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I saw my knee surgeon yesterday and he bumped my surgery date up from Feb 1 to this Monday!! I woke up early this morning with my heart pounding and feeling almost sick I'm so nervous!
I guess the worst part is that we don't even know what we're going in to fix.. if it even can be fixed. He wants me to go under (which is good, I don't think I could stand watching the surgery) and seems a little concerned with recovery - apparently I'm a very a-typical case (the analogy "when I hear hoofbeats, I think horses... you're the Zebra." was used) I'm not sure I understand the entire theory, but the bottom line is he seems a bit concerned.
Here are the 4 possible outcomes he is predicting with this surgery:
1) contused, damaged meniscus, in which case he will perform a 'microfracture' surgery, where he basically roughs up the meniscus, drills into it a bit in hopes of re-injuring the meniscus enough that it repairs itself. This might include a menisectomy (sp??). If this surgery is the case, I will be non-weightbearing for 3-6 weeks.. ugh
2) osteochondral defect of the femoral cartilage, in which case he'll perform a microfracture surgery into my femur instead of my meniscus.
3) part of the "curtain" of cartilage between the patella and joint line is damaged and/or actually caught in the joint line, in which case he'll remove the cartilage.
4) damage to the fat pad surrounding the patella, possibly with necrotic tissue in there. If he is able to, he'll repair what he can, but it's not likely to be reparable.
5) he comes back out without being able to repair anything, and we try another course of treatment, which includes a pretty cool-looking brace, and some heavy-duty pain medications.
I think I would be less nervous if I knew what we were really going in to do. Erm.. I lost my train of thought. So... I'm off to fill 3 different prescriptions for various painkillers and get everything back in order today.
I really want to thank (in particular) Tiff, Liz, and Kelly for being super supportive of everything thusfar - you guys are awesome!
I'd love to hear from anyone!!
I guess the worst part is that we don't even know what we're going in to fix.. if it even can be fixed. He wants me to go under (which is good, I don't think I could stand watching the surgery) and seems a little concerned with recovery - apparently I'm a very a-typical case (the analogy "when I hear hoofbeats, I think horses... you're the Zebra." was used) I'm not sure I understand the entire theory, but the bottom line is he seems a bit concerned.
Here are the 4 possible outcomes he is predicting with this surgery:
1) contused, damaged meniscus, in which case he will perform a 'microfracture' surgery, where he basically roughs up the meniscus, drills into it a bit in hopes of re-injuring the meniscus enough that it repairs itself. This might include a menisectomy (sp??). If this surgery is the case, I will be non-weightbearing for 3-6 weeks.. ugh
2) osteochondral defect of the femoral cartilage, in which case he'll perform a microfracture surgery into my femur instead of my meniscus.
3) part of the "curtain" of cartilage between the patella and joint line is damaged and/or actually caught in the joint line, in which case he'll remove the cartilage.
4) damage to the fat pad surrounding the patella, possibly with necrotic tissue in there. If he is able to, he'll repair what he can, but it's not likely to be reparable.
5) he comes back out without being able to repair anything, and we try another course of treatment, which includes a pretty cool-looking brace, and some heavy-duty pain medications.
I think I would be less nervous if I knew what we were really going in to do. Erm.. I lost my train of thought. So... I'm off to fill 3 different prescriptions for various painkillers and get everything back in order today.
I really want to thank (in particular) Tiff, Liz, and Kelly for being super supportive of everything thusfar - you guys are awesome!
I'd love to hear from anyone!!