KTee-- Good luck with surgery

[Janet]

Kelly:

It's so wonderful to hear you are doing so well! Keep up the good work amd keep us posted.

Janet

[tri-sport]

Kelly-

Awesome news

I’m so happy to hear you are doing so well and that you are enjoying Vail & the Howard head clinic.  It really is top notch isn’t it? Bummer I missed Kelly (the LA Dodger), he’s cool.  If he’s still there just tell him I was in Hawaii with my team.

I agree with Alex (lefthand50) on the you may lose a bit comment.  Both surgery’s I lost about 10-15 degrees flexion about 10 days post op, but the good news is that by about 6-8 weeks post op I gained it all back plus some.  So try not to get discouraged if it does happen to you (easy for me to to say now though- I freaked out both times it happened)

I’m actually flying out this Sat. (the 14th) so I’ll definitely be up there while you are there.

[Jakem]

Tri,

Great news for you too.  Any chance you can run soon or are you still getting heat and swelling or do you have articular cartilige defects from the scar tissue?

[tri-sport]

Jake-
yeah, I don't think so.  A few times I've tried to move a bit quickier and landed harder on my knee and that hurt, so I'm thinking running is out of the question for quite some time.  I did hike to the top of Diamond Head in Honolulu though.  My knee was pretty sore and a bit swollen after that trek but it's still doing well- 140 in PT today so I guess I don't have any long lasting effects.  From what I was told that is that I don't have much cartilage damage, so that's a positive.  I do have some weird really loud popping going on in my knee when i walk (during extension), don't know what's going on there.  I just try to ignore it and hopefully it will stop soon!  I'll see what Steady says about it next week.

lynn

[KTee]

On Tuesday, I left my snowy paradise and drove back home to Denver.  Dr. Steadman gave me a steroid shot before I left to try to reduce some of the heat and swelling in my knee.  My ROM is variable depending on the day, the time of day, the therapist and the position I’m in for the measurement.  My flexion is around 105 -110 on my own and 115-120 with help.  My extension is around 5 on my own and between 2-3 with help. One of my therapists told me to focus more on how my knee “feels” than being so caught up in the “numbers”.  I like that idea…

I’m still comfortable on the bike, and I’m very happy about that, but I can’t do a straight leg raise to save my life!  Actually, I’ve never been able to do an SLR throughout this entire ordeal, and that is why I’ve never been able to walk without a limp.  I’m doing a million quad sets a day hoping that someday I will miraculously be able to do one.  I think the hardest thing for me though is the fact that I wake up every morning and feel like I’m starting all over again.  When am I going to see some “carry over” for all of my hard work?

I am very pleased with my new P.T. in Denver.  Also, when I was in Vail I got some good news:  Molly from Howard Head is moving to a clinic in Westminster, so I will be seeing her from time to time as well.  I haven’t decided how often I will be heading back up to Vail, but I have a post-op appointment in two weeks.

I was able to get together with Lynn (tri-sport) for dinner before I left.  Although I had a blast with all of my friends who stayed with me, sometimes you just need the company of a fellow knee geek!  She’s my inspiration…

Well, I like to have goals and dreams to focus on, so here’s my latest…
Since I’ve been spending so much time on the bike, I’m trying to visualize myself riding in the “Triple Bypass” someday.  It is an annual cycling event in Colorado that spans 120 miles from Evergreen to Avon over Squaw (11,140 ft.), Loveland (11,990 ft.) and Vail (10,560 ft.) passes, with over 10,000 feet of lung-busting gain in elevation!  Hey, if I’m going to dream, I may as well dream big, right?

Thanks for all of the e-mails and words of encouragement while I was in Vail…

Kelly

[jim mac]

Kelly,
I'd like to join you on that ride someday.  Seems like a dream now and only last year I would have been able to fly out and do it!

Jim

[tri-sport]

wow, that's sounds... fun?  How about I be on your guy's support team & I drive the car and bring the beer   

[KTee]

I am exactly five weeks post-op today…

At three weeks I was feeling kind of depressed and I couldn’t quite figure out why.  Then someone pointed out to me that the initial “hopeful high” that I was feeling from the surgery had worn off and I was back to facing the reality of how messed up my knee really is, not to mention the daunting road of P.T. ahead of me.  Keep in mind that while I was in Vail, I was in P.T. twice a day, seven days a week.  When I got back home I found that it took a lot more motivation for me to push myself and keep myself going.  Let’s face it-- I’m just not as encouraging to myself as those wonderful therapists at Howard Head! 

At four weeks I started working on gait training in P.T.  I still limp, but my gait is better than it’s ever been.  Also, my transition between flexion and extension has improved.  It is still nowhere near “smooth”, but in the past it took at least a ten minute prone hang with an ankle weight before I could even get close to straightening my leg again.

I was supposed to see Dr. Steadman last Thursday for my four week post-op appointment, but I had to cancel.  There was a really bad snowstorm in the mountains, and I had to fly to Chicago early Friday morning for a funeral.  I had a tough few days, but somehow my knee survived.

I was able to reschedule for Tuesday, and I’m lucky I got in because Dr. Steadman is leaving for the Olympics tomorrow.  Dr. Sterett is already over there.
It felt so good to be back at Howard Head; I love it there.  Molly got my extension to –1 and my flexion to 117.  I still can’t get my extension to zero actively, but I’m trying…
Dr. Steadman was pleased with my progress and how well my knee was moving.  He said there was still a chance he might want to do one more small scope in the spring, but we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.  He just wants to see my knee be the best it can possibly be.

So there you have it…I think Lynn said it best in one of her posts, “baby steps, it sucks, but that’s the way it is.” 

[Jakem]

Wow!

Going from ROM 15 and 90 to -1 and 117 is awesome.  Keep the big picture in mind, you are doing great.

[KTee]

Thanks Jake,

Yes, I'm excited to have reached -1 and 117.  It's the best ROM I've had since this whole ordeal began nearly two years ago.  But remember, these are the numbers I can reach in P.T. after lots of mobes and stretching.  I'm dreaming of the day when these are my real, everyday numbers.
I think all of us arthrofibrosis sufferers share that dream...

I just got my surgery DVD in the mail today...watching it gave me the heebie-jeebies, especially when I saw the release-- YIKES!

Kelly

[jim mac]

Kelly,
Glad to hear that you are doing well.  I really wanted to watch my surgery on DVD but for some reason they didn't get it on film.  Maybe next time.  Keep trying.  Maybe I will see you in May if I get out there.

Jim

[KTee]

Hey,
If a few of us are going to be up there in May, maybe we should rent a big house instead of individual condos!  It will be "mud season", so the rentals will be cheap.
I'll bring my Napoleon Dynamite DVD...
Jim-- you can be in charge of the beer! 

[jim mac]

Kelly,
Anything but Napolean Dynamite!!!!!

Jim

[tri-sport]

What are you guys talking about... we got all those surgery videos to watch ... oh, sorry jim 

Glad you're doing well Kelly, I'm so happy for you 

Lynn

[KTee]

I haven’t posted in awhile, so I thought I better do a quick update since I’m headed back up to Vail for surgery on Monday.
This will be my second Steadman surgery.  He is just going to do a quick clean up this time.  My ROM was measured at 5 and 120 today in P.T.
Dr. Steadman is hoping to get those last few degrees with this surgery.
I’m really hoping that this surgery does the trick, because I’ve decided that regardless of the outcome, this will be my last one.  I’m ready to move on with my life, with or without a limp.
I’ll update again after the surgery.

Kelly