Meniscus Tear

[Bowhunter57]

Looks like I'm going to be down for a while, but not out of the deer season. I'm not sure how I incurred this meniscus tear in my right knee, but it's done and over with and now on to rehab at home. I've gotta wear compression hose on both legs for 3 days. This sucks, but they're saying it's to prevent blood clots. I don't have a blood clot history or anything of the like nature.

The worst part of this has been the anesthesia. I've never had issues with this stuff in the past, but I barely made it to the parking lot before puking my guts out. Plus, some abnormal motion sickness. Once I got home I was able to sleep it off and I'm back to feeling "normal" by 6:30 p.m. this evening (surgery was at 3 p.m.).

All I gotta do now is take it slow for a couple of days, then start walking....slowly and manage any pain with the drugs they gave me. Better living thru chemistry. The doc says I'll be walking normal within 2 weeks and climbing trees by the end of 3 weeks.

 

[Hedgelj]

Hope you feel better. You're not moving around like normal (which increases your risk among with surgery) so that's why they are trying to prevent the blood clots. Not knowing what they gave you for anesthesia who knows why you had a different experience this time compared to previous surgeries. Just let them know the next time you have surgery and they can take added precautions.

 

[Redhunter1012]

Good luck Daniel. Glad to see you getting it taken care of

 

[Mickey Merrie]

Good morning Daniel! Depending on the type of surgery, you are probably finding you don't even need the pain meds. (They can cause major constipation or so I am told) I've had both mine done arthroscopically and that included scraping out some arthritis as well. Both times I only needed the pain pill they made me take before they would let me leave the facility. The second time I spit it in the waste can when the nurse left the room. The wife did fill the Rx for the stuff on the first one, the second one she didn't bother.
You will be fine if you follow their instructions, but don't overdo the rehab as it can be like trying to get all your suntan on the first day of vacation in Fla...
There will be days when you forget you had the surgery and other days you will think the Doctor was a quack or anti hunter. But your being active prior to surgery will be a blessing now that you are in recovery! Today, neither of my knees bother me and that's with the arthritis included.
Best of luck to you going forward and I doubt you will miss any tree time this fall either!

 

[Mike]

Heal well.

 

[Dustinb80]

That sucks

 

[Dannmann801]

Get well man.

 

[Wildlife]

Hoping for a speedy recovery, Daniel! Good luck!

 

[Clay Showalter]

Prayers for a quick recovery, watch that oxy, that stuff is dangerous

 

[Big_Holla]

Hope you heal well and have a full recovery just in time for deer season!

 

["J"]

Glad too see you got it taken care of, Daniel… Here’s too a speedy recovery….

 

[Bowhunter57]

I certainly appreciate all the "well wishes", from everyone!

@Hedgelj
Rest assured the Dr. will be let know about his anesthesiologist, which never spoke to me before the procedure and the dosage. I recovered from it, but...not cool at all.

@Mickey Merrie
My x-rays and MRI didn't show any arthritis, for which I'm thankful and attribute to my Native American bloodline. I took the recommended pain pill and 325 mg. aspirin before bedtime, but I didn't need it and I'm still pain free this morning. As good as I feel, I'm still using a cane to slow me down and not over do it.
These compression hose are coming off in 2 more days (Dr.'s orders) and I won't miss them.
Kinda like pantyhose, but the only time I've worn those was over my head, for an alleged robbery incident. However, I can't say any more about that until the statute of limitations run out.

 

[hickslawns]

You'll be fine. I was driving a stick shift and plowing snow two days after my last one. No pain pills for me either. You might be surprised at how quickly these heal up.

 

[Tipmoose]

So sorry this happened to you before the season. Hope you heal up in time for opening day. I'm glad they were willing to give you some decent pain meds. The do-gooders out there have made it almost impossible for those of us without addiction issues to get it.

 

[Sgt Fury]

Hoping for a speedy recovery. I’ve had three knee surgeries for the same thing as you and I too stayed away from the pain meds….too many stories of people getting addicted to the stuff. After the first couple of days, you won’t need them anyway. Only problem I remembered having was the discomfort in my knee when I would kneel down….that took a while to go away.…just make sure you go to rehab, it helps.

 

[Bowhunter57]

So sorry this happened to you before the season. Hope you heal up in time for opening day. I'm glad they were willing to give you some decent pain meds. The do-gooders out there have made it almost impossible for those of us without addiction issues to get it.

I'm certain that I'll be ready before the season opener, just wished I would've had a shot at that early season for a chance at a velvet buck. There's always next year for that and I'm glad it's over and I'm on the mend.
As far as the "do-gooders" all they have to do to fix that is stop administering narcan.

 

[Hedgelj]

I certainly appreciate all the "well wishes", from everyone!

@Hedgelj
Rest assured the Dr. will be let know about his anesthesiologist, which never spoke to me before the procedure and the dosage. I recovered from it, but...not cool at all.

Your anesthesia provider should have seen you and done an interview of some sort prior to the procedure. In regards to the "dosage" it's more than that and without going into detail that isn't reasonable for this forum the risk of nausea exists with every anesthetic. It's a known risk and most providers strive to minimize it but it cannot always be avoided. Feeling tired/out of it/ wanting to sleep it off sounds like a fairly typical recovery from anesthesia.

If you feel strongly by all means discuss it with your surgeon, but from what you described it doesn't appear to be abnormal.

 

[Smawgunner2]

Man, sorry to hear buddy. My experience with surgery is that I’ve always come out stronger so hang in there. Quick question though, what were your symptoms? My one knee just goes out for no reason. A quick pain, and before I hit the floor the pain is gone. Weird. Getting old is a bitch.

 

["J"]

Man, sorry to hear buddy. My experience with surgery is that I’ve always come out stronger so hang in there. Quick question though, what were your symptoms? My one knee just goes out for no reason. A quick pain, and before I hit the floor the pain is gone. Weird. Getting old is a bitch.

Yeah, may wanna get that looked at….

 

[Bowhunter57]

Man, sorry to hear buddy. My experience with surgery is that I’ve always come out stronger so hang in there. Quick question though, what were your symptoms? My one knee just goes out for no reason. A quick pain, and before I hit the floor the pain is gone. Weird. Getting old is a bitch.

Getting old sucks...true that.
If I'd stumble on a tree root that would cause my foot to get torqued to the left or right side, I'd have a bad stabbing pain, that felt like it was on the inside, but left side of my right knee. The Doc said that the tear is basically a flap of material that just gets cut away. There's no way to stitch it, so once it's removed the pain goes away and it heals up.

My original right knee injury was 39 years ago, in '84. It involved my knee cap not tracking straight up and down, as I'd extend my foot. The knee cap would partially drop off to the right side of the joint....which is actually a partial dislocation. It didn't take much of a twist or turn to cause the entire knee to dislocate, which was excruciating pain. I reset it myself too many times and at age 26, decided to have the reconstruction surgery. This had me off of work for 3 months....BUT this was back in the dark ages of 1984 and even this surgery has greatly improved to less than 4 weeks. Rehab was an absolute bitch! After it was all said and done, I was faster with that leg, but it took me the better part of 8 to 9 months to get the power back into it. I was in the height of my kickboxing days, from age 19 to 36 and I was driven to get back in the ring, which helped with my recovery.

If you're saying your knee "just goes out for no reason", I'd definitely have it checked out, because it ain't gonna get any better on its' own. The younger you are when you get it repaired, the quicker you'll recover and the easier the rehab.
Good luck, brother!!!