Tag Archives: Knee reconstruction

2 months since my knee reconstruction

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On Monday I will be hitting on 2 months since my knee reconstruction, so I figured it was time for an update.

Physiotherapy:

Boy, have I learnt my lessons here!! No matter what happens, do what the physio says. For one week I barely did any exercises, instead utilising the all-powerful wishful thinking method of dealing with my rehabiliation. Big mistake. When I visited the physio and he tested my bend, it got to the stage where I was actually crawling along the bed trying to get away from his grip. Extremely painful, and it was all because I hadn’t done anything for the week. I’m happy to say it only took me one mistake to learn my lesson, and I’ve been doing my exercises religiously since then. Funny how doing what a health professional recommends actually works! *end sarcasm*

As of next week I will have reached the stage where I will only require physiotherapy once every fortnight. To put it into perspective, this week is the first week since October 2008 that I haven’t seen the physio at least once.

Bend

Unfortunately Mat wasn’t home, so I’m unable to take a photo. This was my knee after 2 weeks:

The difference in my good knee and bad knee

The difference in my good knee and bad knee after 2 weeks

That was as far as I could literally go without excruciating pain. Through 2 months of physio my right leg now hangs normally, like my left in the picture. In fact, I can even pull it underneath me! It’s strange to be so excited by that, but for me it’s huge. Walking down steps is still a little bit of a challenge, but one that I’m gradually winning. In the beginning it was a slow painful progress to go down stairs. I had to step first with my right leg, then use my left to join the right on the one step. Now I can go step-by-step, one foot on one step. There is still a little bit of a jump/limp to it, but only because my knee doesn’t have the strength to support my weight in a downward fashion. If I go down stairs immediately after doing my exercises there is a notable difference and it becomes a lot easier, so I’m sure it’s only a matter of time until I get the better of the evil set of stairs.

Insurance

I’m happy to say that my claim was approved, and I’ve banked my first cheque for reimbursement. It worked out to be $275 in physio costs (after my health insurance claims), so I’m extremely grateful for the insurance agencies kindness in accepting my claim after the cut off date. In the next week I’ll be putting through my next claim, from December to the end of January and I expect it will be a little bit less (as I missed a few weeks of physio immediately after my surgery). Knowing I have an insurance company behind me takes a massive weight off my shoulders though, and I can focus on everywhere else that money is a concern, like my trip to the US later this year.

Scars

It’s probably not obvious from the photo below, but unfortunately my scars have become a tad bit keloid. They have raised a little bit, the most obvious being the circular scar to the very left of the image. It’s actually got quite a lump to it.

2 month old scars

2 month old scars

If you know me well, then you’ll know I scar pretty badly. I have a scar on my arm that is almost 6 years old, and still extremely pink/purple. I plan on buying some silicon patches to try out, which I’ll be sure to post about it when I eventually start the treatment. I’ve heard these particular patches work miracles, let’s hope it’s the same for me!

I’ve noticed if you look at my scar a little blurry eyed, the two dots on the right and the long one could almost be a smiley face! Who’s a geek now!

Things next on my list to achieve:

  1. Ride a bike for 30mins continuously
  2. Walk down the stairs normally
  3. Jump

Week 2 K/R – Scars revealed (people with weak stomachs should not look)

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Scars revealed for the first time

Scars revealed for the first time

Today I finally got to take my patches off, and reveal my scars for the first time to the world (I saw them yesterday when the original patches came off and new ones were applied).

As you can see there’s a total of 6 marks: 1 long one (5 stitches), 3 smaller ones (one stitch each), and 2 small holes. Unfortunately the smaller hole became infected, so I was provided with some brown ointment to apply on it after my shower to help clean it up.

I’m quite happy with the scars, since they long cuts are really quite thin. Hopefully it means they’ll heal and fade away much faster. Knowing my luck, that’s going to be the look of my knee for the next 5 years! Have I mentioned how much I love jeans (aka covering up my legs – yeah, that’s why they’re so white). My knee is still a little swollen too, although it might not be so obvious in that image. Particularly around the bottom of the image, leading to my thighs. It’s extremely round….

Now to have my first shower in 2 weeks where I haven’t had to spend 10mins wrapping plastic around my leg. Woohoo!

Week 2 K/R – Stitches are out

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It’s been 2 weeks since the surgery, so I returned to the hospital today to get my stitches out. As I’d previously mentioned, I’d been worried about blood clots etc, but everything seems to have settled in my leg. I’m 99% positive it was just a really bad, painful bruise. Unfortunately I forgot to mention it to the Surgeon when I was there today, so I guess I’ll just have to hope my assumption (and googling) was correct. Otherwise, if I die from a blood clot in my lungs/heart, we’ll know I was wrong.

Another thing I’d been worried about (rather foolishly) was the possibility of having already damaged my leg to the point the ligament was already torn again. When I was there today, the surgeon tested the ligament by pushing my thigh down and pulling my shin up. Previously, it was really easy for him to do and he was able to separate the sections. This time, it was rock solid proving the ligament was implemented and healing well. Good sign!

When the patches came off I was really pleased to see how thin the scars were. Typically, my scars remain pink/purple for a long amount of time, and can have small lumps in them. I have a scar on my knee from approximately 10 years ago that’s still pink in the centre, and one on my arm from 6 years ago (from getting a mole removed) that has lumps in it, and is still bright purple. It’s only just begun to change to skin tone colour around the edges. I’ve been told that I am a mild keloid scarring person, and based on the wikipedia entry I can agree mine are very mild! My scars look absolutely nothing like in the articles! But back to the hospital, the nurse cleaned up any remaining dried blood and applied fresh dressings to the area. They can be removed for good tomorrow, when I’ll be able to post a picture.

I was told I was free to begin putting full weight on my leg again, and to start walking immediately. I’d actually started limping around in the morning, so had a good idea of how I’d be able to move. That way I wouldn’t look quite so retarded in the hospital in front of others! I received a few more instructions, and the nurse gave me some ointment to put on one of my wounds. Unfortunately it looked like it was slightly infected (nothing serious) so I would just need to rub that on for a couple of days. We then headed out the front where I made an appointment to see the surgeon again in 3 months for a progress check, then I was free to leave.

On the way out I stopped in at the gift store and bought some chocolates & flowers, and dropped them off to the nurses in the ward where I had stayed 2 weeks earlier. One of the nurses identified me immediately when I came in, and said “hey Kelly! How’s the knee!” Very impressed with her memory. We chatted about it, and I handed over the gifts. I thanked her again for taking such great care of me when I was there, told her nurses were under rated, wished her a Merry Christmas and left. I felt really good for doing that, hoping I made someone’s day *grin*

I then stayed at home for an hour, before getting ready to visit the physio. It’s only around the corner from me, and normally takes 10 – 15mins walk to get there, but today I left with 25mins to spare. I was determined to walk there to celebrate my newfound freedom from crutches, and I had timed it perfectly. I arrived just in time for my appointment. I have such a profound limp at the moment that it really slows me down walking. As usual, my physio worked his magic and after half an hour I had already managed to bend my leg more. He gave me my list of exercises to focus on for the week, which were the same as when I initially hurt myself. Thankfully, since I’ve been there/done that, it will be really easy to do. The main thing I will need to focus on for the next month will be working to be able to fully bend my knee again.

The difference in my good knee and bad knee

The difference in my good knee and bad knee

As you can see in the above picture, while simply sitting on the desk my right leg goes only so far. That’s while merely relaxing my legs, and letting them just hang. One of my exercises is to swing my leg back and forth, gradually increasing the amount I can bend it. Easy, non-painful exercises.

So that’s pretty much it for the next few weeks! I’ll post a photo of my scars tomorrow once the patches come off, and perhaps in a month or so I’ll take another photo showing the difference in my legs hanging from the desk to show how much I’ve been able to achieve. At the moment I can’t drive, since I can’t bend my leg enough to switch between the brake and accelerator. I climbed in the car tonight, and could barely get my leg in the door without having to lift myself off the seat to bring my knee in. I’ll give myself a week, then try again. Until then, it’s walking around the block, exercises, and rest!

Day 7 – Updated patches picture

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My knee/leg 7 days after surgery

My knee/leg 7 days after surgery

First off – I don’t think my leg looks very glamorous lying on the couch. It reminds me of a chicken leg haha. Also, the keyboard, mice and iphone cable were in the picture since I took the photo sitting where I work during the day *grin* The cable was being held my knee while I took the picture.

Compared to day 2, there is more blood in the top wound, and the blood has dried in all 3 (hence the dark colour). The bottom left wound has amazingly spread out a fair bit, but as you can tell there’s not that much blood in that one, it was more just seepage than anything else. It’s also the most itchy of all of them, so perhaps it’s scabbing over already.

You may be able to see the bruise extending up my shin as well?? It’s a slight yellow colour.

Other than that, same ol’ same ol’! This time next week I’ll be posting a picture with the patches off, and all scars revealed…stay tuned!

Day 6 K/R – Countdown until the stitches are out

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In only 6 days, 16 hours and 50 minutes I will be meeting with the surgeon to get my stitches out, not that I’m counting. I also believe that’s the day I will be off the crutches, and regain the use of my hands. I hope. I might not be able to walk properly immediately, so I may have to keep the crutches with me – I’m not sure. Fingers crossed for the best possible outcome anyway (no crutches). We’ll find out next Monday anyway.

Not much has changed under the bandages – there’s a little bit more blood perhaps, but other than that it still looks like the same old skin sewn together. Boring!! I should take another picture so you can see the difference after a week; I’ll remember to do that tomorrow. It just looks like it’s all spread out within the patches, so when they come off it’s going to spill everywhere!! I’ll have to remember to wear shorts to the hospital so I don’t get my jeans caked in the stuff.

Today started off absolutely terrible, but ended up pretty great. First thing I did this morning was swing my leg out of bed, as if it was completely normal. I would say it had to do with habit, and it actually didn’t hurt until it hit the floor and the blood trickled down my leg. My shin and calf muscles have become increasingly painful to walk on, and my calf has even begun cramping a little. This is probably due to the fact that my leg has been elevated SO much, and iced so much, that when I put my foot down to start walking I don’t really give my muscles a chance to get some blood in them. I’ll just have to make sure I really focus on stretching out my leg tonight.

Anyhow, after I got out of bed and did my morning ritual (ex-shower, only loo, wash face, and let Turbo outside) I went back into the bedroom to get my water bottle. Putting the top in my mouth (my attempt to “carry it”) I headed to the kitchen. Just as I reached the tiled surface, BANG. I dropped the water bottle, it cracked (it was a hard plastic) and water went EVERYWHERE. Mat hadn’t gotten home from poker until midnight, so the last thing I wanted to do was wake him up. Instead I got a towel, slung it over my shoulder and went back to the kitchen, then used the crutches to mop up the mess.

I also had a killer of a headache, which I had associated with sleeping wrong. It turned out later it had a lot to do with the setup of my “workstation” in the living room. Lying on couch with my foot up I was spending every day looking to my left to the computer monitor so I could work. In hindsight it wasn’t the greatest of ideas. I’ve now switched position to the chaise, and will alternate it during the day so I’m not constantly looking in the same direction. I took some panadol, then during a phone conference I had this morning, laid down with an ice pack on my head. I don’t know if I was still tired, or it was the fact I was closing my eyes to block out any form of light lest I irritate my headache any more, or (more likely) the technical babble during the meeting was as boring as batshit, but I’m pretty sure I dozed off during the meeting. It would have only been for a few minutes at most, and what they were discussing was way over my head. I’m pretty sure no one missed me. The most amazing part of it all was that I was able to pick it up at the end, make some amazing points and summarise the outcome to my boss (who was also in the meeting – perhaps he fell asleep too). One of the other staff members who works from home skyped me to tell me she’d almost fallen asleep as well, so definitely not only me.

During the meeting I received a phone call on my mobile from my chiro – apparently I had an appointment this morning but they were half expecting I wouldn’t show. They thought it would have slipped my mind because I’d had a big week – CORRECT. We rescheduled for 11.30am, as I was desperate to see her to sort my neck out. When I arrived, she found the trouble spot on my neck and CRACK, instant relief. Headache was almost gone although the remnants hung around for a few more hours, possibly due to the muscle strain in my neck. Nothing a good massage can’t fix. It also turned out the receptionist at my chiro played netball on a Wednesday night at the same centre we do, and was actually in the opposing team when Mat went down with his shoulder dislocation! She hadn’t realised it was me until I left for the hospital with him. Small world.

Rest of the afternoon was uneventful. I played in the backyard with Turbo for about 5mins. Basically I picked up his toy hamburger, threw it down the lawn which he raced after, then I slowly crutched over to him. He ran away, I followed, he ran away again, I followed again. Went like that for a few minutes until he tired of how slow I was, and laid down in the grass. Fine – I can take a hint!!!

So now you know how exciting (not) my days are, I think it’s best I post blogs just weekly from this point; unless you’re really fascinated by my “keep leg up, sook a bit about how sore I am, get bored, blog about it” stories??  I’ll be sure to add some more pictures once the stitches are out and we’ll see just how awesome my scars are going to be!!