I had a high tibial osteotomy in 2014 with a donor plug in my femur. Sounds like you’re going through something similar. Mine was done at Andrews Sports Medicine in Birmingham, AL. It was a year before I could run without pain, but I have returned to triathlon and Ironman. Anything I can do to help, just let me know!

Cheers,

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thechromedome
http://www.favoritefinishlines.blogspot.com
http://www.cupcakecartel.org
My 20% off code for 2018 FS Series races: tricred18
"there are no drafters in heaven" - C Bonner

Thank you so much for your response, It's heartening to hear that you have been able to return to triathlon...that is my dream :-)

Was your surgeon supportive of the operation as a treatment? Mine seems pretty reluctant to carry out the operation but perhaps I should get a second opinion.

My surgeon was all for it. I had just recovered from microfracture surgery, which was the only surgery my insurance would cover at the time. It resulted in worse damage than I had prior to surgery and the doc said I’d never run again. My surgeon is a good friend of mine, and he was college roommates with a top surgeon at Andrews Sports Medicine in Birmingham, so he was able to get me there for the osteotomy within 4 days. That surgeon said not only would I be running again, but I might even run better!

I wrote about the whole surgery and recovery process on my blog in case I ran into anyone that was up against the same problem. Below is a link to where it all started with a depressing MRI after a horrible day in Kona:

http://favoritefinishlines.blogspot.com/...nee-is-crap.html?m=0

Anything I can do to help, just let me know.

Cheers,

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thechromedome
http://www.favoritefinishlines.blogspot.com
http://www.cupcakecartel.org
My 20% off code for 2018 FS Series races: tricred18
"there are no drafters in heaven" - C Bonner

Thank you for sharing this with me. I look forward to reading your blog.

It's always inspiring to hear other athlete experiences.

I have a friend and she qualified for the Olympics a few times in the marathon. She had the same thing done and never could compete again in running. She took up cycling and did pretty good but she never could really run again.

Thanks for the response Scott, that's a shame about your friend. Did she quit running completely afterwards?

I had the Fulkerson procedure on my left knee Dec 2013. Have done 3 70.3s since, last one was a PR for me last March.

I can curious if you had the procedure. I had this done 3 weeks ago and I am going through the recovery now. It’s killing me to be non weight bearing and that I can’t really bend my knee well. I sure it will be worth it in the long run though.

I am finding right now that I am experiencing a lot of body fatigue. I went back to work 5 days after surgery as a university professor in a wheelchair. I think I might but doing too much activity and now I’m experiencing a lot of fatigue but can’t sleep.

I am curious if this is normal and any tips that anyone may have.

I had a high tibial osteotomy surgery (and cartilage replacement), as well as an ACL repair, done in October 2016. I was back to triathlon in 2017, raced more competitively in 2018, and this year I made the jump back into Ironman...racing IMWC in a couple weeks. So, it can be done. I will say that I'm having some discomfort from running lately, which I'll have looked at after Kona. But I think it may just be residual discomfort from the screws that are still in my leg. That said, I'm realistic....and this will likely be my last Ironman...as I do want to be able to be active later in life. I'm happy to answer any questions. BTW, 48 years old....30 years in the sport. Feel free to PM me. I've also documented quite a bit on my website/blog (link below).

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Pat Dwyer
@pdwyer99

What's the decision consideration of this procedure vs a knee replacement?

I've not had the osteomy, but had a partial knee replacement (49yo) due to OA where they also straightened my bowed leg at the same time.

I'm 14 months out from the partial and can't run at all, but I am generally pain free and can cycle (did 250km over a few days last weekend) and have hiked up to about 14km.

Knee replacement comes with a long list of restrictions. A knee replacement has a lot of plastic parts that act as cartilage. Those wear out with heavy usage like running and being very active.

Osteotomy uses your own bones, joints, and cartilage or cadaver cartilage which doesn’t come with those restrictions. However, since it’s not a new “perfect” joint there can be pain left, the recovery is longer, and you deal with plates and screws that can bother your muscles and tendons. This route is often chosen for younger more active people to keep their quality of life up. It puts off a knee replacement for about 10-15 years but eventually most people will still need a knee replacement.

I am a female 36 year-old former figure skater turned triathlete (now turned hockey player).

I had the osteotomy surgery with a lateral release three years ago.

BEST decision I ever made, even though the rehab was no joke (in terms of commitment and duration- I estimate I took around 8 months to really get back and feel confident to be in the swing of things).

My surgeon here in the Tampa Bay area (Koco Eaton) not only works with most of the professional athletes in the area (MLB, NFL, etc.), but he's also a triathlete. He honestly changed my life, as I couldn't have imagined a better experience or being in better shape than I am now with my knee. The only caveat he ever gave me is that I may want to avoid doing long distance on hills (...not an issue here in Tampa Bay since everything is flat, and honestly I've had no issues/pain on any hill work).

I not only do tris without issue (albeit short course as I enjoy that distance), I also play ice hockey 2+/wk in a coed league and have had zero issues other than my knee being so bony my patella screw sticks out (so if I kneel for example I need to put an extra pad on the floor, etc.).

I had an overall incredible experience with my surgery and am so freakishly happy with my results. Never had any pain running (other than running can be painful in general, hah!), been able to cycle, swim, hike, figure skate, etc. without issue. I'm so grateful to not be limited by knee issues anymore.

Total life game changer :)

I think you most likely jumped back into work too soon- as I did the same thing, and realized I should have examined taking advantage of ST Disability policies to concentrate on recovery.

I would recommend trying to limit as much of your to-do list as possible (for example, this may not be the season of life to take on any huge ambitions or projects if possible).

I couldn't sleep either, as it was uncomfortable, so I started taking melatonin. I also started trying to dive into more relaxation techniques and also limiting social media, etc. to help quiet my mind down a bit.

It does start to get better, but what you're experiencing is totally normal. It took me awhile to cultivate patience and trust the process.

Thank you. I am glad to hear that you are back to your normal activities, including hockey because I was wondering if I would be able to skate again.

8 months is doable, that also give me an estimate of something to think about. Most of my work is sitting down and planning at the university but I agree that I need to rest more. I hate feeling lazy, but I have surrendered to sleeping anytime my body says it’s time to sleep.

I am looking forward to my hamstring and my IT band not being so tight. I want to stretch those out so bad but I am limited by the mobility and pain in the knee.

Hello All--

This thread was a real eye-opener for me. I have OA in both knees with high riding, small knee caps. I have always run with pain and inflammation, then things got even worse and I couldn't walk or pedal at all. Feb 2017 I had stem cell therapy on both knees, and while the recovery was difficult and painful, I am now riding pain free and stronger than ever. However, I am too afraid to run. My doc warned me that TKR is likely in my future, and while micro fracture was discussed, osteotomy was not. I am intrigued. I'm fifty, and to be very honest, I've always been a crappy runner with poor biomechanics, but it's still good to know there are other things I could try in the future. Thanks for sharing, and I'll check out the blog posts people have posted.

--Meg

Meg,

It’s worth a discussion to put off the TKR if you can. Who knows some of the biomechanics may be a result of being bow legged or knock kneed. Plus good PT during the process you actually fix some of the issues that you have. Everything is worth a discussion with your doctor.

Dr. Fins

Hello! I checked out your blog since I had a HTO last summer and I was beginning to feel discouraged like I would never be able to run again. I am not able to run yet but your blog gave me hope! I am 40 and used to run a lot of marathons. Just hoping to be able to run 5ks again... maybe some sprint triathlons.

Do you remember when you started running post surgery and how far you went...?

Thanks for sharing your story!

Brenna Peterkin

Hi, Minnesotamom! I feel your pain. I distinctly remember the feeling of moving backward after surgery while my friends kept training and racing. It may be in my blog when I started running again after the hto. If not, all I recollect about that was that I was cleared to run some time after the non load bearing period but with a prescription knee brace. It feels like that was a good four months after surgery maybe. Your surgeon should be able to tell you. I hated the brace. It chafed til I bled.

I remember Dr Dugan told me if it were his knee he would definitely go back to running on it, but it would be a full year before I could do so pain free. And he was spot on. I ran 3 miles at a time in the brace and it always hurt until right around the one year mark. After that I drop kicked the brace and added longer runs. I ran plenty of 10 mile runs after that and by the 2 year mark I was ready again for marathons and Ironman.

I wish you the best of luck in your journey back to sanity. If I can help any further feel free to ask!

Cheers,

---

thechromedome
http://www.favoritefinishlines.blogspot.com
http://www.cupcakecartel.org
My 20% off code for 2018 FS Series races: tricred18
"there are no drafters in heaven" - C Bonner

And it’s still holding up fine for you? Any problems with it these days?

And was it an unloaded brace you ran with?

It’s doing great 8 years later still! Every now and then I feel a quick pain where the donor cartilage is in my femur while running. But I mean it comes and goes within a step or two as if I just landed wrong. The only thing that bothers me is it’s definitely a weaker joint and trail runs with dicey terrain are tough on it. As in, if I have to bound from say one rock to another that’s just not in the cards. XTERRA Richmond was a tough course for my knee crossing the boulders across the river.

I also don’t feel comfortable kneeling on it and it’s not as flexible. But that might be my fault not stretching it enough.

But as for running? My knee can take anything my brain is dumb enough to sign up for. And I’m pretty dad gum dumb! :)

Cheers,

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thechromedome
http://www.favoritefinishlines.blogspot.com
http://www.cupcakecartel.org
My 20% off code for 2018 FS Series races: tricred18
"there are no drafters in heaven" - C Bonner

I am currently considering an HTO. I did IM Wales in 2017 and alpsman in 2018

Christmas 2019 my knee issues stopped me from running and then slowly started degrading to the point where I haven't been able to train at all for 6 months.

I'm currently doing a brace test with an offloader brace and the releif is amazing. Even though the brace itself is pretty much taking all of the skin off my leg

I think the next step for me is an HTO. Reading your blog and seeing you recover from yours gives me hope of one day toeing the line again

Thank you

Oh man, I feel for you! The journey to getting back to what you love is long and frustrating but totally worth it in the end! I’m now 7 years past my HTO and still having no issues with running. Every now and then I might step wrong and feel a second of fleeting discomfort but it’s nothing.

I hope you get the procedure done, that insurance covers it, and you heal up and get back to running!

Cheers and thanks for the message!

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thechromedome
http://www.favoritefinishlines.blogspot.com
http://www.cupcakecartel.org
My 20% off code for 2018 FS Series races: tricred18
"there are no drafters in heaven" - C Bonner