No joint problems myself (fingers crossed) as I age, but a friend at my rink had a knee replacement about a year ago. She took months of physiotherapy afterwards, and was lucky enough to have a therapist who also skated and was willing to accompany her to some quiet public sessions and support/closely supervise her first attempt to just stroke around. She used one of that rink's support frames for several sessions, and then skated hand-in-hand with her therapist. When -- and only when -- her therapist gave her the OK, she returned to our rink and began to skate with us again. However, she sticks to dance and has no plans to try freestyle and particularly jumping again. But she says getting back on the ice gave her such joy she feels it accelerated her recovery more than anything else. Good for you and good luck!
If your nerves are severed like mine were, you won't have this problem.
And I thought I'd had it bad, after I slipped on a flight of outdoor stairs and landed on the cement pavement on the top of a foot that had got completely turned backwards and upside down! I had surgery to reattach the muscles torn off the shin and to fit the dislocated ankle joint back into place. And then a heavy plaster cast to the knee (this was about 30 years ago when they were still what was routinely used) to hold everything together while the small fractures in the tibia, ankle bone, and assorted small bones in the foot healed themselves.Back in 1999, I ripped my medial ligament and put my right patella out of alignment. It wrote off my career as getting the right treatment took 4 years. I had a the tendon dug out from the bone, a right patella release (which cut through the muscle and nerves above my knee) and the kneecap was removed and resited, the tendon screwed back in place and 17 staples to hold everything together while I healed with a very heavy metal split around the entire leg. After the operation, I had absolutely no control over the leg whatsoever and had to physically move it using either my left foot or my hands. Learning to move it and walk again was a lengthy process.
My big regret is that I didn't try skating again sooner. It was 18 years after the initial accident that I stepped back on the ice. As an ice dancer, I didn't need to worry about landing jumps but I think I'd give it a go if I was still that way inclined! I have problems executing crossed chasses as my right leg turns out more than the norm and occasionally I go to attempt something and my leg just basically says, "You what now?" and doesn't move (I still have to think through standing up and walking if I've been sitting for a while). At that point I tend to stop abruptly or fall over.
There is life and skating after major surgery.
I'm wincing at the thought of your fall! Yeowch!And I thought I'd had it bad, after I slipped on a flight of outdoor stairs and landed on the cement pavement on the top of a foot that had got completely turned backwards and upside down! I had surgery to reattach the muscles torn off the shin and to fit the dislocated ankle joint back into place. And then a heavy plaster cast to the knee (this was about 30 years ago when they were still what was routinely used) to hold everything together while the small fractures in the tibia, ankle bone, and assorted small bones in the foot healed themselves.
I was on crutches for a year, but back on the ice before that because my boots held the ankle in place like the cast had. I coasted around holding onto the boards or a friend's hand at first and then ventured out further in slow stroking. Fortunately it had been my left ankle so I could still land a jump or a pairs lift on the right foot, it was getting off the ice in the first place that was a problem. I'd always relied too much on edge jumps, and this forced me to concentrate on toe jumps for the first year or so, using the right toe like a crutch to take some of the pressure off the left ankle. The jumps were nothing to admire, but I did get airborne enough for a sloppy revolution. And then two. And finally three again. To this day I still wear boots that are in theory too stiff for my aging skill level -- whether I need a 90 rating physically or just psychologically I don't know, but it works for me.
So yes, depending on the surgery, skating is possible again afterwards. But WednesdayMarch's version makes me quite humble about my own injury by comparison!
