Tuesday 18 December, 6 days before Christmas, I got a Christmas gift that was not on my wish list – a Quadriceps Tendon Rupture.

I do and done many different kind of activities, inlines, running, skiing, badminton, functional fitness training, floorball etc. where there are many opportunities to hurt myself. When does this quadriceps tendon rupture happens? On the way to lunch, walking down a stairway. Something in the knee snapped when I lost the balance a little bit, took a step and landed on the right foot, apparently with a wrong angle on the knee. The knee just bent and the leg disappeared under me, felt like a extreme cramp in the leg. Thanks to a colleague who grabbed me and I got hold on the rail, preventing me from falling down the rest of the stairs and maybe hurt me even more…

After lunch I decided to visit the emergency at Gentofte hospital. The orthopedist concluded teared tendon after just pressing above the knee, thanks but can that be right…?? Back to work. No pain, strange… Waited until there were no more traffic and drove home… (don’t tell anyone)

Wednesday: Visited Malmö Emergency early, little waiting time. Met with Ali, orthopedist, who also conclude there was a tear but was not sure how many % damaged. Let’s do some X-ray. After X-ray, Ali was still not sure on how much was destroyed. Let’s do some MR-scanning. No time to today, we have to wait until tomorrow, until then you have to use this knee brace.

Thursday: MR- scanning. Lay absolutely still in 15 minutes listening to Aretha Franklin in the head phones.

Back to Ali, the orthopedist, that now know the amount of tear and decided on surgery. No time today, come back tomorrow. Let’s do some tests, EKG, blood pressure and samples etc. A thorough description of the pre surgery procedure incl. how to shower.

Friday: Special shower procedure. Surgery. Very friendly staff introduced me to what is going to happened, incl. Jesper the surgeon. I got a fancy dress, a bed and some needles in the top of my hand – “food” and anesthetic. A few breaths in a mask and I was gone.

A kind of “out of body” experience waking up, feeling little drunk. Nurse 1: “Do yo like a cup of tea or coffee?” Me: “Do you have cream?”. Nurse 1: “No, sorry”. Nurse 2: “Yes, I bring my own to work, I am on a Keto diet, so you can have some of that.”
Me: “Thanks a lot! I also bring my own cream to work.”

After recovery I was told to take a cab home after getting the pain killers. Challenge on a late Friday afternoon before Christmas – no cabs! Happiness is post surgery on pain killers taking public transport 😛

Next steps: Return to hospital after two weeks to remove the stitches. Keep the knee brace for another 6 weeks. Then rehab for x amount of time…

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Happy New Year!!!