guadzilla

So on Dec 1, a vehicle turned ahead of me, I hit it and broke my kneecap into three (along with damaging my femur, its surrounding cartilages and cracking my scapula). This Wednesday will be 9 weeks and the ortho says I should be able to start walking normally now, with the crutch only for balance/support as long as i need it. And as soon as the range of my knee flexion increases enough, i can start riding a bike indoors. I am at 90 degrees right now (and that is under severe discomfort), so i reckon a good 2 weeks or so away from getting on the bike.

I wanted to ask if anyone else has gone through this and what their rehab was like, how fast they recovered, etc. Not looking for medical advice per se - just general rehab/recovery stories.

And to answer the most important question - yes, the bike was ok. I hit the vehicle doing about 40kph and only broke my carbon bars, along with shearing my DI2 cable and the hydraulic hose for one side. Not a scratch on the bike other than that. Ironically, my earlier crash in 2021, I was ok but my bike was not. I guess karmic balance was achieved

popeye

Condolences. Some time back Pcad (RIP) shared his experiences with knee replacement. Getting it to rotate "over the top" was a milestone. If you are a better searcher than I you might find some encouragement from his experience.

guadzilla

Thanks - will give try to dig up that post. And yeah, agreed about that milestone: 8 weeks in, i still dont have enough knee flexibility to rotate the pedals. As soon as i can, i can start riding indoors.

I see Bernal had a pretty similar crash to mine today, albeit with a lot more injuries.

jaxgtr

I had to have knee surgery about 15 yrs ago, to remove a nasty bone spur and for some ligament damage. I was sidelined for about 10 weeks, but the orthopedic doc and my physio told me that my cycling helped tremendously overall as my leg muscles and overall knee health were in much better shape than most people and it allowed me to come back to form so much faster. started with walking, then graduated to the elliptical, then cycling, finally weights. I did about 3 weeks of physical therapy which was a lot faster than what they expected. Shoot forward to a month ago, I had to get my knee rescoped, I had some cartilage issues, got that repaired, and I went to one physio visit and have been riding my trainer for about a week now and seems pretty good. Will attempt some outside riding this weekend.

Rdmonster69

On 12/6/2020 I suffered a Bicondylar Type 3 Tibial Plateau Fracture with posterior epiphysis fractures. All that fancy lingo means I completely broke the top of my shin bone in a great many places. I also tore my Meniscus and partially tore my ACL. The top of the shin bears the weight of the femur. I broke both bearing surfaces , fractured bone out the back and fractured the insertion site for my lateral ligament.

I had a lateral plate and multiple screws installed to stabilize my leg. I was non weightbearing for three months. My chance of needing a knee replacement is predicted o be 4 times higher than normal.

I was super aggressive with my PT. Was weight bearing on the first week of March and was back on my Bicycle in the first week of April. I rode 1500 road miles last year , bought a new bike and pleased my orthopedic surgeon.

The bad news....I have some level of pain everyday. My leg still feels weird. My left leg is still a small bit undersized in my quads although my skinny calf is bigger on the injured side. I rarely limp but I do sometimes. It doesn't quit straighten all the way anymore despite vigorous rehab. I am not supposed to run unless its an emergency.

Oh . I also broke my neck in the same accident. Dislocated my freakin head. Burst fracture of my c-1 and avulsed and tore my alar and transverse ligaments. My neck is freakin terrible. Lotsa pain to go around...but Im in the best shape of my life since the accident.

I'm planning on a new mountain bike tis spring. My neurosurgeon hates me !!

guadzilla

Rdmonster69 damn! That's a scary-ass looking x-ray, i cant even imagine what the injury must have been like. Glad to see you are doing well enough to ride.

Rdmonster69

Kinda felt like my leg was exploding .... my neck wasn't as bad but trust me .....no piece of cake their either. Still .....the clocks always ticking. Might as well ride and enjoy life. Riding has been the best thing for my leg.

GhostRider62

Not exactly the same but I broke my elbow into 5 pieces and the humerus into 3 pieces (along with 8 other bones in early September 2021).

Regaining range of motion is critical (and painful).

I had the best PT (30+ years, PhD and also teaches at the state University) and he said that ROM is way more important than strength or getting back into the game early. I would guess the PT stretches hurt really bad, you have to do it. Mine were pretty bad. PT said most do not regain flexibility because they cannot take the pain. Hang in there and wish you well

Rdmonster69

Range of motion is super important to not limping and stressing the other joints. Go to a cane when they say you can as well. Way better for me than a crutch. Also make sure you can fully EXTEND your leg as well. My PT put lots of weight on my leg to help this and I did the same at home. If you can't extend your leg all the way then it will be shorter than your non injured leg and cause problems with your gait.

I had my PT guys licking their chops when I showed up. If they said do 10 I did 20 and they could never give me enough work. It helps my pain tolerance is pretty freaking high. I never had bad swelling during rehab just PAIN. I also can't kneel on this knee unless their is a pillow and my leg looks weird. Just push through ....easy for me to say but I have been their recently and its the best thing in the long run. I had days where I thought I was just gonna give up but I had a whole lot of guys in white coats to try and impress.

Both Neurosurgery and Orthopedic surgery told me my outcome was better than they could have hoped for.

Be that guy to your docs !!

KiwiDallas

March 1995: I got off a bike at about 45 mph and made a one-point landing on my left kneecap. Broke it in two and completely severed the patellar tendon. Most of my kneecap rode up into the middle of my thigh. Surgeon reattached the patellar tendon and put me in a straight leg cast for several weeks.

When the cast came off, my knee could bend only 5 degrees. How I got it to a normal range of motion now was a tribute to rehab and sheer grit. I'll spare you details, except to say that the medical team told me that 90% of the range of motion I was ever going to get back would occur in the next 90 days of rehab. Considerable incentive. Six months later I could tuck my heel into my butt.

I've led a normal life since June 1995 and I certainly bicycle a lot. I'd like to encourage you: You can get back to nearly normal.

Work with your medical and rehab team and push yourself, hard. It will the the greatest thing you've ever done.

-K-

PS - the bike? It was a lovely Ducati 900, the last of the air-cooled twins, and I really regret crashing it.

Rdmonster69

Great job on your recovery and sorry about the Ducati ..... the good news ..... they still make the venerable air cooled Ducati 2 Valve !! My hyper 1100 has one and they still put them in the Scramblers !! Legendary bike motor !!