I’ve planned for my “tea recovery plan” where I do a lot of tea drinking and that takes care of the need to eat as much. It’s a necessity, unfortunately, and plans to get into the gym for significant periods of time for aerobic activity are matched by exacerbation of the original knee injury and the delay of getting back into the gym again. Don’t heed this warning lightly. Watch your diet dudes and dudettes…

While yet another week shouldn’t matter for my probable allograft (injury happened 8/7), it’s still so long now that I’m going to completely lose my spring for sure and probably summer! Ugh… the unknown is just gettin’ to me! Another week feels like an eternity!!!!! However I will survive. I will make it the 18th and perhaps that is even better. Thanksgiving is the following week and a short week. Maybe this is even better? Blessing in disguise although another week of torture!

That said, I’ve also done some work on my knee web site/diary at http://www.iknee.com—I thought I’d start putting together some type of easy to use repository as well, an additional helping to the great stuff that has been compiled here by the likes of Larry and especially the honorable Michael Frind. People can add to it (even more ease coming this weekend), a “famous ACL athlete” list and more. Let me know what you think about my knee obsession!!!!! LOL....

I really am not sure what to do. I really do have to go to this conference… but could I really fly and do a conference 7-10 days after surgery? It seems doubtful that I’d be coherent enough to sit on a panel for an hour… Imagine the comfort level… I’m just so ANXIOUS just to DO IT already and get on the road to rehab. This delays is KILLING me and another delay for 2 weeks, setting surgery for at least another month and a half is just such long wait… When can I really go back to work?

OK… thanks to ChrisKneeNa at Bob’s Knee Board I have calmed down. The opportunity is to fly to be on two panels and faculty with the leading federal court judge in my industry. It’s an amazing opportunity for exposure and you have to admit, it’s an exception not to turn down. I’m thinking that being there about 18-19 days after surgery is the BEST I can hope for and if that date isn’t available, then 2 weeks may not be enough time and I will delay until mid-november, despite my disappointment. I am making November 11 my FIRM surgery date and I will not change it no matter what may be upcoming on the agenda…

Where was I on August 6? I’m a black belt and used to pivoting, turning, twisting and jumping in the air in a circle to kick in the face with the side of my foot 3-4 opponents in succession. I can’t freaking even do one side kick. Worse, I mistakenly jumped and landed on my left leg. That was a laugh. I’m still compensating and not putting weight on it and I ended up collapsing to the floor. Glad there were few people in the gym, lol. No damage but throughout I’d have clicking and clacking here and there in the knee and the occasional tweak from doing next to nothing. This is very, very depressing. And this is BEFORE surgery!!!

I fear I have hit the wall (literally) and realize that PT will be a very, very long haul just to get back to normalcy. I was supposed to go for my next degree black belt and I’ll be lucky just to be able to look like I have agility and not look like an old man in a year’s time. The only thing I’m happy about is that it appears I really don’t have a choice but to have the surgery. I can walk, go up and down stairs and more but there is no question I’ll keep injuring myself if I would opt out of surgery.

I’m going to go crazy. I have an October 21 date but it seems so far off right now. It’s a month just to get myself to a point where I’m worse than I am now. I’m trying to get back in shape and lose the weight I gained from being a sedentary pig and snacking like Rerun of What’s Happening. Don’t now if being in shape before surgery will make a difference. Sorry I’m b--ing but I need to do so right now and I’m still finishing the design of my web site and will do most of it there so as not to depress anyone here… I’m sure others of you have felt this way…

So what happened with my aunt? Her daughter and son-in-law are both doctors. Dr. Son was in Beth Israel and researched doctors in several hospitals to help mother-in-law (they have a great relationship, no jokes!) regarding a potential knee fracture and meniscus tear. After looking at many, they both decided that Dr. Kelly at Beth Israel was the finest doctor and finest person—all around a great choice.

My aunt’s problem was that Dr. #1 said ‘surgery for sure.” Dr. #2 was Kelly who said “maybe but I’d use the scope.” Dr. #3 who was a friend said “no surgery.” Aunt ended up with Dr. #2 who scoped the knee, said “no real work needed” and touched up slightly and she has been thrilled ever since. Her son also needed elbow surgery and Dr. Kelly was the man of choice. OK, it’s been settled—I’m going to Dr. Kelly!

I arrived at the ISK Institute aka Insall Scott Kelly on 85th and Third and met with Vivian before I met Dr. Michael A. Kelly. He’s a vibrant guy with a smile on his face and seems to joke a great deal with his staff. Here’s what Dr. Kelly told me and it was quite a surprise. He looked at my MRI and told me that everything (but the ACL) looked great and there was a slight light spot on my meniscus which he is worried about but not much. He will check it out with the scope during surgery and it might only need a little “tug” for increased blood flow which seems to promote healing by itself or else it might need to be sutured back. So far so good. Next: The recommendation.

Dr. Kelly said that he performs two kinds of surgeries—auto patellar and allo achillies. In older patients he highly recommends the allo given the lesser trauma and the diminished physical level of activity. I fall in the middle at 36, especially given my being a black belt in Tae Kwon Do, a sport that will make great use of the ACL for balance purposes. He recommended… an ALLOGRAFT. Yes, you read correctly. His thoughts were I’m not a tight end for the Giants under contract although he did say I might not be without concern at current sports that would make use. It might feel loose.

I belayed my concerns to him and those of the board. He said that for graft strength and durability he thought them both relatively equal although he had no studies that were longer than 10 years for reliability. There are two primary issues though. He said that the length of the achillies is 1mm longer which can result in slightly looser grafts. Auto Patellar is still his “gold standard” but it comes with certain risks, those being potentially for chronic knee pain in the donor knee, significant compensation in the other knee resulting in further injury. While he said there are patients without knee pain, there are a significant number that experience long term pain and/or *discomfort* and that many of his patients, so it seems, go the way of the allograft, which he only accepts within a certain age bracket. He also uses dissolvable screws, which itself may cause a hassle from what I’ve read but I don’t know anything any more and am frustrated with my own research.

Since I have a lot of appointments I need to take care of and will need to fly to Toronto for a lecture on Oct. 17, the 21st seemed the perfect day. My next lecture is local on November 8-9 and that should be plenty of time to recover. I was told not to fly for 3 weeks, most probably due to discomfort issues although the 1 hour flight could be done slightly earlier.

Well, that’s my saga. I’m currently unsure which surgery to opt for but he told me they can order the allo and then on the day of surgery decide which one to perform. I’m nervous as all get up. My life will change for a significant negative for a period of time… and then we’ll have to wait and see whether I made the right decision and it was worth it.