Surgeon's Update

I had my last official post-op appointment with Dr. Fulkerson on Friday, January 27th. She said my next appointment would be in six months! The short of it is that I cannot stop working as hard as I have been in rehab, that I should not leave physical therapy too early or else I risk compromising my progress, and that I am still expected to make a 100% come back (within two years of the date of the injury: August 26, 2011).

I need to push harder on my own knee to force the bending to happen. Doc suggested I do this by attempting to sit back on my heels while seated. This is not fun and does cause pain due to stiffness (scar tissue). I can see it's going to take quite a bit of time, concentration, and effort on my part. 

Dr. Fulkerson "tested" my ACL (using her hands and some maneuvering of my knee) and determined that it too feels stable. The attachment point where the ACL is affixed to the bone broke off during the accident. It apparently reattached and regrew in a very satisfactory way! We do not foresee a surgery for ACL repair. Thank goodness!

Come August 2012 we expect that I will be physically ready (far enough along in rehab) to have the hardware removed. Good bye steel plate and screws. If it were to remain in for longer, that would technically not impede my recovery. It would still be very nice not to have that bulging plate on my shin!

First post-op follow up

On Wednesday Sept 7 (my sister Bridget's birthday - happy birthday!), a lovely orthopedic technician lady took 31 staples out of my leg, and saved them for me in a latex glove with a rubber band holding it shut. I said I'd like them to use in an art project someday. Who knows.

The whole staple-removing process was pleasingly painless. Felt like nothing or tiny little pokes with a pin. My surgeon, Dr. Fulkerson, was on vacation this past week so Dr. Dolbear stepped in to give me my post up check up. Basically, he said the incision looks beautiful, it is healing great. Dr. Fulkerson did an amazing job on the surgery (I saw another x-ray which was even more helpful and interesting in terms of understanding the procedure). I promise I will post pictures soon. It's a matter of compiling them from my and Alon's phones. ...And I am to continue with the Constant Passive Movement (CPM) machine as much as possible night and day, keep icing, and Dr. Dolbear told me at least three times -  ZERO weight bearing! Got it.

I also got a new pain prescription - less tylenol more oxy in each pill. The tylenol was hurting my tummy, and no wonder because I was taking too much. It was a second refill by an on call doc over labor day weekend whose name I will not mention here, but basically gave me the wrong pain Rx. Shame on him.

Water under the bridge. Funny thing...

Funny thing was the new oxy pill with 7.5g (or mg??) of oxycodone and 325mg of tylenol is amazing. So I took two pills every six hours starting Wednesday night at 5pm... it was fine because at that time of day my pain level increases and it also helps my muscles relax and for me to sleep. HOWEVER, I took two pills at 10pm, 5am, then two at 10am again. One hour before my first meeting with my occupational therapist, which was followed by my physical therapist. Big mistake! I basically was slurring my words and my eyelids kept closing. I acknowledged to them my situation and disclosed that I had taken too much of a new pain med for day time hours. And they just kind of shrugged it off. I felt like I was confessing to my parents about underage drinking or something. Anyways... I felt nauseous, tired, and couldn't really form sentences for about 4 hours. Regardless, PT went on and then I slept most of the afternoon. Alon warned me to take just one... he is right like 99.9% of the time... sometimes I still just need to learn it on my own.

Lesson learned.