Hamstring Avulsion (complete tear from pelvis)

[dccoffman]

Hard to sleep when so many thoughts keep swirling through my head...

H20, good luck to you with your surgery! You will not be that far ahead of me and I will be good to have a recovery buddy. Thanks for the offer of tips- I'll take all I can get. This forum is wonderful, never imagined that there would be such a wonderful support community for this rare injury. I'll be thinking of you on the 17th and can't wait to hear from you how things went. I'm sure it will go really well, every one on here is very positive about the results of surgery and I find that really inspiring.

Jackie, I slipped on a wet tile bathroom floor while picking up towels. I too did the splits with my right leg forward. I was booted out of the ER at 2:30 AM by a very rude doctor and some even ruder nurses and told to "Suck it up...you fell, it's gonna hurt- what do you expect?" I did get an x-ray, but of course it showed nothing. When I had my accident I was driving home from SC w/my 4 children. The car broke down and we were staying a hotel close to the car. So, when they made me leave in the wee hours in the morning I was alone and injured and hundreds of miles from home. My husband had flown home ahead of us so he could return to work and I made the kids all stay in the hotel and I went to the ER in an ambulance. It still makes me mad when I think about it!

Paul, we have the same insurance! Good old Aetna- : / You are so encouraging with your progress and positive attitude. So glad you stitches removal appointment went so well and that PT was a relief to you!

Does anyone on here know why when I called the surgeon who will be doing my surgery, he said to come see him immediately and that he'd do surgery immediately if I needed it. Then when he examined me he decided waiting 2 -3 weeks would not matter? It seems strange to me, when all the wisdom states ASAP is best. I wonder if there is something about me or my injury that made him change his mind? Should have asked him, of course, but didn't think of it!

Renee

[dccoffman]

Hard to sleep when so many thoughts keep swirling through my head...

H20, good luck to you with your surgery! You will not be that far ahead of me and I will be good to have a recovery buddy. Thanks for the offer of tips- I'll take all I can get. This forum is wonderful, never imagined that there would be such a wonderful support community for this rare injury. I'll be thinking of you on the 17th and can't wait to hear from you how things went. I'm sure it will go really well, every one on here is very positive about the results of surgery and I find that really inspiring.

Jackie, I slipped on a wet tile bathroom floor while picking up towels. I too did the splits with my right leg forward. I was booted out of the ER at 2:30 AM by a very rude doctor and some even ruder nurses and told to "Suck it up...you fell, it's gonna hurt- what do you expect?" I did get an x-ray, but of course it showed nothing. When I had my accident I was driving home from SC w/my 4 children. The car broke down and we were staying a hotel close to the car. So, when they made me leave in the wee hours in the morning I was alone and injured and hundreds of miles from home. My husband had flown home ahead of us so he could return to work and I made the kids all stay in the hotel and I went to the ER in an ambulance. It still makes me mad when I think about it!

Paul, we have the same insurance! Good old Aetna- : / You are so encouraging with your progress and positive attitude. So glad you stitches removal appointment went so well and that PT was a relief to you!

Does anyone on here know why when I called the surgeon who will be doing my surgery, he said to come see him immediately and that he'd do surgery immediately if I needed it. Then when he examined me he decided waiting 2 -3 weeks would not matter? It seems strange to me, when all the wisdom states ASAP is best. I wonder if there is something about me or my injury that made him change his mind? Should have asked him, of course, but didn't think of it!

Renee

[Dra]

4 week update

Pt had me slowly fire my hamstring this week ! The leg moves... Going well with increased weight bearing this week to 75 Percent. Having difficulty with sitting soreness in the incision. Quick tip, the pt wanted me to perform isometric quad sets on the days off from pt which is 3x per week. My quad is definitely loosing in this.

Any tips out there from the old timers ( legends) regarding week 5-8 ?

Paul glad to read all the good news !
Good luck to all .

[dccoffman]

Apparently, it's also hard to post only once when too many thoughts are running through your head!

[PWJJ]

Hey, H20, you are in a tough spot. Yes, timing is important, the sooner the better. But Doctors do differ. The difference between the 2 world class Doctors I saw one day apart in NYC was unbelievable. I would have been happy with either doing the actual surgery, but the difference between the post surgery protocol with the knee brace versus the hip and knee conbination brace is huge. One was old school and the other more pregressive for lack of a better word. Or in fairness, one was conservative and didn't want any risk factors, and the other was willing to trade patient comfort for a higher risk factor. For sure the call is made for the individual patient, and my condition and famililarity with crutches may have been a factor. For sure Renee's retraction and maybe needing a cadaver graft is one. Perhaps your prior injury also dictates the combo brace. In you case though I think the scar tissue from the prior inkury may be the biggest issue, (which is why I originally urged a 2nd opinion and the most experienced person you could find), but also if another doctor felt you didn't need the combo brace (and you were personally confident in that) that would be major. All that said, if you have to or don't have another option, you go with what you have. I would have done it with the full brace, and had the surgery scheduled but got lucky with my 2nd opinion being the next day.
You will come thru fine no matter what course you end up with.
Paul

[RehabAgain]

7 week update (7wks + 1day)

Progress is still good, although not going as quick as weeks 3-6 went. Did some small jogging today, only 5 minutes but it felt good. The strengthening and stretching continues, this is a long process. Knee is still stiff but have full range of motion, just need to keep working this (stretching) every day.

Quad is getting stronger but am amazed at how weak it had gotten. Remember that I was walking without crutches at 4 weeks but still lost a ton of strength in my quad. Mini squats (2-3") have progressed into squats which are maybe 70% of normal. Also have started some one legged mini squats, this has really shown the weakness in the quad.

Hip range of motion is getting better but progress is slow. The knee went really fast but it has far less effect on the hammy. Hip ROM is bringing my knee to my chest while lying down. I would say another couple of weeks on this yet. What helps is to ride the spin bike (this get me to about 90 degrees) for a bit to loosen things up and then I hit some good stretching.

So once you loose the crutches it is all about strengthening and stretching. Get some exercise to get the body moving again, swimming, walking on treadmill, elliptical are all good if cleared. I try to have a session of stretching and strengthening in the morning and evening but get at least one in per day.

Sitting is still an issue, especially for long periods of time. It has gotten better but I still have discomfort. Not sure how long this will last, seems like some people were fine at 2 months and other had pain at 2 years. The good news is that I can sit on my road bike without much pain and that is what I am trying to get back to.

Hang in there everyone, it gets better!!!

[PWJJ]

Hi Jackie,
Glad you are doing better, you will make it thru this. Definitely write down all your questions, I don't know about you, but if I don't write them down and check them off I won't remember them.

Not sure what you mean by "strange feelings" but the only things I have felt is the really wierd and painful/annoying sensation on the back on my thigh below the incision, but that is there constantly. I was told it is due to the bruising and also because of surface nerves cut in making the incision. I was assured it would go away, albeit in weeks to months.

Another is a really sharp shooting pain down the back of the leg, very brief (a split second), and painful, that takes me by surprise and only happens rarely and with no pattern. They said this was from the nerves back there, possibly the sciatica, not because there is anything wrong, just that those nerves were in an area that had undergone trauma, whether the injury or the surgery. Also normal and would go away. Now that I think about it, it hasn't happened for about 5 days. Maybe it's done and over.

The only other issue I have is when I wake up, whether in the middle of the night or in the morning, I have an involuntary stretch of my back and legs that despite my trying I just can't stop. It definitely puts some starin on my hamstring althugh I get my hips up as soon as I feel it starting so as to mitigate the tension on the hamstring. I was concerned it might be slowing the healing or causing a minor reinjury as it is pretty strong, but the Docor said it would not, and the everything looked fine. Still, I can feel it at the attachment/surgery point for a few hours after it happens, low grade soreness but only when that happening. Wish it wouldn't do that.

Hope everyone is healing well and getting the info they need to make their decisions.
Paul

[h2oriding]

Thanks for the support everyone, Paul I am feeling better about my MD as I have heard some great feedback about his work from several people. I still think I am going to end up in the combo brace. I will know for sure on Tues.
Renee, I know what you mean about thinking too much and not sleeping......I need to get this surgery done so I am not a sleep deprived zombie! Sorry about your slip and your ED experience
I have been a little concerned today because I had some numbness on the bottom of my foot and increased pain from the beginning of the week. I hope it is just because I have been limping around a little too much. I am not seeing any increased swelling. The numbness is gone now but pain still worse.

[PWJJ]

H2O, that's great about your Doctor. I would question him about the difference in the braces and get a definite answer on if the combo is warranted in your case and not just that it's the way he has always done it. If he thinks it necessary so be it, but then get in as much simulation and practice as you can before the surgery. Best of luck to you!

[dccoffman]

Hello Everyone! How did the weekend go? Paul, are you continuing to recover and progress? Jackie, how are you doing now? What's your mobility? Have you been back for a doctor check yet? H20, thinking of you as your repair day gets closer!

Renee