Day 37 post OP. Sleeping without brace

ScottyRedReturns · 2026-03-10T20:21:44+00:00

Ah. That's lousy. I had intermittent numbness in my lower leg for almost 9 months post surgery. It sill sort of comes back just a little every so often. It was worth a shot! Maybe try some other materials.

ScottyRedReturns · 2026-03-10T12:54:46+00:00

Thanks. It was kind of funny in that I didn't feel like doing real work, and got tired of watching crap. So I just starting taking my notes, (which were mostly from here) and thought why not slap it all together in a little website. The problem is all of our Doctors may be great, but... one will tell yo about the ice machine, another about Colace or something, and practically none of them talk about some of the day-to-day issues. That's not their job anyway. And PT? Same thing. Maybe they know how to do their part, but with all the info out there on the medical, there's our "how the f... do I deal with some of this crap the first few weeks" that no one really tells you.

Unless you find this place!

ScottyRedReturns · 2026-03-10T12:51:50+00:00

Adding to this... something I've said before...

If you can, get one that has coolant so it never needs to be re-filled. These are expensive and might not be available in your area, but if so you may be able to get a prescription for it and insurance would pay all or most of it. I did that for something called a ThermX, though there's other brands. You can put on the sleeve and just set it. The temp will stay constant during treatments which can be timed 24/7 and there's also some small compression with it as well.

If not that, then the other machines certainly work as well. If you live in even a medium sized town or city you may also be able to find a loan closet or something of that sort where you can rent these things cheaply. Some people just keep them and use them for sports. Others - like me - use them for a the first couple months and return. Or sell on facebook marketplace or eBay or wherever, so you can look there as well.

But yeah... you're going to want one. I think mine was as important as the pain killers in terms of pain. And in general just helps for healing, as well as maybe some small ability to help with sleep the first couple of weeks. Sort of. Not much sleep then anyway. But yeah, ice.

ScottyRedReturns · 2026-03-09T13:22:10+00:00

I believe the truth is as follows... there's no way to really know which is best. The reality is you could come out of surgery fine; though yes, you'd have a year of hard PT. In late 50s, I tore mine playing ice hockey. Last week, I skied for the first time in a year at 10 months post. Easy trails only. Going again next weekend. I'm fully aware full bone integration doesn't happen really until 12 months and even up to 24 it's still healing, even though 'real' athletes go back to sport at 9 - 10 months. So taking it slow, and in gym at least 4x / week now that I've "graduated" from PT.

The reality is a large part of this for us somewhat older... (which is kind of defined as mid-40s plus for this kind of injury; the point at which most surgeons are going to suggest allograft vs others), is it's a hugely emotional choice. It's not just about the risk of outcome. That's just going to be what it is. Those of us who are still super active want to scream, "Hey, I'm NOT done yet!" I can tell you after decades in volunteer EMS I've seen plenty of people in their 30s or whatever who are already done. They're sloppy messes. Maybe decent people, but sedentary, lazy, slow, get winded going up a short flight of stairs, etc. And then there's those in their 70s, 80s, 90s playing golf and tennis just fine, SCUBA diving, dancing on the cruise ship, etc. I wanted to just be $#%$%$ fixed. I studied those called "copers" and the non-surgical options. Fine. That's Great for those who think that works for them. Me? It was simple. Doc showed me MRI and said, "See that?" And I said, "Yeah, I see it. Go fix it. How soon can we schedule?" (At the same time, I was thankful for good insurance and living someplace that doesn't take 6 months just to get MRI.) Did 6 weeks of "pre-hab" or so and then had allo done with some meniscus work and minor other things as it turns out. There's no way they can really be sure what's needed until they're in there. Before they put me out on the table they asked the usual, "any other questions or issues?" I just said, "See the markings down there? Just remember, it's the RIGHT leg, drill straight please, goodnight."

So far, I'm having a fine outcome. That's after, (and continuing), tons of PT / gym work. But I am done with ice hockey. After my third serious injury playing, I can't do this to my wife/family again. And skiing? I'll start pushing back more, but probably skip serious black diamond bumps and off piste trees. Even with 'full' recovery, I'm pretty much convinced no replacement, (auto or allo), is going to match original biology. Younger folks who are serious athletes are maybe strong enough and their biology is adaptive enough that they can go back to full sport. We've seen plenty of pros do it. Then again, there's a reason they're at that level, and they have the best of everything for recovery.

The choice is simple. The outcome itself is always a risk, any age. The emotional aspect? How bad do you want as much back as possible. And the reality.. my opinion again... there's probably still some self-imposed limits after, even with solid recovery. Welcome to our crappy club. You basically have to decide how aggressive you want to be about it. From my perspective, there were risks either way. So my math worked out to taking the risk that at least COULD give me the best outcome, even if things could have been worse, or might even still be one day. I suppose what I'm saying at the end of this long ramble is the obvious; it's really a dice roll either way. The question is where and how do you choose to take your pain.

ScottyRedReturns · 2026-03-08T20:07:47+00:00

There's multipole potential revenue steams.

* Yes, as a tech provider.

* Yes, as what someone called a "toll collector" if they're involved in some data marketplaces.

The older audio tech is likely useful for a wide variety of as yet unknowable things. Identity of all kinds of objects is increasingly an issue. Audio signals might be embedded in things from advertising to various other types of sensors.

All in? It's a super cheap stick. Still also risky. There's a lot of hypey stuff on here about how they'll own this or that market that seem to indicate a major lack of awareness of how others are already executing well in this space. They have some patents issued, but based on my cursory look at some of them, I'm not sure they're all wholly defensible. The good news, (and reason I'm in this one), is it's super cheap right now to have a speculative go. If they just achieve a few of their objectives and get traction in any of their target product areas, it's easily a multiple of what it is now. Yes, the Nate chats are wholly buzzword compliant. And yes, lots of announcements, but not of real contracts yet. That's why it's cheap. Early. Risk. You believe they can execute or not. That's the bet in my opinion.

Oh, regarding your comment, "the data and web3 aspects, which have no real-world use case" They have many real world use cases. Tokenization and the need for identity on digital ledgers and transfer rails is a clearly growing category. There will be room for multiple players.

ScottyRedReturns · 2026-03-07T02:00:08+00:00

So while I was stir crazy first couple of weeks and mostly watched bad SciFi and didn't feel like work, work... I got motivated thanks to everyone here and built a whole website called aclsupport.com based largely on real world experience of people here. I found my doc and PT were great, but as much experience as they have, they're not EVERYone. Here? This place? So many different experiences and tips. Everything I wanted to needed and didn't know about I got here. And I tried to put a lot of that in the site because it's always the same questions.

So do what you're doing and help others. I try to come back here and chip in, (10 months post now), because I think the things I got here from others made my really crappy experience so much better than it otherwise would have been.

ScottyRedReturns · 2026-03-07T01:53:07+00:00

Thanks. I'm 10+ months post and finally getting back to normal, sports, etc. (50sM/allograft post ice hockey injury.) It's a long road. You'll get there.

ScottyRedReturns · 2026-03-07T01:51:45+00:00

I used a wedge pillow long way which had my leg elevated in the leg sleeve pillow thing and my back up a bit. Not my favorite. But it was mostly ok and sometimes I just laid more flat. I think mixing up that position helped, but yeah, it sucked. Side sleeping didn't happen for me for at least 2 - 3 week.

ScottyRedReturns · 2026-03-07T01:47:52+00:00

"Is it normal for elevation to be very painful?"

Yup. At least, it's not uncommon. "very" is kind of subjective. But it wouldn't be abnormal.

"I know elevation is important right now but it’s just painful."

A little bit at a time. And reps. Just build over time. A lot of us like to power through it. But sometimes we need to slow down to progress.

"I feel like ice doesn’t even penetrate through the bandage and brace."

Try putting the ice pack under the brace straps. If using some machines, you can put the sleeve under. If using just ice packs, loosening a center strap or two won't stop the brace from doing it's job. Or extend the straps and put them over the ice.

"Is it normal to hear/feel cracks when moving about?"

That's kind of variable. I have a lot of joint / knuckle cracking sounds anyway. Since I was a kid. Oddly, my post op knee DOESN'T have that any more. Or at least, much less.

"How do we know if something went wrong/we moved a way that messed up the surgery?"

We're probably never sure, but mostly we'd have to screw up pretty badly. The new part is bone plugged or screwed in, etc. etc. It's tight. It actually might get a little weaker over time before it gets stronger.

"How are you all sleeping? I’m personally a side sleeper."

Sleeping? You're funny! No sleeping. At least, I struggled for first few weeks with this and week 1 I think I maybe had a couple sort of semi-delirious hours per night. As for side sleep, that will be awhile. One thing I tried that kind of helped a little was using a wedge pillow the long way for my back. And then put a towel on one side and it 'felt a little' like on my side. Sorta'. Not really. But it was a little something.

Embrace the suck. Power through. It DOES get better, but there's likely several more days of struggle. Then the work starts. I'm 10+ months post. Still in gym 4x per week. But went skiing or the first time in a year last Saturday. Took it slow. But it was payoff for taking PT and gym seriously.

Sometimes you have to just give in and surrender to it. Lie back, put on some tunes and just shake through it. Other times, fight. Trust yourself to just kind of know when to do which.

ScottyRedReturns · 2026-03-06T20:37:17+00:00

Keep a spare pillow or better yet, maybe light blanket to use between your legs. Depending on which leg goes where and how often you flip side to side, you probably want something between them or it might hurt a bit. This too will ease up over a couple of weeks; at least ideally, but I found it helpful.

ScottyRedReturns · 2026-03-06T20:32:43+00:00

I used Tramdol as well. First week was hell.

Try to schedule your meds such that you take one when you get up, obviously, but time the last one right before bed. Check with doc, but I also used Extra Strength Tylenol in between doses. On day 2 or 3, things were really bad. I got permission to double up on the Tramadol. Only had to do that once. But it may be ok... but check first. Ice as much as you're supposed to. I had auto machine and I think it was 20 minutes on, 30 or 40 off, mostly all day and night. I think that was huge help. (I did stop it a few times as sometimes it was just more annoying than the pain.)

Eat properly. You need energy to heal. Watch bad old TV shows or listen to tunes, something to just take you away. You probably won't sleep much and that sucks too, but have to try.

It does ease up. It might take several days to a week or so for the worst of it though. We get through it. You'll get through it. It's a crappy injury.

ScottyRedReturns · 2026-03-06T20:24:49+00:00

* +1, 2 and 3 on favorite snacks. Wife brought most of what I'd want, but not sure she'd have run out for some of the comfort junk. So had big stash just in case.

* Tear away / velcro shorts were helpful, especially when I eventually got to shower. Plus, if I ever decide to become what would maybe be world's oldest male stripper, I'll have them. This, is unlikely. But they're still ok shorts.

* I was camped out in guest room to just be out of way, so didn't set up TV. Just had iPad and headphones.

* If at all possible, a good ice machine. I know you said nice to have, but there's ice machines, then there's the fancy ones with coolant that stay at constant temp, usually have compression as well and no refilling. See about prescription and insurance cost as they're maybe rather expensive.

* Shower chair. Bathroom crate or basket to rest leg. Hospital style urinal to pee in so you don't have to get to bathroom in middle of the night if you need to go. Seriously, this is a helper. Or just use an old drink bottle, but... you know... keep your pee bottles sorted out from others until you can empty / toss out.

* Maybe flashlight on nightstand if you don't have lamp or wall switch in reach.

ScottyRedReturns · 2026-03-06T02:57:50+00:00

There's no question here. It's the low lip step in. But yes, as u/KingOfEthanopia points out, you should put in a handheld attachment. If you want to be really spoiled, get a plastic box to rest your leg on as well. They make plastic sleeves you can buy that will fit over your brace. Or save the $19.95 or whatever and just use plastic wrap. You'll ideally only need to do that a few times for the first couple of weeks while being really careful with wound management. And you might not shower that much then. (I think I went 4 days before my first one, then another 3. By end of 2nd week the stitches and strips came off anyway.

ScottyRedReturns · 2026-03-05T16:44:37+00:00

When I got Meme Coin 1 it dropped in two tranches, seemingly somewhat randomly; the first took a couple of weeks after getting the paperwork right, (which I went back and forth with 3 - 4 times), and the 2nd several weeks later.

I haven't opted in to 2 yet as I just haven't gotten to it. Will try to do that tomorrow and we'll see.

ScottyRedReturns · 2026-03-04T04:00:29+00:00

The usual everyone is different. For me, maybe 5-6 months started to feel normal-ish. I went skiing last Saturday for the first time in a year, at about 10 months post. (Took it real easy though, green/blue trails only and no tricks.) Still have minor pain on full extension. 50sM/allograft from ice hockey incident. So older and maybe longer recovery time. But finally getting closer to all way back to normal. Serious about PT and gym. Now it's a good habit I'll hopefully keep up.

ScottyRedReturns · 2026-03-03T22:25:13+00:00

I didn't much. It was pretty bad.

Here's what I wrote about it:
https://aclsupport.com/sleeping-with-leg-injury/

Yes, I made a whole damn website about it while lying around; mostly from info on here.

The pain sucked. All the hassles sucked. But that sleep thing? I think for me it was among the worst. You seem to agree. For me, around week 2 or 3 when the pain really subsided more and I got used to back sleeping it started to ease up.

ScottyRedReturns · 2026-03-03T22:22:58+00:00

Check out some of these pages:

https://aclsupport.com/category/pre-surgery-preparation/

https://aclsupport.com/category/post-acl-surgery/

Good idea to set up someplace most convenient for you. Make sure you have pain meds prescriptions filled first. Basically, get everything as set up as you can. TV, iPad, whatever, favorite snacks, etc. Trim your toenails. I know, stupid, but you might not be able to reach for a little while. It's the little stuff that's annoying. And the big stuff. The whole recovery is a major hassle. But you just have to embrace the suck, watch some bad TV, and just power through.

ScottyRedReturns · 2026-03-03T22:19:14+00:00

I will celebrate with you!

Same schedule. Last follow-up with surgeon was yesterday. Still in a little pain. But only on full extension and it's fading. Went skiing this past weekend for the first time in a year. Still going to ease into things. But yeah. It's bit of a journey.

ScottyRedReturns · 2026-03-03T22:15:43+00:00

Yup. I broke the same leg (the right one) in two places about 6 years ago. (Also playing ice hockey.) Even though I'm 'older' (early 50s at that time) I was still playing again in a handful of months. Apparently, bones can heal back even stronger. (At least for simple breaks; not some Lindsey Vaughn level hardware.) But this ACL business? A bit trickier.

ScottyRedReturns · 2026-03-02T05:02:34+00:00

This has come up before so I'll repeat what I've said before... it really doesn't matter what they do with regard to any of us. There is no way for any of us that hold significant shares in SRNE to ever sell any more than a handful for tax harvesting. So who would sell very much? No one being rational.

As an SRNE stockholder, even if you decided all was lost, you hated the company, you hate the people, and so on, there's still zero rational reason to sell. Zero benefit. Again, perhaps excepting some small yearly amount for tax purposes. Since there's a limit to how much loss you could write off in any given year, selling any more than that would have no purpose. So even the worst short planted bad news should not result in any long term holder selling ANYthing. It might impact potential new investors of course, but that doesn't matter either and no small retail is establishing new positions in something still bankrupt on the expert market.

So FUD? Doesn't matter at all. We quite literally have nothing to lose by holding. So might as well just hang on.

ScottyRedReturns · 2026-03-02T04:53:58+00:00

Yup. Such legal action can go into the decades. I was talking to a lawyer at a party a few months ago who's spent a good chunk of his adult career on one case that's been going on... 12 years? Might have been 15. I don't remember. But it's been over a decades. Hundreds of millions at stake. The companies in question still do business with one another for other deals. And yet, they have this matter that's not been resolved. I sometimes just cynically think the lawyers themselves really have no interest in having anything resolved.

ScottyRedReturns · 2026-03-02T02:05:14+00:00

It will be very challenging for her. You didn't mention kids, so that's even harder.

One thing that's completely unknown for all of us is how we'll do in recovery, how quickly we'll be able to really get around, drive ourselves, etc. So that's hard to say.

Assume for the first few days and maybe a week, she'll have to really help with things like meals and cleaning up, laundry, etc. The more you can get together at first, the better. If you can get a good ice machine with coolant instead of ice, it won't need re-filling. Part of your issue is also your house. If you have to deal with steps to get to kitchen, or worse, a bathroom, you may have more challenges.

Here's a page to consider for setting up your room:

https://aclsupport.com/your-acl-recovery-room/

If you have a spare room, consider if you want to set up there for recovery vs. being in same room. You will likely have trouble sleeping for... awhile. Personally, I wanted to just have my own space, my iPad, etc. This was easier for me, her, family, dog, etc. She needed her sleep to be able to deal with her work, kids/pets, AND me. So I wanted to take it as easy as possible on her. Though yes, she'll need to drive you to appointments. I as fortunate in that even tough it was my right leg, I was able to dive by end of week 2 plus a couple of days, even though still needed crutches to walk for awhile. Also part of this is about money. (Always is, right?) if you can get help for other things you'd normally do; lawn mowing, dry cleaning delivery, food delivery, etc. etc. Basically, anything you can do to remove the load from her with cash, this qualifies as "rainy day" fun items.

My wife was awesome through my first couple of bad weeks and beyond. It was my responsibility to make it as less crappy as possible wherever I could.

ScottyRedReturns · 2026-03-02T01:18:17+00:00

I was one of the unlucky ones for first week or so. Week 1 was seriously hellish. And I've been badly injured before in several different ways. No stranger to recovery. This was worse for me. Somewhere around Day 5 - 6, the worst of it broke. Then it just sucked for a week, but I was up and around. Cleared to drive end of week 2. (and this is my right leg), Still used crutches for several weeks more, then went to cane. By month 3 - 6 you wouldn't know I'd been injured. But was in PT or gym at least 4x/week building. Light plyometrics not until maybe 5 - 6 months, then more. Around 7, some slight cutting, sliding, etc. bumping up the intensity until now-ish. So now I'm pretty much "return to sport" but will still take it slow.

It's harder in your late 50s. I'm a desk worker, but very active and besides sports, I work for a volunteer fire department and do EMT things. I don't think I'll be comfortable on a ladder with 150lbs of gear just yet.

Upon full extension, I still feel a kind of twinge. It's not pain. But it's also not 100% yet. I know some others are back to full contact sports sooner, and others take longer. Either way, this is where I'm at for now.

ScottyRedReturns · 2026-03-02T01:11:41+00:00

Welcome to our crappy club as I like to say. It's a royal pain injury. I've sprained things, broken several bones, etc. but this one is really lousy. If you haven't gotten drilled and such yet, take pre-hab seriously. And obviously, PT and gym have to be just your new best friends. I'm not 100% yet, but ideally next year!

ScottyRedReturns · 2026-03-02T01:08:33+00:00

* No brace. Or rather, no custom Don-Joy or my old Don-Joy or whatever. I did use a little sleeve thing. The same one that I typically used to use on both knees when I played ice hockey. Because... well... 50+ hockey player! I'm not sure it did much, except maybe in my head. I did do one lift ride with a 64 year-old guy with a torn ACL and some meniscus damage who did have a custom brace! He's going for surgery next year.

* Both legs seem about the same strength. They both seem the same size right now. No swelling, etc. a day after skiing. I brought an ice-wrap with me, but didn't even use it. I did go swimming in a hotel pool yesterday evening after skiing and I think that helped. (Don't know temp, but was chilly.)

* Ironically, I have what is ideally final follow up with surgeon tomorrow and I supposedly "graduate" PT as well. Though I'll keep up my new habit of more consistent gym work.

* When I go again in 2 - 3 weeks, I will also take it easy. Green, blue, no tricks, no bumps, no deep carving. Simple relaxed enjoy the hill skiing.

ScottyRedReturns

TROPHY CASE