Knee Replacement

[Mark T. DeNucci, Sr.]

I received the news yesterday (one day before my birthday) from my orthopedic surgeon that I have zero cartilage left in my right knee. His resident suggested knee replacement surgery but fortunately for me my doctor had me fitted with a brace that will straighten my knee and prevent the bones from rubbing together.

Now for a fund fact: The brace costs (wait for it): $1,000!! Thank goodness for health insurance.

Are there any members of this Forum that have had knee replacement surgery and still officiate basketball, or umpire baseball or fast pitch softball, or any other sport that requires a considerable amount of movement? I would like to hear your experiences. Thanks.

I am too young to retire, LOL.

MTD, Sr.

[JetMetFan]

No experience. My knees are young

Good luck!

[The_Rookie]

Originally Posted by Mark T. DeNucci, Sr.

I received the news yesterday (one day before my birthday) from my orthopedic surgeon that I have zero cartilage left in my right knee. His resident suggested knee replacement surgery but fortunately for me my doctor had me fitted with a brace that will straighten my knee and prevent the bones from rubbing together.

Now for a fund fact: The brace costs (wait for it): $1,000!! Thank goodness for health insurance.

Are there any members of this Forum that have had knee replacement surgery and still officiate basketball, or umpire baseball or fast pitch softball, or any other sport that requires a considerable amount of movement? I would like to hear your experiences. Thanks.

I am too young to retire, LOL.

MTD, Sr.

I had a friend who is a tennis pro who was told he required knee replacement. Got a second opinion was told needed a PARTIAL knee replacement which is not as bad...Be sure that you find out if you need a FULL or PARTIAL.

Good Luck and we need guys like you ON the court

[BillyMac]

Originally Posted by Mark T. DeNucci, Sr.

... officiate basketball, or umpire baseball or fast pitch softball, or any other sport that requires a considerable amount of movement?

Switch to volleyball. Bazinga.

[BillyMac]

Originally Posted by Mark T. DeNucci, Sr.

I received the news yesterday from my orthopedic surgeon that I have zero cartilage left in my right knee. His resident suggested knee replacement surgery but fortunately for me my doctor had me fitted with a brace that will straighten my knee and prevent the bones from rubbing together.

Happy 62nd birthday Mark T. DeNucci, Sr. I'm sorry to hear about your troubles and hope that the brace serves you well.

Originally Posted by JetMetFan

My knees are young.

I had my annual physical this past summer. Good news, and bad news. Good news? I have the prostate of a teenage boy. Bad news? My doctor told me that I have the knees of a one hundred year old man (like Mark T. DeNucci). I have patellofemoral pain syndrome, pain caused by the knee cap and thigh bone not lining up properly. It's an overuse injury caused by a lifetime of baseball, basketball, football, hockey, running, etc. I've been a runner my entire lifetime, most recently down to 1.5 miles every Saturday, Sunday, and holiday, from March to November (basketball officiating offseason). It's the only thing that keeps my weight from ballooning, and also keeps my blood pressure in check. My doctor wants to me to give it up. I hate bicycling (too many hills around here), swimming (boring, possible drowning, Great Whites), and any kind of exercise that has to be done inside (no sweaty, smelly gym for me, I don't look good in yoga pants, trust me, don't make me post a photo). I've recently added flatwater kayaking to my exercise regime, but I'm going to keep running as long as I can stand the Monday morning pain. Man, it's tough to get old. Now? Where did I leave that big bottle of aspirin?

[grunewar]

No experience with knee replacements, Mark. Just wanted to wish you well, no matter what.

[irpuk]

Mark,

Had one total replacement after a motorcycle accident too many years ago that destroyed it; that is why I gave up playing even recreation ball and starting refereeing seriously. It takes time but you can still referee (just be careful on the turns).

I referee high level ball in the UK and also wheelchair basketball internationally. Not always easy on some days - and long tournaments like the Paralympics can get hard, but know your limits and you will have no problems.

Life is fun, don't let something like this get in the way!

[Stat-Man]

Really can't offer much about the knee replacement, but I do hope whatever transpires, you can keep officiating. I recently read that OMD was so well-attended that the MHSAA wants to try another one in the next 2-4 years, and I'd love to run into you again.

And have a happy birthday.

[timeout]

pm me and i'll give you all the gory details.

[TriggerMN]

I am 39 and am fast approaching knee replacement. My original injury was a ruptured patella tendon, dislocated and fractured kneecap, and torn cartilage. About 8 years ago I had a second surgery to remove scar tissue, and ended up having a microfracture procedure done. Holes were bored into my patella in hopes that the marrow that "bled out" would become similar to cartilage.

Last year I was in such severe pain that I could not bear any weight, so I had an MRI. Much to the surprise of both my doctor and I, it was not a torn meniscus. However, all of my "new" cartilage was gone...with reffing basketball and umpiring baseball over 200 nights a year, he was surprised I lasted as long as I did before coming back to him. What the MRI revealed, the doctor told me, was that "it looks like somebody has been beating on your knee joint with a hammer." My options at this point were the following:

1. Stop officiating basketball forever.

2. Knee replacement, and stop officiating forever. My doctor said that if I had my knee replaced at 39 years of age, he wouldn't release me to officiate anymore because the wear and tear would sufficiently damage the artificial knee and surrounding live tissues so that future knee replacements wouldn't fare as well.

3. Get an unloader brace that would shift weight bearing to lesser affected areas of my knee. My brace was about $2000; insurance covered 90% of that.

Obviously I chose option 3. After another couple of additional months of rest, I wore it for the first time in a D2 exhibition game in October 2012. It took a bit of getting used to, but it seems to work for me. I'll never be able to avoid the arthritis and stiffness that occurs, but I made it through the entire 2012-2013 season without issue because of the unloader brace. Depending on if you wear short tights or leggings, you may get some chafing from the brace. It's big and bulky and it sucks to wear but to me, it's worth it to be able to continue officiating.

FWIW, the doctor advised me that doing a lot of stretching, keeping my weight down, and doing some leg strengthening exercises for my quad in my bad leg would do nothing but help.

Originally Posted by BillyMac

Switch to volleyball. Bazinga.

I didn't know you were that current with pop culture in your 'lil corner. Props.

[BillyMac]

Originally Posted by AremRed

I didn't know you were that current with pop culture in your 'lil corner. Props.

Some of us have black and white televisions. I'm having trouble finding replacement tubes for the set when it goes on the fritz.