End of my season, May 2012

[JAS71]

I feared my season had ended back in January when I hurt my knee. Thankfully the brace allowed me to get out for several excellent days doing what I enjoy most - with some great partners to boot! Alas all good things do come to and end, and today was the season ender for sure:



Based on RR's tremendous recovery from the TKR, and several others I've spoken with, I can reasonably expect to be back at it when snow returns in the fall.

I scheduled the operation back when mid-winter snowpack was abysmal, assuming May would be about done on George. Made sense then, but I wish I had another couple weeks for that smooth corn still be found up high.

I tried to sneak in one last trip on Friday, looking forward to rain smoothed corn. I found it in abundance, but it was not meant to be: I arrived early at PNVC with everything for a quiet wet tour but no ski boots

I scrambled to find some rentals. EMS had the goods, but did not want rent since "conditions weren't good and it's hard on the gear". IME gladly tried to help, but they didn't have any AT boots available. So I rented some mountaineering boots to replace my sandals and went for along, wet hike: Up through Left, over summit, down the Easties and back around Boot Spur for the return to PNVC. Always nice to be on MW, I sure would have enjoyed a few last turns!

Somewhere in Left:



Snowfields:


I could have made a decent glissade run down the Easties, but I started too far south and ended up in one of the shorter patches. Had I seen Sno_rider's pics ahead to time I could have made a better run. Oh well...

As a side note, self arresting with the Whippet on prime corn with a firm base on a moderate slope was not nearly as quick as I would have liked… scary to think of those long falls of firmer steeper slopes!

Anyway, I hope many other turns are enjoyed up there before it's all gone!

[snowmonster]

Heal quickly, man! I've been following in your footsteps and your TRs here were a source of inspiration. I hope to meet you somewhere up high next season!

[RR]

Yo, heal smart, heal fast! It's a reconstruction, so that's not a quickie such as with Meniscus repairs. There is a process to rehab....get your limits from the pros and before you stretch the limits, have a carefully considered reason and a plan as well as a backup plan.

Good Luck Andy!

Btw, this might be a surprise....I have no ACL in the TKR knee.

[JAS71]

Originally Posted by snowmonster

Heal quickly, man! I've been following in your footsteps and your TRs here were a source of inspiration. I hope to meet you somewhere up high next season!

Thanks, I'm likewise enjoying your TR's... keep them coming!

Originally Posted by RR

Btw, this might be a surprise....I have no ACL in the TKR knee.

Thanks for the words on encouragement!

I had wondered about the make up of the TKR. Is there another mechanism within the new knee such that you don't need an ACL and / or PCL? What about the ligaments on the sides?

[jshefftz]

Yes was indeed nice, but all that downhiking at the end probably would have required operations on both your knees!

[RR]

Still have a PCL and all the "little" ligaments...took a long time for them to consider working together to hold my new knee together...a long, painful time. No mechanism or other design feature replaces the ACL in my metalized knee.

Reconstructives usually don't hurt so much or so long, so you have that going for you! Plus, you will probably get a nice GT, Donjoy, CTI or other brace for skiing and/or riding. Most of them are good to skin, but they all take a bit of getting used to before extending from an hour to all-day.

Think happy thoughts!

PS: I filled my down-time with harmionica playing...all doped up on vicodin and blowing harp...I recorded some of it...pretty horrible, but it made me happy to try You will have less down time!

[drewvw]

I give you a lot of credit for toughing out the season with a very bad wheel.

Well done, ski you next year!

[ARLOthePEAR]

You guys make me and my good knees feel incredibly lazy. Headed up tonight for a Presi traverse attempt tomorrow. Not bringing sticks though :-( .

[BladeGirl]

Originally Posted by RR

Yo, heal smart, heal fast! It's a reconstruction, so that's not a quickie such as with Meniscus repairs. ...

Btw, this might be a surprise....I have no ACL in the TKR knee.

Yeah, I did without the ACL in my left knee for 10 years. Then I injured the PCL there and decided I wanted more stability so had one put in (I can't thank you enough for Dr. Micheli!). Then all was good for five years or so until I tore the meniscus in the same knee two months ago.

Not getting better, so it looks like I'll be getting one of those quickie repairs.

[JAS71]

Originally Posted by drewvw

I give you a lot of credit for toughing out the season with a very bad wheel.

Well done, ski you next year!

Thanks, here's to MUCH more snow in 2012/2013!

Originally Posted by BladeGirl

Yeah, I did without the ACL in my left knee for 10 years. Then I injured the PCL there and decided I wanted more stability so had one put in (I can't thank you enough for Dr. Micheli!). Then all was good for five years or so until I tore the meniscus in the same knee two months ago.

Not getting better, so it looks like I'll be getting one of those quickie repairs.

Ouch, that sounds like a lot of painful events! Did you use a brace to offset the lack of ACL? I found I could ski OK with my brace, but it still wasn't the same. I half considered forgoing the repair and sticking with the brace... but in the end, it was one more liability that reduced my margin of safety too much for comfort in the long term. I hope your meniscus repair goes well!