any advice? knee gone "south."

[Robbie]

I have been training for an AT thru hike for 1.5 years. I had planned to head out for an AT thru hike attempt in March 2009. Recently, my right knee has flared up and an upcoming MRI may indicate the need for arthoscopic (spelling?) surgery. I am quite devastated.. I have worked so hard, lost weight, bought equipment, etc. I have all my gear and I see my thru hike attempt slipping away. I realize that at my age (61) odds are against me but I at least wanted to give it a"one for the gipper..." try!!!

Has anyone has arthoscopic and if so, what has been the recovery time? Any input would be appreciated. Thanx...longpants

[taildragger]

Recovery can vary. Some heal fast, some take forever.

If you can get back into it, I'd suggest poles to help alleviate stresses. Also, may look into hiking the PCT since it has an easier grade, might be easier on the knees (and eyes)

[sticks&stones]

That's rough, but I can somewhat relate. The bottom half of one of my femur balls broke off previous to my 96 sobo. My whole hike was 3 weeks pain free, then 3 weeks painful for 8 months. The same went for my 2nd, and 3rd. What saved me,( but may or may not help you, i have no clue), was custom insoles. After i put them in i hiked several more 8 month hikes with no tweaking whatsoever. I even hiked in sandals for several 1000mls. I sure hope you find a remedy.

[skinewmexico]

Depends on what they do. I had the underside of kneecap cleaned out, and a ligament checked that was supposed to be torn. I was amazed at how little it hurt, I think I took pain pills for 1 day. Now the therapy hurts, but if you do it, and really work, you'll be surprised at how fast you recover.

[Serial 07]

go get you some arnica from your local health food store...the higher the dose, the better...200ck i think is the highest that's easily found...start taking that now, before the surgery and after...it will help the body heal and recover from the surgery faster...don't believe me, do some research online...but arnica pre-op and post-op is a great supplement...follow the directions, ie take it away from food...if you are unfamiliar with this and are interested, PM me and i can give you more details...

[dmax]

I had this done a few years ago. It took ME quite a while to heal 100%. Almost a full year for 100%. I was walking a couple miles a day after 1 week, with no loaded pack. Be sure to go through with "all" of the pt.
I've seen football players get back on the field in a couple of weeks. We could use some of those drs. on the AT.

[xnav]

I tore one of my ACLs in half on my right knee playing basketball a couple of years ago. I had the surgery your doctor is reccomending and had it replaced with a cadaver ligament. Recovery hurt like hell for the first month (physical therapy 2 to 3 times a week) , but it became easier and I started back to work in about 2 1/2 months after the surgery. I'm a survey party chief which involves a lot of walking and carrying equipment every day. My right leg is now as strong as it ever was and rarely bothers me at all. Just make sure to get a good doctor who has done a lot of the procedures.

[Keystone28]

Ive had orthoscopic surgery on my shoulder before for a torn rotator cuff. Granted, not the same thing, but it took me roughly 4 months to get back full range of motion, and even today -7 months later- it still hurts like a bugger if I overdue it.

The big thing is to stick to your therapy!! Do everything the therapist tells you to do, no matter how uncomfortable it is, because they really do know what they're doing.

Secondly, and maybe I'll get hell for saying this, but whats more important to you? The thru hike, or your health? Put the hike on a back burner I say, and focus on getting yourself better before you try some monumental feat of endurance and end up with an even more messed up knee than you have now.

[oso loco]

Robbie - I got scoped on Labor Day weekend 2005. Walked a mile the next weekend and got royally chewed out by the therapist. Took 6 weeks to get anywhere close to normal. Then several months to get into backpacking. Started the CDT mid-April 2006 - almost 8 months after the scope. It can be done.

That said - some advice that's worth exactly what you're willing to pay for it.

1. You're really REALLY short on time if you're gonna do an AT thruhike. There's a LARGE difference between the southern AT and the southern CDT. New Mexico is a piece of cake compared to Georgia and North Carolina. Personal opinion is that if it were me, I might go to the PCT - but not the AT.

2. You're not me. What you do - and how soon - is your decision. But if I were you I'd consult your surgeon and physical therapist, too. How soon you can successfully pick up a pack depends a LOT on how good you are with the PT.

3. Glucosamine - plus MSM. Don't skimp and don't skip - as soon as the Doc says you can - and ALL the time on the trail.

4. Finally - how good are you at personal honesty - with respect to assessing your own physical capability? I can't even guess at that, but most of us fool ourselves when we're after something we WANT. Only YOU can make the decision about whether you're actually ready when it comes time to leave for the trail. If you're not ready, then it's better to wait a year than to go out there and blow it.

5. Whatever your decision, I'll wish you the best.

For what it's worth, when I finished the CDT I was 66. I did the GDT at 67 and 3 weeks ago I had a knee replacement (on the other side). I'm planning another long hike - hopefully in 2009, although that's still TBD.

In other words, the game ain't over till the fat lady sings - and I don't hear the music yet. How's YOUR attitude?

[Reid]

Gloucosamine Chondriton

[camojack]

I have been training for an AT thru hike for 1.5 years. I had planned to head out for an AT thru hike attempt in March 2009. Recently, my right knee has flared up and an upcoming MRI may indicate the need for arthoscopic (spelling?) surgery. I am quite devastated.. I have worked so hard, lost weight, bought equipment, etc. I have all my gear and I see my thru hike attempt slipping away. I realize that at my age (61) odds are against me but I at least wanted to give it a"one for the gipper..." try!!!

Has anyone has arthoscopic and if so, what has been the recovery time? Any input would be appreciated. Thanx...longpants

Not to rain on your parade, but if you get the surgery, forget March 2009.

I had the ACL in my left knee replaced in 2006, and although it's better now than it had been since 1984, it took a year to get there.

You might want to wait until 2010 for the thru; I will say that after going through it though, I'm quite pleased with the result...

[weary]

I have been training for an AT thru hike for 1.5 years. I had planned to head out for an AT thru hike attempt in March 2009. Recently, my right knee has flared up and an upcoming MRI may indicate the need for arthoscopic (spelling?) surgery. I am quite devastated.. I have worked so hard, lost weight, bought equipment, etc. I have all my gear and I see my thru hike attempt slipping away. I realize that at my age (61) odds are against me but I at least wanted to give it a"one for the gipper..." try!!!

Has anyone has arthoscopic and if so, what has been the recovery time? Any input would be appreciated. Thanx...longpants

I haven't. My wife has. I've read the literature. In most cases, it seems from all I've read, such surgery is no big deal. My wife, 100 pounds overweight, has never had another problem with that knee.

So a second surgery when the other knee flared up. The surgery did nothing.
two years later, it remains a problem.

When I proposed a through hike in 1993, I was told by my then doctor, "it was the best thing you could do." When I worried about my knee, the doc said, "it'll get better as you use it." Well it did.

My advice is to forget about a "thru hike." Just go to Springer, start hiking north, at whatever pace seems comfortable. Forget about Katahdin. Just enjoy each day. After six months or so, you may find yourself on Katahdin. I did. And I was a year or so older than you.

I graduated high school in 1946. Three years earlier as a sophomore, I ranked third from the bottom of an 800 student body in physical fitness. Such tests were common during the second world war. They dreamed of getting us fit enough to fight. I finally graduated towards the top of the bottom third in physical ability -- and in academics for that matter.

I've never exercised regularly. But over the years to gain fitness, I would walk a mile at lunch hour at my sedentary job. Use the stairs, not the elevator, to the fourth floor lunch room. And probably once a month or so, on average, do a wilderness weekend on the trail or on a wild river.

It was all great fun, and produced a few newspaper stories that many readrers seemed to like. Decades later, now approaching 80, people say, "aren't you lucky to have retained your health. Well I could tell them stories. But I don't.

I look at them, and think, "you don't want to know about all my physical worries. But very few of you really could compete with me on a trail, or a river in a canoe."

We are only given one life on this earth. Protect it and use it, Robbie. And when you get back from Katahdin let us know how it went and what you hope to do next.

Weary www.matlt.org

[Quoddy]

Has anyone has arthoscopic and if so, what has been the recovery time? Any input would be appreciated. Thanx...longpants

I had arthroscopic surgery on a shredded miniscus in my left knee when I was 57. I decided not to take any pain medication except for Motrin and was walking (limping around) the day after the surgery with no crutches. I had the surgery on a Friday afternoon and was back at work on Monday. The pain before the surgery was so intense that the little I had briefly afterward felt like nothing. Now, almost 12 years later, the knee remains completely OK. Having said all that, I know people who had problems afterward. I really believe that slight differences in the basic problem as well as the skill of the surgeon have a lot to do with the outcome. I had a top notch sports medicine orthopedic surgeon, hand picked by my wife who worked many, many years in a large medical center.

Don't give up on your plans. You may be stronger than ever.

[mudhead]

Fingers crossed for you that it is a minor issue.

Might be a PT only thing or an angry bursa.

[Plodderman]

Shouldn't take to long to heal if they scope it. If it is just the cushion (meniscus) and arthritis then you will be up and moving in a few weeks. It can take a few months to get your strength back but most of the doctors want you on it right away and physical therapy is usually for a few months. If it is any ligament damage then that would be different. I have had my knee scoped twice and the recovery time was not more than a few months.

[skinewmexico]

I'm not seeing where the OP said it was an ACL.

[Gray Blazer]

Hopefully your surgery is minor. I had ACL replacement and it took a year and a half for it to fully recover. I tried hiking 6 months after, and the ups and downs really hurt my knee, but, after a year and a half the new knee is better than the old one. The ups and downs of the AT are the thing that's going to test you. You may be able to walk 25 miles on a level trail, but, the mountains are the true test for your knee.

[beeman]

I had my knee scoped for a torn meniscus and smooting of the underside of my kneecap when I was 50. The doctor told me NFL players were up and practicing the next day after their surgery. I was up and teaching woodworking to cubscouts in my shop within a couple of days. It was tender but OK as long as I didn't over extend the knee joint. When that happened, it hurt like the devil. I did all the recovery physical therapy religiously and my experience with that was the first 75% of my flexibility/mobility was easy. The last 5% of the flexibility is the hardest to get back. Four months later I was hiking on the AT. I quit that year after 340 miles but it had nothing to do with the knee surgery. I will say that both of my knees hurt on the ups a little and the downs a lot, but the scoped knee hurt less than the other knee. The pain that originally caused the doctor's visit never returned and it has been almost four years now. You hike isn't over.

All that being said, I don't know your exact medical circumstances. IF your circumstances are similar to mine, and the surgical team does a good job, and you do your PT religiously, you will be able to make that hike. You may just have to modify your dates a bit. Good Luck!

[the goat]

Gloucosamine Chondriton

placebo.

[weary]

I have been training for an AT thru hike for 1.5 years. I had planned to head out for an AT thru hike attempt in March 2009. Recently, my right knee has flared up and an upcoming MRI may indicate the need for arthoscopic (spelling?) surgery. I am quite devastated.. I have worked so hard, lost weight, bought equipment, etc. I have all my gear and I see my thru hike attempt slipping away. I realize that at my age (61) odds are against me but I at least wanted to give it a"one for the gipper..." try!!!

Has anyone has arthoscopic and if so, what has been the recovery time? Any input would be appreciated. Thanx...longpants

There's an interesting piece in the New York Times today, elaborating on an article published in one of the leading medical journals.

Essentially, it said 40 percent of the people who have an MRI are shown to have torn meniscal stuff in their knees. But that there is little evidence that surgery should be routine as a result, since the pain comes and goes regardless of whether one has surgery or not.

Arthritis usually is the cause of the tear, according to the medical people interviewed. Anyway, after reading the piece, I'd think twice about having knee surgery.

BTW, my wife has had the surgery on both knees. One is back to normal. The other knee surgery made things worse for months. But gradually the pain has lessened so that it is no longer a problem. Anyway, open the article. It may give you some insights.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/09/he...=1&ref=science

Weary