Historical Left Knee Trauma Events

In the Beginning

 

Left Leg Injury #1

On a sunny Saturday in May of 1982, Elaine and I were telemark skiing at Sunshine, Alberta. She was on a pair of aging strait cut Fisher Europa 99's, had a head first fall on sticky snow coming off a run down from the Standish chair unfortunately twisting her knee.

Ski Patrol brought her to the lodge and effected minor first aid. The left knee now moved in unnatural directions, it was clear that something serious had happened. Somehow we made our way to emergency at the Calgary Foothills Hospital where the swelling kept them from doing a proper assessment. Armed with crutches, she somehow made it to the next Friday with the wobbly knee when she was able to see her family doctor. The doctor recognized the seriousness of the situation and called in an orthopedic surgeon, Dr. Bell, who happened to be at the same facility. The surgeon assessed that she had torn the Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL). He directed Elaine to come to General Hospital emergency the following Monday where he would operate. Presenting at emergency on the Monday, the triage informed her that this is not how these things work, regardless, after some discussion, the surgeon prevailed and performed surgery that day. The ACL was patched up by taking a piece of the Iliotibial Band on the same leg and performing a tendon transfer to create a new ACL. As it turned out there was also damage to the Medial Collateral Ligament (MCL) that also required attention. No doubt cartilage damage also occurred. An extremely large and heavy fibreglass cast was placed on the leg. A grass clipping sized plastic bag had to be placed over the cast to shower while Elaine sat on a card table chair in the tub. Fun times.

Recovery was very slow, 8 weeks in the full leg cast, at the end the leg was a mere shadow of itself, a thin stick with skin on it. An entire summer of rehab followed, I recall we got back out in the woods by the October long weekend and enjoyed backpacking the Rockwall trail in Kootenay National Park.

Over the next 16 years the leg never did return to its former strength or size, babies arrived, life got in the way. Elaine still did much physical activity including ski marathons, running races up to a half marathon, many hikes and backpacks, but that was unable to reverse the damage the 8 weeks of inactivity inflicted. It is unlikely that this surgery or recovery process would be done today. Would be considered comparable to Trepanning or Lobotomies.

 Left Leg Injury #2

In May of 1998 Elaine was at the Payne Lake cabin on her own with the children. I was in Calgary preparing to enjoy an evening of "volunteering" at a local bingo in support of the community association. The cabin had just been moved there the previous February and the access was up a 2x12 plank onto the deck that had been abbreviated with a Sawzall for transport.

Payne Lake Cabin with stub deck February 1998

While Elaine was exiting the cabin, the plank slipped and she fell about a metre to the ground, not good. She was in significant pain and unable to move easily and was without cell service as coverage was very poor in that area those days. The children saw our neighbour the Walburger's drive into the adjacent pasture and tried to wave them down. Thinking the children were being friendly, the neighbour waved back and kept on going. On the neighbour's return from the field the children were able to get their attention (after being instructed to stand in the road) and stop them. Faye and Stephen were very helpful and they got Elaine loaded into the truck and to the Cardston Hospital. I was called and sadly had to forgo the bingo volunteer event to head south. My sister Bev came down with me and drove one of the vehicles back. The diagnosis at the hospital was not good, broken leg! The leg was stabilized and an appointment was made at the Calgary Foothills Hospital for the next day. The good thing about being injured in rural Alberta (if anything about an injury can be described as good) is that patients from rural areas are given priority access to services at the hospitals in the city. Life's not fair was in our favour this time. We drove back to Calgary with a rare view of the Aurora Borealis dancing in the sky.

We presented at Foothills Hospital triage the next morning and were welcomed as the "Cardston" patient and immediately steps were taken to assess the damage. Turned out to be a plateau fracture of the Tibia, and appeared from the xray to initiate at one of the screws placed in the 1982 surgery. A complex surgery was undertaken where bone from the left hip was grafted to the tibia to effect repair. Pins and plates were in place to hold the parts together.

Elaine was sent home the next day to be looked after by the family. After one night it became clear that an adjustable 'hospital' bed was needed so furniture was quickly rearranged and one was rented. I also had to quickly learn how to change dressings and care for a not very happy patient. My work job also wasn't the most understanding and expected me to show up for meetings. I resigned early June. Life's too short. A stressful time for all involved. Again it was a long recovery process from the injury. Many weeks non-weight bearing on crutches. At least the cast could be removed this time to bathe. The injury happened in early May when all three children were enrolled in soccer which meant that most evenings we were expected to get them to a game. Without having to ask, other parents on the girl's teams offered to take them to their games for which we were so grateful.

After recovery, the knee gave Elaine considerable pain on and off. Running was no longer a thing, hiking and skiing were still doable tempered by nagging left knee pain. Over time, bone density measurements showed increasing osteoporosis. While the pain was manageable it was clear that at some point a further intervention would be necessary.

Recent Events

Another 20 years passed, in July 2018 we were doing a 5 day backpack in the Selwyn Range east of Valemount. On day one, while descending a steep grassy slope on trackless terrain.

Higher up on the offending slope

Elaine slipped and twisted the knee. With difficulty and pain we found a camp for the night nearby. The next day the pain was still significant, although she was able to walk and scout the forward route, but carrying a pack was not going to happen. The way ahead was steep, it was clear we wouldn't be walking 4 more days. We spent another night in the spectacular remote setting before calling Yellowhead Helicopters to airlift us back to Valemount.

Mt. Robson from the airlift

No medical treatment was necessary this time, the leg soon improved, we were able to resume normal activity, crisis averted.

Then this last August we were felling a large dead Aspen tree that for years had threatened to lay waste to our Payne Lake power shed or bunk house. We had success in dropping the tree but while cleaning up the branches after, Elaine twisted her knee on the uneven ground behind the bunkhouse.

This time the pain did not subside like the previous summer. A month later the knee had not come around, still very painful, action required. More soon.