Knee update

Thanks to everyone emailing and Facebooking me with concern for my knee these past few months.  Before my Quoobah trip, I was finally able to get insurance, MRI film and scheduling worked out and visited my first doctor.

GOOD NEWS

As I suspected, my ACL is not torn.  Lord knows I know what that feels like, so no surprise there. 

MEH NEWS

He identified all my knee knots.  The one on the left is fluid build-up.  The one on the right is a hernia.  The one in the middle is a bone spur and the one on my knee cap has a fancy name that pretty much translates into “debris.” 

IMG00016

BAD NEWS

I have the knee of a 60-year-old.  That is not good.  When I lifted my skirt (sounds dirty, but I had shorts on) he cried out, “Geez!  What year did you have that surgery?”  He looked at my film and said it was a mess inside there.  My ACL is like a loose rubber band.  He thinks that it is being stretched out from the hernia and fluid. 

I have two solutions:

1.  He will go in and suck the fluid out.  This is a series of three appointments.  He sucks the fluid and replaces with some goo that is supposed to make me feel less pain.  If this treatment works on me, I come in every six months to a year for the procedure.  Probably for the most of my life he said. 

Or

2.  Surgery to repair my bone spur, remove the hernia, tighten the ACL and generally clean out the crap that’s floating around in there.  The bone spur removal will add a nice new scar down the front of my knee, so my dreams of being a leg model are out the door.  There will be a six-week period of wearing a straight leg brace (you know how I love those) and no driving.   

He told me to continue on the elliptical and swimming because “motion is lotion” and to not jump or run whatever I do. 

After dancing salsa with a rather cute island boy two weeks ago, I was forced to explore the shot option because I was in a lot of pain.  I called the doctor and he called in a prescription…for the shot.  Was I supposed to give it to myself?  No.  I just pick it up and deliver it to the office.  Even though I thought this was strange, I went ahead and took it to Walgreen’s.  The lady asked me if I realized that the shot was not covered by insurance.  I told her I didn’t know that and inquired how much said shot would be on the old pocketbook. 

$875.

I don’t think so.

I decided that maybe it was time to get a second opinion.  I visited another doctor.  The whole time I was chanting, out loud, “Please don’t be torn.  Please don’t be torn.  Please don’t be torn.”

He told me it was not torn and I shouted “YES!”  And then came the but.  “But your ACL is not functioning.  At all.  That is why you have the sensation that you need to pull up your knee cap.  It’s because there is nothing supporting your knee.  It’s just jiggling around in there.”

Perfect. 

Basically this means that I need surgery.  Unfortunately, it’s not smart to have surgery when you knee is swollen.  He put me on anti-inflammatory pills and I’m supposed to ice every night before bed for three weeks.  Then I go back in and if the swelling is down, we schedule surgery.  

That puts it around the end of September.  I have a church commitment at that time and the first weekend of October is the Civil War re-enactment at Hallsville Western Days.  Of course I will NOT be missing that crazy fun.  So I think it will be mid-October.

I’m looking at (worst case scenario) six week in a straight leg brace or (best case) three weeks.  My boss is pretty cool with the fact that I won’t be able to drive and he is willing to make my co-workers schlep me around.  It pays to have seniority at the firm!

I’m in pain but it is manageable.  I’m not supposed to do anything other than rest for the next three weeks.  It’s probably not smart that I danced tonight at a wedding, but there were moments when people circled around me and the guy. 

It was totally worth it. 

I’m sure my stories post-surgery will be highly entertaining.  The last time I had ACL reconstruction, they put me on Vicodin and I saw Care Bears. 

This should be fun for everyone!

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okcheather
okcheather
August 15, 2009 4:14 pm

Do you have an ipod for swimming- they are the bomb!!

Dom'smom
Dom'smom
August 15, 2009 4:26 pm

Ouchie. I’m so sorry.

I Love the Bachelor
I Love the Bachelor
August 16, 2009 2:26 am

Well – EVen though you are in pain – your leg looks nice and skinny in the picture! best of luck!

Kim
Kim
August 16, 2009 2:43 am

No running or jumping, huh? Well, here’s hoping you don’t get chased on a bumpy road in the near future.

Good luck with everything!

Tulipina
Tulipina
August 16, 2009 9:43 am

I’m a fellow knee/ACL veteran, had surgery in April, and running in a swimming pool before and (eventually) after has helped! Also, if the goo that replaces fluid is synvisc, go for it! The company that makes it only claims temporary relief but I know people who have had such long lasting results that they could call it permanent. Sometimes it takes several injections of the goo to get there. On the illustration I was shown, the goo was a lovely blue color. Good luck!

BigRed62
BigRed62
August 16, 2009 11:44 am

I wonder if we could get Reid or Kypie to be your nursemaid?? Kypie could just lift his shirt and you wouldn’t need any pain med’s!! Just a thought…

sherman123
sherman123
August 16, 2009 3:24 pm

Sorry to hear about the knee. I suspect if you have surgery, you’ll have lots of time to blog about the haps with your fav tv shows, and stuff like bachelorette, bachelor. I love love your writing. I loved the dedication for John Hughes! Get better soon.

Elizabeth
Elizabeth
August 16, 2009 5:53 pm

Girl, Been there. Done that! I had ACL surgery in 1996 (tore it 9 days before opening night of the play I had the lead in….. still went on with the show) and basically what I call “maintenance” in 2006. I completely feel your pain- both the literal and the figurative. Praying for you!

old fan
old fan
August 16, 2009 6:58 pm

so who was the guy you were dancing with at the wedding??? Just kidding, good luck with the knee. We look forward to reading IHGB when you’re recuperating

natkaps
natkaps
August 16, 2009 9:19 pm

I agree with 3, your leg does look super skinny. Either that or you have ginormous hands, which I doubt, because in other pictures you look like you have normal-sized hands 😉

Sorry to hear about the surgery, that TOTALLY sucks. We need to get you pimped out before then so you can be pampered by your new man while you are immobile (milk it for all it’s worth, I say.)
Take care Lincee!

Beens
Beens
August 17, 2009 8:54 am

Lincee, I have to say your blog made me feel a little faint with all of your details.

Susan C
Susan C
August 17, 2009 9:10 am

OUCH! That hurts just reading about it. My mom had the same thing. She opted for the goop in her knee. Since she doesn’t drive, I just drove her around more. 🙂 We all pitched in and got her a nifty scooter that she used to get around her tiny house. Do you need a scooter?

SaraTx
SaraTx
August 17, 2009 11:55 am

Lincee, I’m so sorry about your knee! I’ll pray for you to be in less pain for the next few months and for your surgery to go smoothly!!!!!!!!!!………and if you need to dance anymore with cute boys just make them hold you!!

Jenny
August 17, 2009 12:18 pm

With all that you do, I would have never guessed it was all done with a 60-yr-old knee! 🙁 I had my own pharmacy shock a couple weeks ago when I was told that a maintenance medicine I was prescribed was going to cost me $377…per month. It’s like having another car payment! Entering your thirties stinks.

SGT Cole
SGT Cole
August 17, 2009 1:09 pm

Lincee Lincee Lincee, that knee is jacked up. Not to be morbid, but the Army is making some sweet fiberglass legs for the wounded here. Those dudes can run sub-11 second 100 meter dashes! I may get a pair just for the heck of it.

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