missmyknee's blog

"The next step is to schedule surgery." This was the message in an email I received from the doctor's office, after reporting no improvement from the nerve blocks and cortisone shot. I had been having severe nerve pain on the medial side since my surgery in Oct 07. This is a continuation of my blog titled, Nerve Entrapment, A Second Time. Because of this, I was now scheduled for surgery on April 2nd, for Neuroma Excision. This surgery is almost 6 mos to the date from my last surgery in Oct 07.

If you’ve been following my stories about scar tissue, you will know that I previously had scar tissue compressing the infrapatellar branch of the saphenous nerve. This was back in 2005. It was surgically debrided , decompressed and excised in 2006.

On a lighthearted note, this is a salute to that wonderful piece of durable medical equipment known as, the Ice Machine. Whoever invented this , all I want to say is, THANK YOU.  Gone are the days of ice gel paks and leaky bags filled with ice cubes. Continuous cold therapy is the way to go.

"Patella baja and infrapatellar contracture syndrome are one of the worst conditions for a patient to have and for a physician to treat." These were the words of my first knee specialist doctor.

I was diagnosed with patella baja and infrapatellar contracture syndrome in July of 2001. This came 11 mos after my horseback riding accident, where I broke my tibia and fibula in 4 places. I developed arthrofibrosis of my knee, after the nailing procedure thru my knee, to repair the tibia fractures.

Scar tissue can be an insidious fiend.

I've been dealing with scar tissue/arthrofibrosis for 7 yrs. I've had it grow on just about every structure, in my knee. Among the many structures, scar tissue made it's way, to one of my nerves. The Infrapatellar Branch of the Saphenous nerve. This nerve is located anteromedially, very close to the MCL.

Six months after my visit to Cincinnati, to see Dr Noyes, I had my total knee replacement in January of 2005. This was a big decision to make and not taken lightly. During that 6 mos period, I did extensive research on the internet for information regarding TKRs. I looked thru many medical journal articles ( such as on PUB-MED and Medscape), knee replacement websites, forums discussing knee replacement (to get customer satisfaction/ dissatisfaction opinions) knee replacement manufacturers ( there are many types of implants) and Kneeguru, etc.

Arthrofibrosis is a terrible, terrible, unrelenting condition.