Almost 6 mths

I'm a week or so away from being at my 6 month marker. I was done with physical therapy almost a month now. Well all is well, but I have my days. Cold weather is awful, but it will get better. I just keep saying in my head what dr and physical therapists told me--it'll be about a year before some stuff won't bother me. Example: when I walk a lot like when I work at the zoo and give the tours..the next morning I cannot walk at all. Like I have to use my crutches cause my leg is so swollen.

So that's the latest update. I'm waiting for my one gym membership to be up so I can join another gym that has a better weight system, which is what I need.
Scars look pretty much the same, but thankfully I'm one of those people that doesn't mind scars at all...they tell the story of your life.

back to normal life

Well tomorrow I'll be gettin up at 6 am for the first time in a very long time. Back to work! I should be getting the weeks clothes ready and all, but it's Shark Week...why couldn't this come on last week so I could watch it all day long, but such is life.

Gotta go grocery shopping today for lunch stuff and I'm no fool, taking lotsa caffeine with me tomorrow.

Leg still hurts but not much I can do about it..I get to leave work at like 3:40 M/W/F for PT. Since they are short handed I'll be seeing Chase and I'll be his last appts. Oh yeah, that reminds me, gotta pack clothes to change into too. Ugh. Thank goodness for backpacks.

almost...

Next week i go back to work. man it's gonna be hard getting up early again!

today was Joe's last day as my PT guy--man I'm gonna miss him! But it's a good career change for him. He said it's very bittersweet but something he's gotta do..totally understandable. Sadly right after he stretched me I was so set on getting my appts before the other lady that went back to work I forgot to tell him thank you. Feel horrible about that! But now that he's gone they don't have too many late appts for PT (I think they have 3 people left)...so all next week my PT is at 4 pm---sounds nice but not when you don't have the time to take off, but gotta do what I gotta do. It's only 3 days a week and it's the only way I'll get back to normal...normal as can be.

Well my leg is super swollen today--thank you rain---so gonna lay here and elevate and ice it. Not that i'm not cold enough, but it helps.

2 more weeks...

So I went to dr. today and I don't have to wear my brace anymore! YAY! I'd of been more happy if I could get rid of the crutches but I knew that wasn't gonna happen at least for a few more weeks. I go back to see him in 4 weeks and he said by then I should be walking mostly normal (thank God!). I can't put too much weight on it yet, still he wants to take the cautious approach...which I'm okay with since I don't want to go through this again. He said it's only 2 weeks and he'd rather not have me work from home yet so he wouldn't sign off on it...his main concern is if I go back to work, have a really bad day (pain wise) and I have to leave and have no time to do it..so he'd rather me recover as much as possible while at home. The 2 weeks will go fast I'm sure of it.

But on a super fun note: I came out from dr. appt and my car was dead. Called AAA and a lovely man came to jump the car. Drove it home, let it run for about 15 minutes, turned it off, then it sounded like a loud jackhammer. SO...I used another AAA service call to have them come tow it to J&M Auto by the house, after I called and told them the whole story and said I thought it was the starter. So waiting for the tow truck from Aubrey, who probably knows the neighborhood oh so well to begin with (insert sarcasm here)...so hopefully J&M will fix it tomorrow. Jen said she would take me to PT in the morning and then I can go get my truck sometime tomorrow afternoon. Lord help me!
Oh well...stuff happens. Haven't had an adventure like this in a while.

it's about to get interesting....

Well, my Mom is leaving Saturday. I hate her driving by herself but there is nuttin I can do about it. We checked the weather already too and it'll be best to travel this weekend than during the week (rain wise). Plus I tried to explain that I only have 2 weeks before I go back to work (unless mr. dr. has something to say about it) and I have to get into some sort of routine and do things by myself. She understood and that helped make the decision. I hate to see her go, but I do have to start doing things alone. Driving has been interesting to say the least. I think that will be a deciding factor if August 3rd is my back to work date as far as the dr. is concerned.

Shelley graciously lugged a shower seat to work and I picked it up tonight. Yeah didn't really think that one thru--it didn't fit the tub. So I ordered one online from Wal-Mart for like $40. No biggie. Too bad I won't be able to use it for a while now...I don't have enough leg strength to get in and out and stand alone....so I'm sure I'll devise some weird way to use it besides the lovely green lawn chair with my legs dangling out.

Other than that...physical therapy hurts like a mo fo; it's a slow process but it's getting better. I've gone a few places with my Mom to stock up on stuff and just walking around is hard. It takes twice as much energy for me to take one step than a normal person to take 4. Plus this stupid brace that only lets me bend my knee 30 degrees is gettin on my damn nerves...I admit it..when I'm at home I take it off all the time, and I started sleeping without it too. Without it, I've actually slept thru the night! Amazing how a big piece of metal can keep you from sleeping peacefully.

Oh well...that's about it for now.

same old same old

Once again, nuttin new. PT is getting pretty hard...I hurt a lot today. I just stared at them when they said, "ok, balance on your bad knee and kick your leg to the front, side, back, and over." I got thru them all but when I kicked once in front of my leg it buckled and down I went. I think I had everyone in there over me freaking out. I just needed help up, then they gave me the good iceman pack--it wraps around your leg and cold water is pushed thru the whole thing with tubes--it's awesome!

I don't foresee me going back to work w/out crutches,,,which blows!!!! They said that my new parts haven't developed the blood vessels yet and that's one reason it's not strong enough to walk without the stupid crutches.
And still can't drive. My Mom and I are going to find an empty parking lot on Sunday and see how I do. Gotta experiment.

Knee after staples were taken out. The white strips are just sterile pieces of tape that have been falling off one by one. The lighter pictures were taken today (7/12/09)..healing good!

nuttin too new to report...

So is my life: sleep horribly (who can sleep with a big ole brace on their leg), get up for physical therapy 3 times a week and maybe a dr. appt somewhere in there, then back home to ice my knee and take a nap then watch some T.V. or read or play with Baxter and talk to my Mom. On the off days I do my physical therapy exercises at home...so basically my days are all the same.
Since I can finally sit in the front seat of a car my Mom does take me out for a spin sometimes just to get out of the house.
My life is very boring right now. But it's amazing how just doing a hour of PT a day can just plain exhaust ya when you have very little strength in your leg. And my knee has given out more times since the surgery, but thank goodness for crutches. Basically Dr. sd it's cause there is not enough strength in it yet.
so that's about it

yay!

Stitches and staples are gone! Feels so much better....they even moved my brace so I could bend it past 30 degrees, and I don't have to use that stupid CPM knee bendy machine anymore since it hurts my knee. Bad news---I still can't drive for 3 more weeks. Although I did ask my Dr's asst. if I could call in about 2 weeks to see if I could drive cause well, my Mom can't stay 3 more weeks and I can't expect people to drive me around, especially to and from PT 3 times a week.

Went for a spin in my truck this morning with my Mom....it took 6 times before it would start---kinda scared me. But it has been sitting for almost 2 1/2 weeks. We'll have to take it out more often now..that's the last thing I need to worry about is my truck!

But doing okay. Only taking tylenol now for what little pain I do have, but it's very rare. I'm just happy I can put weight on my foot and not walk on my toes anymore..and Hallelujah---no more stupid white nylon socks that make it 20 degrees hotter than normal--that I'm super happy about that!

just recovering

Nuttin too new to report. Progress is slow and somewhat painful but bearable. Stitches and staples are looking good, and I'm hoping at my follow up appointment on the 30th they take out the staples :) fingers crossed.
Thank goodness my Mom is here to help me out. I think I've gone through at least 50 pounds of ice, and more everyday. Added some pics of my war wounds.
At PT today I they measured my bend after an hour of stretching at 85 degrees...right now my brace is locked at 30 degrees, and my knee bendy machine is not going higher than 45 degrees. Dr. is taking a cautious approach since he did so much work. I'm okay with that cause it feels good to move it but not afteward.

First pic is of my ACL stitches on top of my big swollen knee. The second is a side view of my staples and stitches (we counted at least 28 but could be more since they overlap and are close together). Third is a close up.

Whew physical therapy...

Had my first official physical therapy today. I did really well and they were impressed with my strength levels. I'll be super busy from now on..have to do my PT stuff twice a day, plus my knee bendy machine (CPM) for at least 6-7 hrs a day.
I forgot to count my staples, but I know there are at least 25 on the side of my leg, and then stitches throughout everywhere else. Don't worry, I'm sure I'll take some pictures. The staples look like regular ole staple gun staples. It's crazy! They are heavy duty.

And there is not enough ice in the world. I've already gone through a 10 lb bag in 2 days. I have ice on it constantly and then these lovely circulation nylon socks that I have to wear so I don't get a blood clot--super hot! But yeah they make me sweat like crazy (basically panty hose but heavier that go thigh and cover my toes). But they help..I admit it. Leg isn't as swollen as it should be. The physical therapist said she's going to put in a request to my dr. for an "iceman", which is a brace that has three cords connected and is connected to an ice chest that you fill with ice that turns into ice water and filters through the brace...they have one there and it's HEAVEN!! It was set at 49 degrees today and it was awesome at physical therapy.
Oh they started me on some shock stuff too...little nodes or something they stick on my leg and it tingles cause it's stimulating my nerves. They said I have to retrain my muscles to work and then the new ligments have to grow/attach blood vessels so my body accepts them.


So to sum it up: I'll be lying in my bed attached to a machine or doing PT exercises w/ my Mom's help, or going to PT. Will be a fun few weeks! My Mom said she'll probably leave the end of the month after my follow up dr. appt. Hopefully I'll be able to drive by then, although now I have to slide into the back of the car with my leg straight out, so that would be some major progress by then. Fingers crossed.

Day 2

Sweet Lord I'm bored. I've watched so much TV and movies I'm about to go crazy. All my medicine makes me crazy thirsty, but that has a bad side--means I have to make the trek to the bathroom. It's good exercise. Part of my bandage slid down and as I pulled it back up all I saw were staples. At least I know where the incision starts now, which makes sense cause that's of course where the brace lines up. The brace I have now is way better than before, doesn't slide around too much. Mom had to go buy bags of ice cause our icemaker can't keep up with my ice needs :) It swells quickly (like after I walk around) and then takes forever to go down. Did my crazy leg bending machine for 2 hours straight today--usually take a bit of a break, but I actually took a nap while it was going. My knee feels so much better when it moves like that! I'm not looking forward to physical therapy tomorrow, but merely because of the car ride and trying to walk around outside the house...at least here I can slide my good foot instead of lifting it up every single time (thank goodness for tile floors).

Right now I'm watching the Dog Whisperer only cause Mom went grocery shopping and Baxter is lying in bed with me. He loves to watch TV and Ceasar...i mean he actually watches the TV. He's a good pup and slept with me all last night and didn't move an inch so as not to disturb my knee. He's doing pretty good.


Well that's all for now. Pain is pain but it's getting better...not so much better just as bearable. My throat still hurts a bit from the breathing tube and I know my Mom is bored as heck. I'm glad she's here cause I would for sure not be eating or drinking, or be able to do that CPM machine--she has to lift that everyday, twice a day for me :)

Recovery day 1...

Hey all. Well I'm home...
Got the CPM machine delivered---crazy thing that bends my knee to certain angles that they tell me to set at..bends it really slow. I have to take off my brace to do that but then put it right back on. I can only put pressue on my toes when I walk on crutches...thank goodness for tile floors cause I just slide my other foot along :)
They delivered an elevated toilet seat (WONDEROUS invention), but it didn't fit in the space in our bathroom and frankly was a little snug for me too....so Mom ventured across town to just buy a regular elevated toilet seat w/out handles attached. Awesome difference.

I can shower as of tomorrow...didn't get a shower seat yet, but the nurse at the hospital said a lot of her patients use the outside plastic chairs cause they are sturdy and don't scratch the tub. I could care less...I just want to shower...who wouldn't want to wrap their leg in a garbage bag sealed with duck tape. But i'm sure it will be the best shower ever!!!!


The surgery went well...Dr. sd it was smooth and only took 3 hrs. I ended up with part of someone's achilles tendon too...and part of one of the ligaments on my side was regrowing tissue so he took mine and the new stuff and screwed them together. Now I can really say I have a screw loose cause I have I think he said 5 or 6 of them. He had to shave off some torn catilage as well..so that is actually what is kinda sore (dull pain really).

Nothing too exciting besides that. I'm just kinda laying in bed now, doped up every 4 hrs, and then other pills every 8 hrs. It's surprising how naseaous you get even though you don't eat or have anything in your system, but that probably explained it right there.
They tried lotsa different pain meds and the only one that worked was Darvocet (my old friend)...Morphine didn't do anything for me--crazy.
Feel free to email, call, whatever...I'm just lying here and sometimes I"m conscious and sometimes I'm not.
Thanks so much for all the prayers and good thoughts. Recovery on the way--let's just hope for the least amt of pain possible! First PT is Thursday!

HOME

Home at noon today. Doing okay. Will post more later. Just tired.

Tomorrow is comin...

Nerves have set in...I'm getting grumpy and snapping at my Mom. I'm not nervous about the surgery and stuff, just ready to get it over with...I'm nervous and scared about when I get home. Just too many things to worry about and just been crying off and on to relieve some nerves.
Gotta be at hospital at 7:30 am, so hopefully I'll be done by noon. I stay in the hospital no more than 24 hrs,...they sd a 23 observation period and that it could be 23 hrs and 57 mins (but it'll be under 24 hrs)...of course.
I have a friend in charge of text messaging a few people so just ask around and someone will know.

love to all!

.....

So my surgery time just got changed. I have to be at the hospital at 6 am Monday. Why even bother changing out of my pj's? Oh well, it'll be done and over with then. And I stay in the hospital for 23 hours, but not more than 24. So I'll be in observation 23 hrs plus some minutes, and then released...which to my calculations will be like 5 am the next day! Ridiculous. I will not be a happy camper...i was told they come in and bend and straighten my knee right away and before I leave I have to be able to stand and somewhat walk with my crutches. Give someone tons of pain medicine and then 2 sticks to balance on....who came up with that????

Anyone...that's the latest development. My Mom got here last night, so she's probably still sleeping with the Baxter by her side.

nerves are settin in

I picked up my paperwork today, tomorrow I turn it in to HR and then it's all uphill from there. Paid some medical bills tonight (can't wait for those to start piling up). My Mom is making the PA to TX drive alone, well she says she's not alone cause she has Baxter (her dog), but he can't drive. I'm soooo worried about her! That's such a long drive. I'm so scared someone is going to break into her car and steal Baxter...sounds irrational but hello...it happened in Ft Worth a month ago!

Me, I'm nervous bout my surgery and all, but at this point there is nothing I can do...it has to be done. Sure I've had the dreams where something goes wrong and I lose my leg or worse, I die...but it's all in God's hands with this one. Anyone who says they don't think about that stuff before a big surgery is full of it.

Anywho...that's it until Monday. I'll probably have someone else post a quick thing saying I'm okay. I did set it up so y'all could leave comments under "anonymous" if you want.
Cheers,
Kristi

nothing new...

Nothing new to report. Just waiting for the Dr's office to call me to go pick up all my paperwork so I can turn it into the HR dept at work. First off I had to pay $20 to get my dr's office to fill out the paperwork...stupid but I can see why, it's pretty tedious.

other than that, don't get me started on how my short term disability works out. that's a whole other story.

Dooms day...

Finally my surgery date is set--June 15th! I can't tell you how relieved I am to finally have a date. Now I just have to worry about all the stupid paperwork that goes along with it and HR, but that's the small stuff now.

The last thing Randi, my Dr's asst said was "okay, I'll order your new parts"...I'm kinda excited to have other people's parts in me...all thanks to "stiff: the curious life of human cadavers", a fantastic book my friend Sarah told me to read. Kinda morbid but it's pretty funny mostly the way it's written.

According to my dr. there is no medical explanation why I have no pain and why I'm able to walk with pretty much no pain or walk period. He thinks I have an extremely high pain tolerance and possibly a disorder where I do not feel the full amount of pain. So if I recover quickly and have as little pain as possible, then I'll possibly be selected to be in a book on pain (it has some big long title). Not that I'm hoping to be in a book or anything, it's the least amount of pain as possible that interests me.

Any who...after my surgery I can't shower for 5 days! I just sd "that is nasty and I will figure something out!" But that's the gist. I'll take any hints from someone who has had knee/leg surgery on how to get around and do stuff, but I'll pretty much be immobile for 6 weeks (hence this lovely thing to keep me occupied).

What happened.....

So long story short, I slipped OUT of the tub. I put one foot in, fell right back out. I heard about 5 pops and after suffering through the pain and getting a shower and calling off sick on my second day of my new job...4 hours later I went to the ER. I debated and iced my leg for those 4 hours and when I couldn't walk that was the deciding factor.

4 hours in the hospital I come out with a knee immobilizer and crutches. The torture device (immobilizer) went from thigh to ankle and had 3 bars in it (one on each side and one in the back)--hence "immobilizer". Crutches---I got tips from a 7 year old in the ER on how to use them. That was a topper on an already embarrasing day!

So I go see an orthopedic dr. a few days later, and after more xrays and an MRI (by the way, he now has the Telegraph Canyon CD to play for his patients)....this is what I did (get ready for medical terms):

1.Posterolateral corner injury with disruption of the fibular collateral ligament and tear of the biceps femoris tendon along the distal attachment.
2.Disruption of proximal attachment ACL.
3.Medial collateral ligament sprain.
4.Myxoid degeneration posterior horn medial meniscus w/out evidence of communic2ating tear.

I now know what that all means, but for those who dont...basically I tore my ACL, and then the 2 ligaments on the outside of my leg...so I only have 2 ligaments left. Super fun! Thankfully I have had no pain (except that first day) :)

Dr. Ward is apparently the best around for this kinda thing. And I love my physical therapist, Joe! I've been doing PT to strengthen up the muscles in my legs so I'd be ready for surgery and hopefully have a quicker recovery, and at least as little pain as possible.

FYI--never shave and then go to PT and let them put liquid ice on your legs---no words can describe that pain!

So that's where I am...right now I'm waiting for the dr's asst to call me back and set up my actual surgery date.