My ACL (Anterior Cruciate Ligament) Tear Experience :)

I injured my left knee while playing in a friendly football match (bola padang, bukan futsal) around a month++ ago. At first I thought it was a normal 'terseliuh' (sprain) thinggy. But was I wrong :P End up gue punya ACL (Anterior Cruciate Ligament) koyakkkk!!! Tapi takpe...

You see, being 85 kilograms has its disadvantages (duhh!!!). The injury happened as I was trying to turn my body to fool the defense (masa tu tengah main wing kanan... chewaahh!!!). As I turned, my lower left leg sort'a didn't follow my body. Therefore.... Gadabunggg!!! I suddenly felt extreme pain. It felt like somebody had kicked the sides of my shin, but when I turned (in mid air), takdak orang la pulak. Nak salahkan Jin... well, that's quite a long shot :P Anywayz, I fell to the ground holding my lower left leg. Sakit ya amaaat...

After a few minutes, Alhamdulillaah, the pain became bearable... and I hobbled off the field and was substituted. To my relief, there was no swelling. But I knew something was wrong as my lower left leg felt weird. Anywayz, at the end of the match, many of us made light of my predicament, including myself. Upon entering my car, my knee area suddenly gave out a "POP", which was followed by bearable, but excruciating pain. Aiyo... apa pasal neh? Tapi takpe. Seb bek bawak Sentra... jadi takyah tekan clutch, so left leg  buleh rehat. Upon arriving home, left leg still tak bengkak sangat. Tapi jalan dah senget2 sket. I thought it was just the pain....

The next day, I went to see the doctor at the UPM Pusat Kesihatan. She clinically inspected the knee, and gave me pain killers, some pills for the swelling (by now it was swelling quite a bit), and ubat sapu to decrease any swelling and pain. Even after makan pil (kecuali ubat tahan sakit pasal tak nak jadik mcm House :P) and sapu ubat, the main problems were still prevalent. I could't walk properly, and it hurt whenever I wanted to fully extend my leg. Then I also noticed that whenever I walked, there was a weird discomfort below my hamstring (i.e. behind the knee... where the joints bend). Ish... takpe. Took some more of the meds... but after another week, decided to go back to the Pusat Kesihatan UPM. Saw another doctor, becuz the one who initially treated me was on holiday. Now this Dr is a bit hampeh. I told him what happened, and he just told me to walk slower if it hurt when I walked fast, and to only bend my knee to the point of no sakit. Ended up giving me more pil bengkak... Anywayz...

The leg started to improve... pain started to lessen, and I walked better. But still, sometimes sakit and still cannot walk properly. Then, after one month after the injury... went back to the Pusat Kesihatan. Managed to see the first doctor I saw... and only then did she agree to write a reference letter to refer me to Hospital Serdang. She was hesitant to write the letter the first time, because according to her, she was not comfortable with the idea of exposing my leg to multiple MRIs in order to check the anterior cruciate ligament's condition... Oh, btw, she did mention that it might have been the ACL the first time we met. She suspected that it might be torn... but just told me to observe my condition for a few weeks... NOW I know that it was bad medical advice. I mean, patot direct after dah check the first time tu, she should've straight away referred me to the sepital!!! Because that was the only way I could be sure of wheter a tear had happened or not!!! Tapi takpe la :)

Went to the sepital for the initial check... Waited for 2-hours during registration... and another 2-hours ++ to finally see the expert Orthopedic surgeon in the Ortho clinic. He only did clinical tests (i.e. only external physical checking). Dr Paisal (otai Orthopedic surgeon from Hospital Serdang) immediately recognized the symptoms to be consistent with ACL-tear injury. Direct lepas tu he lined me up for a scope operation (i.e. putting a camera into my knee to see whether there's actually a tear or not. I think they call it Arthroscopy or something?). I wondered why he didn't MRI my leg instead, as that would save me the hassle and pain of being poked (in a sense, 'violated' :P). But he explained that MRIs can take very2 long to perform since there is limited hardware, while the waiting list is like potential Hajj pilgrims waiting for the Tabung Haji call (well, this is my analogy from what he explained :P). So, scope pon scope lah!!!

Was supposed to be scoped on the 22nd of August 2011. Ish, bulan puasa tu. But Alhamdulillaah, by the grace of God Allaah, a slot opened up a week after, and I was set to be poked :) 

On the 6th of July 2011, I was admitted for some checking and evaluation. They operated on me the following day. I have to admit, I am a scardy-cat when it comes to needles. So you can just imagine the 'trauma' I faced after knowing around half-a-day in advance that I was to be given Local Anesthesia (LA). For LA, they'd  inject the ubat bius TWICE into the lower part of my spine. Then, supposedly, I would be numb from my waist downwards. Alhamdulillaah, I managed to be numbed for the op. I learnt that for some people, this doesn't work (even after another TWO re-injections... YIKES!!!). In the end, kalau tak buleh jugak... orang2 mcm ni kena General Anesthesia (GA), where dia akan pangsan terus lepas sedut gas bius.

Anywayz... Alhamdulillaah. The minor operation was successful. The Dr confirmed that the ACL was indeed FULLY torn. The torn ligament however formed a lump that extended a bit beyond it's supposed 'reach'. This lump was the culprit that cause my knee to hurt when attempting a full leg extension :) Annywayz.... I was discharged a few days after by Dr Paisal. The dayang-dayang misi helped me take that annoying piece of plastic needle thinggy from my hand, and I was out of the sepital. of course, walking very2 slowly lah. I was fetched by my dearest wife Nor Shazwan Mohamed, and my daughter Nadiah Farhanah Alfian. BTW, my wife was so so kind to have visited me on a number of occasions. She brought me food almost enough to start a picnic!!! Heheheh... I lub U lah shayangg...

Now, my knee is still painful, tapi tak kuat sangat la sakit dia. This one mamat Bangladesh depan my katil lagik kesian... operate kaki patah. He moaned quite a lot during the first night after his surgery (even after being injected with pain killers!!!). Alhamdulillaah mine was relatively painless. Anywayz, jalan kaki sekarang masih a bit pengkau la, but thank God that that nagging pain is gone, and I can finally fully extend my left leg.

Sekarang tunggu lagi satu bulan... then jumpa balik Dr Paisal. During that time, we will discuss about the next surgery, which involves ligament reconstruction. Basically, a graft (spare part?) from one part of my leg will be taken. This will act as the replacement ligament. Ish, yg tu rasa2 lagi sakit, because it involves cutting into other parts of my leg. Not to mention kena inject lagi 2 kali utk bius!!!! Watakungchiii!!!

Tapi takpe... Qaddarallaahu Wa Ma Sha a'fa 'alaa (Tunduk kepada qada' dan qadar Allaah la basically). Harungi je la ye dok. Other people have it worse than me... ... Mine is actually tak worse langsung, since all my bones are Alhamdulillaah still in tact :D So... skg ni I hope to improve with God's grace and mercy... and hopefully the next operation will be successful, Aminn....

Okes. Panjang benau dah tulis. Kepada yang baca sampai jujung neh, TQ for reading iya :D Below are some pics from the sepitalll :D Assalaam aleykom WBT... 

Uniform... mcm banduan la pulak aku posing

Full view of the hospital garment...

Ni yg malas ni. I really don't like being poked into...

Kasik masuk ayer

Some fuild the put into me before the minor operation

My legs :) Before op...

Medical students from Cyberjaya Medical something College...

Students lagi... minah yg sebelah Dr laki2 tu ditugaskan utk check kaki saya... 

Pak cik Chan... total knee replacement

Sabush (kiri) and Nazri. Sabush broke his leg after falling down from his house's ceiling. Nazri pulak

just came in to remove some besi from his leg...

Botol 'air' :P Not so strategically placed I'd say :P But this one has not been used yet I think...

Mesin gun...

After op. Kena balut...

This guy replaced Pak Cik Chan. He actually underwent the ACL reconstruction surgery

Ice water :) Sejuuk sket kaki

This is not a baby rocker or baby bed or baby related. It's called a Continuous Passive Movement

machine... I think. It's supposed to help someone who's undergone leg surgery to

exercise his/her leg muscles

Appetite still on despite dah kena bedah :) Makanan sepital tak sedap pon

ntah mcm mana leh jadik sedap :)

Mamat yg tolong bawakkan makanan

Flask ayor panas

Seperti biasa, nama ayahanda saya tersalah eja

Ini adalah pau :) Dan iya, mmg tidak sedap. Tapi habis juga saya makan :)