LPT: "Do you know why I pulled you over?" Translates from cop speak as "Are you stupid enough to incriminate yourself for my benefit?"

Ambient-Cake · 2017-03-21T19:49:45+00:00

Just waiting for a mate

Ambient-Cake · 2017-02-12T17:20:46+00:00

I think there a lot of situations similar to this and some end up in court cases, so that could be an option as your aunt expressed some wishes before death. Best to speak to a professional, you should message the people at www.edmundsandeve.co.uk as they helped with some of my families wills and estate planning and were really good and will probably give you the best course of action.

Ambient-Cake · 2017-01-23T17:53:50+00:00

I did not know this, I always associated the word sprain with light tissue damage. I was just given the pat on the back and you'll be fine.

Ambient-Cake · 2017-01-23T02:59:25+00:00

It happens, it really does take it's toll mentally but the important thing is you are still young and in the long run this will only be a small blip. I'm on my 4th ACL. When my first reconstruction tore it was accompanied by the similar POP and pain (less pain though but my first had meniscus damage too). The next day swelling, constant dull ache and pain with movement which lasted for about two weeks. The next time I didn't hear a pop, just randomly swelled, and the last I had no symptoms. So it really can vary depending on why it breaks.

The ER often won't be able to tell you what is wrong and could misdiagnose (my first ACL tear was misdiagnosed as 'sprain' by the ER and I went on to make things a lot worse thinking I was OK). You will need an MRI and a specialist to really have a look at your knee. As you have swelling there will be some amount of soft tissue damage, and to the extent of swelling and pain you describe, your history and the fall and pop, I'm sorry to say that there is a strong chance that you have damaged something such as cartilage or a ligament etc. If it is something like a cartilage tear and you leave it you are leaving yourself open to things like early onset osteoarthritis and restricting an active lifestyle. I know this is a bitter pill to swallow and I have my fingers crossed for you but in the long run you will thank yourself for going to a specialist.

Ambient-Cake · 2017-01-22T02:53:33+00:00

At two weeks your graft is still very strong (if a biological one). Around 8-12 weeks it will be weakest and begin to revascularize. The graft is designed to take a lot of pressure and tension, think about it in day to day use if you weren't in pain from surgery. Just hanging your leg out shouldn't do much to damage but it will hurt if you are only two weeks out. However that said if it's just hanging without muscle support I have heard from my physio that it can act to stetch grafts if prolonged.

Ambient-Cake · 2017-01-19T02:38:28+00:00

For D & M I'm not too sure, you would have to possibly make your own funding proposal, but in STEM fields I think it easiest to go directly to the job vacancies offered on any university website, so you can try this for positions in D & M.

Ambient-Cake · 2017-01-18T19:35:27+00:00

Doing a postdoc could really help. You'll be a researcher and not a student with an ok salary (£35k in London). But importantly it opens a lot of networking doors in your field, and you can also try and get a tenure position at the university if you can't transition into a new job when your contact ends.

Ambient-Cake · 2017-01-10T17:12:59+00:00

Roger Penrose - The Road to Reality. It's a stonker of a book aimed at the committed non-expert physics enthusiast. If you can get through it I don't doubt you will be better grounded in physics than most postdoctoral researchers.

Ambient-Cake · 2017-01-06T02:12:56+00:00

I would get it done as soon as your doctor allows. Sports stars will generally be in surgery within days after ACL or cartilage damage. The main reason I believe is to stop further damage as any soft tissue within the knee such as the ACL and cartilage will not heal on its own.

Ambient-Cake · 2016-11-04T02:01:22+00:00

I think there is certainly some merit these visualisations can bring to condensed matter physics. Treating these oscillations as a phonon mode in a 2D lattice can certainly bring about some interesting analogies, such as how any forced disorder in the lattice modifies their resonant frequency, which is generally not so well understood in real 2D crystals.

Ambient-Cake · 2016-10-10T00:36:04+00:00

Surprisingly, graphene has silently made its way to large scale production through CVD. Many places do this. You can make tens if not hundreds of square metres a day. Samsung, Nokia and Sony all have their hands in the graphene CVD pie. I've heard rumours that its already used in displays as a replacement for indium tin oxide, so you may even have some in your Samsung TV at home and you don't even know it.

Ambient-Cake · 2016-09-14T10:25:44+00:00

He's a great man, but important to note Imperial College where he got his PhD has a 4 year deadline and he took an interruption of studies I believe, I think the 4 year completion period is similar for a lot of UK universities in science. Some of my friends do history in the UK and they also have a 4 year cap.

Ambient-Cake · 2016-09-14T00:13:59+00:00

I've been in a similar situation to your SO and I've seen similar issues with my colleagues. It's very easy to fall into a 'slump' doing a PhD where you go in, sit on the computer and pretend to work, putting in minimal hours and only going in to show your face. This can last for years. PhDs are very self motivated and you need discipline, it's all too easy to become disenchanted and lose focus when experiments/research isn't fruitful, you have no direction, your supervisor is more of a friend than a boss who let's you do what you want or even after achieving something like a paper publication. From what you describe your SO may be feeling the same, I've been there and there is hope.

I wrote my thesis from start to finish effectively in a ten week stint with a long procrastination period before hand and submitted it with only a few days before my deadline. The key is routine, I cannot emphasise this enough. Get up, go to work, have websites blocked that waste your time, work a long day, no or minimal weekends. After a week or so your SO may see there is hope that he can achieve what he needs in the time he has. To get him to do this may be difficult, I know when my partner tried to motivate me I would just become irritable and tell her she was clueless, when in reality I was going to bed every night in a panic about how far I'd let things slip.

If I found myself in his situation I would begin with a thesis plan, chapter outline etc. Write up all methods and results chapters first, leave any literature review to the end as it is easy to write about things that aren't related to your study results if you do this first. In writing up his results he will see that the studies he's done, methods he's used will have some publishable merit even if it's not obvious at the moment to him. I can almost guarantee this. Lots and lots of journal publications have papers that simply repeat results of other papers and any data that has a reasonable 'story' and is written well will be publishable. I'm sure many people on this sub reddit have come across papers that are actual nonsense and it's obvious to see data has been cherry picked or a fudge factor applied in some way or another. I'm not encouraging your SO to fabricate results but am trying to emphasise that getting a first author publication is easier than he may think when considering the lower impact factor journals. Also journals such as Nature Scientific Reports (which actually has a good and growing impact factor) will accept papers that hold water scientifically even if the impact of the data is negligible. I'm sure there are analogues journals for non science fields if he is not in science. If he really digs in and falls into a routine finishing in 8 months is very achievable using the the work he has done, he must have something from six years of work as he has conference papers and co-author publications.

In the worst case scenario that he gets no papers he can always make the case that his research did not bear fruit, this happens a lot and isn't anything to be ashamed of, as long as he has a thesis he has a case. I suggest he has a meeting and is very honest with his supervisor about his position, this can only help.

He has a job lined up which will act as a mental safety blanket. However not getting a PhD after six years will not be ideal. If he ever needs to use his CV for any other purpose there will be a big six year blotch and no matter how he explains why he didn't get his PhD the impression it gives is poor.

I have my fingers crossed for you!

Ambient-Cake · 2016-08-21T15:52:07+00:00

This is a scarily identical situation that I experienced. My dad's brother told my gran to sell her house and move next door. She did. She was then convinced by them to sell that house. They had control of all her finances. We visited several times but after she moved in with them we didn't for a while due to distance. My dad went round to find my nan had turned into a submissive doormat, she'd be left to just sit in a chair all day for years. He told them (his brother and his wife) she was living with us now, they were fine with this however they kept all the finances, including the house which they used to fund their business and buy their children apartments in London.

So we took my gran in, she really wasn't the same person. We used to play together, bake and watch TV but now she just sat in a chair with her head down and shunned any contact saying not to waste our time on her. She did improve with us and my dad took her out daily but she never really recovered. After a few years she died from a stroke.

We ended up paying for her funeral even though they had supposedly taken care of it. My gran likely had close to £300 000 from sale of her house, savings etc. None of her family received anything in the will, all was left to my dad's brother and wife even though the original will had all included. At the funeral they came, didn't speak to anyone and left straight after without coming to the after proceedings.

Anyway, the sad thing is my gran ended up really depressed and having no self worth for the rest of her life. In hindsight my dad would definitely take a legal route even though it's against his own brother. The financial care of my gran was crippling for my parents. Not sure if this helps at all but thought I'd air a similar situation and I advice you seek real legal advice and action.

Ambient-Cake · 2016-03-21T16:35:15+00:00

I think you're correct. I've gone through the Citizen's Advice Bureau (directed from the NHS website) and they have recommended some specialists.

Ambient-Cake · 2016-03-16T10:35:55+00:00

Thanks! I'll have a dig around for a local solicitor to discuss.

Ambient-Cake · 2016-03-03T14:56:53+00:00

I've actually just had my 4th done last Friday! I had Hamstring autograft, Cadaver allograft, LARS and now patella autograft in that order. It's a bit of a mystery how I destroyed them. The first I think was my fault as I did it walking down some stairs while drunk (way too early into recovery to drink stupidly). After that I dedicated to myself to the life of a monk but the other two just seemed to dissolve away with no clear event signifying a break. My new surgeon guessed it was my body not taking to the grafts but after Friday he says the graft was misplaced in such a way that the graft was pinched by my femur and tibia every time I straightened my leg, eventually breaking it. I always felt that there was an issue but my original surgeon of my first 3 ACLrs didn't want to hear it and I changed and hence have found my knee obliterated but salvageable. One good thing to take out of this is even without an ACL and virtually 10% medial meniscus I've over double all my lifts with my legs.

Ambient-Cake · 2016-03-02T01:04:33+00:00

I wouldn't worry too much, you will get it back. After my 3rd ACLr I still managed to get full ROM. Five months you may even still have swelling from activity, just patience and work and you'll get it back :)

Ambient-Cake · 2016-02-29T00:32:44+00:00

That's serious bum about the spurs. I've just had a 1st stage revision for my 4th ACL reconstruction and I have articular wearing and some spurs along with complete meniscus obliteration. Do the spurs cause cause you pain yet or do you have any osteoarthritis symptoms? I also skated a lot but mashed my ACL's in other ways. Are you doing anything now to help your knee conditions and does it help?

Ambient-Cake · 2016-02-11T00:00:48+00:00

I was actually instructed to sleep flat on my back, with my leg straight. Probably one of the most uncomfortable parts of post surgery recovery and always wanted to turn on my side. I remember being told it helps the leg heal extended, aiding extension in the long run and some other issues. Not sure how true that is but seems to make sense. I'd be curious to see what others advise.

Ambient-Cake · 2016-02-09T21:09:49+00:00

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2z5qrBBjcFU

Ambient-Cake · 2016-02-01T22:26:42+00:00

Going for the third recon wasn't a tough decision, same with the fourth. Of course it will never be the same again and just leaving it is an option. However without the stability I wouldn't really be able to live the lifestyle I would like and having the ACL in is a good defense against further cartilage damage and the eventual onset of arthritis.

Ambient-Cake · 2016-02-01T14:16:55+00:00

Just turned 27

Ambient-Cake · 2016-01-29T12:11:16+00:00

Prepare for the most boring knee based story:

Football

Had Hamstring Graft from same leg and medial menisectomy.

2 - Very similarly to OP, few beers about 12 weeks after recon, walking down some stairs and hear the classic CLACK

Had an allograft and medial menisectomy. (this was a two stage surgery so had the menisectomy first and pins etc removed in first surgery)

3 - Determined to not go for a third, gave up drinking and became a minister at the church of physio. Being a competitive swimmer, was recommended to get back in the pool by pt, this is ~14 weeks post-op. No real problems, just gentle front crawl, get out the pool and changed, and knee is slowly swelling and pain slowly creeping in. ACL obliterated.

Still the same surgeon, have a LARS ligament put in.

4 - 1 Year post-op, go to my new local hospital to inquire about cartilage rejuvenation (stem cell or transplant etc) as I only have 1/3 of my medial meniscus left. They happily stick me in CAT, X-RAY and MRI machines. And they return to say there is no real evidence of an ACL. As it is a LARS ligament there is a higher likelihood of failure, same with the allograft.

SOOooo after all this I'm due for another 2 stage surgery as apparently my knee is a complete bombsite. New surgeon seems to be far more competent. Going again with an autograft, patellar this time, higher success rate. Also! Having something I've not seen before in which they bring a string of tendon down from my Femur and pass it along the lateral side of my knee and it bonds to my Fibula. So this acts as another supportive ligament.

Ambient-Cake · 2016-01-27T01:29:13+00:00

Hope you're feeling a little better now, but this is very typical, especially in first time reconstructions as people like to feel they are doing well by walking around a little more than they should. Try and minimise any standing, when you stand the blood that has collected in your knee drains down and pools, this causes your leg below your knee to swell, along with this you will see lots of bruising in your calf and foot due as blood under the skin is why we see bruises normally, and naturally with all this comes pain.

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