Bone breaks around the knee :

Non-surgical repair of Fractured Patellar - - Posted by shubbaz (shubbaz), 15 October 2004

Hi from Australia! Can anybody please give me an idea on what to expect when I get my leg deplastered(after 6 weeks) next Tuesday 19th of Oct? How stiff will my knee be? How soon can I drive? How much hydrotherapy or physio will I require? I did not have surgery as the patellar was not displaced. How painful will the rehab be? I've got a very low pain threshold worse luck! Not looking forward to my rehabilitation at all I can tell you. Why is my plaster so tight? All over that is. Hope that isn't too many questions, Cheers Cheryl
Posted by kgrosskurth (Kathy G), 16 October 2004

Hi, Shubbaz and welcome!! A lot of how you do depends on how much you work at getting your ROM back and rebuilding muscle. Read some of the others' entries and though everyone is different, most of us had to put a lot of work into getting better.

I wish you all the best, and again welcome to the club noone wanted to join!  
Posted by Pat_A.E. (Pat_A.E.), 18 October 2004

As Kathy G said, it is really difficult to tell you exactly what your rehab will be.  You can be pretty sure that your knee will be really locked and it will be very uncomfortable getting the range of motion back.  If you have pain meds consider taking them about 1 hour before you go for phy. therapy.  That is generally more effective then waiting until after PT!
Another factor is age.  The younger you are the better and faster the recovery seems to be from the posts on this site.
Posted by shubbaz (shubbaz), 19 October 2004

Hi Pat, thanks for the reply. The pain med sounds like a good idea to me, prior to PT session. Will give it a go. I am 56yrs by the way, not too old yet. Cheers Cheryl
Posted by kgrosskurth (Kathy G), 7 November 2004

Hi, Cheryl. Wanted to check in to see how you are doing and to wish you well in your ongoing recovery efforts!  
Posted by shubbaz (shubbaz), 14 November 2004

Hi Kathy, well, had a bit of a fall one week after getting plaster off on 19th Oct. Got crutch caught up on clothes dryer in laundry, grrrr!!! Had another xray to make sure I hadn't reinjured the kneecap(was ok). PT and Dr. reckon I probably wrenched ligaments etc. The pain was excruciating. Fainting and vomiting!! The guy at the rec centre wouldn't start me on hydrotherapy until the pain and swelling had gone down some more. I started the hydro last week. My knee still seems to have a lot of fluid in it. Still got a "melon knee". LOL! I have been elevating and icing it(3 times a day). Doing my home PT exercises. The last couple of weeks I have only been using one crutch, and last week the PT guy gave me a walking stick. Less cumbersome than the crutch anyway. My knee still wants to give way on me. The muscles are still looking pretty wasted. Still not driving. Hope to be able to do so this week as I can now lift my leg from accelerator to foot brake. I've been practicing! LOL.  Anyway, thanks for checking in on me. Hopefully the swelling will start settling down soon. Better go and wash some dishes now, and get ready to go to the pool for some hydro. I like it. Nice and gentle.  Cheers Cheryl from Oz.
Posted by kgrosskurth (Kathy G), 16 November 2004

Thanks for the update, Cheryl. Sorry about your fall - I also experienced a fall on crutches early on, and fortunately like you mine didn't rebreak anything. But it scared me!! Glad to hear you are doing the water therapy - it's really the best way to go. I would go to the indoor pool at least 2-3x a week myself, was the best way to regain ROM. The muscles will also come back, they will take some time - just remember to keep at it and not give up doing the exercises.

Again thanks for the progress report, and I wish you all the best in your ongoing recovery!!
Posted by KNEECAP (KNEECAP), 26 November 2004

keep your spirits up and remember that one day you will be fine again. The thing that helped me the most was staying happy
Posted by shubbaz (shubbaz), 30 November 2004

Hi all thanks for the good wishes. I'm now driving, no walking stick, and getting around doing a few odd jobs outside etc. Not back at work yet. I'm finding that my knee and ankle starts swelling up again during the day when I've been getting around on it. Is this normal? Also I find that if I get up too quickly, there is still a lot of pain behind the kneecap. Could this have something to do with the fall I had on crutches - Dr. and PT reckon I wrenched things inside. Still cannot squat, or climb stairs with crook knee, flexion is to about 140degrees with assistance from PT. Do you guys think that I should ask the Dr. for an Ultrasound to find out where the pain is coming from?? Have to see him this afternoon. I usually have to elevate and ice my knee a couple of times a day to get the swelling down again. Also after being in bed all night, all the swelling seems to go down again till I've been up on it for a couple of hours. Thanks for all the advice. This site is a godsend. Cheers Cheryl
Posted by HHB (MHB), 1 December 2004

Hi Cheryl,

After reading this entire thread, you seem to be about 12 wks out from your injury, is that right? Sounds like you're doing great with recovery -- decent ROM, good knee use with reasonable comfort -- terrific!

At 12 weeks out from surgery, this surgically-repaired kneecap still had heat and swelling of the sort you describe -- it didn't hurt exactly -- it just got my attention throughout a day. Have been told that the injury damages the circulation, which adds to the swelling from the injury trauma, sometimes for quite a while.

But it does go away, sooner or later, with or without help, is my guess now. Mine gradually decreased over the passing weeks, but at 6 mos. from injury, finally tried some Celebrex, which seems to have helped quite a bit. I dunno for sure, but I think I stopped thinking about icing this knee about a month ago (7 mos. from surgery). What a pleasure that is -- the knee feels pretty much like the uninjured one now.

As to the stair climbing/squatting/rising discomfort -- had some of that, too, and using the knee over time was what helped most, I think. It just takes a while. I do daily chores outside, and remember how it was to misstep, stumble and have to catch myself using the injured knee -- ouch.

Nowadays, however, no problems. For example, can carelessly get "caught up" in, say, a tangled hose on the ground, trip, then need to catch myself with the injured knee. Still amazing to me -- like a new present each time -- it doesn't hurt at all now, the knee seems strong and works as well as the other one. Oh happy day.

With your "track record" so far, am thinking you're bound to make a speedy and full recovery, and I don't think it will be long, either!

Best wishes and take care, MHB
Posted by lizl (lizl), 10 December 2004

Hi, MHB, and welcome Cheryl!

Sorry to be so long getting to this thread, but normal life is getting to be more and more common for me.

Sorry to repeat what I just said in another thread, but I still discover little bits of progress in my own knee and I'm almost exactly a year from my last surgery.

On the other hand, I do have good and not-so-good days, as well. During the last several days, for instance, I helped decorate the office for Christmas--meaning I was standing all day, rather than sitting sometimes--and my knee was quite swollen each day. I wear slacks nearly all of the time, but I can tell when it begins to swell because of all the stinging and pin-prickly tingling that accompanies the swelling.  Incoming weather fronts also make it swell.

For me, it seems that some swelling and discomfort is going to be an on-going reality. In other words, the joint is not completely normal, so I'm just going to need to "baby" it from time to time. I resent that sometimes, but then I also revel in the fact that I can do so many things that were impossible or extremely challenging a year ago--like go Christmas shopping!

My office Christmas party is tonight, and I can actually look forward to standing around and chatting with co-workers!

LizL
Posted by shubbaz (shubbaz), 30 December 2004

Hi Folks hope everyone had a good Christmas. Well, I am now back behind the bar doing some work hardening? Only 9hrs a week, when that many are available. I'm only casual and don't usually do more than 15hrs/week anyway. The doc has prescribed modified duties(not that there really are any of these in my job?), with restrictions. No squatting, no kneeling, no stair work and no lifting anything heavier than 10kgs. I am still doing some hydro(last week only 1 session due to Christmas), and going to PT once a week.I am still having pain climbing stairs, can't kneel at all yet, and can only squat while holding onto a bench and lowering and raising myself with that. Slight swelling still remains. Lots of cracking behind kneecap?Hopefully by end of Jan, things might be back to normal. Cheers Cheryl
Posted by kgrosskurth (Kathy G), 30 December 2004

Hi, Cheryl - glad to hear you are progressing so well. Congratulations and have a wonderful Holiday Season!!  

PS: Same to all of you on KneeGeeks!!
Posted by jerrymhg (jerrymhg), 11 January 2005

Hi- I am 7 weeeks out of fractured patella- no surgery also- wonderd how you are doing. What type of exercises  were you doing when  you were  about this level of time. so curiuos- you seem to be one of the few people who didn't have surgery but seem to be doing ok, Please get back to me- or through this website. thanks-jerry
Posted by shubbaz (shubbaz), 26 January 2005

Hi all, well over 4 mths since my non surgical repair of fractured patellar. Doing 12hrs a week at work now, still on former restrictions. Still doing hydro twice a week, and physio once a fortnight, with PT exercises at home as well. Having a few probs still, so haven't had a clearance from GP. Having a fair bit of pain in what the Dr. says is the anterior? patellar tendon. Lots of pain there. Still a lot of cracking and pain behind the kneecap. Grrrr!!! The Dr. reckons I'm too impatient. I feel a bit down as I thought I'd be up running around by now? Now and again, if I move the wrong way, my knee cracks and gives way on me a bit. Also my foot seems to drop a fair bit and catches on things causing more pain. Grrrr!! Wish it would hurry up and get back to normal. Anyway enough grouching. Hope everyone is getting on ok. Very hot here in my part of the world at the moment. Today is going to be about 41 degrees C. Phew! Think I'll stay in with the airconditioning! Cheers Cheryl

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