terrible awful no-good very bad knee

[mdk]

DISCLAIMER (added June 8th, 2012)


Just in case you're starting to research the prospect of a Fulkerson TTT for yourself, and newly discovering this thread, BEWARE! I'm having some freakish unanticipated problems, to which the operation may or may not have contributed (jury's still out on that). I rant and rave in here because the community's patient enough to put up with it, but that doesn't make me a reliable source of info for you. Near as I can tell I'm in a club of less than 5% (generously speaking) who develop this kind of a problem, so if you're comparing my account to somebody else's, more than 95% of the time you should be listening more to the other guy. Please keep that in mind! I would feel really bad if I found out I scared you out of a surgery that might've helped. Remember I'm just some poor sap on the internet, not a doctor and CERTAINLY not a reliable medical resource of any kind (I even made up that statistic just now). That's all, thanks!





".....JEEEENNNNNKINNNNNNS!"

Back from Texas and better than ever. Had my Fulkerson on the 23rd -- I was kinda nervous, I'll admit it, but not as bad as I was with the initial LR/meniscus repair, ironically enough. Spent about four hours in pre-op waiting mode before I finally got the happy gas -- and I think few better conversations were ever had with a passing-out patient than the specops pilot comparing notes with the RC-hobbyist anesthesiologist. They loaded me up with a femoral nerve block and went right to work... near as I can guess I was under for a little over two hours. I came around just in time to puke in the elevator and pass out again, and then intermittently wake up all through the night. Fortunately the pain was pretty well manages -- I had a morphine panic-button that I didn't really need to use very much, and other than the initial onset of consciousness, really my biggest issue so far has been drymouth. Which is a pretty good sign, if you ask me.

Anywho I woke up at 4:00 AM today to someone stealing my blood, which I guess is pretty normal in overnight hospital stays, and promptly fell back to sleep. Was up again in time for breakfast, and by the time I was done I was already feeling pretty good. Not "pain free," per se, but *way* better than status-quo of late. I got to demonstrate four months' worth of crutch-fu for the occupational therapist, who was adequately impressed, and spent most of the rest of the day watching Law and Order on TV. Later on they came back to take out the creepy blood-pump and the nerve blocker -- the removal of both felt weird as hell -- and pop a fancy stocking on over the various dressings. Doesn't look nearly as cool as the Ace bandage I had last time, but it's for the best I suppose. Anywho shortly thereafter I was sent home, and now I'm back online.


Prognosis so far is good; obviously it's the day after surgery and I'm still benefiting from some powerful narcotics at the hospital, and it's way too early to chalk this up as a victory just yet, but I'm pretty optimistic. I was expecting a pretty hellacious night at the hospital, but honestly every day of the last two months has been worse than this. The doc says he expects this surgery to do the trick, based on what he saw, and I'm inclined to agree. In the meantime he's pretty strict about what I'm not supposed to be doing --- he says to keep the brace locked at zero and toe-touch wb only as tolerated, spending as much time elevating/on ice as necessary. Also he gave me a "get out of work free" card good for four weeks, which I'm not too proud to use (hey, I think I've earned a break -- plus if last surgery was any indication I'll be back in here crying in a few days anyway). It's a long road ahead yet, but right now I'm pretty pleased. I've got Lortab and some anti-coagulant shots, and oh yeah THIS!



Without breaking out a ruler I think it's about 11 inches long, and very angry! The white patch on the side is where they stuck in that creepy (did I mention it was creepy?) blood vacuum tube thingy.... that thing was creepy....

Anyway it's been a long day of lying down doing nothing, so I think it's about sleep o'clock PM. Back tomorrow with more misery, if the statistics hold.

[TwoBadKneesUSA]

Too bad about the puking, just the thing to jar everything for you.  Ah yes!  The vampires, should have warned you about those.  Every AM between 4 and 5 they come by.  Need to check all your counts and make sure they are in normal range.  Bothersome, pesky things won’t let a patient sleep.  The blood catcher is nice too. BLEH!

I also stunned the floor PT with what I could do on crutches (had to remind the poor guy that I was young for a replacement and was probably 20+ years younger than his average patient).  Even gave him a few pointers to pass on to the old folks left on the ward.

Nice scar by the way!  The first two weeks are usually the hardest and consist of the most pain.  So hopefully it starts
feeling pretty good by then.  The swelling did not look too terrible.  Make sure to elevate and ice as often as possible.  Do the exercises as prescribed and use the knee as much as your doc says to.  Don’t overdo it!  Ok lecture over.  Take care and will keep hoping this works for you  and gets your life back to a more normal mode.

Milly

[mdk]

Vampires is right. It's like an only-slightly-creepier version of the Toothfairy, only they didn't even leave me a quarter under my pillow.

Well, the nerve block has officially worn off. Ow. As if I needed more incentive to lie down on the couch and play videogames... well, can't complain too much I guess. As long as I'm stationary (and heavily-drugged), everything feels pretty okay, so I'm just gonna ride this wave for a while and try not to think about what PT is gonna be like in a few weeks. The dogs helped me out by warming up the bed, and letting me sleep in. Oh, I started wearing pajama pants because I can't stand my ridiculous white-smurf legging things. SO WEIRD. A little Syracuse blue-and-orange is much more welcome.

Not to be premature with all this, but..... I think this is already going ten times better than the last surgery. Totally the right call.

[Rknees4]

MDK,
Nice looking leg.
Hemo-vac is way ahead of leeches.   Be glad the vampire machine seems to have done the job. Your leg does look good for the surgery you had.
Take Care and I hope you are up and "flying" without the drugs soon.
Rk4

[TwoBadKneesUSA]

Did the doc give you any take home exercises?  IF he did I would try them just after you took a dose of pain meds (like say 30 mins later so they have time to kick in).  This worked best for me, got me to using the leg without too much undue pain an stress.

I would have responded yesterday but could not get past the image of a flyboy in a pair of smurf tights!      Could not get my thoughts straight after that image popped in my head.  Made my afternoon though!  TED hose suck though, I can't wear them myself feels like the darn thing is crushing my leg.  Make sure you are elevating above the heart and icing whenever you can and as often as you can.  Keeping the swelling down helps with pain too.

Take care.

Milly

[mdk]

Still alive. My buddy brought over a whole carload of cripple-supplies -- oatmeal bars, gatorade, oreo cookies, cheeze-its, etc. Also, a bundle of over 100 Sci-Fi B-movies (including such gems as "Robo-Vampire"). I think my brain is evaporating already.


Other than that, pretty much living the dream.... the whole "I'm totally fine, as long as I never move from exactly this spot" treatment is going pretty well. Got some killer straight-leg-lifts in today -- how does THREE sound? Pretty buff, right? That was three *in a row*, without even stopping. Try to contain your awe.

Oh, also today I pretty majorly blew off some people at work, because their paperwork process is stupid. They want me to drive (half an hour each way) to base to go to "sick call," to wait in line with all the flu-infected folks and catch a disease/infection just so I can fill out a "988" and turn around and drive home, at 6:30 in the morning. I think they wanted to remind me why it's taken three and a half years for me to get this far -- cuz, I mean, I can't think of any other explanation. My supervisor knows where I am and they've got my phone number, I figure if they *really* need to find me they can call.

[TwoBadKneesUSA]

3 SLRs in a row!  You go!  WHOOT!!!!  That really is a big deal, crazy as it sounds.

Wow military efficiency at it's finest!  Maybe they have a form to fill out to say why you did not fill out the other form?  Honestly, it's not like you are trying to hide or anything.

Take care.

[mdk]

SLR's like a boss. I'm killin' 'em.

This isn't really a related achievement, but I got past one of the hard parts of my latest Playstation endeavor. Hardest game of all time? Maybe, but it only took ME ten hours to get past one little section, so HA! This is my life..... I took a crack at writing again today, which is my fallback career just in case this whole military thing falls through the cracks. Not my best work so far, but I'm trying to get back into the groove and it takes time (especially on pain and painkillers), so I'm not stressing yet. Actually I guess I am a little more stressed than usual.... I got a little snappy with my roommate today, but in my defense he was riling up a 60-pound german shepherd literally on top of my face. Still, that usually rolls off me like water on a duck, but I guess this hurts more than I consciously realize. Other than the "your blood is moving" rush I get when I initially stand up, all I've got is this dull, back-of-the-mind lurking pain. It's quiet, but it messes with you. Weird.

Anywho, still alive. Today's revelation was that, in the time it takes to change a dressing and re-apply my White Smurf Stockings, my knee can almost double in size. Also I need more rubbing alcohol, I guess, or did I imagine that? I haven't been using anything to clean the wound and it's been like two days, so I'm thinking it's time to send a minion out to fetch me some rubbing alcohol, since I'm pretty sure the Consuela who gave me my post-op instructions mentioned something to that effect.

[mdk]

Theeeeeeere it is.


I'll admit it, I've spent a lot of the last week thinking "Man, this ain't so bad, what's all the fuss about?" Today it really smacked me. Got up to use the bathroom about ten hours ago, laid back down and it hasn't stopped hurting ever since. This is more what I expected the Fulkerson to feel like. Iced it until the ice melted.... pretty sure some pillow-adjustment was key in minimizing the pain, trying to find that sweet spot where the weight of the leg isn't pushing the bone one way or the other. The REAL killer is ankle movement.... all you savvy readers keep an eye out for lateral ankle movement cuz that's just.... I mean, wow.

The good news is, the only bruising I've had so far is around my IV spot, if you can imagine that. A 16-gauge needle gives me a bruise, but the sushi filet with a side-order of staples is doing just fine. Might have something to do with the enoxiparin injections -- only one more of those left, and I can't say I'll miss the nightly needle. I can't help but suspect that the huge numb patch all around the incision site is probably helping with pain management to some degree, so here's hoping I've got some medium-term severe nerve damage that conveniently goes away after I get better. Which, based on how I'm feeling today, probably gonna be a while.... I find myself worrying less and less about getting my flying job back. I think at this point, if I can get back to a life away from my couch sometime in the next six months, I'll be happy. Happier if I'm walking, thrilled if I'm flying, but hell at this point I could live with rolling.


Edit: Look at me, being melodramatic again. One bad day and I'm already putting myself in a wheelchair. That's more than a little ridiculous.... Anyway time to eat some more pills and get some sleep, I think I need it.

[mdk]

Protip: prescription narcotics, in the US, can only be "transferred" once. That means if you pick up your drugs in Lubbock, TX, and the pharmacy writes it up as a "transfer," you have to drive two hours back into Texas to refill your empty pain meds. So, if you're receiving pain management pills in the US, make sure you check with the pharmacy to make sure you'll be able to refill where you want. Fortunately I was able to call my OS's office and get a new prescription faxed over without delay.

Second protip: don't count on the Wal-Mart pharmacy to be johnny-on-the-spot filling your prescriptions. Mine was sitting in the fax machine for three hours untouched, and didn't get filled until three minutes before closing. Mind you, the young lady working behind the counter made the wait a little more pleasurable, but that's small consolation in the long run.

Third protip: minimize your driving for at least a couple of weeks post-op. Even if it seems like the lesser of two evils, driving with a recent fulkerson sucks. If it's your right leg you'll probably have issues working the pedals, and if it's the left like mine it'll take upwards of five minutes just to fenagle yourself into the seat. Getting out is another matter entirely! A week post-op and out-of-pain-meds is not the time or condition to troubleshoot this process. That goes double for being in a public parking lot, triple if there are small children around.


also, bruising has begun. It's just getting started, but I'm thinking it's gonna get epic pretty soon based on the pattern. I'll see if I get anything worth a picture tomorrow.

[TwoBadKneesUSA]

Only 10 hours for one section, not bad.  How about many years to finish a game!  My kid really gives me grief about it (yet if I had the free time he had, different story).  I am trying to finish Tomb Raider (yes the first one).   Anyway good job on making through a tough section.

Writing and pain meds can make for some very interesting reading later on. 

As of the dull pain driving you nuts over time, thing about that tiny tiny rock in your shoe, does it not turn into a bolder by the end of an hour or so?    Yeah one bad day can give you a tail spin alright, the pain meds don’t let you be very upbeat either.  Kinda sucks like that.  The numbness should get better, but it may never completely go away.  I still have a spot about the size of the palm of my hand on the lateral side of the knee.  It’s not an issue unless I whack it on something real good.

Driving already?  That was on my forbidden list for two weeks postop.  I remember driving myself to college about an hour each was after a nasty LR on the right knee many years ago.  But then cars back then had bench seats, so you slid in from the passenger side and propped the leg across the seat and drove with your left foot.  Not very comfy but it worked.  Geez even trucks have bucket seats today, not something I would want to sling a wounded leg over.

Take care.

Milly

[mdk]

tomb raider -- nice! Actually I still have a game for the NES called "Battletoads" that I've been trying to beat since it was the first game I ever bought with my own money.... 18 years ago... Still can't make it to the last boss, although I got closer than ever last time I tried. They don't make 'em like that anymore.


I was warned about the numbness, so it's not stressing me out too much. I figure worst-case, I can turn it into a party trick....somehow... In the meantime I figure it's better to NOT feel the huge gash in my leg than to feel it.


Here's today's dilemma. Changing the dressings last night I noticed a teenie little bit of goopy discharge coming from one of my staple-holes. The tiny paranoid voice in my head thinks this means I'm dying of plague. I'm figuring this *has* to be.... well maybe not "normal," but it can't be surprising to have some different-colored bodily fluids in there. How much is too much? Should I be like, hitchhiking to the nearest ER or something?

[Lottiefox]

What colour is the goop? Is it clear or cloudy? Does it smell (yep, sorry, gross elements of surgery #54 sniff your own bodily excretions and post about it on the web..)? Any redness around the staple site/extra tenderness?

I love goop. Don't be tempted to pull it out or squeeze it. I did that with a large hole on my foot incision. I found a stitch and some nasty brown sludge. 

Lottie

[TwoBadKneesUSA]

Battletoads!  Really!  Cool.  Yeah that was back before you could save your game I think.  Showed my son Golden Axe and had to laugh 'cause he couldn't find the save game option!     Nope sorry sonny boy had to get to the last boss on one quarter!

Anyway.....like Lottie said check color, yellow or green is usually bad, most of the time these things will ooze a bit and usually not a problem.  You can always call the OS and describe and they can tell you if you should panic.  Warning signs to look for are lots of redness and heat where the ick is comming from.  Usually if it is soaking through the dressing quickly or often then a call to the doc at least is in order.  Definately if is smells really bad find a way to ER.  Redness, heat, yellow/green and bad smell is usually infection.  Most times it's just some ick the body is getting rid of from a convient spot.

Pretty sure it's not anything to worry about, but check it out if is does not improve.

Milly

[mdk]

Sort of a milky reddish-orange color, no odor to speak of. It's not actively pumping out or anything, just sorta dried and cakey. There's a little elevated redness but nothing too crazy. Really, honestly, it looks as.... "normal" I guess as something like this ever could, considering. Not even making the dressings wet yet. I'm sure I'm fine. I've got a follow-up on monday, and it's certainly not gonna kill me before then.


Yeah, BATTLETOADS predates saving your game. You have to start from the beginning every time... turns out though, the secret to success is NOT using the warps to skip levels, cuz if you play through each stage the right way you can pick up an extra 20 lives or something crazy like that. Of course then it becomes a marathon, and you have to balance taking a break to rest your thumb muscles and getting "cold" and out-of-the-zone.