Derotational Osteotomy + TTT - 10/20/2009

[Becs3740]

Hi,

Thanks crankerchick for your personal message. Im pretty nervous about going in tomorrow. Im getting worried though because my Dad has a cold and i have woke up with it. Im feeling quite rough at the moment. Im just hoping that i wake up feeling a lot better tomorrow. The last thing a want is to have the op cancelled.

Am going to have an early night. Will catch up on your progress and let you know how i get on when im home.

Hope everyones ok. Take care all and talk to you later.

[crankerchick]

Becks, hopefully you are gone now and getting ready for your op. Chat atcha on the flip side when you're feeling up to it.

Lyndsey, glad the chair change and frequent breaks help with the hip pain. Sorry the weather is getting to you. It bothers my right knee but the left knee has been solid since the surgery.

As for me, not much going on just that my leg is feeling even stronger. Hip soreness is noticeably improved in the last 2 weeks.

I am now calling it my "comeback" not "rehab" because rehab sounds like a sick patient and I'm not a patient anymore. I'm just a normal person that needs to improve my strength and flexibility. Big ups to the Houston clan for getting me on track.

I jogged on the treadmill yesterday. It was only for a minute then the hip pain got pretty bad and the limp set in, but I did jog lightly at about 3.0 mph and my leg didn't just totally quit on the first step like before.

Swelling around the tibia plate has gone down more. What used to be a lump of "stuff" that hurt to the left of the incision is now less of a lump and I can pinpoint exactly where the tenderness is. Surprise! It's the 2 screws at the top of the tibia plate. The same 2 that poke out the other side of the bone and hurt on the inside of my leg. Meh, so long plate, won't miss ya one bit.

I guess I must be a nice person or something because I sure have a lot of people looking out for me. Monday a coworker saw me doing step-ups on the curb in the parking lot in the rain. He offered to make me a step. Wasn't sure of the dimensions they use in the doc's office, so i inquired and my doc said to go straight to an 8" step.

So yeah, I figured might as well go all in. He was already going to make it tiered like the box at the doc's office, so I had him make the first tier at 2" and the second at 8" from the first, so the second is actually 10" from the ground. Gives me something to work towards LOL. Of course it hurts a ton on the side step ups, but its whatever. It's good for me or something.

rock on.

[doublemom]

Cranker - you are doing so great, it's wonderful to see your progress   Speaking of step-ups, I tried a 2" step up (from the side) today at PT and failed miserably, but then again I'm only 6 weeks post-op from my TTT/LR.  All in good time, I guess...  But I did get on the treadmill for the first time today at PT and it felt soooooo good to be able to do something that seemed productive, instead of wall slides and SLRs. 

Keep up the wonderful attitude, it's contagious, and seeing your progress helps everyone who has read through your posts

Andi

[slmac]

Holy cow, Andi! You're my hero. I can't even fathom doing a step up at six weeks out. You rock! But then again, my protocol was very conservative and I wasn't weight bearing at that point. I hope that you are doing well. I seem to remember you were very cautious about choosing surgery.

Latise, I like your renaming from "rehab" to something more positive. I swear our outlook is a great determining factor in returning to normal (whatever that is) from these evil ops of ours. Isn't it amazing how the pain improves with the strength returning? Have you cut back on your workouts to allow yourself more rest? That was when I noticed improvements for me. Hang in there!

[crankerchick]

Andi, ace job on the treadmill! Sitting/Lying on a table and doing easy grandma exercises can only work for so long before the body and mind start to protest for more.

Slmac, I agree outlook is a big factor. Gotta be positive and hungry, especially when things start to drag out. Just have to keep pushing.

Instead of taking rest days like I was considering before, I went out to Houston and worked with the trainer/rehab specialist in my doctor's clinic to basically get the lowdown on what I should be doing. It was a great decision. He gave me a 6-day workout plan to follow. It has a cardio only day on day 3 and a rest day on day 6, so I really only do 2 days of intensity in a row then a easier day. All the days include a good amount of stretching of hip, hamstring, quad, and knee.

I'm working with a personal trainer twice a week and he either follows the workout plan or adds in his own stuff, depending on which day it is on the work out plan. Then he spends about 15-20 minutes making me holler (kelly clarkson, in honor of you) stretching my hip, knee, and quad.

Not sure my doctor or his trainer know what "rest" is, but that's fine because I just want to get my leg back to full function, i don't care how much work it takes.

[doublemom]

Not sure my doctor or his trainer know what "rest" is, but that's fine because I just want to get my leg back to full function, i don't care how much work it takes.

I love it... I'm stealing it for my motto of the day if that's OK with you   Isn't it amazing how a good workout can totally change your mental attitude (good music helps too)... must be those endorphins floating around, but I always feel so very much better mentally after a good hike or a trip to the gym. 

It's impossible to live here in Washington state and not be an outdoors person.  Mt Rainier is right outside my living room window, and I can't WAIT to be strong enough to get back up there and start hiking again.  We need to get Sharon's knee #1 fixed once and for all as well, and then she and I will be unstoppable on the slopes together LOL!!!!  How is that for something to aim for?

Hope everyone has a great day... and make it a good weekend too!!!

Andi

[crankerchick]

Steal away! But let's call it sharing. "Steal" sounds so, well, thievish.

I also listen to music. I waiver between two types lately: inspirational, motivational, feel-good stuff that reminds me to stay positive and hard-core stuff that lets me get my f-it-all attitude in full swing.

It's true, workouts really help with the mental attitude. Usually I'm either fired up after a good workout and super positive. Or I'm so tired I'm too pooped to be negative. If I manage to get myself into a negative mood during a workout (usually because I'm frustrated at my progress), then when I leave I find something else to tire me out. One favorite is playing boxing on the wii. Do you know how pooped you are after you yell a few times and beat the crap out of a computerized opponent? The answer is: usually too tired to go back to the pity party. Then I take a nice long shower and go on with my day.

I'm a mental person. Lots of confidence issues going on for me. If left alone with my own thoughts, bad things happen. So working out, music, tv, computer are good things to distract me so I can turn off my overly analytical and critical mind.

I have a love/hate relationship with the outdoors. I like my outdoor activities (mountain biking, photography hikes, fishing) but I hate heat and I have awful allergies. The best times for photography are early morning or just before sunset, so that helps with the heat factor. And I like mountain biking enough that I'll go regardless of temperature.

[Becs3740]

Hi,

Just a quick message to let you know that im home and as far as i know it all went ok. The metal from the derotationl osteotomy is out  .
 They did a lateral release and something else to my knee but not sure what as i was pretty tired when the consultant came round.

Feeling very tired and rough at the moment from all the tablets. Leg isn't feeling too bad though just very swollen.

I will catch up with all your progress later when i feel more with it. I will also start my own diary so i can look back at my progress in the future.

Hope your ok.

Take care
Becks

[Lyndsey]

Becks,

Glad to dear it all went okay! Being metal free is a definite plus!

[Becs3740]

Hi hope you are all ok. Just to let you know that i have finally started my own diary. I don't think any of it really makes much sense at the moment though.

Will catch up with all your latest progress later when my mind is more with it.

Becks

[Hooligan]

Crankerchick -

I'm pretty new to this board but I just read through all your posts and I am compelled to tell you how helpful they are.

I relate to your story so strongly. I've always had one kneecap that gave me a lot of issues (18 subluxations that I can remember...and I'm in my early 30s), but it never really stopped me from living life - I'm a very active person who loves to be on the go! But then 2 years ago, my last injury really did me in and I've never recovered (both emotionally and physically).

However, after finding a specialist OS, I was finally properly diagnosed with patella alta and trochlear dysplasia (thankfully no rotational issues). So now I'm gearing up for my TTT in July (after freaking out and cancelling my last surgery date in April!). Needless to say I'm still terrified.

All that said, reading through your posts (and others) has been so helpful. The physical and emotional journey is tough, and it's wonderful to hear how other people come out the other side swinging!

So thanks!

[crankerchick]

Hi Hooligan! Welcome to KG :-)

Thanks for reading through my saga, LOL, and super thanks for posting. It's equally wonderful for me to read that my 20+ pages of babble is actually helpful.

It's great to read that you made it so long without letting your knee stop you. I'm glad you were able to find a good OS to thoroughly examine you too, so you can have the right procedure to get you back to that active life you are accustomed to. Finding a competent and skilled OS is really important, and apparently pretty tough. I can thank some KG buddies for helping me find mine.

It's pretty normal and natural to be scared. I never had a good feeling about the op I almost had--thank goodness I didn't do it! For this op, I was scared at first, but I did a lot of reading and asked a ton questions and eventually felt very confident it was the right op for me and by the right man for the job. As the op drew nearer, I surprisingly was more excited than scared, if that makes sense.

I'm glad my thread has been helpful and wish you the best with your op. Hope you will stick around or at least come back and let us know how you are doing. This forum is a great place to talk to people that "get it."

[Hooligan]

Hey!
I hear what you are saying about being more excited than scared - I am actually getting to that place in my head, which as you know, is AMAZING!

I'm going to see my OS one more time to bombard him with more questions. He doesn't have the best bedside manner, though he does have a tonne of experience with patella problems and I've read many clinical studies of his. On my first visit, he x-rayed me, look at my knees and said, "You have patella alta. Your tendon is almost twice as long as it should be. I can fix this." Then he walked away and I was handed the consent forms. Yikes!

I've gone back to see him 2 other times, where he was more patient - drew me pictures of my knee, explained the surgery etc. What messed with my head is that I saw another surgeon for a second opinion. He is MUCH younger, just opened his practice BUT trained with THE Dr. Fulkerson in the States. He didn't think the surgery would work for me because of the trochlear dysplasion and had concerns about chronic pain post surgery because of my cartilage damage under my patella. But then my current surgeon told me the dysplasia wasn't that bad. Plus he said moving the kneecap down might actually improve the cartilage contact surfaces. Oh the confusion!!

Is there anything else you suggest I ask my current OS?

Thanks!
Hooligan

[crankerchick]

Well a second opinion is never a bad idea, but i agree it does mess with your head when the two opinions differ.

At home I went to 3 different doctors and got 3 different opinions. Then I went out-of-state and got a fourth opinion! But the fourth one was backed up with CT scans and more in-depth x-rays than I had previously. It was a lot easier to trust radiological evidence right in front of my eyes as opposed to the talking heads at home trying to play guinea pig on me. Oh they had done x-rays and MRIs, but not a CT scan and had never mentioned any of the issues brought to my attention by the fourth opinion. I talked to another patella specialist after that and I knew what the best course of action for me was, and it wasn't the talking heads with their "let's try this" approaches.

Anyway, the main question I always suggest people ask is basically everything related to post-op protocol. You might be too groggy to remember things after the surgery. I asked a ton of questions of my OS, but that's because I'm anal retentive and a worry wart so the more i know up front, the less potential unknowns for me to worry about. Plus in general, medicine fascinates me so I wanted to know all about how the procedure is done exactly and things like that.

[crankerchick]

Today working with my trainer I finally got my heel to my butt for the prone quad stretch. Yes, after 7 months or something ridiculous like that, my heel finally touches my backside without me blacking out.

I think it might be a bit of cheating, because my foot is plantar flexed. But it's there, so hooray.

Last week I finally rested on my heels when sitting on my knees. I can't say I can sit comfortably like that, but I can finally do it now. Just have to work up to being able to sit longer and longer like that.

Here's a link for a some of the stretches I do:
http://www.shapefit.com/stretching-exercises-guides.html

6 weeks with trainers and more progress than 6 months in PT. Go figure...