Roller Coaster

It's been 2 weeks now since the surgery to remove scar tissue.

Things were great for a couple days after the surgery and then all of a sudden the muscles tightened.

I went from bending it 130 degrees down to 80.

My physical therapist said the muscles were spasming. He seemed frustrated about it and that didn't help me any because I was already getting frustrated. It was all very discouraging.

Then about a week after surgery I saw my doc for a post-op appointment and he prescribed a muscle relaxer which I took 3 times a day.

It didn't seem to help.

Back to sleepless nights only this time I could actually roll over. But that was also the problem. Every time I roll over I engage the quad muscle which causes a pain flare that doesn't want to calm down.

Finally on Monday I noticed that I was able to bend it a little easier. My therapist noticed that too. It wasn't that I could bend it any farther, but just easier and with less resistance. I also saw my doctor again on Monday and he was pretty frustrated that the muscle relaxers didn't fix the problem, so he suggested that I taper off of them to see if they are really helping at all. So I started taking just one before bed.

The past two days I've noticed continued progress and I'm now up to 110 degrees on the CPM.

Oh, and here is a picture of the CPM.

I'm attributing the progress to a new stretch that I started doing on Sunday where I sit on the edge of the bed and let my leg dangle.  I try to get it to relax down to 90 degrees. Then I lay back on the bed which stretches the quads farther (without bending the knee farther) because of the way they attach to the hip. I usually lay there for a good 15 minutes. I like to do this at least 3 times a day.

Also, my leg has been really itchy. From the mid-thigh to mid-calf.

It is so annoying!

I had a dream last night that I was scratching my leg and then I woke up and sure enough!

I was scratching my leg!

I wrapped it with an ace bandage and that helped the itch for the rest of the night.

I remember an itchy rash after the first surgery, but that only lasted 3 or 4 days.

This isn't even a rash.

It's nothing!

Just an itch.

And it's been there for at least 10 days now.

Grrrrr. . .

The ups and downs have made the last 2 weeks seem like 2 months!

But at least I'm making some progress now.

Success!

Summary: The surgery yesterday went great!

It was at the surgical center at my doctor's office and not the hospital, so it was smaller and more relaxed. I loved the nurse that did all my prep work.

He started my IV and was looking all over for a good vein. I warned him that he wouldn't have a lot of luck. That led into a conversation about "the bigger the man, the bigger the baby."

The anesthesiologist came to talk with me and I made sure that I wasn't getting a block.

I told him all about my issue with the last block and he was quite interested, saying that it's very rare for that to happen. He seemed to think that it was caused from the tourniquet (yes, I had to look up how to spell that) that they put around my thigh during surgery. That maybe a vein stayed pinched. Sounds logical to me.

I was able to see my doctor before the surgery this time.

Actually I did the last time too except I didn't remember any of it because it was after the anesthesiologist did his work on me.

He was running a little late, so he actually came in to see me with his jacket still on, looking like any Joe Shmoe off the street.

He reviewed with Micah and I everything that he planned on doing and signed my leg.
Did I ever mention he's the best?

I then went to the operating room and all the nurses introduced themselves and they moved me to the table. Then my anesthesiologist rushed in saying "I wanted to give her something before she had to go through all this." I guess he thought I'd be nervous wreck being in there.

I told him, "It's ok. I'm cool."

And that's the last thing I remember.

I woke up feeling sooooo tired and nauseous. Why can't they let me sleep?!

I had some pretzels and ginger ale and within 20 minutes I was up on crutches.

A therapist came and spent about 5 minutes with me, bending my knee to around 130 degrees!

I was about 95 before the surgery.

Quad strength diminishes very quickly with a surgery, but I was able to hold my leg up.

Micah said that after the surgery my doctor came out to talk with him. The doc told him that during surgery the first thing he did was bend my knee and he hit that "wall" that I was always hitting at around 95 degrees.

I had been concerned that he was going to bend it all the way to my butt with no problem and that he would determine that it was all a psychological issue.

Thankfully that was not the case.

With a lot of pressure he said it popped and cracked and crunched.

Scar tissue.

He broke it up by pushing it through that "wall."

Next he went in with the scope into the same two small incisions from before.

He cleaned out all the scar tissue and then checked the ligament that he added in the last surgery to make sure that it wasn't too tight and adding to the problem.

He said that the ligament looked great. (YAY!)

After stitching me up he bent the leg again, going all the way to my butt without any problems.

When we left the surgical center I got into Micah's truck and noticed that it was actually easier to get into then it was before the surgery. Because the leg was bending so easily.

A couple hours after we got home the "Roger's Cocktail" that he injected into my knee for numbing (in replace of the full leg block) started to wear off.

I was feeling a little pain just in time for the CPM machine to arrive. I'll talk about that and put up some pictures in the next post.

Later in the afternoon the nausea got the best of me.

But as usual, I felt a lot better afterwards.

Poor Micah was in the bathroom waiting to get into the shower when it all went down.

That evening I noticed that there was really no pain in the knee.

It was all in the quads. I guess since it hasn't bent that far since December.

They are on fire! I have no idea how I'm going to make it through physical therapy today. Maybe I'll take some oxycodone before I go. Oh yeah, he prescribed me oxy. I only took it twice so far and made it through the night without it. :)

All is vanity says the preacher

It is nearly 4 months post-op.

And tomorrow morning I go back. I'm really hoping that it is filled with scar tissue.

Because if it isn't... then I don't know what.

Tonight Micah and I went out for awhile, stopping at Walmart and Lowes and then dinner and a movie. It was difficult to just walk around the big stores. The knee would really start to bother me and I would be SO ready to leave the store... and then we still had to all the way to the truck.

I found myself getting really excited for the surgery.

Thinking "wow, after tomorrow things won't be like this anymore."

And that's when I catch myself.

Putting faith in a surgery.

Since all this started I've learned a lot.

I've learned...

It's ok if I don't get to 3 different grocery stores to find the best deals.

Dinner can wait a few minutes while I read a book to Elliot.

A phone call can mean SO much! (Thanks Kendra!)

But more than that I've learned that this too shall pass.

What is this little speck on the timeline of eternity?

It shall come and go and soon I'll be telling grand kids about it.

I'll be telling them that God speaks to us in mysterious ways.

That sometimes we must be brought low in order to look up.

I'll tell them that praising Him in the bad times brings him more glory then praising him in the good times.

I've also learned that I'm vain. So much is vain.

I put so much thought and time into such petty and temporary things.

And what do they amount to?

NOTHING!

What are they on the eternity timeline?

NOTHING!

And yet the temptation is there.

Every day.

Do I look nice enough?

Are my clothes fashionable?

Does the house look outdated?

Do we need more flowers in the landscaping?

Does so-and-so think I'm a dork?

What do others think of my mothering skills?

Goodness sakes alive! How do we not all go insane?

There is nothing better for a person than that he should eat and drink and find enjoyment in his toil.