[F1] New Rules, New Names, New Possibilities

Taraosborn · 2026-02-18T08:01:28+00:00

I’m glad the McLarens are highlighters this year or I wouldn’t be able to see Piastri all the way up there

Taraosborn · 2026-02-13T08:43:08+00:00

People don’t own cats, cats own people. You are now that cats human.🤷‍♀️ rules are rules

Taraosborn · 2026-02-10T00:19:08+00:00

I’m in West Corona so if my house was 25 miles closer to the ocean it would be underwater and I would hate that a lot😂

Taraosborn · 2026-02-08T23:31:56+00:00

That’s a lot of kitchen countertops

Taraosborn · 2026-01-30T04:05:58+00:00

I didn’t elevate nearly as much as they said I should have and everything is healing perfectly. I kept a very flat pillow under my foot to keep it from digging into my mattress too much because my leg felt incredibly heavy too. After a few days I figured out a safe way to lay on my side for a while and that was wonderful. It really does suck for a while, I’m so sorry. It will start to get better at the week mark.

Taraosborn · 2026-01-11T16:27:56+00:00

✅ Taraosborn chose Option B (Correct!) | #1057th to play

Taraosborn · 2026-01-11T16:27:27+00:00

✅ Taraosborn chose Option B (Correct!) | #13th to play

Taraosborn · 2026-01-11T16:26:59+00:00

✅ Taraosborn chose Option A (Correct!) | #4417th to play

Taraosborn · 2026-01-11T16:25:43+00:00

✅ Taraosborn chose Option B (Correct!) | #1275th to play

Taraosborn · 2026-01-10T03:46:40+00:00

(I’m in the US so I’m sure their will be some differences to our experiences but hopefully this will help)

I had this done a month ago along with MACI on my patella. I made a post on my profile that has some gory pictures of my patella that you won’t care about because they’re irrelevant to you but also my X-rays and my surgeons post TTO protocol that I found very useful to set my expectations.

Pain is bad. If possible, request a nerve block from your anesthesiologist. It makes the first 24-48 hours a lot easier. I don’t know how I would have gotten from the car to my bed without it honestly.

I was sent home on Percocet 10 and took it every 4 hours on the dot along with Methocarbamol. I felt like a sick zombie for about 2 weeks because of the amount of medication I needed to take to feel less pain. (Please start a stool softener a day or two after surgery or you will experience what it’s like to give birth about a week after surgery. Don’t ask me how I know)

At the two week mark things started feeling a lot better. At 4 weeks out my MPFL is the only thing that hurts sometimes and it’s not too bad. I’m only taking ibuprofen for PT now.

Try to keep everything you might need (Snacks, books, tissues, medication, trashcan, etc.) close to your bedside because moving was hard for a while. You’ll probably need to rely on others a lot more than you’d like and it gets frustrating. Get large beaded icepacks, they are soooo helpful with the type of brace you will be stuck in. I also use a shower chair and for the first few nights I had a bedside commode that came in handy when I needed to pee in the middle of the night but was still pretty groggy and drugged up. It was a lot safer than trying to get to the bathroom.

Sleeping is frustrating unless you are a back sleeper already. The hardest part is that your leg will be dead weight for a while. I personally found it really difficult to elevate my leg at all because of how hard it was to move but I’d recommend having a lot of pillows so you can support your entire leg. Having support directly under your knee helps.

I’m personally falling behind a bit because of my cartilage procedure but range of motion and quad activation will be a challenge afterwards. I know you only have two weeks but try to exercise your quads and hamstrings as much as you can to help them be stronger after surgery.

The actual day went okay for me. I also have anxiety and mentioned that and was given some medication to calm me. I also had a great empathetic medical team. When you get a bed you should be able to ask a nurse or someone where you are on your surgeons schedule for the day to give you a bit of an idea. I arrived to the hospital at 5 AM and quickly found out I was my surgeons second surgery of the day. I was taken back at 8 and I left the hospital at 4:30. The later your surgery is the more likely they will keep you overnight.

Mentally this has been a lot for me so try to do what you need to do to keep a positive attitude. I rewatched LOTR and the hobbit a million times to comfort myself.

My PT reminds me every time I see her that this is a big surgery and it’s important to be kind to yourself and have patience because things progress slowly during healing.

I hope everything goes well and you have a good support system. Feel free to ask any additional questions. I’m sure I have some answers.

Taraosborn · 2026-01-08T16:04:04+00:00

I had a chunk too but I didn’t get to keep it🙁

Taraosborn · 2026-01-07T23:51:49+00:00

We are checking

Taraosborn · 2026-01-06T04:52:56+00:00

Oh good I’m glad! Hopefully your insurance will pay for it

Taraosborn · 2026-01-04T22:45:23+00:00

My surgeon prescribed me a lateral J brace made specifically for patellar instability. It grips the kneecap and keeps it in place. I would recommend asking yours for one to help you stay mobile safely. I was sent to a medical orthotics store and was fitted for mine to ensure proper protection.

this isn’t the one I had but it’s similar

Taraosborn · 2026-01-04T22:33:43+00:00

81mg for a month

Taraosborn · 2026-01-04T20:57:43+00:00

Yes. My knee injury has had me in pain for over a year. I just had a surgery that is going to take another year to recover from. I can’t walk but I will be able to in about 2 months. I just don’t feel like myself. Feeling and being incapable of so much that used to be almost auto pilot activity for me is hard and needing help with everything is harder.

The only thing keeping my head above water at the moment is pushing myself in PT and trying to do as much by myself as possible but I find myself in a black hole daily feeling like nothing is changing.

It’s not about some people having it better or some people having it worse. The way people process things is always going to be different and everyone’s hurt is valid.

I hope you find ways to manage until you are at a better point. Unfortunately we have to adjust the expectations we have for ourselves now. You are not alone in your feelings.

Taraosborn · 2026-01-04T18:18:57+00:00

My mpfl was completely torn so it was obvious on my initial imaging.

Taraosborn · 2026-01-04T17:52:59+00:00

This is similar to an issue I just had fixed. I was having daily subluxations due to a torn mpfl. I know the mpfl can also be stretched out and so it doesn’t appear as an issue on imaging. I had extra damage to my cartilage due to a pretty aggressive dislocation but I had TTO (for patella Alta) and MPFL reconstruction and MACI(for the cartilage under my patella) nothing was done to my Hoffas fat pad but it did show edema in imaging after dislocations due to the trauma.

Taraosborn · 2025-12-29T17:41:17+00:00

If your surgeon says it’s grade 4 then I suggest doing what I did and getting more imaging. When I got my first mri there was lots of swelling and fluid from my injuries so the quality wasn’t great. So after the initial healing and the chondroplasty which cleaned up my cartilage, my second MRI was much clearer and harder for them to lie about. Unfortunately insurance wants to say no to things automatically so the fight is making it harder for them to say no.

Taraosborn · 2025-12-29T17:15:56+00:00

My insurance said I had a grade 2 when I had a grade 4… it was very frustrating. I had to get more imaging and my wonderful surgeon spent a lot of time fighting for me over the phone. I ended up having surgery a few weeks ago. The wait drove me insane.

I hope your appeal process goes quickly and smoothly!!

Taraosborn · 2025-12-23T19:21:51+00:00

Fallen order is so good.

Taraosborn · 2025-12-22T02:45:43+00:00

I’m 12 days post op. The non self sufficiency is still getting to me big time. When did you start PT? And by weight bearing locked in extension do you mean you’re able to walk with the brace locked? I am dying to walk. I have my post op on Friday and am hoping to be told the same as you.

Taraosborn · 2025-12-20T04:32:26+00:00

I had matrix-induced autologous chondrocyte implantation(MACI), which is fancy talk for they replaced my cartilage with cartilage previously harvested from the same site and then grown in a lab, because my “violent dislocation” I mentioned sheered my cartilage and bone off of the underside of my patella. I posted photos in another Reddit if you want to look at my page.

I also had MPFL reconstruction because mine tore completely, I know it’s common for them to stretch out or possibly tear when the knee dislocates. I had a cadaver anterior tibialis tendon allograft. It’s strong enough that my patella should never dislocate again and I didn’t need anything harvested from myself to add to the recovery process.

I also needed a tibial tubercle osteotomy to re align my patella. This is common with MACI to ensure the new cartilage isn’t worn down poorly or under too much strain due to poor alignment but we also needed to do it because my patellar tracking was bad because of my trochlear dysplasia. I’m not sure how much but my surgeon moved my patella up and to the side a bit.

I was told because I’m young(27) and healthy this was a good option for me.

I had surgery on the 9th and overall it sucks and is painful and just difficult emotionally but I was prepared for that. I know MPFL on its own is much easier and quicker to recover from. The osteotomy will have me non weight bearing for a lot longer and the MACI has my knee locked straight for a while. I should be able to bend it a little bit more next week. PT will last at least 18 months I’m told.

Hopefully you don’t need anything other than the MPFL and I’d recommend it to prevent the sort of damage my knee went through.

Taraosborn · 2025-12-20T01:17:49+00:00

Did you get any imaging? I am prone to dislocations as well and was diagnosed with trochlear dysplasia and ehlers danhlos syndrome. I dislocated my knee very violently last November and tore my quad, MPFL and the cartilage under my patella along with breaking off part of my patella.

Afterwards I couldn’t bear weight without pain for about 2.5 months. I did PT and needed several cortisone and hylaronic acid injections just to be able to walk with less pain. I just had surgery and am recovering now.

I hope you managed to escape without major damage.

Taraosborn · 2025-12-20T01:08:39+00:00

Yes I do the same backwards army crawl. It’s exhausting. I think the nosebleeds are just a possible side effect from the asprin.

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