My PCL Progress

There is life post PCL Surgery

I have not had the opportunity to see Dr Musa, my Orthopedic, for almost a year. He was away for a course and my past few appointments had been attended to by one of his staff who would just prescribe me with more Glucosamine (Viartril-S) to last me until the next appointment.

A life changing injury

Today I finally got to see Dr Musa for further diagnosis of my progress post PCL surgery. The good news is that the PCL surgery is a huge success (by my definition that is) as the range of motion (ROM) in my left knee is at its optimum with very little pain despite the strenuous load I subjected the knee to during recent activities (removing top soil from my little garden and replacing it with sand which I did in 5 days, followed by completing an 18 hole golf outing by walking).

PCL when it's fully singing & dancing

Now on to the not so good news. My other knee, on the other hand, is not doing very well as it has been affected due to subconscious ‘load shifting’ since the PCL surgery (which aggravated the existing wear and tear damages of my cartilage and further depleted my knee fluid). The knee is swollen a little because of my recent taxing activities, and the right knee has now become the ‘bad’ knee, limiting my movement at times due to pain. The medical term is ‘Osteoarthritis’ which is defined as “A form of arthritis, occurring mainly in older persons, that is characterized by chronic degeneration of the cartilage of the joints”. In older persons......hmmm. I guess I must accept that am an older person now:)

Dr Musa advised me to undergo a ‘scope’ to assess the damage but for now that is just not possible as I am scheduled to further my studies for a year beginning this January. As a stop gap measure, I have been scheduled to received 3 injections of fluid booster (for lack of a better term, will get the proper name next visit) to help augment the depleted knee fluid. I must say that after the first injection today, the right knee feels much better. I am scheduled to receive the subsequent two injections at one week intervals and hopefully the pain will be further reduced then.

I still have full ROM in both knees which is the bench mark for me to deal with this situation. There is pain in both knees, and this has limited a lot of my activities especially those that include running, but for as long as I have full ROM I am still very happy.

Dr Musa also explained at length the difference between the PCL surgery that I underwent which used‘autograft’ (not autograph) and the other version using ‘allograft’. Autograft uses replacement ‘parts’ taken from own body while Allograft uses those from a donor. Interesting!!! He said using allograft is more common in the US, while here in Malaysia autograft is more common as it is a cheaper option. Cheaper vs Better???? No idea.

Anyway, it has been an interesting day for me. As I recuperate at home tonite, I am thinking about Pam, Molly, Steven Chandra and the others who are facing their own battles in PCL recovery. Some are more successful than others, but this is life-long battle for us in the PCL Survivors Club. Today’s news about Osteoarthritis is just one of the many possible challenges that I have to face.  I believe I am ready......I really hope I am.

I must also thank Dr Musa for his tireless effort to help my condition, and after 4 years under his care, I must say that his dedication in doing what he does best as Orthopedic is extremely commendable.  Thank you Dr Musa!!!!!!

Well folks, that where I am with my PCL situation. All the best to all the PCL Survivors out there. May all of us come out on top in our struggle to get better, InsyaAllah. Amin.