reconstruction medial patella ligament???????

[shortyclairebear]

hi lisa!
great to hear from you again!!
good to see you still posting!
how are those knees treating you!
we have sun in yorkshire!! WOW! i was beginning to wonder if it would ever show its face in the U.K again!!
i've been out buying wallpaper today! im hoping to get some done while i am off this week!
................ if the weather stays nice though it will be hard to stay in!!
i'll look out for you lisa on MSN!
take care!
claire x

[cherising]

Hey everyone and Lisa! 
I am currently on vacation in Boston and leaving for NYC tomorrow.  I am checking out my future new home (I currently live in San Diego) in Boston and going to school at Berklee School of Music.  I LOVE IT HERE!  But I dont know what I would do if I had to have my surgery while in Boston.  Nothing is handicap accessible....i dont get it!  In california everything must be up to code and be wheelchair accessible.  There are stairs galore here in Boston.  I hope my surgery in San Diego is the only and last one I will need before I move here in a year.
Speaking of Surgery my Reconstruction surgery is in a little over a month on Sept 17th.  I am starting to get nervous yet excited!  I have been walking all over Boston and have had a really hard time.  I hope this surgery really helps!
Hope everyone is well.  I havent been accessing the internet while on vacation but will be back on in a few days to check up on everyone.
Miss talking to ya Lisa!  Hope all is well sweetie!
~Cherilyn

[Judey]

Hi Cherising
I know what you mean about Boston "the walking city" I went there a couple of years ago after my first arthroscopy. Is the "Big Dig" still going on. I was told Boston is built on landfill, hence the craters and uneven pavements. Also every kerb seemed like a massive drop. I came back more knackered than I went, but absolutely loved the place. I would love to go back, hopefully with a decent knee so I can do those shopping malls some justice.
good luck with your op
Judey

[cherising]

Hey Lisa! 
How are you doing?  Been awhile since I have heard from you.  Wondering how you are doing.  How is Physical therapy?  Life overall?  Has the surgery been successful for you so far?

i am a month away from my surgery and I am starting to get a little worried and scared.  i am such a busy person, I dont know how I am going to sit there for a few weeks.  i am also scared of the pain.  This will be my first surgery and this is pretty major (again, having Medial Patella Femoral Ligament reconstruction with a cadaver tendon and a Lateral Release to my right knee). 
I am just scared.  Anyone have advice?
Miss talking to everyone!
Cherilyn

[lisa.p]

Hi Everyone,,,

Firstly sorry i havent been in contact for a while i seem to be busy these days!!!

wel i went to see my os on tuesday saw a new doctor who was so so nice so happy i got to see someone decent!!!
she has worrys that my knee isint doing what it should and is worried that it may be stuck at this point as my knee just doesnt want to move anymore than a rom of like 45 tops so im really down at the mo she wants to tak to my os about admitting me to hospital for a few days for intense physio using a cbm machine think thats what it is caled???
so im waiting for a call or to be told on nxt visit whih is 1st wk of sept???
so now i fee like i wish i had not had this surgery done sorry guys dont mean to sound so down just i dont want to be stuck like this forever as i cant do much and its really pissing me off!!!!
im sure this wont be the case and my os will be happy with my improvement and tel me to carry on but personally either this is as slow as a snail when it comes to recovery or iam stuck?

i no it does take ages for ful rom to return but ohhh i really dont no???
my hubby managed to get a few days work so im stuck in doors with my daughter as i find it hard going out with her on my own i realy hope i improve soon as i dont fink i can carry on like this forever?

on a good note i have my sister in law wedding on saturday and we are staying in th hotel over night which im sure wil be a loevly day my daughter is a flower girl and my hbby a usher so im going to be a proud wife and mother!!!! my dress is rewady cant say the same for shoes bag ass as i havent been out to get them so iam  going to have to walk into town and try find a flat pair that will hopefully go with the dress im now thinking that a prom drss with flip flops just doesnt look great but hay no time to worry sats neary here!!! i cant get the pram on and off the buses or trains so im having to wak and god help me if kelsie decides she wants out the pram as i can run after her sooo nightmares!""!"""

but things are getting a lil easier im slowly just tryong to get on with things although my knee hurts like hell of a night time i think by now my fam and friends have prob herad enough of my knee so i tend not to tak about it and immmmm sooooo sick of peolple thinking ive hurt my foot for god sake its my knee and no i dint break it i have a long term prob and im also sick of explaining as i just tend to say oh ive had loads of probs and ops long story!!!!

it seems to be the only thing peolpe talk to me when they see me i feel like saying -helllo theres more to me than my kneee!!!


rite well i must stop as i soundd like a moody so and so!!!

sorry guys just fet like getting that off my cjhest!!!
as im sitting here in pain and worrying about getting out today!!!

how is everyone??
i do hope ur all well and enjoying august and not stressing over knees too much

thanks for al your surport u guys r amazing!!!!
have a great wkend ill let u no how the wedding goes soon
xxxx

[shortyclairebear]

hi lisa!

great to hear from you!!

the machine he will mean is a CPM machine! this is "constant passive motion."
the machine moves your leg for you,i have used one of these,my ROM got a bit stuck around the 90-100 degree mark and it helped me get over this!
they do seem to be very popular for getting ROM back though!
i think you will find it helps.

its pretty normal from reading peoples diarys on here that peoples ROM does get stuck,it happened to me and im sure theres others it has happened to aswell.
i have more or less full ROM now but even now if the weather is really cold i get stiff and unbendy again!

you sound as though you are doing ll you can so don't be too hard on yourself!

i hope the weather stays nice for the wedding!

take care,

claire x

[cherising]

Hey Lisa!
So how was the wedding?  Have you been able to get out of the house more often?
Well i have 25 more days till my surgery....yeah...hehe
Any recommendations of what I should do to prepare myself for this or is there anything I need to make sure I have at home to help me through my recovery?  My OS hasnt really given me much info.
Hope all is well with everyone!
Cherilyn

[Judey]

Hi Lisa,
had my arthroscopy on Tuesday. I will see my consultant again in about three weeks and discuss weather he thinks it is still worth my while going ahead with the MPF reconstruction now he has had first hand view into how knackered my knee was. Anyhow, as well as chondroplasty, I woke up to find I had a microfracture in three different areas, and a lateral release. I was quite surprised about the LR as it was the last thing I was expecting.
Anyhow, the nurses forgot to give me pain releif, so by early afternoon I was in dreadful pain and needed a morphine shot. This meant an overnight stay. I was also got up by the physio to learn how to "crutch" up and down stairs. I got half way down and was stood in a puddle of blood.
I bled almost non-stop for the next couple of days (it didnt help that I was on anticoagulant injections as well). Any how I saw my surgeon a couple of days later and he explained the bleeding was from the lateral release site as it involves cutting through two minor arteries. I was right the anticoagualnts were preventing the blood from clotting.
Anyhow, Im off them and so watching carefully for DVT's. Im non weight bearing until the end of next week, and in a brace from ankle to groin. Im alsoi on a massive dose of antibiotics to protect from infection. Apart from that and being bored silly Im fine. I will still go ahead with the MPFL recon. if my surgeon feels it will benefit me. I was in surgery for so long this time that I think Ive lost my fear of it.
Anyhow, I hope you are doing well. Post Soon
Jude

[Judey]

Hi,
anyone out there. I had my op 2 weeks ago 2morrow and am just feeling a bit bored and lonely.
I Saw my physio the other day and he's pleased with my muscle strenght etc. but has warned that recovery will be longer than I thought due to microfractures. He said at the moment the sites wouls be like black pudding!.
Anyhow, Im not wingeing about that because I trust my consultant  and feel glad that he did all of the work in one go, and hopefully when Im more mobile will feel much better. It's just the thought of being on crutches for a month.

Does anyone know how long it is before one can feel safe from DVT post op. Ive had to stop taking anticoagulants due to problems with bleeding from the scope holes, and as I have little else to to do, the mind tends to dwell on things and I feel  a bit anxious. Would appreciate some advice
thanks Judey

[lisa.p]

Hi All,

Im soo sorry i havent been in touch!!!
just seem to be doing things all the time!!!

Im having a really bad time with knee pain at the moment!!!
it seems to really hurt pm and im finding it harder and harder to sleep!!! and when i wake up in the morn it is sooo sore i could cry!!!
im getting so annoyed as i dont want to keep taking pain meds and to me i should be feeling better not feeling worst and in alot of pain???
did anyone else have this prob post op beings i had my surgery in may im not expecting this amount of pain this far into my recovery?

 Judey congrats on the op i hope your feeling well??
How did the surgery go??/
Did you have to stay long in hosp??
are you weight baring???
are you wearing a brace???

would love to know!!!!

hope everyone is well???
im sitting her now in pain so im back to ay  on bed and take some more pain meds!!!!

OHHHH I LOOOVVEEE MY KNEE SO MUCH RIGHT NOW!!!!

love to you all i will keep posting!!!

you can catch me on myspace and facebook
im under lisa porter
and my email addy is lisa_porter69@hotmail.com

there is some new groups on facebook including we are knee geeks

xxxxx

[cherising]

So good to finally hear from you Lisa.  Been thinking about you!  I am so sorry to hear about the pain!  dangit!  What does the doc say?  How many days per week are you in PT for?  How is everything at home?

I am having my MPLF Reconstruction and LR in a week and 6 days, but who is counting.  Everyone is telling me the recovery is so easy yet no one I know has ever had this surgery.  I want to believe it is easy but not from what I hear on here.
I will be having a diary as well once I go through this.

Lisa - if you ever need any kind of support...i am here.  My myspace is www.myspace.com/passionatecherilyn
Talk to you soon
Cherilyn

[Judey]

Hi Lisa
Thanks for your reply. Sorry to hear you are still in pain.
I was booked in as a day case, but ended up staying over because the nursing staff forgot to give me anti inflams and pain meds post op, and by late afternoon I was in agony. I was really surprised at the level of pain.
Also the physio got me up for thre stairs and I started to bleed very badly. Anyhow, I ended up with a morphine shot, and had to stay overnight.

I have felt great in myself, as I said in my previous post I had some bleeding due to anti coagulant meds. I was sent out in a full brace, which was to be removed after 48 hours. Then due to the bleeding I was put back in this for three more days. Im currently brace free but walking with crutches. No pain so to speak, in fact the knee feels better than it did, and dosent seem to stiffen up after sitting down.

I had a trauma last night, 2 weeks after the op. I had just completed my home physio, and was crutching into the kitchen when one of my boys shouted eeeeugh whats that. Well my cream carpet had a trail of stuff which I first thought was blood. This was absolutely pouring down my leg. I realised it was the wrong colour for blood, and assumed it must be fluid. It was streaming from the lateral arthroscopy port. There was a lot of it and it wouldnt stop for quite a while. (carpets ruined)

I pannicked and got my husband to take me to the nearest a&e. They confirmed it was fluid. Im really really afraid now in case I have done some damage to the lateral release site. My knee feels different, almost as if I want to "crack it" My husband thinks this may be because there is more room inside now the fluid has been released, but Im feeling anxious in case I have torn more of the tissue which was cut in the lateral release. I have a mental picture of my knee cap flapping about inside. I havent slept for worry, and I will have to call my consultant later. I also snapped at my husband in my panic, which isnt like me Im normally very placid, and he's now a bit sulky with me which doesent help.

I know this might sound like over reacting but as you know, when youve been in pain and waiting for an operation for a long time, you just want everything to go well. Its also easy to get a bit down when your less active and unable to get out and about for a long while. The old mind starts playing tricks.

If anyone can give any words of support, advice or anything Id be really grateful.

Thanks Jude

[cherising]

Hello everyone!  Well my surgery is in exactly one week!  Getting a little nervous yet so excited to get this darn thing fixed! 
I was wondering...what kind of clothes did everyone wear after the surgery.  My OS just told me that I will be in a big straight legged brace and I dont think I have any clothes that would fit it.  Any ideas for me?

How is everyone else doing?

[Judey]

Hi Cherising
I was in a thigh to ankle brace, and my husband brought three pairs of trousers to the hospital for me to try.
Only one would go on and these were i wider legged style.

Unfortunately, after trying the stairs with the physio I had a major bleed, and ruined the trousers (and slippers). I eventually went home in knee length shorts, and wore similar until I could take the brace off.

Next time I wore long pants I had a major leakage of fluid, and covered yet another pair of pants, and slippers.
The moral of the story WEAR SHORTS
I did find when trying on the trousers with the brace, it seemed to make the whole thing tighter and less comfortable. I dont know what the weather is like at the mo. Are you now in Boston it should be pretty mild I think, and you probably wont be going far anyway.

Im progressing well now, but still not driving and just starting to wean off the crutches. For the first time in ages I can do lunges which my physio has prescribed.  Hurrrrraaaay the excitement of it!!!. Im starting to get a bit carried away with myself and picture me doing all kinds of things that I havent been able to do for a long time. Perhaps yoga would be pushing my luck a bit.

Anyway, good luck with your operation, Im sure it will go really well. When I was nervous whilst waiting to go down to theatre, I just thought about that lovely feeling when you first come round after surgery and someone is usually stroking your hand and talking gently to you, and that feeling of utter joy at having come through and it's all over.
Anyhow, Ill be thinking of you so do post and let us know how you get on
Jude

[cherising]

Hi Judey -
They told me my brace is pretty big and pretty much covers most of my leg, so i went out and bought alot of bigger shorts.  I cant believe that the surgery is only 2 days away.  So nervous yet so excited!  I am ready to get this over with!

What surgery did you have Judey?  And when did you have it?  Did you ever find out what the draining of all the fluids from your Lateral Release was from?  I am having Lateral Release and reconstruction of my MPFL. I keep hearing everyone say that the Lateral Releases are never successful but my OS says that it is necessary with the new MPFL.  Who knows. I am just going to trust my OS and go with the flow.  I cant always be in control of everything....hehehe
And by the way, I am in San Diego.  I am not moving to Boston until next Fall.

Hope everyone is well and maybe you guys can stop by my knee diary that I will be starting while going through this surgery!
Have a great weekend!
Cherilyn