Complete ACL rupture two weeks before dive holiday

[ferris213]

Good luck with the trip Mantra, I'm sure it will go fine with the diving given the amount of thought and consideration you have given your situation.

I would echo something TSandM has said. You are probably far more likely to further damage your knee out of the water, but possibly not on the boat where you will be extra aware of your surroundings. I'd think about wearing a soft brace as Hellhole suggested to offer support but also be a constant reminder that you have the knee injury. I'm thinking a late night return from the bar could be much worse than a shallow easy dive.

Either way I'm sure you'll have a blast.

Ferris

 

[Mantra]

Thanks, all!

Really, thanks. The discussion here, in conjunction with talking to my surgeon and DAN and my physiotherapist, has been invaluable in helping me make an informed decision here. You guys are awesome. The virtual beers are on me!

So we are off this Friday, and I'm feeling about as well prepared as I can be. My leg is doing remarkably well. I'm getting about 45 minutes of walking in a day at the moment, including up and down hills, and I'm a bit slow but the limp is gone if I concentrate on walking with the right motion. Icing and elevation etc at other times. I'm doing the exercises the physiotherapist has assigned me to build the leg muscles up three times a day. There is still some swelling, which lends a feeling of stiffness. I'm getting some cramping (which is something I will really need to look out for under water). But all in all, I'm very happy with my mobility and range of motion.

A knee brace is a good idea, and although I'm not wearing mine at the moment do plan on wearing it on the trip. The surgeon agrees that this will help with proprioception stuff. And I absolutely agree that the biggest threat to further injury will be above water. I've actually cut the leg off an old 5mm wet suit to just cover my left leg (I only wear 2mm pants in these temps) to keep it warm under water to prevent cramps, but also to stiffen the leg a bit while diving to remind me what's what. It looks bloody ridiculous.

This trip will be an awesome exercise in humility, if nothing else

I'm not planning on any big nights at the bar, Ferris I already swore off alcohol over Xmas and NYE, as I can't imagine finding it pleasant to be unsteady on my feet right now. Ha. Maybe in Manila at the end of the trip.

I will update weekly or so during the trip in case this is of use to future people with ACL injuries who want to dive within a few weeks after the injury.

Here we go!

 

[hellhole]

Keep exercise low... Other then the ones the physician provide as it does creep up on you... Like i say... Massage massage massage... Just the calf and thights... Avoid bending

 

[Mantra]

Hey all!

I promised an update, so here one is.

We are two and a bit weeks into the trip now and everything has gone great. This has been nowhere near as bothersome as I feared it might be.

The strategy so far has been to stick to shore diving or boat diving in benign conditions. This has been just fine. The knee poses no problems whatsoever underwater, and my frog kick is largely unaffected. Flutter kick is 100%. I've had a couple of dives now in mild to moderate current, and flutter kick is perfectly OK.

First week I stuck to a single dive a day. After consulting with DAN, I'm now doing two dives a day. DAN has asked for insurance purposes that I limit the first dive to 25m, and have a 3hr SI before the second. I am following this, typically doing the first and third dives of the day while my wife does all three. I have my computer set conservatively and am staying well clear of my NDL times. Nitrox has so far not been an option.

We modified our plans to go to places were the diving was easy, or where there was other topside stuff to do. Moalboal was especially good for this, with an excellent house reef I was very happy to do long, shallow night dives on each night. We are presently in El Nido, where the diving isn't as good as elsewhere in the Philippines (but still pretty good) but where there is more topside stuff to do than some of the really good diving spots. The strategy here is to dive every second day and explore topside / island hop / etc on off days.

Getting on and off the boats has proved just fine. I'm not completely steady on the leg yet, so that's the main thing to look out for. So far on the bankas it has been possible to gear up seated and back roll in, or gear up seated on the front of the boat and just roll in that way. I de-gear in the water.

There have been a couple of incidents where the leg has given out on me or wobbled badly, so I continue to be wary when placing my feet getting on or off the boats.

Not sure what else to say. We have dove Sogod, and Moalboal, and also here in El Nido where we are presently. Heading out to Coron tomorrow.

I would like to note that Doppler's scenario of: "What happens if the seas kick up while you are under? Large surf and the ladder is jumping out of the sea?" did come close to coming true. In Sogod, one dive was exactly like this. The boat took four passes to pick up the divers at the end. Relatively calm at the start. A sudden wind, and 1.5m-ish seas at the end, which is not at all ideal for these boats. Fortunately this was a dive I chose to sit out.

Anyway, being sensible is not getting in the way of having a joyful time.

Here are a couple of thank-you pics of a small (7cm) juvenile cuttlefish in Moalboal:




EDIT: And here in El Nido, the diving might only be pretty-darn-great rather than jaw-dropping, but the scenery can't be beaten! Here is the missus and I enjoying the kind of compromise it's perfectly acceptable to have to live with :

 

[Wingy]

Great to read your update - so glad you went have to catch up somewhere for a beer/watermelon shake. Enjoy your diving and holiday