On December 20th, 2010 I had micro-fracture surgery. I had been struggling with knee pain for 3 years and been to my family physician and an orthopedic doctor who misdiagnosed me. The MRI showed that I had arthritis in my knee and they never looked farther. In my frustration I went to the Core Institute and took the same MRI to Dr. Marcus who saw that I had a tear in my cartilage. I went in for surgery and found out that the damage was worse than the MRI showed (probably because I was running and exercising on it for the last 3 years) and I had to have the Micro-fracture surgery. So know I am bound to crutches for the next 8 weeks. I have NEVER looked forward to Valentines day so much in my life.
I am a married woman in my mid 30's with 5 children the youngest is 7. We have a two story house and of course my room is upstairs along with the laundry room. If you have never been on crutches the hardest part for me is not having any hands to carry anything. I have become very creative to get things from one place to another. I am very thankful for the stores with motorized scooters and wheelchairs.
This is my 4th week and I will try to back track as much as I can remember.
Week 1: Came home and lived down stairs for the first week. Took pain pills regularly but only because I was afraid that I would be in a lot of pain and not be able to control it once it began. The pills made me itch and I had to take Benadryl with the Vicodin so I sleep really well. At the end of the week I only took the meds at night when I went to bed. I have been doing my leg lifts and point and flex exercise regularly. The leg lifts are extremely hard, they don't hurt but my leg does not want to move. I have to look at it and mentally will it up. I ice my knee all through out the day. It is always swollen.
Week 2: Went to the doctors for a check up and to get the stitches out. Knee looks good and he encourage me to continue the exercise and to try and bend my leg into a 90 degree angle, it is at a 120 degree angle now. At night when I am lying in bed my heart has been fluttering and I feel light headed. It doesn't last long but it has been happening more frequently. I think this might be anxiety from the mental stress of crutches and my limitations. It is very hard not being able to do what I want to do. I have moved back upstairs. Climbing the stairs is NO fun.
Week 3: Totally depressed want to cry all day and very grumpy. I think I am upset that I can't clean the house and of course the 5 kids don't want to help. Also I can't go anywhere I am stuck at home. It seams like if I am downstairs I want something upstairs and if I am upstairs I am hungry and want to go down. I am totally off any pain medicine and am not sleeping well at night not sure if it's stress or my knee.
Week 4: Kicked the depression even though the Christmas tree is still up and it is January 14th. I have been driving and can't wait for this week to be over with. Starting next week it is all down hill. I go back to the doctor Feb 3rd. I don't know what to expect. I have read some blogs where the person started putting weight on his leg after 4 weeks. My doctor was pretty insistent that it will be 8 weeks for me but by the time my appointment rolls around I will be in week 6. I am still doing my leg exercises but the muscle in my thigh has decreased significantly. I have been doing three sets of 30 leg lifts every morning and try to do more during the day as time allows. I do the calf exercises (point and flex) all day long. I am scared that I will be on crutches for another 8 weeks learning how to walk again. I hope the other bloggers I read were wrong. I have been sleeping fine this week so I chalk last week insomnia to depression.
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