Jessica is now Bionic -post op diary from Austin, TX

[seerobinbike]

Hey Jessica,

Best of luck tomorrow with your manipulation.  Please know that I will be thinking of you.   Check in with us as soon as possible. 

Good healing vibes now being sent your way.............

Robin  xx

[esther_bunny]

Thank you Robin!

Well my dad chose alcohol over coming down to help out. He's got a lot of problems but lately it seemed he was doing better and we even talked (lucidly on his part) for several days about our plans. He let me down big time and he knows it.

Being the strong one in the family is hard and if it wasn't for me he wouldn't be alive right now. I'm so very disappointed but am wondering why I expected anything different. I mean to his credit he did come down for my ACL revision and helped out. Over Christmas we had a discussion wherein I told him I needed him, he's my only dad. But that didn't matter today, at least until it was too late. I'm taking some time from talking to him. I really didn't need the stress of this tonight but whaddyagonnado?

So tomorrow it'll be just me and my husband (Nate). we have to be there at 6.30am (eeks!) Getting up that early will be hard as I've slowly reverted to being a night owl (my normal state). Going to try and go to bed in an hour or so.

Still have my sights set on the CHL class though, that gives me something to look forward to.

They said they're most likely going to put me under twilight sedation, which is awesome. I still think I'm getting a femoral block so I'm worried about getting from the car to the house but I'll make it. I always do.

Thanks for the well-wishes, I'll need them.

(PS- thanks for letting me vent about my dad. I was so looking forward to seeing him though. Maybe another time.)

[Brambledog]

Thinking of you today Jessica, hope everything goes well and the next few days go to plan.

Sorry your dad bailed on you, but as you say, you've just got to get on wth things. Your husband sounds a great support, and hopefully your dad will be around to help out sometime during your recovery.

Thinking healing thoughts! 

Brams 

[esther_bunny]

I think everything went well.
We got to the hospital at 6.30am and registered and paid.
Soon they took me up to a bed where I changed and they started the IV drip.
I met the nurse and the anesthesiologist. People came and went all asking me my birthday and what I was having done.
I got some meds to relax me and then they booted out my husband to go to the waiting room.
After that the anesthesiologist came in again and gave me my epidural. That so did not hurt. It was like getting a regular shot.
Some more people came in and they made me put on one of those lunch lady caps and then I got more drugs.

Then I woke up in recovery. They didn't put me all the way under but gave me an epidural for the nerve damage stuff and put me so far in twilight sedation I might as well have been put under general anesthesia.
I kept falling in and out of sleep, it was very hard to wake up.
At one point they took out my breathing tubes but I was breathing too shallow so they put them back in. (That was actually a little scary because I couldn't get a good breath and started coughing, thankfully it was quickly alleviated)
Every time I drifted off to sleep they came around with some ice and touched various parts of my body to see if the epidural was wearing off. It was only supposed to block from my hips down but it blocked from my chest down.

At one point I grabbed my legs and looked at the nurse and said, "Hey, it feels like I'm feeling someone else up!"

I was so groggy and sleepy, it took me almost 3 hours to fully wake up but once I was awake I was ready to go! But first I had to stand and then go pee for them and all that.
Finally I was able to get dressed and my husband went and got the car and we came home.

The guy from the CPM company came a few hours later and got me set up really quick.

My doctor took pics on his phone of my manipulation and showed them to my husband, I am going to ask to see them as well. He took them to prove that my knee can really bend that far (too my chest). He's a funny guy, I love my doc.

Apparently I had tons of scar tissue and the nerve issue was making it so my pain wouldn't go away, it would just circle back- a neverending circle of pain.

At home now and I'm sore where they did the epidural and I'm sore on the inside of my knee. I'm sort of freaked out about PT tomorrow, I'm not sure what to expect. Pain? If so, how much? I've heard that the first 3 days after a manipulation are the hardest. Just taking it one step at a time as they say....

Thanks for all the welll wishes!

[LindaM]

I'm so happy to hear everything went well.  Chances are the PT won't be any worse than what you have already had, and bonus is you know that you are tackling the root of the problem.  Sleep tight and good luck tomorrow at PT.

Linda

[seerobinbike]

YaY Jessica on your successful do over!!!!  Thought of you often today and hoped that things were going smoothly.  I don't blame you for being a bit nervous about PT but as Linda said, you got through today.  I think you are one tough cookie!  Hope you get a good night's sleep and that today is behind you!

Chat soon!

[Brambledog]

Hi Jessica,

Glad the epidural went smoothly and they got the manipulation done. I bet it'll be weird looking at pics of your surgeon bending your knee about like that! 

The knee's bound to be a bit sore to start with, but the PT work you've already done will stand you in good stead.

Good luck tomorrow.

Brams 

[esther_bunny]

                        130 degrees           130 degrees               130 degrees                   130 degrees                  130 degrees[/size]

Yay! the next 2 weeks will be critical to keep it that way. I can't believe it worked!!!!!

I'm crying I'm so happy!!!!!!!

[Brambledog]

Woo-hoo!!!! 

Now THAT'S impressive stuff. Almost as impressive is how you got the scrolling text like that lol...

Well done. You can totally do this now. Yay for manipulation...!

Hope the pain is under control now and stays that way. I am so proud.

Brams in a silly mood 

[seerobinbike]

Congratulations Jessica!!!!!!![/move]

No sa!!!!  This is the best news I've heard all day!  WTG.  How is it feeling today?  Hope the pain isn't too bad.  YaY! 

[seerobinbike]

Ah, well.  I tried to send you a banner but no dice.   

Robin  xx

[captainruss]

I had multiple MUA and no progress with ROM.  PT and CPM and dynasplint and AF keeping my knee stiff.

Russ

[LindaM]

130 degrees is AWESOME!!!

At PT today I made 126degrees and my PT said the knee is only designed to go to 130.  According to him they want to get everyone to 120 but are okay with a final flexion of 115.

YOU HIT THE MAX ON THE FIRST DAY BACK TO PT!  You must be on top of the world.

Linda

[esther_bunny]

Sorry captainruss, what is a dynasplint and AF?

I'm worried about my knee getting stiff over night. My therapist said to wake up every 2 hours and do the stretches. I really don't think that's going to happen. that would require Nate waking up every  2 hours as well. I don't think we can realistically do that.

It does seem like that when I do the stretches at home we don't get as far. Maybe because we are doing them on the bed and at PT I'm on a table? Still doing CPM for 6 hours and riding the bike. After a few minutes on the bike my knee feels great.

The worst part about the stretches is coming out of them, didn't expect that to hurt, too.

[LindaM]

Probably a couple of reasons you don't feel you have stretched as far.  Your PT can't feel your pain, so he probably pushes a little farther than you do.  Also, everything around you knee is probably bruised up, stretched, and a little swollen from the work your doctor did, so your other muscles don't want to do the work of pulling the knee into as much flexion as someone moving it for you would.  I really think what has gotten my flexion up has been doing the lunges that I told Robin about.  My PT had me put my foot on the second stair and lunge.  I could control the stretch really well.  At home I have a chair that works great because I can use the arms to steady myself and gently work up to a full stretch.-

Maybe at night when you wake up from time to time you could try this- kick off the covers, raise your leg until your toe points to the ceiling, and let your knee bend gently under its own weight with some support from your hands.  That might not wake your husband.

Linda