ACL tear recovery without surgery?

[sicknote]

hi there, i tore my ACL in march and was due to have an operation to repair it. However, before the op i was diagnosed with cancer. i am currently receiving treatment, but was wondering if there was anything i could do to help my knee recovery while in hospital, i have a lot of time on my hands!! i feel well and i think i would manage some moderate excercise. It will be around 6 months before im out of care, and then i presume i will be unable to get the operation anytime soon after that. I would love to get back playing football in around 12 months, would this be anyway realistic without the surgery?

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[cadynz]

hi there,
first off i would like to mention that i'm not an oncologist - so take this advice with a grain of salt and run it past your doctor, or better yet is there a physio working in the hospital that you could see?
- generally speaking, the ACL prevents the tibia (your shin bone) moving on your femur (your thigh bone).
- once it's torn, it's torn really - so you won't be able to get that kind of internal stability back by exercising.
- what you could do, if you dr thinks it's ok, is strengthen up the muscles around your knee so that they will a) give you some external knee stability and b) be in great shape for when you do have your surgery so you rehab quicker. a physio could steer you in the right direction.
- the difficulty with the beautiful game is it requires a lot of stability in your knee - you need to be able to change direction fast, jump, twist - and a torn ACL will make these things difficult.

i hope that gives you a few ideas.
best of luck,
cady