Well I sure Im not the first person to tear an ACL and wont be the last.
I though Id ask everyone that has had a knee reconstruction or been unable to kite (or snowboard) for an extended period of time what hobbies or activities they did to keep themselves busy?
Ive been told Ive got approx 6-9 months of rehab so no wind or snow for me for a while.
Also how was it when you finally get back on the water, scared that it will happen again?
cheers
I just started kiting (gently) after 4 months off with knee injury and surgery. I think it's important to have two areas covered:
1, The rehab exercises you can do for your knee, and
2, Other interests that you can pursue wholeheartedly and that don't require much from your knee. It's these that will keep you sane by allowing you to live a full life so you don't constantly feel like you're missing out.
When I did my shoulder a couple of years ago some kind soul loaned me a playstation. Did wonders for my morale while stuck at home stoned on oxy for a month.
Thats good to hear you were out kiting at 4 months, that gives me a bit of hope I will get some kiting in this coming summer.
Been going to the gym and using the spin bike as much as possible.
Cant do too many other exercises as I also damaged my medial meniscus and cant straighten my leg.
Thanks for the advice so far, I guess Im going to get good at Mario Kart!
Hi,
Doing Hydrotherapy at the moment. have not started bike yet. only 6 weeks in from surgery.
I was told NO kiting for 12 months.
But I think 6 months and Donjo Knee brace I will see how I go.
Skim Board & surfboard NO straps
Dont rush it and watch what you eat. I didnt realise how much my hobbies were keeping me in shape and ballooned...
Stretch, stretch, stretch... Whenever you can....
I worked as a cable wake boarding instructor and competition judge.
Was a bit hard being so close to the action and not being able to ride but teaching people how to pop and watching them eat sh#t somehow softened the blow of 7 months off the water.
Also riding a longboard skateboard helps heaps combined with a good course of Glucosimine.
Heaps of walking through waist deep water, pure resistance, think I walked over to Penguin Island about a hundred times.
Dont push it but, be patient, the last thing you want it to do it tear again!
I had my ACL repaired in 1999, I have no problems, except other knee!!!
Become a seabreeze forum junkie... you could comment about
Death Leashes
Self launching
Ponder human understanding
Submit topless photos
Make up scenarios... dude
Produce and post videos of a boost and handle pass
Ect......
Ps.... just funin
Just so you dont feel like the only one out there not able to ride, I was up in cairns back in late may riding cable and got a little excited going off one of the kickers and when i landed had a full blow out. I tore both cartlidges and fully ruptured my ACL and MCL along with bone fractures of my tib and also fractured my pattella 
I've had to wait for the swelling to ease and pattella to heal before they would do surgery and after my last MRI they discoverd i will also need bone removed due to cyst like structure inside the joint and this was my good knee. I'm know booked in for major surgery in early august and have also been told 12 months if not longer. One thing my physio has told me is the stronger your knee is before surgery the quicker recovery time will be so i've been doing as much as i can to build up muscle by walking and swimming (according to pain) and trying to keep positive by still going down and watching and helping others out. As much as it sucks to see everyone out having fun sometimes you still get a buzz out of helping others progress.
But if i can give you one bit of advice make sure you get your Mri read by an experienced ortho surgeon and they find out everthing that is wrong because its very easy for them to miss things. i had two done and both were very differnt, i also researched it on the net and found a local specialist who worked for a well known AFL club.
If you have private cover there is the option of LARS surgery but this is more of a temp fix rather then long term and it involves using synthetic ligaments rather then ones from your hamstring, the recovery time is much shorter but is not recommended for everyone.
sorry didn't really read this topic to well before i posted but would be good to hear how other people recoverd from surgery and what they did, sorry i know its a bit off topic but i havent had my surgery yet and sort of keen to hear about other peoples experiences????
The ortho I saw talked about LARS and said he only uses that if a second recon is required. He also mentioned how much the piece of LARS is worth, easily 3-4 kites.
Ive had a couple of Dr's look at my MRI so hopefully there isn't any more damage than what Ive already been told (full ACL tear, bucket handle tear on medial meniscus and bone bruising). Had X-rays done at Thredbo and there ere no fractures so I'm lucky with that.
Cheers for everyone else's advice so far, watching my diet is a big one as when I broke my ankle a couple of years ago I ballooned out so I'm making sure that doesn't happen again.
I'm only a part time seabreeze junkie at the moment, cant see that problem getting too much worse but I guess time and boredom will tell.
I guess the hardest part will be going at the pace the physio sets out. I'm sure summer is going to be hard as Ill hopefully be running by then but not allowed to kite.
I would rather do rehab properly once instead of setting myself back for another operation.
Going under the knife tomorrow! yay
Hey Leeds, swim mate, place a float between your legs and off you go . do a couple of kms each day try a build to this if you are not a swimmer . I had a ACL reco in 2006 aged 44 and was able to do all things I was into previously . Be diligent on your food intake as you are moving less and will find you can eat to ease the bordem. I added 7ish kgs (10), and had a bugger of a time getting them off again ,some rude mates may say they are still there ,NOT TRUE.
Be patient and careful in the first 6to 8 weeks post surgery and keep your chin up as positive people heal quicker . cheers jeff
Cheers funky and Jeff.
I know what you meant about dieting and I'm determine not to put on weight.
I used swim lots so I'll get back into that
I agree with you about being positive and my physio has said I've got a good attitude.
Like the old saying when you buy kites 'buy nice or buy twice' I'm applying that to this do it once and do right!
The surgeon did say to me I don't have to have this done but there is no way I'm giving up kiting and snowboarding just yet.
Op went well today, the PCA button works wonders, if I forget to press it my leg starts to feel like someone has drilled a whole through it! :)
the funniest advice i was given from a bloke who had gone through a similar thing was:
"Don't wank and eat cheezels at the same time"
Take your time and put in the hard yards with rehab. It takes 18 months for the graft to fully heal up to 100%. just be careful in the mean time, particularly when drunk :)
I took up Mountain biking again after being out of it for 5 years. Started road cycling after 2 months and mountain biking (XC) after 3.5. great exercise and Physio. Never felt stronger (muscle wise) and i'm at the 5month mark now. 12 more month till I can get back on the water.
I don't want to know about wanking and cheezels!
Mountain biking sounds like a good alternative, since I know very little about it can anyone recommend a good bike for about $1-1.5 K?
My surgeon likes to install the drain tube nice and deep, holey **** that hurt being taken out!
holey sh!t I thought I had it bad with a couple of months, you guys have had serious down time, good luck with it
Only overnight, private hospital and had my own room.
was in a shared room but some old douche bag had the loudest ring tone and was constantly talking on his phone, he shut up when I asked him to in-between analgesia shots.
Nurses moved me after that!
I've got a cheap dual suspension bike now but was looking at upgrading. Might get a hybrid so I can ride to work and do some simple off road stuff.
My aim is to get kite fit for a work trip to Hawaii in July next year, gives me a reasonable goal to aim for.
I've partially torn my ACL about 3 months ago. No surgery as yet. I finally get to see the specialist in a few weeks. Obviously haven't been kiting since the accident
Did my first very gentle mountain bike the other day since the accident, single track, very gentle hills, 9km, 1.5hrs with Mr 7 and 10yr olds in tow. Felt great to be on the bike again. Riding is fine but the danger is twisting your knee when coming off. Bear in mind my philosophy, whether mountain biking, kiting, windsurfing or track days, is if you don't come off at least once (or more) you are not going hard enough. My knee felt great afterwards, no pain, moved easily etc so I plan to do some more easy rides and try and contain myself. If I take the kids along that is a natural brake as I have to wait constantly for them anyway.
As to which bike, just get a Giant. You can do all the research but at the end of the day you'll come to the same conclusion I did which was Giant offers the best value for money, regardless of what bike style or model you get.
If cross trail is your thing in the $1-1.5k bracket, a good bike is the Giant Talon. I bought one years ago when there was only one version but now I think they have 3 different spec levels. In that price bracket, just get a hard tail (ie no rear suspension). You won't be able to get a decent full suspension bike for that price so don't bother. And for cross trail you don't really need one anyway. But is you want to get into hard core downhill stuff with motorcross helmets, body protection etc, ratchet up your price bracket and go for it, I just don't know anything about it though. In the Talon (or equivalent) You'll get, full alloy everything, decent hydraulic disc brakes, gears etc. I bought mine with 3 years free servicing which is very handy if you end up pushing your bike hard and keep on knocking things out of alignment.
Do some research as to the ground type you'll be mostly riding on and the appropriate matching tyre and then ask the shop to fit those on. The bike will come with standard generic tyres but a good bike shop will happily fit something else on for no and very little charge if you ask them before you buy the bike. I ride in mostly loose pea gravel stuff so have Maxxis Ignitors on the front for better cornering traction and Maxxis Cross Marks on the rear for reduced rolling resistance. Going tubeless is great and makes a huge difference but at that price bracket you'll have to go with Stan's No Tubes which is what I did. But buy it direct from the US, much cheaper than what you'll get locally.
If you want more of an “adrenaline rush” and take up night riding, Nite Lites are the best value for money lights out there. For $200 you'll get 1000 lumens of light (yeah baby!) with 3hr burn time or 12hrs at the reduced setting. Everyone I know uses these.
Have fun.
cheers for the advice Freddo.
Hope you get your ACL fixed soon as well, I was lucky and managed to get into surgery real quick to start the rehab process.
I know someone who had a knee injury about 10 years ago. Only got told he has no ACL about 12 months ago, he has been kiting for about 5 years. No issues.
I have almost no MCL and fair bit of my ACL intact and 3 screws holding my knee together. Took about 3 months to walk again, kiting in ~6 months, kiting hard again 12 months later.
buy a camera and go take photos. I used to hobble up the beach on my crutches.
girl friend has a nice DSLR so will probably take a few pics for the Stockton locals.
Decided to get a Giant Anthem X3, seen them on sale as run outs for approx $1500
A mate has also suggested I ride a surfboard strapless this summer as its a bit easier on the knees and I wont be doing raleys.
Good to hear a few people have been kiting at the 6 month mark, I guess it depends on how hard you hit the rehab and how fit you were before the injury.
Ive heard a few different stories now and lots of advice and its been greatly appreciated.
cheers
Have had 3 ACLs and rehab is the key. Last one they did the ACL and a Tenodesis at the same time and was back on the water in 4 months riding a strapless skim in light wind. Also, the stronger your leg is before the surgery the faster you come back.
I know some now who are getting artificial ACLs and are back doing stuff in a month.
..........ohh thats right will be in fiji , disregard for 2 weeks 
Surprised it took you so long to comment Shannon
Make sure you got travel insurance for Fiji!
couple of other things i did for acl rehab (petala replacement, not hamstring)
use emu oil to massage in to the scar to break down the scar tissue, and acupuncture to incourage blood flow to the area.
strength work is good, but flexibility is the key to avoiding doing it again.
