<p>OMG!! Hubby and son are at the hospital now. They have taken xrays but doctor says he needs an MRI to determine if there is a full blown tear or not.</p>
<p>I am just sick for him. He is suppossed to start a wonderful internship a week from today at the Physical Sciences Oncology Center at Northwestern. </p>
<p>I mean he can’t put any weight on his leg without scraming in pain. I know deep inside this internship is probably not going to happen and I know he’ll be so upset about it. As adults we know that this will pass, but when they are living it - these moments just tear your heart out.</p>
<p>The stack of tissues by my side is piling up.</p>
<p>Settle down. Torn ACLs don’t necessarily require surgery- and even if surgery is recommended, it can wait. My son tore his ACL years before he had the repair surgery. It WILL limit your son’s activity (i.e. until it stabilizes, he won’t be playing tennis or lacrosse) and he will be in pain for a week or two. He may be showing up at the internship on crutches, but I don’t see why he can’t go. (depending on the exact nature of the injury, of course)</p>
<p>^^Football son #3…crutches for a short period of time then much, much physical therapy and a very good knee brace. S3 is on mandatory athletic brace for football, skiing and lacrosse until further notice but no surgery for “now.” The MRI will tell them much but I’m guessing even if surgery is determined it might be postponed until the trauma has subsided abit, but I’m not a doctor just going off the experience last year with #3. He may very well “make” his internship in a week. Keep the faith and hope for the best.</p>
<p>Thanks so much. Hubby called and they don’t do the MRI at the hospital so I have to get an appointment very quickly with an Ortho and then an MRI very quickly as well. Looks like a morning of some major phone calls. Son says leg feels better. So I am taking that as a good sign.</p>
<p>And thanks for the encouraging words. Hubby says son is determined to go next week. I would never stop him unless MRI shows something “bad”. He is coming home on crutches for now - ice and elevated leg and brace. </p>
<p>Of course, we are in Jersey and we just moved him out of his dorm last week and his stuff into the basement of the sublet (third floor of a local house) for the internship. I have him flying in on Sunday with a suitcase and thought he would be able to get everything from the basement and set up his room. I guess I may be doing a quick in and out of Chicago this weekend.</p>
<p><em>Really</em> calm down. DH and I have both had the ACL surgery. DS#3 tore his in early May. Had the surgery three weeks later but was in a hurry to get to the rehab and back to his sport. If it’s a full tear they would likely wait til it calms down and there really is no rush. I partially tore mine initially, completed the tear a year later, but ended up waiting 3-4 months for the surgery. There is an NBA player who has no ACLs. Your son will actually start to feel better the farther he gets from the injury. DS was not even using crutches after about two weeks following the injury (until the surgery!).</p>
<p>Niece1 tore her ACL about three weeks before leaving for college on the other side of the country. After consulting with the orthopedist, she headed off with a knee brace and crutches and changed her Phys. Ed. class for the fall to something that would work around a bum knee. She spent her first semester of college hobbling up three floors to her room in the dorm, and had surgery over Winter Vacation. Spring semester included more adapted Phys. Ed. that worked around her PT for the knee, and everything was over by summer.</p>
<p>I just got back from 5 days of mothering my far-from-home son who had his ACL repaired; he originally tore it in March. Was on crutches for a couple of weeks at that time, then was able to walk without them. They can get along quite well with the torn ACL as long as they are not doing sideways motions or pivoting on the knee.</p>
<p>One thing I want to assure you is that, if he is going to have the surgery, a patient in his early twenties is a breeze compared to older patients. My son is already taking the bus back to work, eight days after surgery. </p>
<p>The third floor walkup could be a challenge - sounds like he’ll be living in Evanston or Rogers Park? He’ll have to use stairs for the El train as well as the apartment. He should definitely wait until the end of summer to have the surgery. If you want referrals to local doctors, let me know. Lots of physical therapists and ACL-tears in our family!</p>
<p>Ok, I have the appt with the ortho today at 445 EST. I then called and explained the situation with a local MRI place and the office manager there said she would be there till about 7pm tonight and may be able to take him tomorrow. So far so good with the appointments. </p>
<p>Son hasn’t moved much. And I’m not sure if that’s a good or bad thing. I mean it’s only about 15 hours since he first did it and maybe he should rest it. But then I think maybe he should be moving it a bit. Any suggestions are greatly appreciated.</p>
<p>He won’t take any pain meds and they didn’t give any muscle relaxants. </p>
<p>Yes he’s staying Evanston. And thankfully the research is based on the Evanston Campus so he can hobble his way there and back. The only time he has to go into Chicago is the first day they are having an orientation and luncheon. I will probably get him a cab ride for that one trip.</p>
<p>My son tore his ACL a couple of years ago. In his case, there wasn’t much swelling and he wanted to have it done as soon as possible - so the surgery was 10 days post injury. Generally speaking they won’t do the surgery until the swelling has subsided some what. </p>
<p>Right now, staying off it is a good idea - Ice it for 15 minutes every couple of hours. Advil is good for reducing the inflammation. Elevate it whenever possible - e.g. this is one time the kid on the sofa is a good idea - just have him put the leg up on a couple of cushions so that it is above his heart. Give him the remote and go from there…</p>
<p>In the long term, the good news is that ACLs can be repaired. Not in the sense of fixing the ligaments that were damaged but in the sense that through surgery it can be as good as new. The surgery can be postponed or simply not done depending upon how active your son is. </p>
<p>As for this summer, assuming that the ACL is all that is injured, I would speculate that he will be able to do his internship - just with a knee brace to protect against additional injury. </p>
<p>Once he has the surgery, plan on about a month of greatly reduced mobility and pretty intensive PT. After that, he will have about 3-5 months of being able to get around pretty well but still with PT and a need to be careful. Six months post surgery, he should be good to go.</p>