New things

Yesterday, I paid a visit to the lovely folks at Top Rehab. I could tell they missed me so much since I was the victim, I mean patient, of Andrea and Tracy. First, Andi, she likes it when I call her that, did leg measurements and strength tests. Two of the strength tests I failed miserably, I came to pt awake, for once and feeling strong.
That didn't last long, after the initial stretching of quads and hamstrings, I stood on one leg and did heel and toe raises, holding on of course. No need to do a faceplant in front of the children.
Then came the biggest loser moment, the "treadmill". Excuse me did you just at treadmill? Is that some new way of torture?
My mind was reeling, when was the last time I had been on a treadmill? I'm not sure. So I stare down my opponent, willing it to breakdown.
Did it work? Not exactly, after five minutes of begging I took off the drama queen crown and stepped on this new shiny piece of machinery.
With Andi by myside and Tracy snickering behind her desk, I made the first step.
Hey, wait a minute, this is just like walking!
My knees grew weak and my heart went into fibrillation as they messed witn the buttons. Can you walk just a little faster? Asked Andrea. So at 2.5 mph and 7% incline, I marched holding on for dear life.
They were kind enough to show me this carnival ride had a personal fan, just for me. Isn't that special? How about a personal defibrillator?
Five minutes later, I was freed from the beast. Feeling faint I wanted to take a knee but then I realized I can't squat down. So I powered on to the next exercise of what I don't remember, I was slightly hypoxic.
I almost forgot, I got the thrill of doing heel stool scoots. Did I just enter damnation? One lap around the gym and pray you stay on the stool after you run over your own foot.
More exercises are done, my reps are increased to twenty with a one pound weight. Not so bad, then Tracy tells me I must mount the ancient bicycle. Yes, I said mount. I limp over to ole "Rusty" and make the leap to the seat. Maybe I should tell them my real height is about three inches shorter. Oh well, five minutes later its off for wall slides and electroshock therapy.
Tracy, brought over my electrodes and placed them over the quad muscles. Then she delicately turned the machine on full blast, causing a surge of adrenaline only felt when hit by lightning.
I now layed quivering in the fetal position, listening to her thunderous roar of laughter, as she turned down the volts.
If my quad muscles weren't working before they are now.
Finally, I was released from captivity and hurried out the door before Tracy called United Regional to reserve me a death room. Oops! I said I wouldn't reveal the name. Its out now.
All in all I must say this weeks physical therapy session was hair raising to say the least.

Physical therapy day 3

It has been several days since my last post. I have had no internet, thanks to Verizon Wireless and their lack of towers. Once I figured out all I had to do was press 3 numbers, all was good. Maybe I should ask for a free month of services, since I had nearly week long internet withdrawals.
Last Tuesday was day 3 of p.t. Tracy Mason PTA, made it a very relaxed atmosphere, as we discussed the lack of competent doctors at a local hospital.No I will not say which one, as I may be in that town and have no choice but to go there. Gosh, I hope not!
We added a few new exercises, mini, let me say mini, squats, one legged stands, wall slides. I think that's all of them, I guess I will find out tomorrow, if I left any out.Everything is going well, I'm still having pain on the short arc quads, except at p.t. Don't you just love when that happens, You have a pain and it goes away around doctors and physical therapists? Oh well, it's still there, if you guys are reading this.
I must say, I fought with Tracy, over the mini squats. I hate those things, they hurt and take me back to high school and doing wall squats in phys. ed. Sure, I could do them, then, I had knee cartilage and I was built, if I do say so myself. Plus, p.t. gets a kick out of my arguing with them and not getting my way.
I noticed my balance seems better,. I am walking faster, which my sister's husband pointed out or maybe I was just trying to escape from their three screaming kids. Two pre-teens and a three year old fighting over the last blue Gatorade, is enough to make anyone run for their sanity.
Most of the stiffness and bruising is gone. The swelling is still there but my knee, looks like a knee again. My incision sites have healed well, they are still tender to touch. I am also tolerating the knee brace better. Yahoo! Sounds very much like a good week.

Stiffness

My knee was a little stiff today or I should say a lot. Waking up I had no pain, but that first step looked very much like an infant, I stumbled halfway across the room.I quickly grabbed my walker and pushed on towards the bathroom. After the first five steps, I walk somewhat normal. The swelling seems to have increased slightly but that's from being weight bearing. I'm continuing ice and elevation therapy, several times daily. The new knee brace is causing increased pain, to the point that I have kept it off most of the day. The problem is it pushes on the kneecap laterally to medially and since I had a lateral release, it's putting pressure on the cut. Also it goes across two of the incision spots which are still very tender.
I have been doing my physical therapy, twice daily religiously. The building up of quad muscles seems to be the most important muscle group to work on. I get through most of them with little pain, except the short arc quad. That's where I put a rolled up towel under my knee, hold a ball between my thighs (no illicit jokes will be made here), and raise my leg up. The pain is where my defect is but is increased since surgery. Not sure if this is normal or I should discontinue that exercise. I also have extreme weakness doing heal and toe raises. To the point I have to hold on to something. Last thing I need to do is end up in the floor, I would hate for the Calvary of twelve fire trucks and 2 ambulances and six police cars to show up. Since I know them all, youtube and Facebook would have mobile picture overload.
I had a very unexpected surprise today. My sister called and said she had somethings to drop off. Alright, I brace myself, one never knows what she has stumbled across. She is always on the lookout for a good deal, so I was excited. A few minutes later she walks in with wheelchair feet props, not the elevating kind, but props none the less and a potty chair. Never had I been so excited to see those three items.
She had been to her inlaws and mentioned my predicament and it just so happened a certain organization with secrets supply these items to folks in situations such as myself.
I am truly grateful for their generosity and my sisters desire for good deals.

Zombie Walking

Today's post-op visit was unremarkable. I basically drove a hour and twenty minutes, to have my stitches removed. Which I could have performed at home, oops! Maybe I shouldn't say that? My appointment was at 1340, yes I use military time, I've been doing that for ten years and see no reason to stop, for those of you wondering, if you just add twelve to whatever time it is, say 1 o'clock, you get 1300. Anyway, I borrowed my sisters SUV, due to not being able to fit in mine wearing the ROM brace. A big bulky exoskeleton, that extends from hip to ankle, combine that with a Ted stocking and crutches and that's what I call a party!
The parking lot at Vanderbilt Bone and Joint Clinic is all uphill, not very smart considering most patients coming there are crippled. The three handicapped spots were taken, so the only thing left for Loo, was the top of the hill were patients are loaded and unloaded. Before you go all bluehair on me, I went alone, sister is still recovering from sinus surgery and I was on crutches, so there!
I made it inside without incident and waited 40 minutes to be called back. It wasn't a bad wait, I found an empty couch to sit and prop my leg in and started my observations.
Waiting rooms aren't the best places for medical personnel. A people watcher by nature, I analyze the reasons for peoples injuries. Like, she was probably doing a herkey and tore her menisci or his midlife crisis motorcycle was just a bit to heavy for him to hold up. I look at all the braces and grimaces each person has and for just a moment I wonder why I'm here, until that pain rips through my knee.
I don't have an incredible story about how I injured my knee. It remains a mystery as to what caused the problems but let me just say lifting 300 plus pound patients 24 hours a day couldn't have helped.
Back to the visit, I was lead to a room about a quarter of a mile from the waiting room. Huffing and puffing I made it to my chair with cyanotic lips. Where I deblinged and waited for the stitch removal. Five minutes later, six stitches gone, steri strips placed and Dr Looney was twisting my knee around.
Everything looked great, still swelling from the lateral release, bruising minimal. I am off the crutches and out of the brace and stocking until the next surgery anyway. I do have to wear a knee-o-tracker, which is a small brace that wraps around the patella (kneecap)to keep it tracking correctly. Since that was a problem before and the reason for the lateral release. I now walk like a Zombie, arms outstretched and legs wildly taking whatever path they choose. Not as controlled as a mummy, its worse after I have been sitting awhile and my knee has gotten stiff. As my pal, Chuck says Zombies Don't Run, that is true in my case. Hopefully, physical therapy will strengthen up my leg before June.
I have another appointment to see Dr Looney in three weeks to discuss the ACI procedure and do pre-op stuff.
I have lists of questions to ask, two of which are how many people do I need to change my bedpan and how good are the pain meds? If any of you have been through this, I welcome comments and any questions.

This just in

This just in, I received a call from Dan Gates, of Vanderbilt Bone & Joint Clinic, to schedule the third surgery. It is scheduled for June 8th. Five weeks after the lateral release and chondrocyte biopsy. The third surgery is the autologous chondrocyte implantation (ACI). That is were they, implant new cartilage onto my defect, from my own chondrocytes grown in a lab. Dr. Looney will also do a tibial osteotomy to release pressure off the implanted patch. From what I hear, seems to be the most painful part of the procedure. Sounds all very complex to me, its actually the same surgery Olympic swimmer, Dara Torres had or so I have read.
I have read over the procedure many times online and concluded that its going to be a long and difficult journey. Especially, for someone who lives alone, being non-weight bearing for a month brings up many limits to daily activities of daily living situations. Of course, I may not be living alone then, due to money situation, the folks may have to clean out a room for me. They live a ways away and I have no cellphone service there, so its really impractical for me. Tomorrow is my post-op appointment with Dr. Looney. I'm really excited to get the six stitches out and maybe off the crutches and ditch the range of motion brace. I have a feeling I may get to wean off the crutches but have to keep the brace on. Maybe, he will unlock it, as its locked at 0 degrees.
I'm used to the brace, I wore it for 3 months with the microfracture, but these hip high Ted stockings, have got to go!I have performed partial elasticectomies on most pairs and that seems to help. It doesn't matter if they just got to the knee, they are still aggravating. Sometimes, I get the urge to go all hulk and rip them off my leg but then I remember why I wear them. A Ted stocking is to prevent a thrombus(bloodclot) from becoming an embolus(moving clot).
After surgery the potential for an embolism increases, and in most cases is deadly. Now with all the procedures performed and actual patients, having an emboli is small.
Now I'm going to write down questions to ask, Dr Looney tomorrow. If anyone has any suggestions feel free to post.

Physical Therapy

Yesterday was my second physical therapy (pt) appointment. I had Andrea Turner, as my therapist at Top Rehab Services. She is extremely nice and helpful and our personalities click. Something that works for me as I like to joke and harass the therapists. Did I say harass? I meant encourage them to keep up the good work. It went very well as my knee wasn't as stiff as I expected. I had been doing quad sets, ankle pumps, and heel slides since the day shyer surgery. I did more of those, along with knee cap mobilization, straight leg raises and about 10 other exercises. I almost forgot, I did 5 minutes on a bike without resistance. After we suffered through all that, it was time for the real pain. What I like to call electro shock therapy. Its a small device that sends electric currents to your muscles via electrodes applied to various parts of your leg. It causes a contraction of these muscles, in which I must hold a ball between my knees and raise my left leg.
Now at the level I would like the device set, would have been no pain, for it would have been off. But Andrea, being the dedicated professional she is, insisted on setting it to her liking. Therfore, resulting in 15 minutes of teeth clinching and perhaps other things.
Now to say that Andrea, wasn't gracious would be lying. I showed up 15 minutes late because I didn't calculate how much longer a sponge bath takes, and not a word was said. Maybe they were hoping I wouldn't show?
Why am I still taking sponge baths? Well I thought I had a deal and someone was going to give me a shower chair but they flaked and I'm broke, so buying one is out of the question and I almost broke my neck standing on one leg. So for now its a good ole whore, I mean sponge bath.
Physical Therapy wasn't all I had up my sleeve. I was feeling good so I attended my nieces softball game. Big mistake!I could never get comfortable on the bleachers, plus it felt like walking a mile on crutches. I finally hobbled back to the car, where I nearly fell from exhaustion.
Once I made it back home, I took off the brace and Ted stocking, only to reveal a hugely swollen knee with many aches. Great, goes right along with the pains in my arms and chest from using crutches.
I immediately iced it down and woke up with slight swelling other than normal post-operatively. Oh yes, my niece and her team won 13-4. So my advice would be to take it easy, especially, after pt.

so far

So far I have had very little pain, after left knee lateral release with chondrocyte biopsy. I am so happy and impressed, after the microfracture I had extreme pain and lack of energy. I have been staying with my folks for a couple of days, for Mothers Day and just support. I am a single woman and I didn't want to be in misery alone. Ha!
My swelling was huge the first day but with ice and elevation it has came down a lot. The most aggravating part is the hip high Ted stocking and brace, of course the crutches aren't fun either. My entire upper torso including my cheeks are sore from the crutches maybe I should take it easier?
I have 3 incisions with stitches with minimal bruising. I have some soreness up my hip but nothing to take a pill over. I ventured out to the grocery store with mama yesterday to enjoy a ride on the crip scooter. Thankfully, I had no runins with any vicious bluehairs. I took a full shower today and got almost all of the betadine out of the nooks and crannies.
I am so much more optimistic after this surgery of course I know the difficult one will be next.