Tag Archives: orthopedics

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I kneed relief.

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After more than four months of painfully waiting for an orthopedic appointment, I finally jumped the first hurdle on the path to knee replacement. (Not literally, because I can barely crouch to tie my damn shoes no less jump over something… but you get the idea.)

Hurdle #1 – see the physician assistant orthopedist. Gatekeeper to the great and powerful actual orthopedic surgeon.

My husband insisted on going with me to the doctor’s office this time. He never has before, but he’s been dealing with the fallout ( and yes, the incessant whining ) from my bad knee for the last 6 years as well and wanted to hear the diagnosis/plan first hand.

The ortho PA was great. Friendly but no nonsense, and after a battery of X-rays and an exam he said I was a good candidate for partial knee replacement.

At this point my husband asked me to stand up and face away from the PA.

Huh?

I did and then felt my husband touch the back of my bad knee and ask the PA why it looks like that.

Like what? He never told me anything looked weird… and I certainly can’t see it!

The PA said it looked crooked because basically the inside of my right knee had collapsed. Which makes me wonder how long I’ve looked freaky every time I wear shorts and why my beloved spouse never thought to mention it.

😡

Anyway, the PA set me up with an appointment with the surgeon (the good one I wanted from the beginning, so yay to that) for early August. He’s hoping they can schedule surgery quickly because I’m otherwise healthy and have no major medical problems … though I do have to get written clearance from a dentist and my primary before they’ll cut. Can you spell liability?

In case you’re interested in the medical gobbledegook? These were my official results.

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There was also this:

“Significant narrowing of the right medial compartment with sclerotic change evident on both the medial femoral condyle and the medial tibial plateau”

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Whatever the hell that means.

All I know is I’m bone on bone on the inside of my right knee and it’s hella painful. Surgery is going to suck but my mobility is so limited right now I really don’t care.

Bring on the knife.

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They give souvenirs now.

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My MRI was today… and after they made me strip naked and dress in scrub pants that were 3 sizes too small and double hospital johnnys that were 12 sizes too big, they did their thing on my knee.

A solid half hour of cacophony later, I got a souvenir.

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I know they give you ultrasound pictures of your baby in utero, but I’m not sure I’ll be having a look at all the fluid on River’s knee reveal party anytime soon.

And yes, though I’ve gotten the swelling down with elevation and ice packs, there’s still a lot of fluid where fluid shouldn’t be.

Good news? No torn ligaments and minimal damage to my MCL.

Yay!

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Bad news?

My meniscus tear is a deep root tear which is more serious, slower to heal and could require surgery.

Boo.

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But I did a zoom meeting with my orthopedist when we got home and she said we’ll try to avoid that.

More ice, more exercises and a cortisone shot next Friday to speed up healing so I can do more load bearing.

Load bearing? I know I’m a bit overweight, but that seems a trifle harsh.

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Real time update.

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At 8:00 this morning I was standing tall at the orthopedist’s office.

Okay, standing is a relative term… it was more like listing 45 degrees and hopping around like a rabbit on a 3 day bender.

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But you’d hop too if your right knee looked like this:

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A little swollen… no?

The good news –

My xrays came back clean, no fractures, no bone spurs and no signs of arthritis.

The bad news –

The doctor thinks I tore my meniscus when I stained the deck. Fluid and swelling set in, which weakened the joint. Then the other day when I stepped off the porch I probably damaged my ACL and possibly my MCL. Not good.

There’s no way to tell for sure until I have an MRI which they couldn’t schedule until next Thursday.

So a weeks worth of ice, elevation, ibuprofen and gentle range of motion exercises.

And whining.

Don’t forget the whining.

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Yes, there might be some of that kind as well.

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I rarely post in real time….

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But I’m in pain and quite cranky, so here goes.

Remember a while back I stained our back deck on my hands and knees? I do it every few years but this time it caught up with me. Thank you (not so) old age, you suck the big root.

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My knee had been stiff and sore for the last month but I’m tougher than I look and just went about my business.

Bad move. Very, very bad.

Yesterday I stepped off my kitchen porch and something snapped. Like a rubber band… and yes, I screamed. Did I mention we had a big storm the night before and had been without power for 10 hours by then?

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Good times.

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I hobbled back in the house and iced it down but holy hell it hurt. I couldn’t walk, couldn’t bend, couldn’t put any weight on it whatsoever. Spent a very uncomfortable and sleepless night, then woke up looking something like this:

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I didn’t dare attempt a shower, so I limped to the doctors office this morning with my radical bed head and frightened a few staff members along the way.

Hey, ya gotta take your jollies where you can.

Turns out the doctor they assigned me wasn’t really a doctor just a nurse practitioner. And when he put me on the table to start pulling and tugging my leg in different directions? I was ready to cram his stethoscope where the sun don’t shine.

After the exam and manipulation I was almost in tears. Which is when he told me to go across town for xrays and an appointment with an orthopedist because oh, by the way… he had no earthly idea what was wrong with me. As I made my way back to the waiting room… with the speed of a 200 year tortoise… I discovered my husband had decided now would be a good time to request his flu shot.

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Which we waited a good half hour for.

So.. by the time I got across town, had xrays and was ready for my orthopedist appt? We found out the orthopedist leaves at noon.

It was 12:05…. and I was not a happy camper.

Long story long, I have an appointment tomorrow morning at 8:00am and they think I either tore a ligament or ripped a tendon. Either way, it’s not good.

And oh yes, my devoted spouse who took the day off from work to care for me? He’s at our local pub having a late lunch. Me? I had to make my own.

Ain’t love grand?

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