Drink Rum

So after six weeks of post-operative physical therapy, my therapist doctor is sending me back to the orthopedic surgeon. He's concerned that I still have significant pain in the knee and unresolved swelling.

There has been considerable progress... but he's concerned because my knee has not gotten any better over the past few visits and didn't respond to an electro-steroid treatment.

I talked to my doctor at the therapy clinic and the director of the clinic. My doctor wants to see if the surgeon will aspirate my knee... basically stick two very large needles into the center of me knee and under the knee cap a try to get some fluid out. Yay.

The director is concerned that I'm developing a big fancy condition from my bone bruise. I don't remember what it's called... it's three long latin words... but it basically means part of my leg bone is dying.

Great.

Basically, the bone bruise is full of broken blood vessels and parts of the tissue die. There are so many contingencies about what happens if that happens, but none of them are appealing or happy. An MRI will be done to see if the area of the bruise is dead and then a few months after another MRI will determine if the dead tissue is spreading.

The the conversation turned to procedures involving removing the knee cap and drilling the bones and putting the cap back, bone grafts, and other things that made me sick to my stomach.

There's nothing that I can do to prevent the bone deterioration or lessen the impact. It'll happen or not.

Anyway... it's way to early to guess at what else is going wrong in the knee... they're just getting me ready in case there are more issues. These guys are pretty good at diagnosing internal injuries though. The last time they sent my back to the ortho, they correctly guessed that I had a torn meniscus which required surgery. As with last time, they've suspended therapy until I talk to the surgeon.

I think it's probably 100% I'll have to have large needles shoved into my leg in the next couple of weeks. Probably 75% chance I'll have an MRI done on the bruise.

Depending on what's causing the persisting pain... I've either got more long, painful rehab ahead... maybe another arthroscopic procedure to get out scar tissue if that's causing a problem... or the worst case scenario... full reconstructive surgery with a bone graft.

Also, I've been asked a couple of time why I haven't had a cortezone shot in the knee yet. All my therapy relies on my ability to tell a therapist when it hurts. We work right on the edge of pain. With Vicodin, I can get my butt kicked in therapy and then pop pills to make it all go away. With cortezone I'd have a dead knee basically. And while I'd sleep at night and be able to stand for longer periods and generally be happier... I'd likely damage the joint in the process.

I'll be happy when this is all over...

My goal was to get back into paint ball shape this year, but I'm still not green lit to do aerobic activity yet and I've probably put on 15lbs since this all started. Paint ball is probably out this year... so my goal is to be ready for a pirate cruise next summer. That's over a year... plenty of time to recovery from just about anything.