well started a new career about a week and a half ago. last monday the one damn thing i was affraid of happened. i fell off the top of a car hauler. sorry my new career is an auto transport company. so i fell off the top and landed aweful funny. this was last monday in minneapolis,mn. got home on thursday and got the mri. saw the doc on fri and he told me i had broken the top of my tibia(sp?) and torn both meniscus and my acl.
he is talking 5 weeks recovery after surgery. problem is i simply dont have the time ( life savings wrapped up in this trucking venture). anybody living with these things un-fixed? i just need to buy myself 6 or 7 months. maybe a really cool knee brace? i will speak with the doc about all this but so far he is acting like a typical surgeon and not listening (he is the ortho for the suns and cardinals so im keeping him, he just doesnt live in the same world as the rest of us)

My father tore his ACL back in college in 1969. Didnt know that was the problem then. Played the next season of football and ran 4 years of track. Come to find out about 12 years later he hurt his knee at work and tore some cartlidge. That is when he found out that he had no ACL. Its possible to recover without having it fixed but the knee will never be the same. I think what helped him too was he was in very good athletic shape running track and playing football.

Them make some amazing braces out there. Hope you insurance is covering the cost....????

Had the ACL and a couple arthroscopic on the left knee. You could put it off but I'm sure that the doc's will tell you to do it now. I waited 2 months before I had the ACL done. Recovery is pretty quick with rehab and a good brace. I was back to work with crutches and a brace in 10 days. Couldn't push the clutch in the dump truck but I could do everything else slowly. Maybe 3 weeks before I could do a big rig clutch. (I ended up buying my first automatic dump truck just after that)

Good luck with that.

Ruptured mine this past january racing, I chose not to get it fixed, just worked out and strengthened the muscles in my leg. Like stated it is not necessary to have and I heard VERY mixed results with the surgery. Good luck.

i have the same problem in both knees. they wanted to cut me but i could still walk with pain . took a long time for the pain to go. then it was still tender for a long time. had to give up the skateboard and there is no way i could ever run without my legs going sideways ! lol

i think the knife is a last option .

Damn it man. I was just thinking about pming you to see how things were going and to remind you to be careful on the rack. I don't know about not getting it fixed at all but would think a good brace and dealing with alot of pain it may work. If by chance I can help please don't hesitate to ask.

wife fell "out of the shower", trying to get a phone call (like her mother couldn't wait).

anyways, she tore the acl and meniscus and had to have surgery. She was OUT for at least 4 weeks, with lots of PT, but honestly I think someone who wants to heal quickly and has the desire can do it. I hope she don't read this, lol.

She still can't bend her knee all the way, but I keep telling her if you wanted to do it and had the desire to do it, you can do it. She'd just rather sit around on her ass.

Anyways, we did get a cool video of the surgery to watch, (I have no idea why the dr. thought we would want it in dvd and vhs) but her was from damage from playing softball for years. Her dr. told her one knee needs total replacement, and one needed cleaning, but when she fell, the one that needed cleaning up tore so that is the one they went for. She still hasn't done the replacement, she'll probably hold off until it has to be done.

After the surgery she was hooked up to a ice machine that circulates around her knee for about a week, then PT for a couple weeks, crutches, porta potty for the first week, etc. She's 43


good luck man, that's a long ways to fall, your probably lucky it wasn't worse than that.

One of my girls tore her meniscus ( bucket handle tear ) a 1 hour surgery lasted 3 1/2 hours it was alot worse then they thought it was . Shes 15 and a competative dancer been 3 months and shes just starting to dance again . The acl doesn't always need to be repaired and most of the pain should go away with time .Best of luck to you

i am living with a torn meniscus right now, and have been for almost a year. every now and then it "catches" in my knee, and lets me know who is boss. the pain subsides in about 2-3 days, but my knee will swell up like a melon for a couple weeks. no knee brace helps or prevents it. i want it fixed, but i need to find the right time to do it. dont know about the acl. that is more major than a meniscus. that is something i would have done asap.

i make my living on my feet, for several hours at a time in some instances. it can be very painful, and a severe roadblock to me getting work done. i am a lineman and i need my knees to work. walking is a challenge when it pops, and climbing a pole is all but impossible when its hurting.

i dont like the knife either, but it beats living in pain. bite the bullet, and get it fixed. my day is coming here real soon!

thanks for the insights. fortunately i have great insurance (wifes work). its not so much the pain im afraid of (not that it doesnt scare me). its that i have pretty much leveraged everything to get this company started and this was my very first run. i gotta tell ya its a pretty helpless feeling being across the country, in a strange land, lying on the ground screaming like a little girl. thank god for the mexican guy that was there. already had a full load booked back to phx so i had to hire a driver, plane ticket for me from mpls to phx and then his hotel and plane ticket back. sorry, starting to vicodin ramble.
im very concerned with the healing time. fortunately its my right knee (not my clutch leg). im hoping with a really cool brace i could be back at it in a week or so. its not the driving that scares me, i have learned very quickly that car haulers are also contortionists and like i said before that helpless feeling.
i realize the decision is mine, im just fishing for opinions now that you know the situation

Sorry man, hope it works out for you. sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do huh?

A brace made protect the ACL with adjustable angles will do wonders the first couple months. I had a couple of DONJOY's made for me and they really help with the confidence and stop the tendency to "give out". I've been self employed for 15 years and have had to deal with a few injuries so I know what a bind it can put you in. Get a good brace and give it 6 months, good luck on the new venture