On Wednesday, July 17 I stepped out the back door on to the porch but missed the step. This caused my left knee to flex quickly. The reflexive eccentric contraction tore my left quadriceps tendon. I had surgery on Friday, July 19. This is a picture of my knee 24 hours post surgery. Why did my tendon tear? Well, I'm 59 years old. I've had a couple of small tears in the same tendon and probably 20 years of tendinopathy that compromised the strength of the tendon. I worked hard to strengthen it after the last injury 4 years ago and it was doing well, but not well enough. If anyone is interested I will try to share some of the milestones and work I will be going through in the next year to get back to work and get back to biking, hiking, weight lifting and having some fun.
I will be wearing a T-scope brace for the next 12 weeks. Currently it is locked in full extension and it is on all the time and I sleep with it on. It will stay locked in full extension for 4-6 weeks. Today I went for 3 short walks with crutches. My exercises consist of submaximal quad sets, sidelying hip abduction, and prone hip extension. I also do calf raises and calf stretches. I am icing almost all day and night to keep swelling under control.
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