keep from losing all of the muscles in my left leg. Overall the knee feels ok with some minor swelling still. Not putting any weight on it is getting tough because at times I just want to get up and walk. I am really trying to take the no weight bearing serious as I want to give this the best chance at healing properly. Next week I can hopefully start up some swimming and pool running. We will see what the Dr. says. Hopefully with each passing day I am one step closer to my first day of running again.

K+6 (six days post surgery but whos counting!)

AM - Another hour on my friend the spin bike work on more ROM.

PM - Yet another hour of ROM work on the good old spin bike.

Also doing some leg lift routines to work on some muscle maintenance. I have also discovered that my favorite thing to ice with is a bag of frozen corn. Although frozen peas and frozen blackberries work decent as well. THe corn seems to work best as it is really east to shift the corn around to conform to the shape of the knee and it seems to distribute the cold nicely without feeling like it is giving the knee freezer burn. So for those that ice often try the frozen corn strapped on with an ace bandage it works great. I am probably icing the knee about 4 hours a day still. Until tomorrow!

K+7 (yes, 1 week since the surgery!)

If I can just keep taking it one week at a time it does seem as bad.

AM - One hour of ROM on spin bike.

PM - Another hour of ROM.

So one week of crutches complete and only 3-5 weeks to go.  Next week if I am cleared to do so I plan on ramping things up training wise. I am going to try and set aside 2 hours in the morning and 2 hours in the evening for physical therapy and working out. Looking at therapy exercises and stretching, spin bike ROM, swimming and water running, and then also incorporating some weight training. I may not be able to do much with my left knee but I can still work the other parts of my body as long as it does not strain the knee.

K+8 (1st day of 2nd week of recovery)

AM - 1:15 of ROM on spin bike.

PM - 1:15 ROM again.

So to celebrate the start of week two of rehab/recovery I increased my ROM time on the spin bike. Total of two and a half hours today.

I am starting to be very thankful for normally having two healthy legs. As getting around on crutches and only one leg is really not much fun.

K+9

Knee was a bit more swollen and stiff today so only 1/2 hour of ROM on spin bike.

Lots of ice and elevation today. Feeling lazy and fat today. I am going to have to watch my diet a bit better.

K+11

AM - 1 hour 15 minutes spin bike ROM.

PM - Another 1 hour 15 minutes ROM.

Today was my first post operation appointment with the doctor. Nothing major to talk about. The doctor showed me the pictures of the surgery and gave me copies as well. I only have a hard copy of some nice high quality color images of my knee. The images are amazingly clear and detailed. The cartilage damage is clearly visible and it is in the exact spot that I had been having the pain in my knee. Based on the size and location of the injury he feels I have a very high chance of a full recovery. Right now I am cleared to do some swimming and other stuff as long as I do not put any weight on the knee, especially if it is bent at all. He is primarily concerned with focusing on the healing process first and then focusing on the strenghthening process after he is confident it has healed properly. So for now no physical therapy until I am off the crutches. I will see him again in 3 weeks to determine if I can start to get off the crutches or not but he thinks I stand a really good chance of being off crutches at the 4 week mark. So for now I continue on with the ROM work on the spin bike twice a day and I will try and slowly work in some swimming as well.

K+12

Nothing exciting to report today. Knee is ok. Some swelling still and stiffness but really no pain. Still on the the crutches. Of course the parking lot at my office is under construction and therfore I have to park a long ways off and hobble in on the crutches which is a good workout.

Two hours total again today on ths spin bike for ROM.

One day closer to being healed!

K+13

Tomorrow will be two weeks post surgery, yeah!

2 hours of spin bike ROM again today.

I am noticing that I am losing a lot of muscle definition in my left leg. I need to find something I can do within my limits to minimize this if possible. I think one of the hardest parts of this recovery is going to be strengthening my left leg again and learning how to walk and run again.

K+14

On the spin bike yet again. Only 1.5 hours today.

The knee feels pretty good but it is hard to tell since I am not allowed to put any weight on it. I really just want to walk on it and go for a short jog. However, I know I can't. I am at the two week mark on crutches and hopefully only have two more weeks before I can start some physical therapy. Normally I am one to push the limits when it comes to injuries and recovery but with this I am trying to really hold back and listen to the doctor. So two weeks down and two or so two go and then the longer rehab process can begin. I am staying positive and really looking forward to being able to run again one way or another.

K+15

Yet another day on the spin bike. 1.5 hours today.

The worst part about the spin bike routine is that my butt is very bruised and sore. I was hoping that it would get better after awhile but so far no luck. That and the hands get a bit sore as well. So I was wondering if there are any bicycle riders that have any suggestions. I have bought and use a nice pair of bike shorts and some good bike gloves but the soreness is still pretty bad. How long until the butt feels better if ever? Maybe I just don't have enough natural padding!

K+16 (16 days post surgery)

1.5 hours on the spin bike for ROM.

Although I expect to get cleared to come off crutches after 4 weeks I am also aware that it will not be a all at once thing either. I have lost a lot of strength in the left leg so I know I have a long way to go to get it back. I also know it will be even longer until I can even attempt to run. However, I am taking it one day at a time and trying to stay focused on the end result which is a healed and healthy knee.

K+18

2 hours on spin bike for ROM.

Nothing else exciting to talk about.

K+19

Only 1.5 hours on spin bike for ROM today.

Approaching 3 weeks and no major changes at this point. At times I feel really positive and the knee feels good but at other times I get pretty worried as I know I am losing a ton of muscle in the leg and am worried about wether it will recover fully or not. I guess that is just the normal roller coaster ride that I will be going through for the next several months as I work through this thing. The key is I will do everything I am told and will put 100% effort into this and ultimately overcome it one way or another.

K+20

2 hours of spin bike ROM.

Internet was not working at home for several days but I am back up now. 

K+21

3 weeks post knee surgery. Still not sure what to think as I cannot put any weight on per doctors orders still. I know the knee is stiff and there is some scar tissue but all of this is fairly normal I guess. The real scary part is how fast the quad muscles in my left leg have atrophied. My left leg is shrinking fast and the muscle is disappearing quickly. Learning to walk again will be all about building the muscle back up. Should be interesting in another week or so.

2 hours of spin bike ROM.