14 Weeks - More Surgery

Today I went back to see my doctor basically to see if the brace thinga-ma-jig is working. Which we kinda decided that it isn't.

He told me a story about another patient who had the same surgery and the same mobility problems. Ended up she had tons-o scar tissue.

So he thinks that that may be my problem also.

After checking my range of motion and watching my leg shake like CRAZY as I tried to bend it down from an outstretched position we decided that we are going to do surgery.

So, yes, most likely it is scar tissue, but it could also be that the MPFL tendon that he added is too tight.

He told me that I would have a femoral block again, but I asked that we not do that. My toes are still tingly from the last one. It was sooooo frustrating to not be able to cover up that foot at night or put a sock on it or even let anything touch it AT ALL!

He will first "manipulate" my leg... I take this to mean that he will test the range of motion and see how far it go while I'm out. He expects that it will bend farther, but with clicks and such as it passes through the scar tissue. Then he will open up the two small incisions from before and insert the scope to see whats going on in there. Hopefully he finds scar tissue and is able to remove it all. Then he will look over at the tendon to see if it is too tight. If so, he will cut it to release tension and he may have to open up the side incision to do that. Then I get stiched back up.

It's that simple.

The procedure will be done at his office and not at a hopsital. Immediately after the procedure a physical therapist will work with me and Lord willing I will be able to bend my leg much farther than I can now. I will come home that same day and continue with therapy appointments every day for a week.

He also ordered a CPM machine for me. Which is another thinga-ma-jig.

Basically it is the same as the thingy that I have now only it is motorized. I will only get this if insurance covers it because it is "ridiculously expensive" according to my doctor's assistant.

We didn't talk about pain meds except that I'm not having the block... I'm not really sure what I want. The oxycodone was wonderful at helping me deal with pain, but I love food.

And the oxy completely destroyed my appetite. Except for water. I didn't even want chocolate!

Pain or food. Pain or food. Pain or food.

Tis a difficult decision.

13 Weeks - Brace Thinga-ma-jig

Well, my brace thingy came on Wednesday.

A representative came to the house and taught me how to use it. He put it on my leg and tightened it until I felt a slight stretch.

Then we waited.

He said that after 5 minutes the stretch would release and then I could tighten it a little more until I felt a stretch again.

It never released.

He left the house and now I use this thing for about 15 minutes at a time, twice a day.

I called my physical therapist and asked him about it. (I haven't been to P.T. for a couple weeks now.) He said that basically we are retraining the muscle to know that it is "OK" to be in this position. I told him that after 15 minutes it feels worse then when I started, so he said to take it off for a few minutes and then put it back on for another 15.

Beautiful!

I haven't notice progress yet. My doctor wants me to give it 5 days. The rep. said to give it a month or so. The therapist said a couple weeks.

I go back to the doc on Thursday which will be about a week after I started using this torture machine.

If he doesn't see progress he most likely will want to schedule surgery.

We shall see.

11 Weeks

Physical therapy sessions have dwindled down to just once a week because my insurance only covers 15 sessions. I have two left before we start paying for them.

At the beginning of last week he order the brace machine thingy to help me bend. It still hasn't arrived.

On Friday at P.T. he started a massage technique to relax the quads. It actually really helped. I was able to bend a couple degrees more and it didn't feel like such a terrible stretch. He said that I can continue doing a deep tissue massage before stretching every day, so that's what I did over the weekend.

Then I noticed that I wasn't feeling a stretch, but more like a wall.

Usually I bend and start to feel a stretch in the front of the knee as I near 85 degrees. But since hitting 90 degrees I don't feel a stretch anymore.

I feel a wall.

It just won't go any further.

Today I had an appointment with my doctor and I knew going in that we were going to talk about surgery - just to see why it won't bend. He had me bend it and noted the lack of progression. Then he asked me to relax the knee, so that he could do the bending for me. He agreed that it felt like I was "hitting a wall" at 90 degrees.

He is definitely ready to do surgery very soon... he actually made it sound like he doesn't expect the brace thingy to work and seemed like he would prefer to just schedule the surgery today, but I requested that we wait and see how the brace thingy works first.

I go back to see him in two weeks and he expects to schedule the surgery that day... I'm praying that something will loosen up in there and we won't have to do that, but if I don't make progress I'm more than ready to go back under the knife to see what's going on.

Cortisone

Today I went to see my doctor because my therapist wanted me to have a cortisone shot. Things have been very slow with progress and he throught that the cortisone would give me the boost that I need.

I was quite prepared for the worst because my oh-so-caring brother warned of how incredibly painful it is and how my entire day and following day would be ruined.

I politely thanked him. ;)

As a matter of fact... I felt nothing.

Probably because that side of the knee is still completely numb, but I think they also applied a topical numbing agent.

7 Hours later... I'm not noticing any change yet.

We talked about my current state of improvement or lack thereof.

He is quite concerned.

In the middle of the appointment he left the room to go talk with my therapist (who is next door down the hallway). They agreed to order one of those braces for me that helps me to slowly bend my knee further and further as I am comfortable.

After that he talked about how my quads are locking at times and won't allow my knee to bend. He said that I'm subconsciously protecting the knee and that we just have to retrain the muscles.

I reminded him that its not about just retraining the muscles because of surgery, but going all the way back to the injury a year ago. I was never able to get to the point where I trusted my knee, so we have to undo a year of bad habits. :/

He commented on the possibility that something is wrong inside there and.....

(drumroll)

We may have to go back into surgery, so that he can check things out.

We didn't talk about what that surgery would entail. In two weeks I will see him again to check on any improvement. I believe that at that time we will or will not talk about details of surgery. All depending on improvement.

9 Weeks: Back to therapy

I went back to therapy on Tuesday after a 2-week break. Bending is now at 80 degrees... I was expecting it to be a little farther.

I started a few new exercises.  One of them being the treadmill... backwards. Yes, I walk backwards on the treadmill.

Yesterday's appointment showed no improvement, so we talked about a brace that I could put on when I'm sitting down. The brace has a mechanism that I can crank and slowly it bends my leg. I bend it as far as I can without causing pain and stay in that position for 5 or 10 minutes. Then I crank it a little more (like a degree at a time) and stay there for another 5 or 10 minutes. I continue to do this for as long as I want, so this is something that I could do at work or while watching a movie.

I guess my therapist is going to talk to my doctor about this option.

I just got a call from my doctor's assistant. She said that she received an email from my therapist requesting a cortisone shot for me, so I will go in on Tuesday to have that done.

I have less than 2 weeks of therapy left (that insurance will cover). I don't feel like that is enough time at all, but I am, however, getting to the point where progress should speed up a little. And hopefully that cortisone shot will make a big difference too.

Yesterday I tried driving for the first time. I could drive completely normal except I needed a little help from my left foot to depress the break peddle all the way.

Hah... I just realized that in a couple days will be a year since I injured the knee. An entire year of limping. I'm going to need to see a chiropractor after I'm through with this!

8 Weeks: Puerto Rico

We just returned from our vacation to Puerto Rico.

LOVED IT!

The waves were pretty rough at most of the beaches, so I was unable to get into the water.

Then we found Crash Boat Beach.

As you can see the waves toward the pier were a little bigger than the waves on the right.  I found the calmest area to get in and with a little help from Micah I got out far enough to float around on a boogie board. After 3 days of just sitting on the beach and watching Micah snorkel getting in the water was such a treat!

After awhile I got brave.

I started timing the waves so I could go up over them at their highest point.

Micah stood a few steps back and enjoyed being pummeled by them.

IT WAS SO MUCH FUN!

And then I miss-judged a wave.

It plowed into me and I was tossed around under water. I tried to stay limp except for my right leg, keeping it stiff and directed away from the bottom.

I started to get up... and then inevitable happened.

I got hit by another one.

And then another.

Thankfully nothing bad happened to my leg, but because I only had the one leg to support me every time I tried to stand up I was easily knocked down again. I have a nice scratch on my back and on the back of my arms from being drug along the bottom.

We were only there for 5 days, but we did a lot!

We saw whales.

Went to 5 different beaches.

Micah got stuck in a current and almost drowned.

Micah left the rental car keys in his pocket and got into the ocean.  The computer chip in the key was ruined and therefore would not start the car, so we had to call Avis who did NOT have a spare key (what?) so we had to call a tow truck. (FUN)

We ate.

A lot.

(Almost every restaurant was open to the outside)

And now that we are back I realize that I made a lot of progress while on vacation.

I'm not sure if it was the climate or the hot tub, but I can bend my knee further.

Maybe another 15 degrees further than before.

I was walking around a lot without any crutches. Obviously I was very slow and limping severely, but I was walking!



7 Week Re-check

Today I went back to see my doctor.

The good news is that the x-rays showed good healing of the shin at the tibial osteotomy and at the femur where he drilled for the added tendon.

Four weeks ago I could actually see on the x-rays a line in my shin bone and the hole in my femur.

Today I saw nothing!

I didn't say anything, but I think the calcium supplements helped.

In other news... he's not happy about my bending progress. He even called over to my physical therapist to tell him to work me harder. And in a couple weeks he will most likely give me a cortisone shot if he doesn't see marked improvement.

Now I'm REALLY looking forward to Thursday's therapy session!

He said he really wants to get things moving because it's been a "bumpy road."

Makes me think that I'm not progressing the way he would like.

Or maybe he's just referring to the little things like the itchy rash that covered my leg (a reaction to the orange stuff they put all over my leg) and the insomnia... I can't think of anything else he would be referring to. Oh, maybe the numbing that's left in my foot which is down to just a tingling in my toes now.

I've been taking Benadryl and Tylenol to sleep at night for about a week now. It's nice to get sleep, but he told me that Benadryl doesn't give you "good" sleep. If it persists I'm supposed to go see my family doctor.

He also adjusted my brace so that it will rotate to 120 degrees and suggested that it may be doing me more bad then good at this point. I'm only supposed to wear it now when I feel like I need some protection. The same with the crutches. Use one or both as needed.

Apparently I need to focus on walking correctly too because he stopped me as I was leaving to show me what I was doing wrong.

Walking is so complicated!