Anyway, good news for me! The x-rays came out normal, which means that so far I'm healing just fine :) He took out the sutures on the skin and put some sterilization tape over the wounds, which will come off on their own. With the dressing gone, it's a lot easier to lift my leg, and do my exercises. I can start weaning off the pain meds later this week too, and I start physical therapy tomorrow- so much going on! Here are some of the less *icky* pictures from my orthroscopy. I will include some of the more gruesome kind at the bottom of the page (below a large gap) so that nobody *has* to see them, but the option is there.
As you can see, I've got some signs of early arthritis in the cartilage from all the dislocations (hard to see but there are lines and flaps), but the Dr. has assured me that he's seen much worse, and that I'm not really in the danger zone for that progressing to an unmanageable point anytime soon, given that ideally my kneecap is now going to be very difficult to dislocate. There are also two GIANT screws in the top of my shin. Those will stay in there unless I'm showing signs that the tibia may stress fracture at those points; people used to have to get them removed after a while, but I suppose thanks to modern medicine that's no longer necessary.
Tumbly Troubles
For those of you who know how weak my stomach is, this won't be much of a shocker to find out, but I'll say it anyway. The combination of the pain and the meds is wreaking havoc on my stomach. The doctor only prescribed enough of the anti-nausea meds to get me through the first few days after the surgery, and the insurance isn't covering any refills until the 20th. We sprung for one of my refills out of pocket, and are almost completely through that already. Hoping that I'll be able to wean down my narcotics dosage to an every 6 hours basis soon, so that my stomach isnt in constant distress for too much longer.
Speaking of my narcotics dosages...
Omg. We were doing 2 every 4 hours, which worked insanely well for the first 20 hours... then the nerve blocks wore off, and I feel like the pain I was in before the operation is pleasant by comparison. We had to vary the dosage a lot to get any coverage at all, but eventually decided to go with 1 every two hours rather than two every 4. We tried many dosages in between at both 4 and 6 hour intervals, but the medication just isnt lasting long enough. The lower dose doesnt have as strong relief, but at least it pretty much gets me from pill to pill.
I'm doing my best to hold out between doses for as long as I can, and today we seem to be up to about 2.5 hours, which is still a ways from where I want to be, but bearable. I'll get there :)
Exercises
There are a variety of strengthening exercises that are currently the bane of my existence. Some are doable in a way that doesn't leave me in tears, like bridging my knee to stretch the hamstring, or pumping my ankles up and down to activate the calves. Some leave me screaming or crying without fail; such as bending my knee to 30 degrees and straightening it out, or doing a straight leg lift to activate the quad. Those both really hit the top of my shin and inside of my knee, where the incisions are. I'm getting better at them with every set, but running into issues getting through all my sets due to the pain. It seems like I'm typically handling the pain really well up until the knee bends, and the exercises for the rest of the day hurt worse once the first round of knee bends are done.
My Brace
My knee brace is a complicated wonder. There are like 5 ways to fasten each of the 4 straps; it's been off twice since the surgery. Once for when they took off the dressing, and once today while I cleaned and iced the leg directly. The nurse said I'll be a pro at it within the week, but it's difficult. Kinda funny, but I almost feel naked without the brace, and it's been exactly a week (hard to believe- it went by in such a drugged up haze).
The brace has two controls on it; one for the number of degrees it's bent in the locking position (mine will stay at 0), and one for the number of degrees it allows the knee to bend in the unlocked position. This is going to be set to 30 for the first 6 weeks, and on November 18, the doctor will increase it to 60. It also has markings on the side, so I can see how far I'm bending it at any given point in time. Right now, the only time I'm allowed to unlock it is when doing my recovery exercises, or getting in/out of a car/shower/whatever else you need to bend the knee slightly to accomplish. I won't be allowed to walk without it set to locked for several weeks.
Again, thank you all for your continued well-wishes, love and support. It was wonderful getting flowers from the lovely Virginia, and having my Grandmother and Dad finally come visit me in San Francisco. And of course, my trooper boyfriend whom I could not do this without <3
WARNING: ICKY PICTURES BELOW-- NOT FOR THE SQUEAMISH D:
Here is when the leg was open, and they pyt the screws in at the top of my shin; These screws are holding a chunk of bone with the ligaments that pull my kneecap towards the inside of the leg, which they moved from the outside of my knee to the inside (genetic issue). It's pretty nasty.
Exercises
There are a variety of strengthening exercises that are currently the bane of my existence. Some are doable in a way that doesn't leave me in tears, like bridging my knee to stretch the hamstring, or pumping my ankles up and down to activate the calves. Some leave me screaming or crying without fail; such as bending my knee to 30 degrees and straightening it out, or doing a straight leg lift to activate the quad. Those both really hit the top of my shin and inside of my knee, where the incisions are. I'm getting better at them with every set, but running into issues getting through all my sets due to the pain. It seems like I'm typically handling the pain really well up until the knee bends, and the exercises for the rest of the day hurt worse once the first round of knee bends are done.
My Brace
My knee brace is a complicated wonder. There are like 5 ways to fasten each of the 4 straps; it's been off twice since the surgery. Once for when they took off the dressing, and once today while I cleaned and iced the leg directly. The nurse said I'll be a pro at it within the week, but it's difficult. Kinda funny, but I almost feel naked without the brace, and it's been exactly a week (hard to believe- it went by in such a drugged up haze).
The brace has two controls on it; one for the number of degrees it's bent in the locking position (mine will stay at 0), and one for the number of degrees it allows the knee to bend in the unlocked position. This is going to be set to 30 for the first 6 weeks, and on November 18, the doctor will increase it to 60. It also has markings on the side, so I can see how far I'm bending it at any given point in time. Right now, the only time I'm allowed to unlock it is when doing my recovery exercises, or getting in/out of a car/shower/whatever else you need to bend the knee slightly to accomplish. I won't be allowed to walk without it set to locked for several weeks.
Again, thank you all for your continued well-wishes, love and support. It was wonderful getting flowers from the lovely Virginia, and having my Grandmother and Dad finally come visit me in San Francisco. And of course, my trooper boyfriend whom I could not do this without <3
WARNING: ICKY PICTURES BELOW-- NOT FOR THE SQUEAMISH D:
This is my leg right after they removed the dressings. It's a wonky shape, and my incision appears to be a little under 3 inches long. The other incision on the inner knee is under two inches long, and hurts worse than the big one (as far as itchyness and such goes). I'm also developing a rash near my ankle where the bottom of the brace sits, which is a little hard to see in this image. The signature of doctor "Kay" who inspected the knee prior to operating will take some scrubbing to get rid of :)
This is the incision on the inside of my knee where they removed that chunk of bone that the MPFL pulled off of the kneecap. They were able to use the existing MPFL tissue to repair the ligament, rather than do a hamstring autograft to rebuild a new one. Also nasty.
That is all for now. Thanks for tuning in- more updates after my first round or two of physical therapy this week <3 <3 <3 :)
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