Yup, you missed it! Knee #2 has been replaced!

Ok, so you didnt miss it, I just neglected to post it. But on June 14, 2010, I had my 2nd TKR. The left knee wasnt quite as badly damaged as the right, but it was clicking, grinding, and all around hurting too, so out it came! This experience was a bit better than the first, mainly because I knew what to expect. I cant even imagine that it's been about 5 weeks, and Ive been able to walk without a cane for the first time in a looonnnnggg time. I can go up stairs, slowly at least, but going down is still tricky. I use the right leg which is stronger to go down with. Im sure that once I get the quads going, I'll be able to go down stairs somewhat normally.

I didnt have the benefit of outpatient PT this time, so Ive been hitting the gym to get things going myself. I know how important it is to get the muscle strength and keep things limber, so Im working on that. Yeah, I've lost some ROM in my left knee, but I know I will be able to regain some of it. Ive seen stories of people working the knee for years after, and still seeing increases. So I stay prayerful and hope things continue the way they have been. I'll take some pictures of the 2 knees and their scars soon. Not for the faint at heart. LOL

Keep pushing!

The 3 Month Mark...

Well, it will be 3 months since my total right knee replacement tomorrow, and I guess it's time for an update.

The right knee doesnt hurt much at all anymore. But I will admit that because I havent been stretching it as much as I had initially, that I've probably lost some of my range of motion. But I am determined to get it back, so keep watching. I'm going to do it! The scare is still healing pretty well. Its flat and did not keloid, which is a great thing. Its beginning to go back to being skin colored, instead of lighter like it was initially.

Im still working with my PT to strengthen the other leg, and I'll be going back to the doctor on Friday afternoon for a follow-up. I can honestly say that even though Im not in magnificent shape yet, this was the right decision for me. And now that Ive been through it, Im not nearly as nervous about getting the other knee done as I was the first time. Which wasnt much. lol. I am still a little down that I cant do some of my housework (which has been piling up - the joys of single motherhood), but I am completely remodeling my apartment. I planned on buying a home, but due to being off work for 3.5 months, I depleted my savings and am starting from scratch. So in the mean time, Im going to make my apartment feel more like a home than the 'fresh out of college and need my own place fast' apartment that it was when I moved here 8 years ago.

Until next time,

KEEP ON PUSHING!

9 Weeks Later

Well, here I am. 9 weeks after a right total knee replacement. Because I really needed a bilateral, Im still hitting physical therapy, although I made my 120 deg ROM a few weeks ago on the right knee. The left one is hurting so badly, and its weak and buckles, so I have to try to strengthen it up, so that I can at least make it to my next surgery in some level of comfort.

My quads are weak, which is a major problem. Over the years of limping around, they've pretty much turned to jello (despite what my PT says :) ). So Im working to increase strength. I wont lie, a lot of the time, I dont do the home exercises the way that I should. I went back to work 3 weeks ago, and when I come home, I just want to lie down. I'm an ad exec, so I sit a lot, but I try to get up a few times a day so that stiffness doesnt set it.

Now let me tell you about the incision. Its healing pretty well so far (I'll snap a pic in a little and add it here), but I swear it has some of the weirdest sensations going on inside of there, and they change every few weeks. Sometimes its electricity, sometimes its tingling, other times it feels like when I bend it, something microscopic is tearing in there. I really have no idea what its going to feel like from day to day.

I tried kneeling on pillows on my bed a few days ago...felt sorta painful and uncomfortable. Dont know if Im ready for that just yet, or if I ever will be. But Im hoping. :) Small victories I guess. Id just like to be able to wear my heels again. I am 27...and I bought some seriously fierce ones recently. Having goals for recovery is important and keeps you on your toes.

Im waiting for the day that I wake up and the skin doesnt feel weird, and the leg isnt stiff, and I hardly know I have a replacement. That will be a great day.

Lets Get This Show on the Road!

The next morning physical therapy came in to place me on the CPM machine. This contraption basically stretches and bends your legs slowly back and forth to increase range of motion and flexibility. Starting that day, I'd have to be on the machine for 4 hrs/day (which I broke up into 2 in the am and 2 at night) for the next 4 weeks. Although I could control the depth of the stretch, I hated being bound to the machine, and either watched tv or slept through it, to keep from dying of boredom. Physical therapy (PT) also made me get up and begin to walk with a walker in order to gain some strength in the surgical leg. It wasnt nearly as hard as I expected it to be, but it did take some getting used to walking "normally" again, and Im not quite there yet, even a week later. I still favor and bend the new knee the way I bent the old one because I got used to modifying my walk to protect myself from pain.

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This Isnt Half Bad

I remember waking up in the recovery room and the nurses kept checking my vitals. I wasnt in much pain, wasnt groggy, and felt better than I had when I arrived. I said a quick prayer thanking God for this experience, and began to cry. Not sobbing, but tears began to fall from my eyes and I just couldnt contain how far I'd been in my short 27 years on this Earth. I asked the nurse for tissues and she asked if I was ok. I told her "I'm more than ok, I am so blessed". When the OR concierge came to ask what message I wanted to relay to my family in the waiting area, I told her to tell them that I am crying tears of joy and that Im doing great.

A little while later I made it into my room, where once again my vitals were checked (as they would be round the clock, much to my chagrin at times) and my family came up. I was all smiles and taking camera phone pics, posting once again to my facebook account the going's on. I had my first meal of jello and broth (ewww) and longed for real food. That first evening, four of my closest Masonic PHAmily members came to visit me. Trice, Los, Kim, and Carm, I love you all so much and appreciate you all taking the time after a long day of work to come and see me. We laughed, cracked jokes, hung out, and snapped pictures, and when they and my family left, I felt great.

Didnt get much rest that first night, maybe a half hour here and there. But I also didnt use the pain pump as often as the nurses expected me to. I could use it every 10 minutes, and I think I actually used it once an hour.  I guess that my tolerance for pain had become so high after being in constant pain for so long, that it really didnt affect me the way it might have otherwise. I had a huge bandage over my leg that felt like it weighed 50 lbs, and there was some pain on the skin where the sutures were, but otherwise, just basic soreness. I began to experience some sciatic nerve pain radiating from my right buttock, and was forced to sleep tilted to the side for the most part. But overall, I was happy with my decision.

Operation Day - The Journey Begins

Well, here I am. Blogging via mobile phone at 3:10am, the morning after surgery. Yesterday(technically), I woke up in pretty bad pain around this same time. I popped a Vico with a tiny swig of water and tried to go back to sleep. When my alarm clock went off at 6:30, I felt like I hadn't slept at all. I laid around for a little while longer, then finally drug myself into the bathroom for a hot shower. It would be my last for at least two weeks. Completed the required Hibiclens wash of the knee area, then got out of the shower.

As I sat and got dressed,  several calls and text messages poured in from friends wishing me well. I decided to check my facebook account, where I found more well wishes. I posted a 'see ya later' msg, got Ty ready for school, then headed to my GGs to drop off his clothes for the week.

My cousin had come by to drive me to the hospital, not knowing that my mother had actually been dropped off by her boyfriend, instead of brining her own car, forcing my cousin to have to go out of her way to take my mother home. BUT, I wasn't letting that ruin my day. We get to the hospital, I'm signed in, nd taken back into the pre-op area. I put on the thin gown, get my IV started, get my vitals checked, and take out my contact lenses. My mom and cousin are let into the back to wait with me, where we laug, pray, and ask questions. When it gets close to op time, I kiss them goodbye and I'm wheeled into surgical holding. Here my vitals are checked again, my leg is shaved, I speak with my OR nurses and talk with the anesthesiologist. She gives me demerol for pain, and explains how spinal anesthesia w/ a nerve block works. She gives me another shot, and I wake up in the recovery room. :)

To be continued...

As Ready As I'll Ever Be...

Well, here I am. Less than 1 day before surgery. In the past 2 weeks I've had more x-rays and blood tests than one could imagine, and I guess Im as ready as I'll ever be. I've rearranged my bedroom furniture so that it will be easier for me to get to the bed after surgery, stocked up my fridge, attended the pre-operative class, and washed the area with the Hibiclens soap, just like the doc said. I took a long hot shower this morning and washed my hair. I'm going to take another tonight. All thats left now is making sure I dont eat after midnight. This time tomorrow, I'll be on an operating table, getting my new knee. I'm a little nervous about anesthesia because of my already low blood pressure, but I feel pretty comfortable with everything that is going on. So the next thing you'll hear from me will be Lexi after surgery. Send up some prayers for me, I appreciate it. :)

Im 27...and Getting a New Knee

Hi Everyone. My name is Lexi. I'm 27 years old and have rheumatoid arthritis. I started this blog as a means to keep track of the progress of my knee replacement surgery, but in order to do that, I'll give you a brief summary of what brought me to this point. 


About 7 years ago, I woke up one night in extreme pain all over my body. Having been an athlete and dancer most of my life, I was terrified and rushed to the emergency room. They had no idea what was causing the pain that I was experiencing, so they gave me a shot of Demerol and sent me on my way. The shot lasted a few hours, and when the effects wore off, I just felt really stiff and sore. Prior to this, I was always extremely tired, but I assumed that it came from the fact that I was a full-time college student, working part-time, and had a newborn. I never for a second thought that something was wrong. Had I done so, I might have been in much better condition than I am at the present. But that's the problem with women. We often miss the subtle hints that our bodies give us, because we consider them a part of the stresses of life. I wish I had listened to my body at that point. Would have gained some years of pain free life if I had.


So a little while later, my knees began to ache. I went to my primary physician who put me on prednisone, a corticosteroid that helps to fight inflammation, but also affects your adrenal glands, and slows your metabolism to a standstill. 3 months later, I was 45 lbs heavier. When he placed me on prednisone, he also ran several blood tests. When the results came back, I had a seriously elevated Rf, or Rheumatoid factor, a determinant for Rheumatoid arthritis and sometimes Lupus. Having an aunt that has lupus, the doctor ran additional tests to rule it out. After having about 2 years on the prednison, I began taking Plaquenil, which should have slowed the progression of damage. However, my disease progressed very rapidly, and plaquenil offered little in the way of relief. I began seeing a rheumatologist, who introduced me to more aggresive therapies like methotrexate and Humira, both injectable medications that I had to learn to inject myself with at home. He also reduced the amount of prednisone that I was taking, which along with exercise helped me lose the weight that I had gained, which at that point totaled 65 pounds. The knees continued to deteriorate as the cartilage was eroded, and eventually I began experiencing problems in the wrists and one elbow. 


I received kenalog (a type of steroid) injections into the knees and elbow, and once the wrists had gone out, the deformity cause two tendons to rupture in one hand. I went to visit an orthopedic surgeon, who told me the type of surgery that would be required to fix the problem, but because the tendons were not painful, I decided to forgo the surgery until a later time, although I've very limited use of two fingers at this point. Throughout the years, the knees have hurt off and on, and sometimes I would have a year or so with little pain. This year, my right knee completely went out, and the pain is excruciating to say the least. I am nearly totally incapacitated. 


My rheumatologist referred me for total knee arthroplasty (replacement) surgery. The first surgeon that I saw was uncomfortable performing the surgery on someone my age, because the youngest person he has replaced was 34 years old. But he stressed that my first surgery would need to go near perfectly, considering I'll have to have two or three of them on each knee in my lifetime. He then recommended a surgeon that he felt could perform the surgery well. The hitch? My then Blue Cross Blue Shield HMO would not cover the surgery, because the surgeon was in their PPO network and not their HMO network. Soooo, I had to put the surgery off for 2 more months while I switched my coverage to PPO. I am now scheduled for surgery on February 1st, 2010. The surgeon has chosen to replace only the right knee, although admitting that neither leg was in good shape, because he wants to try another treatment on the other knee before deciding to operate.


Initially, the thought of having this surgery terrified me, so I put it off for a few more years and dealt with the pain. I am now at a point where that is no longer an option. It saddens me to think that this is only the first of several surgeries that I may require in my lifetime, but there is nothing that I can do to chance the hand that Ive been dealt. So I am ready for this surgery, and pray that all goes well. I havent yet decided if I will go to inpatient rehab afterwards, but it is very likely, as I dont have the right support system in place at home for self care considering I am a single mom. My son will be staying with relatives, so that is not an issue. At this point, I just want as much of the pain to go away as possible. I just want to be able to run on the beach with my son, just once. That would make all this pain worth it.