What to do now......ACL reconstruction!!

[Bezza123]

hhhhhh nightmare - had my ACL reconstructed and cartlidge repaired yesterday and now face 6 weeks on crutches and at least 2 months b4 i can ride again !! What am i going to do!! Has anyone else had this done? Or similar and what did you do to keep sane!?!

Also what to do with my girly? Do i give her all the time off? Do i give her a bit of time off and get someone to ride her - do i ask them to jump and flatwork?? I dont know what to do she was just starting to go really well !!

 

[jendie]

I think you'll be very lucky if you are riding again in two months. Have you been fitted with supporting metalwork? Do you know how long you'll have that for?

As it might be a while before you are back to normal maybe you could let your girl have a holiday and enjoy the Spring... unless of course you know someone you can trust to carry on her training without spoiling her.

 

[kerilli]

i had this done last year. it depends how bad it was i think, mine was pretty major (second time it had gone) and the surgeon used my hamstring to make a new ACL and fixed it to the bone.
i'm not sure how long it was before i rode, i deliberately didn't count the days or weeks, i just did my physio and waited until it felt right. it's better not to rush it (however impatient you are feeling!), strengthen it up slowly and then see how it feels. mine felt very odd to ride with initially but now feels about 99%, which is great.
re: your mare - if there's someone you REALLY trust, i'd let them carry on with her, but otherwise, no, i'd give her time off. if she's the sensible sort then you can do her slow fittening work when you're allowed to ride again.
as for how to cope now... ummm, knapsack is the best way of carrying everything around when you're on crutches. young horses are frightened of crutches and behave like total idiots, in case you hadn't discovered that yet! umm, i multitasked on here, working, watching tv, reading, watching videos, and managed to get through it that way!
good luck, the time will go quicker than you think, honestly.
Limbo leg covers are totally waterproof and mean you can have a bath in comfort (leg in the air, foot resting on wall!) if you can't stand on 1 leg in the shower for long enough - i couldn't.
oh, ice and ibuleve gel are your friends. and if your lower leg is sort of stained purply-brown, it isn't an iodine stain you have to scrub off, it's bruising from the op. i tried to scrub it off, and have found out i wasn't the only one to make that mistake!
good luck!

 

[sprite1978]

It does seem ambitious to be riding in 2 months, unless you are ultra careful.

 

[Mrs Pink]

I had mine done nearly 4 years ago, and like Kerilli, they used my hamstring to give me a new one and i was on crutches I think for about 3 months

I did however ride in the last 2-4 weeks, but I would only do it on my horse as he is bomb proof and didn't mind me wandering about with him in one hand and a crutch in the other, and i was only walking.

I was fortunate in that mum and sister would ride him 2 or 3 times a week for a leg stretch, but apart from that he was turned out and left to get hairy.

In my case it did take them 12 months to operate on it after the initial injury, so I did loose two years in effect of competing, but if you've just had yours done now, with good physio, I would think you may get the back end of the season in. Ditto the ice etc. mine still had some swelling and i din't do this enough

The first 2 or 3 weeks are the worst as you're a bit useless, but it will soon pass Could someone lunge him, just to keep him ticking over?

Kerilli, ha ha I tried that with the bruising, I'm easily confused, and my shin was still tingly to touch up until last year, I think due to the the drilling, v wierd shaving your legs lol

 

[daydreambeliever]

Apart from something to do with your leg, what is this horrid sounding op and how did you pick up the injury.

Best wishes Bezza for a speedy recovery.

As for working your horse the bonus to giving her time off too, is that you can both re-build your fitness together, unless of course coming back into work will be something that will over excite her.

 

[Bezza123]

Im not impressed with the whole situation lol!! the surgeon and me only decided to go ahead with the whole operation an hour b4 surgery!! So didnt give alot of thinking time!!

Shes a pretty sane animal really - can have weeks and weeks off and is still sane! Altho i would like her fit for when i am ready to ride!!

As for what was the operation - basiclly replacing a ligament which had snapped with some of a hamstring tendon, drilling bits of bone etc!! Not the nicest of operations ..... or injuries!! And as for how i did it - not normal like rugby or skiing or anything like that - i was taking part in a tug of war competition and it just 'went'!!!

 

[eggs]

Had my ACL reconstructed with my patella tendon 11 years ago.

I was told to do nothing for 12 weeks except for my physio as there is a huge risk of doing more damage before the blood supply is fully working.

When I did start riding it was for about 5 minutes in walk and that was all I could manage. I slowly built up my riding time but rising trot was very uncomfortable to start with. It took time but now I am pretty much back to normal although I can't put my stirrups up as short as I used to for jumping as it is too uncomfortable.

I gave my horse a two month holiday and then a trusted friend of mine brought her back into work for about 6 weeks before I sat on her. Although she was usually rather nutty she was always very sensible if she knew her rider wasn't quite right and I trusted her completely.

 

[poorchickens]

I had mine reconstructed last Thursday! It's been done with a synthetic ligament which has faster recovery times as I'm not waiting for anything to graft together like the hamstring one I had on my other knee. Despite this, I've been told to have at least 3 months off riding.

My horsey is being lunged twice a week for two months (in addition to the horse walker) and then my trainer is bringing her back into work for the month before I start riding her so she should be calm-ish for my arrival!

I hope you have lots of help for the next couple of weeks. My OH has a week off then my parents are around to cook and clean. My friends have brought over DVD box sets and I'm spending a fortune on sky movies oops! If you've had a graft, the first 6 weeks are crucial so no cheating

That's really naughty only giving you an hours notice. Was it done by the NHS? I've been lucky enough to go privately this time and the difference in treatment is just immense.