Congrats Tanya, and Doug! I'm 3 years out as well! Had patellar auto on 2/7/05. The knee is doing great...I'm back running and skiing full-force. I couldn't believe it when I realized it had been 3 years. I rarely think about my knee anymore. It was all I thought about for 8 months or so after my skiing accident.
JillR
> Hey everyone! Today's my 3 year post op anniversary!!! 3
> years later my knee is still doing great. I just spent a
> week skiing in Lake Tahoe celebrating my 20th wedding
> anniversary and didn't even notice my knee!
> I had a bad ski accident on Feb 25, 2005. Tore my acl, mcl,
> lateral meniscus, and tore up the back of the patella. I
> also had a hairline crack in the femur. March 29th I had an
> acl reconstruction with an achilles tendon allograft. Also
> had a partial lateral menisectomy and patellar
> chondroplasty. My surgery was done by Dr Frank Chen (Palo
> Alto Medical Foundation- across the street from Stanford
> University Medical Center). I had 3 months of intense PT.
> My first session, my left thigh was 1 1/2 inches smaller
> than the right thigh, and flex was only 90 and only after
> really pushing it. 12 weeks later I was given a full sports
> release as my ROM,strength and size were equal to the good
> knee. I was back to snow skiing when the resorts in Tahoe
> opened the first weekend of December 2005 - 8 months post
> op and I spent the whole winter skiing (every single
> weekend for 2-4 days at a time). Even though I got the
> sports release at 12 weeks, I was not fully recovered. I
> continued strengthening and fine-tuning all those little
> muscles. i would say it took a good 10-12 months to fully
> recover.
> 3 years later, the knees is still doing great and I don't
> regret my surgery or my allograft choice for a second!
> Good luck to all of you. Stay dedicated to the PT and try
> to stay optimistic. I had many bad days where I wondered if
> I'd ever recover or ever feel normal again too. Just keep
> working!
> Tanya
