Jessica's TTO and MPFL 1/25/11

[mermaids]

Jessica, that is wonderful news!  I think it is important for people to post about successful outcomes too. 

Not only can I feel the screws, I can SEE them.  Eww, eww, ewww.  My bones are too thin for the surgeon to sink them in like he normally does.  Originally, he said he wanted to take them out after a year.  With my latest drama, we have not discussed the screw removal... low on the priority list right now. 

[JessicaO]

Thanks Mermaids, my legs and bones are so so skinny. When were you able to see them? Right after surgery? I heard they can start to show over time.

I have asked about it and doc said he sunk them pretty good. Im sorry to hear you are having problems

[mermaids]

It was probably within a couple months that the screws became really pronounced. As the swelling went down, they became more obvious. I had my TTT done over 5 months ago.

[cdubb]

That's great you're doing so well!  So true that when people do well, they don't come on as often.  I haven't been on in a few weeks. My left is moving along and more issues with my right actually.  I'm thinking about doing my right knee in November/Dec also depending on how life seems to go.  We can get it done the same day.  Just kidding, but it would be funny if it happened to work out that way by coincidence.   

I've also asked about the screws and was told they were sunk pretty deep also. I can't feel them, but my whole shin still is very sore, which I find really odd since I'm almost 6 months post op.  I get not being able to kneel and being sore at the osteotomy site, but why down further on the shin??

FYI, as for the scar, mine is really looking great at this point. It was closed up really well and fading white and is not that noticeable at all.  You can still see it, but the giant bump from the raised tuburcle is more noticeable than the scar.

[JessicaO]

12 weeks 4 days post op...
Hi everyone,
I went to the doctor on Thursday and everything seems to be great with my knee. My quad muscle is still shot, but my doctor said he thinks I am wasting my time at PT because most of the stuff they make me do is stuff I can do on my own at the gym. I havent been to the gym since the day before surgery but i sure am dying to get back. I did however do a few new exercises that night at PT. he said if I dont think PT is improving the next few weeks i should stop. I want to keep going because i think PT helps me with my ROM. my boyfriend has been helping with that too though. I go to PT three times a week so at that point i hope i still have enough energy to go to the gym too on top of PT after work. My knee bent to 115 on thursday. I know that isnt great but i think a lot of it has to do with the fact that they arent forcing my knee to bend...i sorta want them to just so i can get it back.

Also, i rode around my bike for the first time this year yesterday!! Awesome! alot easier than i thought it would be! my boyfriend was a little nervous since we live in downtown chicago, but we stayed away from the busy intersections. It was so fun to be able to go out and do that. its way sooner than i thought i would be able to do that!

Also, my doc said i dont really need to wear that tracking brace ive been wearing. i think im going to still wear it sometimes, but not all the time. i also walk with no limp. its quite amazing how great i feel already. just that darm ROM i knew this was gona happen though.

cdubb: i do not have a giant bump from the raised tuburcle... im not even totally sure what you mean?? I just have a scar, my surgery knee is actually alot nicer of a shape than my other one and i def. think november or october is the time im getting my next one!

[JessicaO]

14 weeks Post Op
I got to 121 degrees yesterday. Slowly but surely I guess. My strength is getting better and I'm going to go to the gym tonight after work I think! Im pretty pumped. Even though when I go to therapy I feel like that is sort of my work out too.

I have been doing 5 minutes on the free runner, it's kind of like an elliptical I guess. Then I ride on the stationary bike for another 5 minutes. (I can do a lot longer, which I'm going to do at the gym, but I cant stay on those machine too long at PT)

Then yesterday I did wall slides with a ball. She had me just use my surgery leg and use only my toe of my other leg for balance. It was actually pretty hard. I liked it. Then we do planks together, which is hard but cool that she does them with me.

I do step ups. Im using the larger step now. (Not sure how many inches it is, the smaller one is 6 inches though.) Then i do step downs with the 6 inch step. Then I do two different types of squats. Then I balance on one foot on that blue foam thing. Then I do the leg press (70 pounds). I dont even count how many i do, i do a lot though! then i do this hip machine thing where i push up with my thigh bone.

Then i do the crab walk with the bands. She also throws in more exercises sometimes. Then i do my table exercises (leg lifts, heel slides, quad sets, bridges with the ball, and then i squeeze this little ball in between my knees.

Wow, that sounds like i do alot, no wonder it feels like i am at the gym! haha

I do that three times a week, and now im going to start going to the gym. My legs are still weak so hopefully the gym will help it too.

[JessicaO]

In 11 days I progressed 9 degrees! So I am now at 124 degrees as on yesterday!!! Yay! What is full ROM? 145?

[Runner1993]

Full ROM can range anywhere from 125-145, plus a few degrees of hyperextension, depending on the person. It is said that you achieve Full ROM when the ROM in your operated knee matches your other knee.

How are things going, Jessica!? It's been a long time since I have been on your thread! Hope things are going well!

[cdubb]

Jessica,
Glad to  hear you're doing so well.  I've been MIA for a while since I don't really have any updates myself and then dealing with my dad's death and everything.   I'm doing farily decent myself...not quite where I'd want to be, but ACI is such a long process.   I'm thinking Nov. or Dec. myself for my right knee...it'd be kind of funny if we end up on the same day!  I'll e-mail you a picture of my knee.  My tuburcle is quite raised in front....it's kind of bizarre actually... I absolutely cannot kneel yet.  I wonder what the liklihood of getting the same nerve/burning type issues is again??? Something to ask I suppose....

[JessicaO]

Hi Everyone!
So my last day of PT was June 16th I believe. My ending ROM was around 130 degrees. Im not happy with that at all, but i guess my doc thought i was only going to get to about 120 degrees. It might be less than 130 though i feel like my PT never measured it correctly....

So when I went to the doctor that same day, i showed him how when i straighten my leg out when it was hanging off the edge of the table that it slides out of place still. awesome right? NOOOO

Not as bad as it used to but it is definitely doing it. Its most likely because of my pathetic muscle on the inside of the knee. Its so skinny. he suggested i go to a personal trainer and referred me to his trainer that he goes to. I went to him last week and i have another apt with him on Wednesday. He showed me alot of stuff, and alot of it was also similar to the stuff i did in PT. the only different was that he said i was doing most of it incorrectly. most likely because my PT never even watched me do  my exercises.... Yeah i think i pretty much wasted lots of time and insurance money going three days a week for soooo many weeks. im hoping the Personal trainer helps though. i know it will if i keep up with it. my knee is so weak and my other leg is definitely still my "better" leg. until i feel like the surgery leg is my better leg im not even thinking about going through with it again. I was thinking November before but not anymore.....

other than that, i think im doing better. it will get better with time but im no where near 100 percent. better than i was pre surgery though. well except the ROM. i  had more ROM before surgery. no pain though. and i can indeed kneel! which i was not expecting to be able to do.

[cdubb]

Hey jessica,
I still track laterally also....due to my quad being so atrophied still.  I was told that was normal and as my quad returns, that should also improve.  So, keep working the quad and hopefully tracking should improve!