Since I last wrote, the post-surgery knee has been giving me some problems. Problems with being swollen and painful. So swollen that my knee is numb to the touch. It has always been numb on the right side of the knee due to cutting of the nerves during surgery; but now the left side is numb too. The doctor said that was a normal reaction if my knee becomes too swollen for whatever reason.
Also the pain has been fairly bad. So bad to the point where I ended up calling into work one night, staying completely off my feet, and having to take a couple of oxi pills. My doctor said that this set back too is normal and there is nothing to be worried about. He actually said this could continue to happen for the next three to four years. It just means I've over-worked the knee, and it's tired.
Awesome, another three to four years! It seems like every time I meet with my doctor I learn something new; something that doesn't make me very happy. I've been putting off this surgery for years because I knew it was a big surgery and a long recovery time. But I had no idea that I could still be recovering from this for the next FOUR years. Sometimes I'm happy I did not fully realize how much work this surgery would take- because if I'd known, I probably would have put it off even longer. But other times I am mad that I went into this surgery (what seems like now) so blindly. Either way it's over now and there's nothing I can really do about it- besides not having the surgery on the left knee- which I've booked for March 19th 2014. I figure if I don't just book it I may never get it done.
I think the reason why I am in so much pain right now is because I worked five 12-hour days in a row, had two days off, then went back to work. Right now, being winter, the hospital is very busy. So I'm literally running around for most of those 12 hours solid, on my feet. Sorry work, no more working over-time for this worker bee... Doctor's orders. Just kidding, he didn't actually say that. I do wish, though!
Since I'm three months away from being a year post-op, and having scheduled the surgery on my left knee, I think I'll keep this blog going. Just in case the left knee goes differently than the right. Stay tuned :-)
Tuesday, December 24, 2013
Saturday, November 16, 2013
Post #16: Seven months post-surgery
I have not been updating my blog due to being busy and feeling like there is nothing new to update. Or perhaps due to my new knee, I've become "normal"? :-) Well, all this may be non-eventful , but it's where I'm at seven months post surgery:
Pain: I still have some. Some days are worse than others, but I always seem to have a little bit of pain 24/7. I rarely take medicine for it, and if I do, it's just ibuprofen. Nothing strong. But I'm also on my feet for twelve hours at work. Perhaps if I had an office job I wouldn't have constant pain. I wonder if it's part of a typical recovery? Not sure.
Bending: Still an issue, but much, much better. Some days I'm stiffer than others, and I have to purposefully stretch. I also can't have the joint bent for too long without it hurting. I tend to curl up in my chair at work vs sitting like a normal adult (ha, ha) so I find myself having to move around a lot because my knee will start to hurt/feel very stiff if I'm curled up for too long. Sometimes if I jump up quickly from my chair I do limp the first couple steps because it needs to loosen up. Almost feels like I need a little lubricant at times.
Walking: Depends on the day but my limp is almost completely gone. I don't normally notice when I limp, unless it's really bad that particular day. But friends and coworkers have not mentioned my limp as much. One even pointed out that he barely sees me limp anymore. So I guess that means walking is getting much better. I am getting a lot quicker on my feet.
Exercise: ok, ok, I've slacked on physical therapy. I'm so mad at myself for that. But like anyone, you get busy and that seems like the last thing on your mind. I've tried cardio a couple times and it's soooooo hard! I'm winded after my five minute warm up and cannot get through my 30 minute cardio tape (that I did before surgery). I'm not sure if this is because I haven't been keeping up with my physical therapy exercises or if I just need to give my leg more time to heal (my PT did say she didn't think I'd be able to run till Christmas). Either way my lunges are getting a lot easier, however cardio is still very very hard. BUT- I can jog a short distance (when I say short I mean like from my street to my house...which FYI I have a very very very steep driveway) where before if I tried to jog my leg would just give out. Now it doesn't, I just can't go very far.
Physical Therapy: I have not gone to PT for about two months now. During my last visit she said it was up to me if I wanted to keep coming or not. Now that I don't need to worry about bending as much, and my exercises are no longer in the pool, she really did not have anything new to help me. So I cancelled my last appointment and have just been doing therapy myself at home (IE being lazy and not doing them as much as I should). I absolutely love my PT, BUT...she is kind of expensive and insurance has paid their max, so I decided to stop going unless I have concerns with something.
I guess that's about it on updates at this time. The main thing is the stability I now feel with the improved knee, especially compared with the other one I've yet to have surgery on. I am going to make a doctor appointment soon (like December-ish) to talk about going forward with the same surgery on my left knee, and just to double check that everything is progressing OK with my right knee. I'll post another blog once I see him.
Pain: I still have some. Some days are worse than others, but I always seem to have a little bit of pain 24/7. I rarely take medicine for it, and if I do, it's just ibuprofen. Nothing strong. But I'm also on my feet for twelve hours at work. Perhaps if I had an office job I wouldn't have constant pain. I wonder if it's part of a typical recovery? Not sure.
Bending: Still an issue, but much, much better. Some days I'm stiffer than others, and I have to purposefully stretch. I also can't have the joint bent for too long without it hurting. I tend to curl up in my chair at work vs sitting like a normal adult (ha, ha) so I find myself having to move around a lot because my knee will start to hurt/feel very stiff if I'm curled up for too long. Sometimes if I jump up quickly from my chair I do limp the first couple steps because it needs to loosen up. Almost feels like I need a little lubricant at times.
Walking: Depends on the day but my limp is almost completely gone. I don't normally notice when I limp, unless it's really bad that particular day. But friends and coworkers have not mentioned my limp as much. One even pointed out that he barely sees me limp anymore. So I guess that means walking is getting much better. I am getting a lot quicker on my feet.
Exercise: ok, ok, I've slacked on physical therapy. I'm so mad at myself for that. But like anyone, you get busy and that seems like the last thing on your mind. I've tried cardio a couple times and it's soooooo hard! I'm winded after my five minute warm up and cannot get through my 30 minute cardio tape (that I did before surgery). I'm not sure if this is because I haven't been keeping up with my physical therapy exercises or if I just need to give my leg more time to heal (my PT did say she didn't think I'd be able to run till Christmas). Either way my lunges are getting a lot easier, however cardio is still very very hard. BUT- I can jog a short distance (when I say short I mean like from my street to my house...which FYI I have a very very very steep driveway) where before if I tried to jog my leg would just give out. Now it doesn't, I just can't go very far.
Physical Therapy: I have not gone to PT for about two months now. During my last visit she said it was up to me if I wanted to keep coming or not. Now that I don't need to worry about bending as much, and my exercises are no longer in the pool, she really did not have anything new to help me. So I cancelled my last appointment and have just been doing therapy myself at home (IE being lazy and not doing them as much as I should). I absolutely love my PT, BUT...she is kind of expensive and insurance has paid their max, so I decided to stop going unless I have concerns with something.
I guess that's about it on updates at this time. The main thing is the stability I now feel with the improved knee, especially compared with the other one I've yet to have surgery on. I am going to make a doctor appointment soon (like December-ish) to talk about going forward with the same surgery on my left knee, and just to double check that everything is progressing OK with my right knee. I'll post another blog once I see him.
Sunday, August 18, 2013
Post #15 Can I run yet?
Met with physical therapy the other day and told her the good news. However, when I told her the doctor gave me the green light for running she laughed. She said "you won't be running anytime soon. My guess is you won't even be able to attempt running until December". BUMMER!
My therapist said that my bones may be healed enough; but my muscles are no where near ready for me to run. I still have a slight limp when I walk. And i have difficulties with lunges. She said once I can walk without a limp and my lunges become easier then we can discuss running. I asked if I just wasn't trying hard enough. she said no, it just takes awhile for muscle to build back up. That helped me feel a little better.
She also thinks the reason why i limp/have difficulties with lunges is because my quad muscle is tight. If my muscle is tight then my patella won't glide correctly in the groove, making it painful during movement. She gave me a couple stretches to work on. And sure enough I am extremely tight in my quad. If i do the same stretches on my left leg they are pretty easy; on my right leg, boy those suckers are hard! So maybe once I get this quad stretched out exercising will be a little less painful.
My therapist said that my bones may be healed enough; but my muscles are no where near ready for me to run. I still have a slight limp when I walk. And i have difficulties with lunges. She said once I can walk without a limp and my lunges become easier then we can discuss running. I asked if I just wasn't trying hard enough. she said no, it just takes awhile for muscle to build back up. That helped me feel a little better.
She also thinks the reason why i limp/have difficulties with lunges is because my quad muscle is tight. If my muscle is tight then my patella won't glide correctly in the groove, making it painful during movement. She gave me a couple stretches to work on. And sure enough I am extremely tight in my quad. If i do the same stretches on my left leg they are pretty easy; on my right leg, boy those suckers are hard! So maybe once I get this quad stretched out exercising will be a little less painful.
Friday, July 26, 2013
Post #14 Four months post-surgery
WOW someone has been neglecting their blog. Let me back pedal a bit. Last time I wrote I had only returned to working via two days of work. I have now done ten full days at work. Writing down "ten whole days" makes me sound like a baby!! Most people would of done more than fifteen days by this point; but I work twelve hour days, that's where the difference comes in.
So yes I have officially finished 10 twelve hour days! WOOHOO, I'm using my brain again! It's funny how staying home for three months made me feel like my brain was going to mush. Anyway, back to my knees and how they felt. Well as I said the first two nights went great, but the third night was rough. The patient load I had that night was very busy. I was on my feet pretty much all night not able to take a break; running from one patient to the next. As exciting as it was, my knees sure were feeling it. I was limping pretty bad by the end of the night. Not so much in pain, but just exhaustion. A couple times throughout the night my knee "gave out". Meaning I'd be standing or walking and my knee would buckle. I never completely fell on the ground but I dipped enough for people to notice and ask if I was OK!
I got through the night and woke up the next day feeling just fine. I was surprised; I'd been nervous the day prior that I might have to call in a sick day. But the fourth night was just fine. Now i call it my third and fourth night cause technically it was; however I really worked two days on, two days off and two days on again. That's just how my schedule worked out. After six days off i started my normal work schedule. Which is four on, two off, two on, six off. If you're not confused by this point let's continue on :-) My first week of a straight four days came and went. Again i surprised myself and did OK. I was exhausted and by the third and fourth night it was getting painful. But nothing that I couldn't handle. I wore my brace all three nights and gave that up on the fourth. I gave up because I got sick of the brace falling down. When it's in the right position it really helps but it slides down so fast that I am constantly adjusting it. My knee felt weird/slightly weak without the brace but I made it through the night. So now I bring the brace to work but rarely wear it unless I have a patient load where I must walk from one building to the next. Then I'll wear it.
I met with the doctor the other day and he gave me the go to start running. He said I can basically do anything besides sports that would cause me to do a fast twisting movement (ie: tennis, snowboarding, etc). I haven't tried to deliberately run yet; the few times I forgot to be cautious and sprinted (before the doctor gave me the all clear to run) my leg gave out and I'd almost fall. In all honestly I'm a little scared to try. Maybe I'll try soon.
I did go on a fairly hard hike today. Knee was painful and had a few issues but otherwise good.
So yes I have officially finished 10 twelve hour days! WOOHOO, I'm using my brain again! It's funny how staying home for three months made me feel like my brain was going to mush. Anyway, back to my knees and how they felt. Well as I said the first two nights went great, but the third night was rough. The patient load I had that night was very busy. I was on my feet pretty much all night not able to take a break; running from one patient to the next. As exciting as it was, my knees sure were feeling it. I was limping pretty bad by the end of the night. Not so much in pain, but just exhaustion. A couple times throughout the night my knee "gave out". Meaning I'd be standing or walking and my knee would buckle. I never completely fell on the ground but I dipped enough for people to notice and ask if I was OK!
I got through the night and woke up the next day feeling just fine. I was surprised; I'd been nervous the day prior that I might have to call in a sick day. But the fourth night was just fine. Now i call it my third and fourth night cause technically it was; however I really worked two days on, two days off and two days on again. That's just how my schedule worked out. After six days off i started my normal work schedule. Which is four on, two off, two on, six off. If you're not confused by this point let's continue on :-) My first week of a straight four days came and went. Again i surprised myself and did OK. I was exhausted and by the third and fourth night it was getting painful. But nothing that I couldn't handle. I wore my brace all three nights and gave that up on the fourth. I gave up because I got sick of the brace falling down. When it's in the right position it really helps but it slides down so fast that I am constantly adjusting it. My knee felt weird/slightly weak without the brace but I made it through the night. So now I bring the brace to work but rarely wear it unless I have a patient load where I must walk from one building to the next. Then I'll wear it.
I met with the doctor the other day and he gave me the go to start running. He said I can basically do anything besides sports that would cause me to do a fast twisting movement (ie: tennis, snowboarding, etc). I haven't tried to deliberately run yet; the few times I forgot to be cautious and sprinted (before the doctor gave me the all clear to run) my leg gave out and I'd almost fall. In all honestly I'm a little scared to try. Maybe I'll try soon.
I did go on a fairly hard hike today. Knee was painful and had a few issues but otherwise good.
This is one of my first real hikes since surgery. It felt amazing!!! I've really missed exploring my state. Can't wait for my next hike! :-)
Picture of my scars four months after surgery. one picture with flash, one without
Post #13 Catch-up
6/8/2013: I met with my doctor on the 6th. He is very happy with my progress. We discussed how my leg gave out on me (after my busy weekend), he said that may happen as I build up my muscle. He told me taking off my brace will help in building up my muscle. So he gave me the OK to take it off now. I've had it off for two days now and so far i agree my knee already feels a lot stronger. But I will probably continue to keep it with me until I am completely confident with it off. Also I haven't been doing a lot of strenuous activity with my brace off, so until I do, my brace will be near me. The doctor also says I can't run/jump just yet. Maybe in four to six weeks; but i need to listen to my body.
7/1/2013: I completely forgot about blogging! Maybe because things have been going so well. I can't believe its been a month. Well, during this month I've basically just worked on building up muscle. My physical therapist cut out the pool and I am strictly doing land exercises now. SOOO hard. But only after a couple appointments I already feel a lot stronger. I've been keeping my brace off, unless if i know I will be on my feet for a long time. I frequently visit friends who live an hour out of town and we usually make the most of my visit. So there's a lot of walking.
I started work on 6/29/2013. It went surprisingly well! I also have great coworkers who helped me. I did two 12 hour days in a row. Waking up for my second day of work I was a little sore, but again I did OK with work. Slightly tired, a little bit of pain here and there. Other than that no complaints. I can not believe it went that well! I really thought things would be way worse. I guess I should let you know that I work at a hospital and am on my feet for 12 hours walking from one building to the next. I wore my brace the whole time I worked. I have two days off before I go back to work for another two days. After that I get several days off before I start my normal schedule, which is four days on, two days off, two days on. I'm crossing my fingers that the four days go as well as the first two days went.
7/1/2013: I completely forgot about blogging! Maybe because things have been going so well. I can't believe its been a month. Well, during this month I've basically just worked on building up muscle. My physical therapist cut out the pool and I am strictly doing land exercises now. SOOO hard. But only after a couple appointments I already feel a lot stronger. I've been keeping my brace off, unless if i know I will be on my feet for a long time. I frequently visit friends who live an hour out of town and we usually make the most of my visit. So there's a lot of walking.
I started work on 6/29/2013. It went surprisingly well! I also have great coworkers who helped me. I did two 12 hour days in a row. Waking up for my second day of work I was a little sore, but again I did OK with work. Slightly tired, a little bit of pain here and there. Other than that no complaints. I can not believe it went that well! I really thought things would be way worse. I guess I should let you know that I work at a hospital and am on my feet for 12 hours walking from one building to the next. I wore my brace the whole time I worked. I have two days off before I go back to work for another two days. After that I get several days off before I start my normal schedule, which is four days on, two days off, two days on. I'm crossing my fingers that the four days go as well as the first two days went.
Monday, June 3, 2013
Post #12 The pool
5/22/2013: Today I bought a membership at a pool. I do a lot of exercises at the PT pool, along with swimming. My knee definitely feels a lot looser after being in the water. I am currently walking around the house without a cane (still use it in public). As long as the brace is on, walking feels fairly normal. I guess "normal" compared to how I've felt during this recovery, anyway. Today was the first day (since being home) that I did a deep clean on the house. After about an hour to an hour and a half I was pretty tired and had to sit down. As I work on building more muscle, I've noticed that I've been extremely exhausted...a lot like I felt when i first started walking on crutches.
5/23: Today at PT I felt like I made a big jump forward in improvement. Things just went very smoothly and the knee is feeling more stable with today's exercises. I also was close to bending the knee to 110 degrees. Every day I get more and more bend in the joint. Even though the knee gets pretty tight after walking for a couple hours, it's good to know that with a little stretching the knee can still bend and it's not "stuck".
5/24: Today was the first day i attempted going a full day without any help from the cane. The knee is surprisingly feeling almost completely normal today, except for the tightness. After being on my feet for two hours, the knee gets pretty tight. I'm barely able to bend on my own. When this happens i hop back onto the CPM machine.
5/25: I know I've been complaining about the tightness. But apparently the tightness I was complaining about was nowhere near the tightness I felt today. Today I decided to paint my spare bedroom. For some reason, painting did not go as planned. Anything that could go wrong went wrong; at least that's how I felt. But that's another story. So needless to say, the painting took longer than my normal painting projects. Either way I think I was on my feet for four hours. Between the standing/bending awkwardly/and climbing a ladder my knee was soooooo tight. I almost could not bend it. Before when i complained about the tightness, it was tight, but if i worked at some stretches I could bend it. And it'd go back to being tight after thirty minutes, but I could bend it if I really wanted too. Today that was not going to happen. I was forced to spend some time on the CPM machine.
5/29: I've been to the pool three or four times since getting the membership, which doesn't sound like a lot. But I'm also still doing PT twice a week. Along with doing little house projects (more painting) or shopping at the mall (walking around for four hours), I think I'm getting exercise in. I try and stay busy/stay on my feet for as long as I can just to keep building up that muscle. Never thought I'd want to get back to work so badly! Today the CPM machine left :-( I've had the machine for six weeks. When the medical supplier called last week I did not want to give up the machine. But he informed me that apparently insurance usually only pays for three weeks of the machine. Awesome, I did not know that. And at twenty bucks a day that can add up pretty quickly. Because of this I decided I just can't afford to keep it any longer. He came today to pick it up and even though last week when he contacted me I didn't feel ready to give up the machine, today I actually feel ok with it. I have no idea why, but today my knee felt completely different. Just loose, and without using the machine. I think it was perfect timing on giving it up.
6/1: Everything for the most part has been looking up. The knee, even though still tight, feels a lot looser. Starting to feel more normal; also walking is starting to feel more normal. Less limping.
6/3: I've gotten pretty excited with how well my knee was feeling that I think i pushed it a little too far today. I've been doing yard work, went to a park and did a brisk long walk, and celebrated a friend's birthday which involved a lot of walking from one place to the next. Although at the time I was doing ok, I woke up today literally not being able to walk. My leg felt like it did when I first started putting weight on it. Very, very weak. I've been home all day on the couch trying to rest it. It doesn't hurt and it's slightly tighter than it has been the last couple days, however not too bad. Just very weak. As the day has progressed the leg gets stronger, but I notice walking doesn't feel normal. I think I over-did it, and have back-tracked slightly. Oops.
5/23: Today at PT I felt like I made a big jump forward in improvement. Things just went very smoothly and the knee is feeling more stable with today's exercises. I also was close to bending the knee to 110 degrees. Every day I get more and more bend in the joint. Even though the knee gets pretty tight after walking for a couple hours, it's good to know that with a little stretching the knee can still bend and it's not "stuck".
5/24: Today was the first day i attempted going a full day without any help from the cane. The knee is surprisingly feeling almost completely normal today, except for the tightness. After being on my feet for two hours, the knee gets pretty tight. I'm barely able to bend on my own. When this happens i hop back onto the CPM machine.
5/25: I know I've been complaining about the tightness. But apparently the tightness I was complaining about was nowhere near the tightness I felt today. Today I decided to paint my spare bedroom. For some reason, painting did not go as planned. Anything that could go wrong went wrong; at least that's how I felt. But that's another story. So needless to say, the painting took longer than my normal painting projects. Either way I think I was on my feet for four hours. Between the standing/bending awkwardly/and climbing a ladder my knee was soooooo tight. I almost could not bend it. Before when i complained about the tightness, it was tight, but if i worked at some stretches I could bend it. And it'd go back to being tight after thirty minutes, but I could bend it if I really wanted too. Today that was not going to happen. I was forced to spend some time on the CPM machine.
5/29: I've been to the pool three or four times since getting the membership, which doesn't sound like a lot. But I'm also still doing PT twice a week. Along with doing little house projects (more painting) or shopping at the mall (walking around for four hours), I think I'm getting exercise in. I try and stay busy/stay on my feet for as long as I can just to keep building up that muscle. Never thought I'd want to get back to work so badly! Today the CPM machine left :-( I've had the machine for six weeks. When the medical supplier called last week I did not want to give up the machine. But he informed me that apparently insurance usually only pays for three weeks of the machine. Awesome, I did not know that. And at twenty bucks a day that can add up pretty quickly. Because of this I decided I just can't afford to keep it any longer. He came today to pick it up and even though last week when he contacted me I didn't feel ready to give up the machine, today I actually feel ok with it. I have no idea why, but today my knee felt completely different. Just loose, and without using the machine. I think it was perfect timing on giving it up.
6/1: Everything for the most part has been looking up. The knee, even though still tight, feels a lot looser. Starting to feel more normal; also walking is starting to feel more normal. Less limping.
6/3: I've gotten pretty excited with how well my knee was feeling that I think i pushed it a little too far today. I've been doing yard work, went to a park and did a brisk long walk, and celebrated a friend's birthday which involved a lot of walking from one place to the next. Although at the time I was doing ok, I woke up today literally not being able to walk. My leg felt like it did when I first started putting weight on it. Very, very weak. I've been home all day on the couch trying to rest it. It doesn't hurt and it's slightly tighter than it has been the last couple days, however not too bad. Just very weak. As the day has progressed the leg gets stronger, but I notice walking doesn't feel normal. I think I over-did it, and have back-tracked slightly. Oops.
Wednesday, May 22, 2013
Post #11 Crutches and canes
Its been a couple weeks since I've blogged. So let's go back a couple days.
On 5/09 I started walking with one crutch. Pretty wobbly but I'm getting around. I also had my second physical therapy pool appointment. The pool has a treadmill under water that I walk on. I feel like I'm learning to walk all over again. It's just weird having to think, "ok, bring your heel up to your butt....don't tilt up my hip". Besides the walking, my therapist also added a floatie to my ankle and allowed the floatie to bend my leg up behind me. I also do step-ups in the water. So much easier in the water, and a lot less pain. We added bending in the water which also seemed to go better. Not sure why bending in the water hurts less, but whatever eases the pain makes me happy.
On 5/13 I bought a cane and started using the cane verses my crutches. I felt like a newborn horse with extremely shaky knees. The first two days with the cane I only used it around the house. I needed the help of walls, counters, and chairs to catch me when I almost fell. As the days went on the leg became stronger but my knee still "gives out" every now and then; having the cane helps me catch myself when this happens. I ventured outside of the house with the cane, and got groceries. Going around the store with the cart really helped, although I'm stronger, I'm still not strong enough to walk around a store with just the cane.
Also on 5/13 I had physical therapy, and we added land exercises to my routine. I use the bike and the leg press, along with bending the knee, and then I hop into the pool. The bike goes ok; it can be painful, but I'm able to push through. The leg press however, is very painful. Apparently being on my back, bending my knees and trying to move the bench really hurts. And I was only able to push 25 pounds. My legs were shaking so bad.
Once again bending is my number one issue. No excitement here. I got to 102 degrees at my last visit (5/16). I forgot to mention I came completely off pain medicine. I was taking half a vicodin for PT, but on 5/13 I spaced on taking a pill and did ok. The knee is painful on and off throughout the day, but it's tolerable and I'd rather tolerate pain than be taking such strong pain meds every six hours. I just really wanted to get off the pills.
My physical therapist gave me home exercises of which I am completely frustrated with. They have to do with bending (mainly) and building up my leg muscles. Tonight was the first night I tried these exercises and I barely got anywhere with them. I am beyond over this knee not bending; so tonight i popped a vicodin and cranked up the CPM machine. I did not want to take a vicodin, but tonight I gave in. Usually I get the CPM machine to 82 degrees. Tonight I got it to 94 degrees. Very painful and I kept moving my hip as the machine bent my knee. I tried to relax as much as I could.
The other day i met someone else who has had this surgery. First time this has happened. She had the surgery about 12 years ago, however she did not have the MPFL replacement, like I did. Also her scar was horizontal and mine is vertical. With how fast medicine changes I wonder if her osteotomy surgery was a different technique from mine. And I hope my guess is true because her knee just started dislocating again. Ahh, not what I wanted to hear! The doctor told her all she could do was work her leg muscles, no more surgery for her. Her sister also had the surgery and she also had issues bending her knee; so the doctor put her under and forced it to bend. AHHH, not what I wanted to hear. Well I'm going to try and look on the bright side; she had non dislocating knees for 12 years. At this point I don't know if the pain is worth only 12 good years. :-/
On 5/09 I started walking with one crutch. Pretty wobbly but I'm getting around. I also had my second physical therapy pool appointment. The pool has a treadmill under water that I walk on. I feel like I'm learning to walk all over again. It's just weird having to think, "ok, bring your heel up to your butt....don't tilt up my hip". Besides the walking, my therapist also added a floatie to my ankle and allowed the floatie to bend my leg up behind me. I also do step-ups in the water. So much easier in the water, and a lot less pain. We added bending in the water which also seemed to go better. Not sure why bending in the water hurts less, but whatever eases the pain makes me happy.
On 5/13 I bought a cane and started using the cane verses my crutches. I felt like a newborn horse with extremely shaky knees. The first two days with the cane I only used it around the house. I needed the help of walls, counters, and chairs to catch me when I almost fell. As the days went on the leg became stronger but my knee still "gives out" every now and then; having the cane helps me catch myself when this happens. I ventured outside of the house with the cane, and got groceries. Going around the store with the cart really helped, although I'm stronger, I'm still not strong enough to walk around a store with just the cane.
Also on 5/13 I had physical therapy, and we added land exercises to my routine. I use the bike and the leg press, along with bending the knee, and then I hop into the pool. The bike goes ok; it can be painful, but I'm able to push through. The leg press however, is very painful. Apparently being on my back, bending my knees and trying to move the bench really hurts. And I was only able to push 25 pounds. My legs were shaking so bad.
Once again bending is my number one issue. No excitement here. I got to 102 degrees at my last visit (5/16). I forgot to mention I came completely off pain medicine. I was taking half a vicodin for PT, but on 5/13 I spaced on taking a pill and did ok. The knee is painful on and off throughout the day, but it's tolerable and I'd rather tolerate pain than be taking such strong pain meds every six hours. I just really wanted to get off the pills.
My physical therapist gave me home exercises of which I am completely frustrated with. They have to do with bending (mainly) and building up my leg muscles. Tonight was the first night I tried these exercises and I barely got anywhere with them. I am beyond over this knee not bending; so tonight i popped a vicodin and cranked up the CPM machine. I did not want to take a vicodin, but tonight I gave in. Usually I get the CPM machine to 82 degrees. Tonight I got it to 94 degrees. Very painful and I kept moving my hip as the machine bent my knee. I tried to relax as much as I could.
The other day i met someone else who has had this surgery. First time this has happened. She had the surgery about 12 years ago, however she did not have the MPFL replacement, like I did. Also her scar was horizontal and mine is vertical. With how fast medicine changes I wonder if her osteotomy surgery was a different technique from mine. And I hope my guess is true because her knee just started dislocating again. Ahh, not what I wanted to hear! The doctor told her all she could do was work her leg muscles, no more surgery for her. Her sister also had the surgery and she also had issues bending her knee; so the doctor put her under and forced it to bend. AHHH, not what I wanted to hear. Well I'm going to try and look on the bright side; she had non dislocating knees for 12 years. At this point I don't know if the pain is worth only 12 good years. :-/
Monday, May 6, 2013
post #10 Six week check-up
I just had my six week check up (ended up really being seven weeks). My x-rays looked great, and my doctor was very impressed with how easy it was for me to lift my leg off the table. He has given me the clear to pretty much do anything I want. I am allowed to put weight on the leg, and no more degree restrictions. All he said was to listen to my body. I am also in the clear to drive, as long as I can get off the pain killers. I just started taking vicodin two days ago. So far it seems to be doing the trick. It's one step down from percocet.
I am still having a hard time with the bending, only able to get to 88 degrees, with a lot of sweat and tears. He told me that by June, if I am still having issues, he would put me to sleep and force it to bend. OUCH!! Basically i have lesions (very tough-like scar tissue) that are causing my leg to be stiff. I have to break the lesions before it will bend, so he would break them for me. I now understand why it feels like my leg is breaking, or like something is about to snap; because something is truly breaking in there. However, the doc and my physical therapist believe that my bending will improve once I get muscle back and put more weight on that leg.
Since getting the green light from my doctor I have been trying very hard to walk around without crutches. So far no luck. Ha! My legs feel like jelly! I have not noticed any pain so far, however my muscles are extremely weak and are not able to hold my weight. I walk with my crutches, but put as much weight on them as I can.
Today at my PT appointment I used the pool. It felt amazing! Well I guess it hurt, but it felt good at the same time. Weird, I know. It actually hurt fairly bad, but I also could feel my knee loosening up, and I used muscles I haven't felt in a while. I'm excited to continue with the pool.
Sunday, April 28, 2013
Post #9 The blues :-(
When I started this blog I wanted to document everything that happened and everything that I felt. I'm not sure how much I have written about my true feelings. During this whole journey I have felt a lot of frustration and a few accomplishments. Last week a new feeling over came me. I started to feel down, just sad. Every day the feeling got worst. I finally broke down and cried. Why was I feeling so down? Well my first though was that I am a 24 year old active girl who has now lived on the couch for over a month. I barely get out of the house, and when I do I get exhausted quickly. In Oregon we have dark winters. The weather has been getting nicer and nicer, and all I've gotten to do is admire it from the window. I just want to HIKE!
Well I had myself a little break down, and then my Dad (who is still taking care of me) took me out for a country drive, which immediately made me feel better. Several friends came over Friday to craft with me and then another friend took me on a historic drive that went past several beautiful waterfalls. All of this helped my mood and I am back to feeling like myself again. I am glad I feel better now, but for anyone else going through this- know that at some point during the journey you may come across those dark days. It's hard, but it'll past.
On a lighter note, I've been in pain. Is that "on a lighter note"? Yes the sharp pain on the inside of my knee came back last week. The pain was tolerable for the most part, but even sharper pain would join in on the fun every so often. Medicine is not helping. Which is odd. The only thing that has helped it is ice, but I can't keep ice on my knee forever.
I told my physical therapist about it. I was concerned that it might hinder my PT appointment. She is going to call my doctor to make sure that this is normal and if there is anything else that we can do. However, even though it is way more painful than it has been in the last two weeks my range in motion has improved! I got to eighty degrees today! Almost ninety, which is the farthest the doc will let me bend at this point in time. And my quad muscle is back to normal. I don't have to concentrate when contracting the muscle anymore. Although that is great, I have lost A LOT of muscle in my thigh. Now that the quad is working again, I have to work on getting ALL my muscle tone back.
Well I had myself a little break down, and then my Dad (who is still taking care of me) took me out for a country drive, which immediately made me feel better. Several friends came over Friday to craft with me and then another friend took me on a historic drive that went past several beautiful waterfalls. All of this helped my mood and I am back to feeling like myself again. I am glad I feel better now, but for anyone else going through this- know that at some point during the journey you may come across those dark days. It's hard, but it'll past.
This drive really changed my mood. Doing a small hike to the falls felt amazing.
On a lighter note, I've been in pain. Is that "on a lighter note"? Yes the sharp pain on the inside of my knee came back last week. The pain was tolerable for the most part, but even sharper pain would join in on the fun every so often. Medicine is not helping. Which is odd. The only thing that has helped it is ice, but I can't keep ice on my knee forever.
I told my physical therapist about it. I was concerned that it might hinder my PT appointment. She is going to call my doctor to make sure that this is normal and if there is anything else that we can do. However, even though it is way more painful than it has been in the last two weeks my range in motion has improved! I got to eighty degrees today! Almost ninety, which is the farthest the doc will let me bend at this point in time. And my quad muscle is back to normal. I don't have to concentrate when contracting the muscle anymore. Although that is great, I have lost A LOT of muscle in my thigh. Now that the quad is working again, I have to work on getting ALL my muscle tone back.
Sunday, April 14, 2013
Post #8 CPM machine
Not a whole lot new with the leg. My main issue is bending. The other day at PT i was able to bend it to 70 degree with a lot of work and pain. My physical therapist says i should be able to bend it a lot better by this point. She suggested a CPM machine for home. CPM stands for: continuous passive movement. It is a machine that bends my knee for me. Because it's passive, it's a lot less strain on that joint. There are mixed studies about the effectiveness of this machine, but since I'm not able to bend the knee far enough myself, I'm willing to try anything at this point. The machine was delivered yesterday and the guy who brought it suggested I use it 3 times a day for 2 hours each time.
This is what the machine looks like. It slowly continuously bends and straightens my knee. I'm currently using it right now while i write this blog.
We will see how well it works. I hope it does the trick though, because I'm sick of forcing it at PT. It's sooo painful!
Besides the bending, my quad muscles are firing a lot easier now. Which is great! I was finally able to unlock my brace the other day and get around on my crutches with no problem. Usually my quad has a hard time firing so i'm not able to move my leg forward while I'm walking around on crutches. If i lock the brace I'm able to swing that leg forward by moving my hip. Because I can fire my quad now I don't need to swing my hip as much. It's awesome, plus it feels a lot looser being able to bend it a little bit while i walk.
I am desperately trying to get off my pain pills. I'm still taking percocet every six hours. The other day I actually forgot a dose and didn't realize it till two hours later. The pain i felt was tolerable. AWESOME...maybe i can come off my pills! Nope, i was wrong. The next day (a full 24 hours off pills) the pain became more intense. I just kept feeling sharp shooting pains on the inside of my knee. And for no reason; I wasn't bending it or even moving. I was just sitting on the couch. So i decided to take some meds again, and it took a full day for the pain to finally go away. It's annoying that once i feel pain, it doesn't go away right away- it takes a good 12 to 24 hours if I find myself past a tolerable pain level.
So I'm back on percocet. Yesterday evening i decided to cut down to half a percocet every six hours. SO far i'm doing ok. BUT it hasn't been a full 24 hours yet. I may get pretty painful later. We will see. I'm crossing my fingers for the best though, because I WANT TO GET OFF THESE PILLS! :-)
Thursday, April 4, 2013
Post #7 Pain meds
I have been taking two percocets every four hours since surgery, along with a few other pain pills and/or muscle relaxers when needed. Last Monday I was able to cut down to one percocet every four hours, and yesterday I decided to try cutting that one pill in half. I'd like to get off percocet for several reasons. One, I try to avoid taking any more medicine than i actually need, and with percocet being such a heavy duty drug I'd like to get it out of my system asap. Two, my surgery was done in a town an hour away from where i live. Since percocet is a schedule II drug the doc cannot write for refills, and they are not able to fax a new prescription to the pharmacy. If I run out I have to drive an hour south, pick up my pills or script, and drive an hour back home. Not only is that a long drive for a ten minute pick up of pills but that's also a long time for me to be in the car. Short car rides are ok but two hours in the car is a long time for a knee that still will not bend past 60 degrees. And three, I'm tired of waking up every four hours! Every time I'm in a deep sleep it seems like the alarm is going off again telling me to take a pill. I'm over it.
During the day a half a percocet pill was ok. But i woke up several times in pain through the night. I ended up taking a full percocet at 4 AM and continued that throughout the day. I think i was jumping the gun on cutting my pain meds. So I think I'll take a full pill for the rest of the week and maybe next week I can cut it down.
Today was day three of PT. Today was much better. Basically just worked on the bending again. Still very painful, but at least I wasn't in tears this time. Last time i bent it to 58 degrees, this time was only 53 degrees. Dang it, oh well. Still having issues on firing my quad muscle. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. Frustrating.
Well other than that, nothing else really to update on. Anything new on the road to walking again I will definitely update on. As of now I think it'll be a pretty slow process.
Monday, April 1, 2013
Post #6 First Post-op/Second PT appointment
I had my first post-op appointment today. Took a couple X-Rays and got my sutures out. Everything is looking good. I am able to finally take my ted stockings off and I don't need to keep a bandage on it. However, the Dr. said the ted stockings might be a good idea when I'm up walking around to reduce the swelling, but at home I'm fine having them off. Great news cuz those things were giving my leg a rash. Here are the X-Rays:
You can see my lovely screws in this picture, along with the two holes where they drilled through my leg to thread the ligament. What I thought was interesting is that the ligament is held by some hardware that will eventually dissolve. Dissolving hardware!? I've heard of dissolving sutures, but hardware? AWESOME!
And here is an X-Ray of my bent knees. It's taken from above so you can see how my kneecaps sit when my legs are bent. Notice the left one vs. the right. The right lines up great (after surgery), where the left one is still way off track. That's how my right one use to look. I'm amazed at the difference!
The Dr. gave me a paper to give to the DMV so I can get a HANDICAP PARKING PASS!! Oh my gosh. I feel like such a dork, being 24, and having a handicap parking pass. Not that I can drive anytime soon, but if i need to go to the store for something (which is still pretty rare at this point) I am completely winded as soon as I get inside the doors. Apparently I should of done a lot more push ups before surgery cuz a simple shopping trip for one or two things ends up being an hour long affair, and I'm really for a nap when I get home. So hopefully the pass will help.
Still on pretty heavy medication, Dr. wasn't surprised by this. I was concerned that I'm still taking percocet every four hours but he thought that was totally normal. All he says to me is "This surgery was a very major surgery, and you being in that much pain does not surprise me at all". I guess that's good to know I'm not just being a complete baby.
Normally I look forward to PT just because I like to see all the progression I've made. But after today, PT is officially off my list of places I have a good time going to. My appointments are 45 minutes long and within 20 minutes of my appointment I was in tears. Today we worked on bending, and my knee is so tight. I can barely get past 40 degrees but she pushed me to a point where it felt like my leg was going to either snap or dislocate. After i burst into tears we tried to bend it a different way, and after a few minutes of bending it that way I got to 55 degrees, but by 57 degrees I was in tears again. We progressed onto activating my quad muscles. She placed me on a machine that sends electrical signals to my muscles and I had to contract my quad every time the electrical signals would hit. It feels like tiny little sharp needles and after a high enough amp my muscle will contract. I then have to intensify this contracting by trying to raise my leg off the table.
That exercise went ok, but I was just so sore from the bending I didn't really care at that point. We did one more round of bending, it really hurt but at least I didn't burst into tears. We called it a day and I headed home. I am writing this blog two hours after my PT appointment and I am still in a high amount of pain. Within the last 24 hours I have been able to cut back and take half a percocet every four hours. After PT I have taken a full pill of percocet, and a full pill of oxi. I am also currently icing it and I'm elevating it. Still in a lot of pain, and any movement intensifies that pain.
So I'd say today is not my favorite of days. I'm just worn out and will probably go to bed tonight at eight. I'm just being a negative Nancy and feeling sorry for myself. I'm sure tomorrow will be better and I'll forget all about this pain. And I guess PT after any surgery is going to be painful, so I just need to suck it up.
Right now PT is very painful/frustrating. I'm one of those people who love working out with a trainer who tells you how long to do things for. I HATE having to tell people "I can't go any farther...I'm too tired/sore". So having to tell my PT "STOP I can't bend anymore" feels like a defeat to me. So maybe all of this is also a pride thing to me. Either way I know it HURT and HURT BAD. I have PT again this Thursday, hopefully that appointment goes a lot better.
I'll show how my leg looks after the sutures are out, and the amount of bruising I have 1 1/2 weeks after surgery.
IF YOU'RE SQUEAMISH YOU MAY NOT WANT TO SCROLL DOWN ;-)
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The Dr. gave me a paper to give to the DMV so I can get a HANDICAP PARKING PASS!! Oh my gosh. I feel like such a dork, being 24, and having a handicap parking pass. Not that I can drive anytime soon, but if i need to go to the store for something (which is still pretty rare at this point) I am completely winded as soon as I get inside the doors. Apparently I should of done a lot more push ups before surgery cuz a simple shopping trip for one or two things ends up being an hour long affair, and I'm really for a nap when I get home. So hopefully the pass will help.
Still on pretty heavy medication, Dr. wasn't surprised by this. I was concerned that I'm still taking percocet every four hours but he thought that was totally normal. All he says to me is "This surgery was a very major surgery, and you being in that much pain does not surprise me at all". I guess that's good to know I'm not just being a complete baby.
Normally I look forward to PT just because I like to see all the progression I've made. But after today, PT is officially off my list of places I have a good time going to. My appointments are 45 minutes long and within 20 minutes of my appointment I was in tears. Today we worked on bending, and my knee is so tight. I can barely get past 40 degrees but she pushed me to a point where it felt like my leg was going to either snap or dislocate. After i burst into tears we tried to bend it a different way, and after a few minutes of bending it that way I got to 55 degrees, but by 57 degrees I was in tears again. We progressed onto activating my quad muscles. She placed me on a machine that sends electrical signals to my muscles and I had to contract my quad every time the electrical signals would hit. It feels like tiny little sharp needles and after a high enough amp my muscle will contract. I then have to intensify this contracting by trying to raise my leg off the table.
That exercise went ok, but I was just so sore from the bending I didn't really care at that point. We did one more round of bending, it really hurt but at least I didn't burst into tears. We called it a day and I headed home. I am writing this blog two hours after my PT appointment and I am still in a high amount of pain. Within the last 24 hours I have been able to cut back and take half a percocet every four hours. After PT I have taken a full pill of percocet, and a full pill of oxi. I am also currently icing it and I'm elevating it. Still in a lot of pain, and any movement intensifies that pain.
So I'd say today is not my favorite of days. I'm just worn out and will probably go to bed tonight at eight. I'm just being a negative Nancy and feeling sorry for myself. I'm sure tomorrow will be better and I'll forget all about this pain. And I guess PT after any surgery is going to be painful, so I just need to suck it up.
Right now PT is very painful/frustrating. I'm one of those people who love working out with a trainer who tells you how long to do things for. I HATE having to tell people "I can't go any farther...I'm too tired/sore". So having to tell my PT "STOP I can't bend anymore" feels like a defeat to me. So maybe all of this is also a pride thing to me. Either way I know it HURT and HURT BAD. I have PT again this Thursday, hopefully that appointment goes a lot better.
I'll show how my leg looks after the sutures are out, and the amount of bruising I have 1 1/2 weeks after surgery.
IF YOU'RE SQUEAMISH YOU MAY NOT WANT TO SCROLL DOWN ;-)
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Friday, March 29, 2013
post #5 Physical Therapy
Physical Therapy Day!!!!
I absolutely love my physical therapist. I worked with her months before surgery so I've known her for a little while now and she's just amazing. If a certain exercise hurts too much, she'll find a way to modify it. She doesn't make me push through loads of pain. It's great. Well it's my first day back and I'm nervous. I'm nervous just because my pain is all over the place.
Either way, PT day is here- let's give it a go! I am not able to raise my right leg at all on my own. I try really hard but it just lays there. I've been reading a few blogs from other people who have gone through this surgery and someone explained this feeling extremely well so i will quote her:
"They (PT exercises) seem really easy, but your quads shutdown in amazing speed after a surgery like mine as a protective mechanism for the knee joint. To understand what its like to use your quads about 1 week after MPFL reconstruction, here's a really simple example. Look up, and pick an object across the room from you. Now concentrate really hard on it, see if you can get it to levitate. Didn't get it? Try harder, focus! There, maybe, I think it moved for a millisecond! Its really like that. Once they start moving they start to remember, but take an hour off and they forget again."
Rachel from Peace Love & Knees wrote that on her blog. She explained it to a T! Here's her blog address if you'd like to read her blog also: http://www.peaceloveknees.com/
It really is the most frustrating thing. JUST MOVE ALREADY, LEG! It almost feels like dead weight just hanging off the right side of my body. But my physical therapist taught me a few exercises and by the time my appointment was over i was raising my right leg on my own! Ok, ok, it wasn't that high, maybe 10 inches off the ground. But dang it that's better than nothing! I was so excited. I had to use a six inch foam roll under my knee to be able to lift it that far, but at least my muscles were firing. If I lay my leg completely flat and try to raise it up nothing happens. Ok, i shouldn't say nothing, my leg will shake but that's about all the excitement i have. I guess having your knee bent and then raising it is a lot easier, so hopefully once i get that one down better, i'll be able to do the straight leg raise.
That is about all we did for PT that day. She massaged it and tried to move the fluid around in my leg since even with the ted hose, it is still pretty puffy.
That night i noticed a huge difference in my sleep, though. I was able to move around in bed a LOT easier. Usually i have to sit completely up in bed and try to move my leg an inch. Last night i was able to ever so slightly raise it up (i sleep with a pillow under that leg, so it's bent) and move it, so i could lay on a different hip. YAAA i slept sooooo good that night.
In the morning i was bouncing off the walls with excitement. Finally I'm seeing progression. Funny how the tiniest of movements can really make a girl happy. That morning my mom helped me with my exercises. I'm suppose to do them twice a day. Boy was it hard to raise my leg again. Rachel from Peace Love & Knees was right! If you don't use your quad muscle for an hour and then try to move it again, you're back to square one. However after a couple tries my quads remembered how to lift my leg and i was able to raise it much faster than i was at PT, but still only able to raise it about ten inches off the ground. I tried soooo hard at my exercises by the end my leg was shaking. I kept pushing through the shaking, but as the shaking increased, my raises decreased, so I figured i should rest.
A couple hours later the pain came back- and at full force. At first it was just a very sharp pain in the inner part of my knee. I was due for my pain medicine (which I am still taking every four hours...awesome...I was really hoping to be able to cut back at this point). Sometimes it takes a good hour for the pain medicine to kick in, so even though the pain was becoming more intense, i knew it had only been forty minutes since i took my percocet, so i just tried to take deep breaths in and out. Almost an hour after the pain had started my leg all of a sudden spasmed. And spasmed bad. My leg was almost off the couch it was so tight, and my toes were starting to tingle. I haven't had this much pain/spasm since my last night at the hospital. I screamed for my mom and brother to help me. My brother grabbed my polar cube which ices my knee, and my mom started to massage my leg. I popped a muscle relaxant and tried to relax though the massage.
After awhile my spasms relaxed and my mom was able to stop massaging my leg. Gosh i was back to a pain of 12 (the pain scale: 0 being no pain, 10 being the worst you've ever had). I've had to pop a few more pain pills than I've been having to take the last couple days and I'm still pretty painful. I skipped my second round of exercises tonight since the inner part of my knee is painful whenever i move. My excitement for the day was squashed. Another set back i guess. I'm just frustrated because one minute I'm doing good and i think I'm starting to climb up this hill, next minute I'm sliding back down to the bottom.
I need to look on the bright side and just know things are getting better even though i sometimes feel i take one step forward and one step/one crutch back (HA, get it? Cuz i'm using crutches to get around!).
Hopefully tomorrow will be a better day. It's suppose to be 72 degrees tomorrow! And in Oregon that means gardening day!! I really hope i feel better so my mom and i can go to the nursery tomorrow and pick up some pretty flowers.
I'm finally caught up on this blog so hopefully i can write this as things are happening, and not try to remember what happened days ago during my pain med haze!
I absolutely love my physical therapist. I worked with her months before surgery so I've known her for a little while now and she's just amazing. If a certain exercise hurts too much, she'll find a way to modify it. She doesn't make me push through loads of pain. It's great. Well it's my first day back and I'm nervous. I'm nervous just because my pain is all over the place.
Either way, PT day is here- let's give it a go! I am not able to raise my right leg at all on my own. I try really hard but it just lays there. I've been reading a few blogs from other people who have gone through this surgery and someone explained this feeling extremely well so i will quote her:
"They (PT exercises) seem really easy, but your quads shutdown in amazing speed after a surgery like mine as a protective mechanism for the knee joint. To understand what its like to use your quads about 1 week after MPFL reconstruction, here's a really simple example. Look up, and pick an object across the room from you. Now concentrate really hard on it, see if you can get it to levitate. Didn't get it? Try harder, focus! There, maybe, I think it moved for a millisecond! Its really like that. Once they start moving they start to remember, but take an hour off and they forget again."
Rachel from Peace Love & Knees wrote that on her blog. She explained it to a T! Here's her blog address if you'd like to read her blog also: http://www.peaceloveknees.com/
It really is the most frustrating thing. JUST MOVE ALREADY, LEG! It almost feels like dead weight just hanging off the right side of my body. But my physical therapist taught me a few exercises and by the time my appointment was over i was raising my right leg on my own! Ok, ok, it wasn't that high, maybe 10 inches off the ground. But dang it that's better than nothing! I was so excited. I had to use a six inch foam roll under my knee to be able to lift it that far, but at least my muscles were firing. If I lay my leg completely flat and try to raise it up nothing happens. Ok, i shouldn't say nothing, my leg will shake but that's about all the excitement i have. I guess having your knee bent and then raising it is a lot easier, so hopefully once i get that one down better, i'll be able to do the straight leg raise.
That is about all we did for PT that day. She massaged it and tried to move the fluid around in my leg since even with the ted hose, it is still pretty puffy.
The exercises she gave me after my first PT visit. Sounds easy huh!?
That night i noticed a huge difference in my sleep, though. I was able to move around in bed a LOT easier. Usually i have to sit completely up in bed and try to move my leg an inch. Last night i was able to ever so slightly raise it up (i sleep with a pillow under that leg, so it's bent) and move it, so i could lay on a different hip. YAAA i slept sooooo good that night.
In the morning i was bouncing off the walls with excitement. Finally I'm seeing progression. Funny how the tiniest of movements can really make a girl happy. That morning my mom helped me with my exercises. I'm suppose to do them twice a day. Boy was it hard to raise my leg again. Rachel from Peace Love & Knees was right! If you don't use your quad muscle for an hour and then try to move it again, you're back to square one. However after a couple tries my quads remembered how to lift my leg and i was able to raise it much faster than i was at PT, but still only able to raise it about ten inches off the ground. I tried soooo hard at my exercises by the end my leg was shaking. I kept pushing through the shaking, but as the shaking increased, my raises decreased, so I figured i should rest.
A couple hours later the pain came back- and at full force. At first it was just a very sharp pain in the inner part of my knee. I was due for my pain medicine (which I am still taking every four hours...awesome...I was really hoping to be able to cut back at this point). Sometimes it takes a good hour for the pain medicine to kick in, so even though the pain was becoming more intense, i knew it had only been forty minutes since i took my percocet, so i just tried to take deep breaths in and out. Almost an hour after the pain had started my leg all of a sudden spasmed. And spasmed bad. My leg was almost off the couch it was so tight, and my toes were starting to tingle. I haven't had this much pain/spasm since my last night at the hospital. I screamed for my mom and brother to help me. My brother grabbed my polar cube which ices my knee, and my mom started to massage my leg. I popped a muscle relaxant and tried to relax though the massage.
(Sometimes this is how i feel. A big crying baby)
After awhile my spasms relaxed and my mom was able to stop massaging my leg. Gosh i was back to a pain of 12 (the pain scale: 0 being no pain, 10 being the worst you've ever had). I've had to pop a few more pain pills than I've been having to take the last couple days and I'm still pretty painful. I skipped my second round of exercises tonight since the inner part of my knee is painful whenever i move. My excitement for the day was squashed. Another set back i guess. I'm just frustrated because one minute I'm doing good and i think I'm starting to climb up this hill, next minute I'm sliding back down to the bottom.
I need to look on the bright side and just know things are getting better even though i sometimes feel i take one step forward and one step/one crutch back (HA, get it? Cuz i'm using crutches to get around!).
Hopefully tomorrow will be a better day. It's suppose to be 72 degrees tomorrow! And in Oregon that means gardening day!! I really hope i feel better so my mom and i can go to the nursery tomorrow and pick up some pretty flowers.
I'm finally caught up on this blog so hopefully i can write this as things are happening, and not try to remember what happened days ago during my pain med haze!
Post #4 A few resources
Here's a few resources that helped me understand my surgery better
- A fast read
- A great short and to the point video
- Several videos about all kinds of knee surgeries. The MPFL (last two at the bottom) are the videos that pertain to me
Post #3 First couple days at home
So I live alone. My Dad is retired and my Mom works fairly close to home (about a five minute drive away). So i decided to stay the first week with them.
*I'm trying to catch up on this blog. I'm currently writing this nine days after my surgery date, so I've been at my parents' house for 6 and a 1/2 days now since leaving the hospital.
I have my good hours and my bad. For the most part i know my pain level is slowly decreasing. But every now and then I experience a lot of pain. For instance I have a walker and crutches at home. My bathroom is about 25 FT from the couch I am chained to (that's a joke, but since being home this couch has been where I spent the majority of my time). The first couple days all I did was sleep on this couch and hobble to that bathroom. Exciting, huh? Anyway, on the way to the bathroom and back I've caught my foot a couple times on the carpet. Talk about pain. As soon as i catch my toes i get this sharp shooting pain on the inner part of my leg, where the donor ligament was placed. Again once i instantly get to a pain level where it takes a bit of time before it slowly fades away. You probably won't believe me, but i honestly don't cry very much. I think i have a pretty high pain tolerance. But let me tell ya, catching my toe on the carpet will send me into a stream of tears. Maybe my pain tolerance isn't that high. Maybe I am a big baby. I just figured with how many times my knees have dislocated, I knew what pain was. Guess not. Ha, oh well call me a baby, you may be right! :-)
My parents live in a two story house. The first couple of nights i stayed downstairs and slept on the couch, but by the third night i wanted to try a bed. The stairs are definitely a challenge. The first couple nights went fine, but a couple days ago the muscles in my leg kept tightening up as i went up each step and by the time i got to the top i was in extreme pain again. I had tears just flowing down all over again. That was a rough night.
Showers are also a challenge but i think we found a pretty good technique. My mom puts a step stool in the tub and lays a couple of towels down. One for the stool to be on (so it doesn't slip) and one for me to sit on. We take a hand towel and wrap it around my leg, just above my brace to soak up any drips. We duct tape that towel as tight as i can stand it. We then placed a garbage bag around my whole leg and duck tape that right above the towel. This seems to work pretty well. I've only gotten water in the bag once. I sit on the side of the tub and my mom swings my leg into the tub as i scoot over to the stool. A hand held shower head really helps with all of this, too.
The other day my tail bone was hurting. Found out in the morning i have a pressure sore on it. Thank goodness it's small and i caught it soon, but just one more sore spot on my body.
*I'm trying to catch up on this blog. I'm currently writing this nine days after my surgery date, so I've been at my parents' house for 6 and a 1/2 days now since leaving the hospital.
I have my good hours and my bad. For the most part i know my pain level is slowly decreasing. But every now and then I experience a lot of pain. For instance I have a walker and crutches at home. My bathroom is about 25 FT from the couch I am chained to (that's a joke, but since being home this couch has been where I spent the majority of my time). The first couple days all I did was sleep on this couch and hobble to that bathroom. Exciting, huh? Anyway, on the way to the bathroom and back I've caught my foot a couple times on the carpet. Talk about pain. As soon as i catch my toes i get this sharp shooting pain on the inner part of my leg, where the donor ligament was placed. Again once i instantly get to a pain level where it takes a bit of time before it slowly fades away. You probably won't believe me, but i honestly don't cry very much. I think i have a pretty high pain tolerance. But let me tell ya, catching my toe on the carpet will send me into a stream of tears. Maybe my pain tolerance isn't that high. Maybe I am a big baby. I just figured with how many times my knees have dislocated, I knew what pain was. Guess not. Ha, oh well call me a baby, you may be right! :-)
Lets take a little break from the blog to look at pictures! :-) I have to change my bandages every day for seven days until i see my doctor for my first post op visit.
First day at home changing my bandages. How my knee looks with the ted hose and the brace off.
How my knee looks with all the bandages off. I believe this is post op day # 3 or 4. Here's another angle:
And now back to what i was rambling on about before:
My parents live in a two story house. The first couple of nights i stayed downstairs and slept on the couch, but by the third night i wanted to try a bed. The stairs are definitely a challenge. The first couple nights went fine, but a couple days ago the muscles in my leg kept tightening up as i went up each step and by the time i got to the top i was in extreme pain again. I had tears just flowing down all over again. That was a rough night.
Showers are also a challenge but i think we found a pretty good technique. My mom puts a step stool in the tub and lays a couple of towels down. One for the stool to be on (so it doesn't slip) and one for me to sit on. We take a hand towel and wrap it around my leg, just above my brace to soak up any drips. We duct tape that towel as tight as i can stand it. We then placed a garbage bag around my whole leg and duck tape that right above the towel. This seems to work pretty well. I've only gotten water in the bag once. I sit on the side of the tub and my mom swings my leg into the tub as i scoot over to the stool. A hand held shower head really helps with all of this, too.
The other day my tail bone was hurting. Found out in the morning i have a pressure sore on it. Thank goodness it's small and i caught it soon, but just one more sore spot on my body.
Post #2 Day of surgery/Hospital stay
March 20th, 21st, 22nd 2013
Surgery Day/ My two night stay in the hospital
Well it's surgery day. Today I will be having two surgeries on my right knee. The MPFL reconstruction, which is where I have a cadaver ligament placed on the inside of my knee. My own ligament has been stretched from all the numerous dislocations and honestly does not hold my knee cap in place at all anymore. Its basically just hanging out in my body, not doing its job! And the second surgery I am having is the Tibial tubercle fulkerson osteotomy. This is where they will break my shin bone (tibia) and slide it over so that the ligament attached to that bone is straight and not being pulled to one side. Right now my ligament is not straight and it is pulling my patella to the outside, so any slight twisting to my knee causes my patella to pop right out. Stupid knees, everything else in my body is doing it's job.
The anesthesiologist gave me the option of having a nerve block or not. Heck I didn't know. I've never had a surgery like this before. I figured if my doctor ordered it he had good reason. So I got the nerve block. When i hear nerve block i think: CRAP THIS IS GOING TO HURT GOING IN. Talk about a piece of cake. My nerves slightly "fluttered" a couple times but that was it. The needle was so tiny i didn't even feel it going in.
After the nerve block was placed i was on my way to surgery. My surgery took about three hours and i woke up in the surgery room. They wheeled me into the recovery room and pain was pretty bearable. Although i was still pretty doped up, a couple fentanyl hits fixed any pain i had. The pain was more related to pressure. It felt like there was a lot of pressure on my kneecap and every now and then there was a sharp pain in my inner knee (hence where the fentanyl came in).
After sitting in the recovery room for almost three hours (they didn't have a room for me, i only needed to be there for an hour), they wheeled me away to my room. Funny side story, the person who wheeled me up to my hospital room was someone i had a couple college classes with. It was nice to catch up, although i was still pretty loopy.
When i got to my room my parents were there to meet me. I was amazed by how little pain i felt. Heck if this is all there is to it, I'm kicking myself for not doing it years before (little did i know PAIN was soon to come). I took a small amount of pain meds every four hours but for the most part due to the block, my thigh and knee were both numb completely. I could feel my foot and move it, however it felt like my foot was just asleep. You know that tingling feeling you get after sleeping on your arm or leg wrong? The anethesiologist warned me that a large part of the nerve block would start to wear off by that night. When they said "wear off" i assumed they meant as the nerve block wore off my pain would slowly start to increase. Boy was i wrong. At 1AM my nerve block started to wear off, and my pain rocketed from a 5 to a 12 on the pain scale. I've never felt that kind of pain before. I woke up crying, and once at that pain level it took about two hours to come back down. I was not expecting that. I honestly thought my pain would slowly increase from 5 to maybe 8, then 8 to maybe 10; but not from 5 to 12 almost instantly.
The nurse i had that night was not very helpful either, so maybe if i'd had someone better, it would have been more manageable. Either way that was a bad, bad night. I finally fell asleep around 5AM and woke up again at 7AM with a lot of pain. Not nearly as bad as the night befor,e but i would say maybe an 8 on the pain scale. I asked the CNA to help me to the bedside commode. I instructed her to lift my leg a certain way and that she could not drop my leg down. She however did not follow through with instructions well, and by the time i got back into bed i was in severe pain again. She had dropped my leg twice, and by the second time i lost it; tears just poured from my eyes. I spent the majority of that morning trying to catch up on my pain. Anyone who has dealt with extreme pain might know that catching up to and overcoming pain is MUCH harder than maintaining pain. By afternoon i was doing better, but i decided to stay one more night just to make sure my pain was under control. And boy am i glad i did...again that evening i found myself going from a pain level of 7 to well over 10...again. My leg muscles spasmed so bad my leg almost levitated off the bed. The good thing was that the RN i had that night was amazing! He explained to me that my pain medicine would not take effect until my muscles stopped spasming. Understanding this helped- I believed him since my muscles were so tight, my foot/toes were tingling. After several hours of pain, thankfully we finally started to get the pain back under control.
I don't like taking more medicine than i have to since I tend to get sick with pain medicine. However after my two experiences with extreme pain i learned that it's better to stay on top of your medicine (at least for the first couple days/first week), than to bravely try and take the bare minimum meds. Once you get to that pain level it takes an hour or two to get back down to a tolerable level. A hard lesson learned!
Pain was my biggest obstacle in the hospital. The physical therapist worked with me only a couple hours after surgery. He bent my knee and i took two steps with the walker. By the next day i was using crutches and trying the stairs. It was a very slow walk, but it was a walk, i was so excited! I'm only allowed to do toe touches/ten pounds of weight on my right leg. So with crutches i basically just touch the ground with my right foot to gain a slight amount of balance.
Well this is a long post, so i think i'll jot down key points (don't laugh) of this post so people who are reading my blog for insight on their future surgery don't have to read this WHOLE blog, HA!
Key Points:
Surgery Day/ My two night stay in the hospital
Well it's surgery day. Today I will be having two surgeries on my right knee. The MPFL reconstruction, which is where I have a cadaver ligament placed on the inside of my knee. My own ligament has been stretched from all the numerous dislocations and honestly does not hold my knee cap in place at all anymore. Its basically just hanging out in my body, not doing its job! And the second surgery I am having is the Tibial tubercle fulkerson osteotomy. This is where they will break my shin bone (tibia) and slide it over so that the ligament attached to that bone is straight and not being pulled to one side. Right now my ligament is not straight and it is pulling my patella to the outside, so any slight twisting to my knee causes my patella to pop right out. Stupid knees, everything else in my body is doing it's job.
The anesthesiologist gave me the option of having a nerve block or not. Heck I didn't know. I've never had a surgery like this before. I figured if my doctor ordered it he had good reason. So I got the nerve block. When i hear nerve block i think: CRAP THIS IS GOING TO HURT GOING IN. Talk about a piece of cake. My nerves slightly "fluttered" a couple times but that was it. The needle was so tiny i didn't even feel it going in.
After the nerve block was placed i was on my way to surgery. My surgery took about three hours and i woke up in the surgery room. They wheeled me into the recovery room and pain was pretty bearable. Although i was still pretty doped up, a couple fentanyl hits fixed any pain i had. The pain was more related to pressure. It felt like there was a lot of pressure on my kneecap and every now and then there was a sharp pain in my inner knee (hence where the fentanyl came in).
After sitting in the recovery room for almost three hours (they didn't have a room for me, i only needed to be there for an hour), they wheeled me away to my room. Funny side story, the person who wheeled me up to my hospital room was someone i had a couple college classes with. It was nice to catch up, although i was still pretty loopy.
When i got to my room my parents were there to meet me. I was amazed by how little pain i felt. Heck if this is all there is to it, I'm kicking myself for not doing it years before (little did i know PAIN was soon to come). I took a small amount of pain meds every four hours but for the most part due to the block, my thigh and knee were both numb completely. I could feel my foot and move it, however it felt like my foot was just asleep. You know that tingling feeling you get after sleeping on your arm or leg wrong? The anethesiologist warned me that a large part of the nerve block would start to wear off by that night. When they said "wear off" i assumed they meant as the nerve block wore off my pain would slowly start to increase. Boy was i wrong. At 1AM my nerve block started to wear off, and my pain rocketed from a 5 to a 12 on the pain scale. I've never felt that kind of pain before. I woke up crying, and once at that pain level it took about two hours to come back down. I was not expecting that. I honestly thought my pain would slowly increase from 5 to maybe 8, then 8 to maybe 10; but not from 5 to 12 almost instantly.
The nurse i had that night was not very helpful either, so maybe if i'd had someone better, it would have been more manageable. Either way that was a bad, bad night. I finally fell asleep around 5AM and woke up again at 7AM with a lot of pain. Not nearly as bad as the night befor,e but i would say maybe an 8 on the pain scale. I asked the CNA to help me to the bedside commode. I instructed her to lift my leg a certain way and that she could not drop my leg down. She however did not follow through with instructions well, and by the time i got back into bed i was in severe pain again. She had dropped my leg twice, and by the second time i lost it; tears just poured from my eyes. I spent the majority of that morning trying to catch up on my pain. Anyone who has dealt with extreme pain might know that catching up to and overcoming pain is MUCH harder than maintaining pain. By afternoon i was doing better, but i decided to stay one more night just to make sure my pain was under control. And boy am i glad i did...again that evening i found myself going from a pain level of 7 to well over 10...again. My leg muscles spasmed so bad my leg almost levitated off the bed. The good thing was that the RN i had that night was amazing! He explained to me that my pain medicine would not take effect until my muscles stopped spasming. Understanding this helped- I believed him since my muscles were so tight, my foot/toes were tingling. After several hours of pain, thankfully we finally started to get the pain back under control.
I don't like taking more medicine than i have to since I tend to get sick with pain medicine. However after my two experiences with extreme pain i learned that it's better to stay on top of your medicine (at least for the first couple days/first week), than to bravely try and take the bare minimum meds. Once you get to that pain level it takes an hour or two to get back down to a tolerable level. A hard lesson learned!
Pain was my biggest obstacle in the hospital. The physical therapist worked with me only a couple hours after surgery. He bent my knee and i took two steps with the walker. By the next day i was using crutches and trying the stairs. It was a very slow walk, but it was a walk, i was so excited! I'm only allowed to do toe touches/ten pounds of weight on my right leg. So with crutches i basically just touch the ground with my right foot to gain a slight amount of balance.
Well this is a long post, so i think i'll jot down key points (don't laugh) of this post so people who are reading my blog for insight on their future surgery don't have to read this WHOLE blog, HA!
Key Points:
- Placement of nerve block was a piece of cake, didn't hurt at all
- Directly after surgery = very little pain...or maybe i should say pain was tolerable
- Once nerve block STARTS to wear off pain level will jump to extreme pain (if you do not "stay up" on pain pills- literally- watch the clock!)
- If you do get a nerve block, i suggest taking all the pain medicine you are allowed, even if you are not in much pain, so once it wears off pain will not hit as hard as it hit me
- Physical therapy worked with me just hours after surgery, he bent my knee and i took two steps with a walker
- I ended up staying two nights in the hospital due to pain control, if you stay absolutely current with your pain meds i would expect one night in the hospital might be enough for you
Tuesday, March 26, 2013
Post #1 What is wrong with my knees?!
Bare with me during this blog. I am currently 6 days out of a two-procedure surgery: Tibial Tubercle Fulkerson Osteotomy and MPFL reconstruction with a donor ligament on my right knee- and still on quite a lot of pain meds. And let's not lie, I am not the best at writing. Hence why I went down the medical path in college. HAHA!
I wanted to write this blog for several reasons. 1) Before surgery I had a hard time finding information about my surgery, 2) I will be having this surgery again on my other knee, and I may want a reminder of everything I felt, 3) To keep myself busy. I'm pretty bored sitting on the couch all day, waiting for my body to heal.
Maybe someone else considering this surgery will find my blog helpful, since like i wrote before i found little to nothing about the whole procedure/what to expect. I'll start out by explaining what my knees do: since sixth grade (I am now 24 years old), my knee caps (the patella) dislocate to the outside of my knee. They used to dislocate while playing sports and would relocate back into place on their own. As the years went on, there was little reason as to why they would dislocate. Sometimes during my attempt to sit in a chair they would dislocate. By this point rather than relocating on their own, they would get "stuck", and i would have to ask someone to rise my leg to relocate the knee cap back into place (since i could not raise them on my own when dislocated). Both knees had this issue. I have done physical therapy several different times and have been to numerous doctors, most referring me to physical therapy which was only a help, but not a fix, to the problem. Occasionally PT would actually hurt them more.
Along with the dislocating patella, I limp. Sometimes my knees just plain hurt, even if it has been some time since last dislocating. I don't know why they hurt, they just do. Usually when i limp i don't even realize i'm limping, i'm just used to it. But other people point it out to me.
Within the last year or two the pain has gotten worst. With my line of work I'm on my feet for 12 hours, and typically walking around the majority of the twelve hours. After a week of work i am in a lot of pain. I can't play sports anymore, and i used to really enjoy playing basketball and tennis. Hiking is another passion of mine; however even though i still do it, i pay for it later, usually with a great deal of pain afterwards.
Last June my right knee dislocated to a point much farther than it has even done before, and it was pretty hard to get back into place. That dislocation landed me on crutches for a week, I've never had to be on crutches after a dislocation. This was a bad one. Every doctor has told me, once you dislocate it to a certain point it will always go to that point. With how bad that dislocation was, along with the increasing pain I've been having, i gave up "living with this" and went on another quest to find a doctor who might have a better solution.
Thanks to a great coworker it didn't take me long to find a doctor. She suggested someone several people in her family had gone to. I made an appointment for this doctor, who took one look at me and said "I cant help you". Awesome! Not what i wanted to hear. But he smiled and said he knew a better specialist in his orthopedic clinic who would be a great fit for me. And he was right, as soon as i met the this doc, he knew exactly what needed to happen- and was so confident, i felt confident. A couple months later i was on this journey to have a tibial tubercle osteotomy and MPFL replacement...or AKA: saw a nice big wedge out of my shin bone, slide it over and screw it down. Then add a cadaver ligament to the inside of my knee by drilling three holes in my knee, two all the way through to the other side. Sounds cool, right?
Here's a picture of the tibial tubercle osteotomy.
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