Unfortunatley after undergoing an MRI today for the purpose of determining possible meniscus damage in my knee it was revealed that not only did i have meniscus damage but i had also completely torn my ACL, a fact overlooked by a trainer, 2 PA's, an ER doctor and an orthopedic surgeon. Now this certainly puts a damper on my upcoming refereeing season, almlost certainly eliminating me from regionals, ODP, etc.. I am looking for advice from anyone who has undergone this type of injury before and also from anyone knowledgable on what kinds of certification ramifications i could face by not being able to do the fitness test etc.(im a 7) Thanks, Kyle
Im sorry to hear about what happened. Currently fighting severe sprains to miniscus, ACL, and LCL. The most important thing to remember is DO NOT WORK OUT ON IT! Flat out, it may be the hardest thing to stay off it and follow the doctors orders, but it is a necessity if you want to recover fully. You'll be out of shape, you'll hate yourself for it, but its just the way it has to be. I am only an 8, but i suggest you contact your SRA, ODP, and whoever you work for to let them k now your situation. Make sure your intentions are clear that you intend to work for the them the SECOND you are clear for phsycial activity. Maybe they'll let you attend the events just as learning experiences. Ask them about it, im sure that they would like to have you around and knowing that you're mentally getting yourself into the season. Campton
sorry to hear about your injury. sounds pretty serious. all i can say is, you need to heal first and worry about refereeing second...a very DISTANT second.
I've been there, and there really isn't much to worry about for a referee other than your insurance. In fact, depending on your age, you could put off the surgery indefinitely. NFL defensive backs have played with completely torn ACLs. If you're doing surgery near term, then you simply have to reduce the swelling to an adequate level. Do your homework on the surgeon, focus on the PT post-op and you'll be just fine. Not really that big of a deal anymore.
Sorry to hear about your injury. Contact SRA about fitness test, I believe you can get waiver due to injury. You have a long referee career ahead of you, this is just a bump in the road. Take care of your body, do not force yourself back too quickly. Attend physical therapy as prescribed for recovery. GOOD LUCK!
Your situation will vary, but I'll give you a rundown of my injury: I am a 32 y.o. male, fyi. April 29 - Tore my ACL and Lateral and Medial menisci playing soccer May 2 - Ortho diagnoses Surgery is optional, however if you don't get surgery and continue to do any running that isn't straight ahead, you will destroy your knee quicker. I opted for surgery. My surgeon only did patellar tendon grafts, no hamstring grafts. I was fine with this. The only question was whether to go autograft (your own tissue) or allograft (cadaver donor tissue). You can look up the comparisons online, but I went allograft, due to the much, much quicker recovery time. I was in good shape, so no PT prior to surgery. June 18 - Surgery I had a very good experience. I was able to walk immediately. I had an immobilizer (like a splint) to keep my knee from moving, but I was able to take it off the next day. I took 1 week off work and iced the knee non-stop. (Ice machine with cold water sleeve was awesome) I was able to walk the whole time, pain was minimal, percoset is great. 3 weeks post op - I started twice a week physical therapy for about 10 weeks. Started with the bike and light lifting, moved on to the elliptical, etc... 3 months post op - approved to run on a tread mill 5 months post op - sent on my way, told to wear a brace for 1 year during cutting sports. Quick comparision, my brother had the autograft and was on crutches in a brace for 2 weeks and still has some knee pain. A female coworker had some more damage and required a hamstring graft, she had to do PT before surgery and had to wear a brace for weeks after. I am a big fan of the allograft. -James
For the fitness requirement all you need to do is submit a doctors note stating that you can not take part in the test. You will ask for a medical waiver and until you take and pass the fitness you will not be allowed to officiate. You will, however, be able to retain your current grade until then. Get better and don't rush it.
So i just thought id give everyone a quick update, im scheduled for surgery March 4th for ACL reconstruction and possibly meniscal repair, but ill get to that more later. Luckily i got a great surgeon who is an ACL specialist and uses all the latest tecnniques, he did an orthopedic surgery internship with the NY Giants and was the Mets team doctor for 2 years. Right now im looking at ACL reconstruction with a hamstring graft, that im told will have no long term consequences, my knee should even be stronger than it was before the surgery a year from now. My reason for going w/ the hamstring is that it is usually stronger than the allograft longterm, smaller incision, and no risk of longterm knee pain from thinning the pateller tendon. I also have a minor tear in my medial meniscus that is an area that luckily is healable, the doctor told me 75% chance it will heal by surgery, if not they will just repair it. I also have a slight tear in my MCL that will be left along and will heal itself by the time im back on my feet from the ACL. My overall prognosis is back to refereeing w/ a brace 4-5 months post op and i can do anything i want w/out a brace 6 months post-op. Its an outpatien 2 hour surgery but the rehab after that is what i am told is the killer, as i will be working myself ragged for the next few months. So im hoping for the best, ill let you guys know how it turns out.
CT, good luck with the knee. 3-6 months isn't a long time, it will go quickly. Except for the rehab part. We're all pulling for you.
The rehab is the key in any recovery. 5/2/07 I had my left hip replaced with a new ball & cup called the "Birmingham hip". I rehabbed 2 hours per day 6 days a week taking only Sundays off. There will be days you will think to yourself "I can take just one day off". Do Not give in. I refereed my first youth game 8/12, first HS game 8/16 and my first college match 8/24. So I was glad I had stayed committed to the rehab. Keep a positive attitude, do the rehab work assigned, you will recover.
So i just spent 1/2 hour writing a whole story of my day to have the computer eat it, so ill give the short version. Surgery went great today, i got there around 9:30 for an 11 am surgery, everything went pretty much on time and i left around 5. The last thing i remember about the surgery is being wheeled into the OR and having a bunch of probes put on my chest, next thing i know im in the recovery room. After i was lucid they took me to a prive holding room type thingy with a t.v. and a big comfy chair, where i proceeded to have the best english muffin ive ever had. They did an epidural block on my left leg so i cant even feel it now and im resting comfortably, atleast until the block wears off.....The surgeon said my hamstring graft looked great and the fixation was very good. I also had 2 small tears in my meniscus, both in the "healable" zone. 1 was so small (3mm) he didnt bother stiching it and just cut it out, the other one he stiched up. Overall i was pleased with my experiance and am very comfortbale now. If anyone has any questions about a knee injury or would like a referal(i live in CT) please feel free to drop me a PM. Kyle
Sounds good so far. Never had it done myself, but an epidural block sounds awesome for post op. A friend of mine who had it done was in so much pain and got so sick from narcotics that he couldn't get any sleep and couldn't do anything for days. It's been said already, but take care to follow your rehab plan carefully. My friends have found the plans they got to be fairly aggressive already - no need to go faster than is prudent.
So, in the hour and a half before surgery, how many different people asked you what leg it was My surgeon even came in and wrote on both legs: "yes" and "no" I wondered what would happen if just once, as a joke, I gave the wrong answer, my wife thought they wouldn't see the humor in it
lol yeah, i think 3-4 nurses each asked atleast once, the anaesthesiologist, and then the surgeon who wrote his initials on the knee.
Hang in there as time passes quickly and before you know it you'll be back on the pitch. During my second game of the HS season I tore the meniscus in my right knee, has surgery 1 week ago yesterday, and today was able to ride my bicycle and fully extend my right leg. Five years ago I did the same thing to my left knee. The key to rehab is diligence and doing exercises at every commercial. After consideration I think that I will stop refereeing HS, return to club and any extra time will be spent building furniture. My body takes a beating during the work day and HS refereeing just excerbates the inevitable end.
Yet another infrequent update by yours truly! Im now 6 weeks post-op and doing great! Sitting here i litterally cant tell the differece between my two knees. Im out of my brace for good as of today and walking normally. I can now start bikeriding and more strenuous strenghening activities. I still have full extension and 115 degrees of flexion, which is really good im told. Only frustrating thing is my ortho is saying another 6 weeks till i can start running, which seems pretty conservative and annoying, i feel like i can run now. But i guess he has taken me this far and ill take the hit and wait. overall everything is going really well and i hope to be back on the field end of june/july optimistically
Better to wait and follow doctor's orders here rather than ruin all the progress you've made. Glad to hear it's going well. I might have to go see an ortho in the near future and am not looking forward to it.
yeah, my surgeon was also very conservative as far as any sort of running goes. You definitely don't want to screw it up when things are going so well. My PT was much more aggressive and she had me working pretty hard. Keeping up with the therapy is key. I had an allograft surgery. Did the cold therapy and CPM machine for the first week or ten days and I think those were both really helpful. And I did PT 3x a week for the first few weeks before that got scaled back. The surgeon didn't clear me to get back to "normal" activity until 5 months after the surgery.
I've been so fortunate that I haven't had to deal with this type of injury yet (knock on wood....). After playing football in HS I'm paranoid about having to deal with a knee injury but TG I haven't had one so far.... Best wishes for a speedy recovery to all with this situation.
which hospital did you chose to do the operation? I had my third shoulder (GK injury) reconstruction at Providence..
Danbury hospital, mostly an account of their brand new ambulatory surgery unit and that thats the hospital my surgeon does his operations at. I also have a family member who works there who knows just about everyone there, you never know when that can come in handy. If anyone is having a similiar operation in my area i have no complaints whatsoever about Danbury, everything was pretty much on-time, proffesional, and comfortable. Not to mention i credit my anaesthesiologist there for my almost 0 post-surgery pain.
Its amazing what they can do....I remember my first reconstruction in 1991...I woke up and the first words I said was "morphine!" and this last time I was actually concerned because it didnt hurt enough! I am 100% 14 months later.
Well it has been quit a good week, i am finally cleared to run 12 weeks post-op!. My only restriction right now is not sprinting and no hard cuts, but besdies that i can do whatever i want, fast sidestepping, backpeddling etc. As of now i am running 1/2 mile a day with agilities mixed in, everything is coming along great. I have finally decided to give up my hope for regionals this year as it scared me that after the 1st lap i was more concerned with my cardio system than my knee and there is no way i will be in shape in a month. I will still be going in a logistical role however and hope to see alot of you there. Thanks for all the support guys, hopefully my next post will be saying im finally back on the field!
Awesome, glad to hear the recovery is going quite well. Dedication to physical therapy is one of the biggest keys and you seem to have that down pat so you should do very well. Good luck and be sure to let us know once you're back on the pitch!!