Surgery, Take 2

As soon as I woke up on Thursday, May 29th, I was worried.  Not only worried about the surgery and recovery but also that it would be postponed again.  It's not that I was in such an amount of pain that I couldn't take waiting a few more days again, it's just that the waiting is such a pain.

I was given packets of Hibicleans and for those of you that have not experienced the pain in the arse that comes with using it, let me break it down for you : You start by showering and doing your normal thing.  Then you have to turn off the water and pour this nasty smelling pink liquid on the part of your body that is being operated on (in this case, my right knee).  Then set your timer.  I was told I had to keep rubbing it in for 5 minutes and then rinse, repeat and pat dry.  I had to do this before bed and again when I was getting ready in the morning in order to prevent infection.  I know it doesn't sound like much but this little process was so annoying and if my surgery was postponed again and I had to endure that hell once more I probably would have screamed.

Luckily they were able to get my in the operating room that day (they were even a little ahead of schedule--surprise!!).

What happened immediately before and after the surgery is sort of a blur.  My nurse wrapped me in warm blanket and carted me off to the operating room where I was told to scoot onto this really small (and cold) table.  Then she told me to outstretch my arms and proceeded to strap them down.  The anesthesiologist caught me off guard as she began to stick cold pads and sensors onto my chest.  Someone must have slipped me something because next thing I knew I was half awake in the recovery room swaddled in these super warm blankets.  I must have still been out of it because I kept dozing off.  Then I woke up in my room (I think my husband was there too, I can't remember) and my ice machine was hooked up.  

The doc came in to talk with me about the surgery.  I wish he would have written everything down for me because I can hardly remember what he said.  What I do remember him mentioning was that he removed a lot of debris that was floating around.  He said he did manage to complete the microfracture, however, he was not confident that the procedure would take due to the location.  I didn't understand what this meant at the time so I will fill you in on what he meant when I talk about my first follow-up appt. 

What really caught me off-guard was that he was changing his weight bearing orders.  In case you don't remember, Dr. O'Daniel (have I mentioned his name before?) said that I would be completely non-weight bearing (NWB) and in a locked range of motion (ROM) post-op brace for at least 6-8 weeks.  Now all of a sudden he was saying I could immediately put full weight on that leg as long as my brace is locked at zero degrees.  Although I do not remember everything, I do remember that I got really freaked out when he said that I would have to "peg-leg it" for awhile.  My instant thought was of a cartoon pirate with a wooden leg, I thought he was saying that I would need an amputation.  Looking back , I know this makes absolutely no sense... it really upset me at the time, now I know that general anesthesia makes me a little weepy.  

The drive home wasn't too bad as we only had about a 10 minute drive home and I was not in much pain at all.  I sat in the back seat of the Volvo with my back against the driver side door and my right leg propped up on the seat beside me.  I remember my husband was on the phone with his dad and I coughed.  I have never had general anesthesia before so I was not expecting that awful and disgusting taste to all of a sudden overcome me.  Of course, then I got this sudden wave of nausea forcing me to ask him to pull over.  The wave passed and we continued home.  I don't remember calling my mom after I posted my big booty on the couch but according to her Facebook status I called her and said that I was home and eating a Popsicle.  I was in and out of a deep sleep for the next couple of hours, no serious pain just some sporadic feelings of nausea.

Taking a break from icing

Surgery, Take 1

Although my surgeon had an opening within the next week, I decided to wait a few weeks to go under the knife.  My husband is a Recruit Division Commander at Naval Station Great Lakes so he works with divisions of naval recruits.  He works practically 17 hours a day 7 days a week for about 8 weeks.  Every now and then he gets a few hours off but it definitely takes a toll on him as well as me.  We don't have any family or many friends here so we needed to wait until his first division graduated so he was able to take some time off to be home with me.  Also, because he has been so stressed out, we decided to take a little mini vacay!  

Originally we wanted to rent a cabin in the Black Hills (South Dakota), but since it was Memorial Day weekend everything was either booked already or out of our price range so we decided upon Pigeon Forge, TN.  We were a little disappointed by how touristy and overpriced the city was but we did get out of the cabin long enough to go on a wine tour, visit Gatlinburg, and even sample some real moonshine!  Personally, I enjoyed the sassafras flavor (tasted like root beer) but Jon liked the Tennessee mud.  Ultimately, I won and we bought a jar of the sassafras.  Needless to say, it did not sit in our fridge very long. ;)

So my surgery was scheduled for May 27th at 12:30pm.  My husband and I arrived at the Captain James A. Lovell Federal Health Care Center (whew, what a name!) at 10:30 as requested.  I was brought back to my room within 15 minutes where they instructed me on how to put on my super sexy hospital outfit, gave me a cup for a urine sample, and told me they would be back to start my IV.

I have never noticed my veins.  I have always been told that I have good veins for donating blood, the ones that are in my "elbow pit" are always easy to spot, however, apparently the ones in my hands are not.  After 2 failed attempts the HM sent in a professional.  

Sidebar:  For those of you that are not familiar with what an HM is, it is a Hospital Corpsman.  Although they go to school and receive training for whatever department they end up working in, they are not an actual Registered Nurse or anything like that so (I'm just assuming) that they do not have as much experience as the adorable old Filipino man that came and got my IV started immediately.  

Anyway, then the doctor came in and drew some super pretty pictures on my knee and answered a couple of random questions I had thought of. Then they brought my husband back to my room where we sat and watched Identity Thief on the tube.  Hours passed.  Finally, around 2:30 or 3:00 the doctor came in and said that we would have to reschedule my procedure due to an emergency.  Luckily he had an opening that Thursday so I would not have to wait long. 

The Million Dollar Question: What The Heck is Wrong With My Knee?

So although the X-Ray findings were abnormal, they did not quite explain why I was having so much pain and difficulty getting around.  "Mild early degenerative spurring of the medial tibial and femoral condyles. Moderate amount of joint effusion."  So... off to physical therapy I went.  The idea was that if I strengthened the muscles around my knee, my symptoms would subside.  Needless to say I was still having problems so I was sent to have an MRI done where the real problems became quite apparent.  It is hard to explain it in my dumb/non-medical terms so I will just quote the radiology report:

"Slight thinning and surface irregularity of the medial femoral condylar cartilage.  7 x 11 mm of full-thickness cartilage loss involving the lateral femoral condylar articular surface.  Chondromalacia of the inferior portion of the patela involving the lateral facet and adjacent portion of the medial facet with full thickness cartilage loss fissuring.  Osteocartilaginous loose bodies in medial gutter."

Eventually my Orthopedic Surgeon suggested a microfracture and explained the procedure to me in layperson's terms.  Basically he would go in with a scope and clean it up a little.  Then in the area that there is full-thickness loss he would poke holes in my bone which would allow the marrow to leak out to create a sort of scab that would eventually harden and act as a cartilage substitute.  What I did not know was that it was that this produced what is called Fibrocartilage which is nowhere near as strong as Hyline cartilage.  Although this procedure is extremely effective for a lot of people, it would be a stretch to make it work (and last) for me.  Also, even if the procedure did take, it is a temporary fix.  

The doc told me that I would be non-weight bearing for at least 6 weeks and I would start PT a week or two after surgery.  So... off I went to schedule my surgery.  May 27th!!!  I was not excited to be off of my leg for 6 weeks (and thus, unable to drive), however, I was excited to possibly have this problem solved so I can start feeling normal again.  

A Little Background

I am new to the whole blogging thing, so please bear with me.  While doing research on all of the things the my Orthopedic surgeon has spoken with me about (conditions, surgeries, etc.) I came across a lot of blogs documenting surgeries and recoveries so I decided to start one myself.  I am hoping that it possibly helps ease someone's anxiety or answer their questions sometime in the future.  If not, then at least it is a way for me to document my own recovery to look back on months (or years) from now.

I have had nothing but problems with my knees ever since high school, it is crazy how much sports affect your joints (although I did not realize this, of course, at the time).  My creaking knees have always been the joke of my family and I really didn't mind, it is pretty odd when you feel like your knees are constantly a small wrong step away from falling apart on you--especially at the ripe age of 23.  

My husband is in the Navy so we have moved around a lot in the last few years and for anyone that has had experience with them, Naval Hospitals are usually the LAST place you go if you ever want real answers.  So whenever I would mention to the primary doctor my achy knees or demonstrate the very loud cracking and grinding I feel (and hear) every time I bend both of them, I usually got an "oh, it's normal" or "it's most likely the weather give it time."  FINALLY after years of hearing these same half hearted excuses while they checked their watches I got some answers (although not the way I was hoping to). 

We now live in Gurnee, Illinois as my husband is stationed at Great Lakes.  I, being a simple girl from Virginia, have never had to deal with the hellish polar vortex that encompasses the entire midwest on a yearly basis.  I took a spill on the ice late December and I thought I broke my knee or something, I could not walk at all without wanting to scream out in pain.  So we went to the ER and thus began this ordeal to finally get my knee up and running again.