Bob's bum knees
The complete story about Bob Willmot's bilateral ACL
(anterior cruciate ligament) injury and reconstructive surgery.
Bob's
ACL WWWBoard an on-line message board dedicated to ACL stories
and questions
Click on the pictures to see a full-sized image
01/10/96 - Although I've been skiing for
10+ years, I had an unfortunate skiing accident at Killington, January
10, 1996. This one was was due to fatigue more than anything else. (we
decided to take just one more run). The last mogul
of the field seemed a natural place to launch into the air for one last
impressive jump, but when I landed (skis straight ahead) my quadriceps
decided that they didn't want to absorb the shock of the landing. My knees
went to full flexion and my head went down between my knees and my knees
rotated out past my shoulders. As my body's
momentum further compressed me into a ball I heard a loud pop (and some
noticeable pain) from both knees. I found out later thay thes pops where
complete ruptures of the Anterior
Cruciate Ligament (ACL) in both knees.
01/14/96
- This shot was taken in my folks living room (Since I couldn't get up
stairs... I wasn't back to my apartment in Hoboken until a few weeks
after surgery). We had to move some of the furniture over to make room
from the computer and bed (Mom loved that). Although I do miss going into
the office this commute is much shorter (about 10 feet).
01/23/96
- I got some bionic knees. At this point I'd been through a week of pre-op
physical therapy and am able to walk (well sort of). The braces stabilize
the knee due to my lack of an ACL and allow me to use the knee without
further damaging the meniscus
cartilidge.
Click here
for more info about the DonJoy Legend ACL braces.
02/01/96
- Although both ACL's
have been completely torn, the surgeries will be staggered by two months
(to aid in rehabilitation). Here are before and after (left ACL) surgery
shots.
02/01/96
- postop shot including the Polar Care cooling unit that circulated ice
water around my knee for the first week to keep the swelling (and subsequent
pain) under control.
Click here
for more info about the DonJoy Cool IROM brace.
02/05/96
- Having fun in the Continuous Passive Motion CPM machine.
02/09/96
- One week postop - stiches out Bruises in.
02/19/96 - Returned to work
at Salomon Brothers
04/09/96 - Right
ACL surgery
04/12/96
- Post-op Fun
Here's what's wrong (with both knees)
The anterior
cruciate ligament (ACL) in both knees is complete torn/ruptured.
Check these links for pictures of the knee and for details (and pictures)
about the surgical procedure for reconstructing the ACL.
Other Knee Sites
- Eric's Knee Story
- Aric Roush's ACL injury / surgery with some in surgery picutures that make this page look like a PG movie
- The Steadman Hawkins Website
- Dr. J. Richard Steadman (one of the pioneers of patellar ACL grafts) and Dr. Richard J. Hawkins present information about knee and shoulder surgery and a "Dear Doctor" forum.
- Johns Hopkins University WWW Skier Survey
- An exciting new study that attempts to define, for the first time, the specific circumstances in which a skiing injury is more likely.
- Kruzlifix ACL Homepage
- Andreas C. Staehelin's ACL page - reconstruction of ACL using patellar tendon and fixation by means of bioabsorbable interference screws.
With drawings illustrating every single step of the operation.
- Ron McClellan's ACL Surgery
- Ron's experiences of ACL injury / reconstruction / recovery
- My Ugly Knee - By Keith Stansell
- An Ongoing Account of a Torn ACL and It's Repair (and other daily ramblings)
- Rob's Knee Page
- Robert Kroeger's page with an animated three-dimensional model of the human knee.
- A Skier's Survival Guide After ACL Injury
- Info about ACL injury & recovery
- Stone
Clinic
- Great info about ACL & other knee inuries
- Knee
MRI Images
- University of Washington Radiology Server - Knee Anatomy with good
MRI images.
- Clinical
Knee Examinations
- This article is part of a series covering clinical examination of the
knee
published in the October 1995 issue of Patient Care.
- Servio
Medina's ACL Page
- Patient's Guide to Knee Problems
- Illustrations and descriptions of common injuries and conditions that
affect the knee.
- Southern
California Orthopedic Institute Home Page
- Virtual
Arthroscopic Knee Surgery Simulator
- Priority Medical
- Brace and Support Products for Injury Rehabilitation and Injury Prevention
- Smith
& Nephew
- Makers of Various Othepedic braces, etc.
- HyperDOC:
U.S. National Library of Medicine (NLM)
- BioMechanics Magazine
- The Magazine of Lower Extremity Movement
- Mark
Bixby
- Arthroscopic Alley - Marks various knee injuries
- Berry
and his Knee
- images of Berry Kercheval's meniscus surgery
- The
Inside Of Jim's Knee
- Pictures of Jim Frost's arthroscopy to clean up ACL and meniscal tears.
-
Cindy Horn's ACL Page
- Cindy trashed her knee on a motorcycle
- M & M Orthopaedics, Ltd.
- Downers Grove, Naperville and coming soon to Aurora, Illinois
- CyberBlue's ACl Page
- Another unfortunate soul that tore both ACLs simultaneously
- Tom's ACL Reconstruction Dairy
- Tom Joyce's story of ACL injury and reconstruction
- Anterior Cruciate Ligament Injury
- Registered Nurse Margaret Cashen presents information for those awaiting surgery or trying to decide
whether to have surgery.
- Angelo's ACL Place
- ACL Reconstruction and Rehabilitation
- Carl's ACL Reconstruction
- Info about Carl's ACL reconstruction with a week-by-week status report of his recovery.
- Aircast
- Pioneering functional pneumatic support for Orthopedic injuries
- Diary of an ACL Reconstruction
- Janet Bray's diary of her ACL injury, surgery and reconstruction
- Joe's HEMICALLOTASIS Page
- Information about new technique to correct a varus deformity (bowleg) and relieve symptoms associated with medial compartment gonarthrosis.
- Indy Knee
- Specialty Center for Orthopaedic and Rehabilitation Evaluation
- Ouch My Knees Hurt!
- Roy Zornow's page with links about Chondromalacia and related patello-femoral problems
[Back to Willmot.com]
01/14/96
- This shot was taken in my folks living room (Since I couldn't get up
stairs... I wasn't back to my apartment in Hoboken until a few weeks
after surgery). We had to move some of the furniture over to make room
from the computer and bed (Mom loved that). Although I do miss going into
the office this commute is much shorter (about 10 feet).
01/23/96
- I got some bionic knees. At this point I'd been through a week of pre-op
physical therapy and am able to walk (well sort of). The braces stabilize
the knee due to my lack of an ACL and allow me to use the knee without
further damaging the meniscus
cartilidge.
02/01/96
- Although both ACL's
have been completely torn, the surgeries will be staggered by two months
(to aid in rehabilitation). Here are before and after (left ACL) surgery
shots.
02/01/96
- postop shot including the Polar Care cooling unit that circulated ice
water around my knee for the first week to keep the swelling (and subsequent
pain) under control.
02/05/96
- Having fun in the Continuous Passive Motion CPM machine.
02/09/96
- One week postop - stiches out Bruises in.
04/12/96
- Post-op Fun