Knee Surgery Scheduled

Yes, you read that correctly…. I'm having knee surgery to correct my right knee. I am having the damaged tissue around/under my kneecap cleaned away and getting a MPFL (Medial Patellofemoral Ligament) reconstruction with a cadaver tendon. I'm excited to have some stability (a lot I hope) after this surgery is completed.  Let me say, first and foremost, I'm truly blessed to have gotten a referral from the VA to see my surgeon in his private practice setting.

We were looking through my MRI scans…. here is where he showed where my torn MPFL is

Here is the close up of that same MRI scan, I editing only by placing the arrow to show my torn MPFL.

He was straight forward with me and told me everything to expect (pros and cons) and really knows what he is talking about. I feel completely safe having him as my surgeon next week. (9 days to be exact)

My surgical order

I don't know exactly what time, which I'm told is normal incase there are cancellations, they can move you up to the closer time and not have to make a bunch of calls. I should be called 2 business days prior to my surgery date to get my time.

Let me tell you, I've never had a "real" surgery like this. I mean, I've had an oral surgery and I've had cesarians… but nothing like this where you have to fast and all the other post op precautions and guidelines. Like not shaving that leg at all for 5-7 days… yuck. I have to quit taking my Aleve and supplements and drink less coffee/more water…. boo! haha I know it needs to be done and I can be a coffee junkie (slowly) once surgery is done and I'm recovering. Oh and no eating after midnight, which isn't really a big deal (but also nothing else…. water/coffee/hard candy) until after surgery…. then the typical no nail polish (yet I was scoping nail polish at the store today like my brain was on vacation!), make up, lotions, deodorants, etc…etc…etc…

I did decide to make my crutches a bit more "me" since I really didn't care for them all boring and metal. Duct Tape to the rescue!!! I love purple and I love owls…. so this tape literally jumped into my arms at the store today. I had seen someone else's decorated crutches on Instagram (sorry, I can't remember the username) but I then checked Pinterest since…. well there is always a tutorial for what I'm looking for on that site…. sure enough I found a few and mixed a couple to get the results I wanted.

Not too bad. Now to do something about the handles and arm rests…...

So now that those are taken care of, I will go to my research of what I will need during and after surgery, so I can get it done before surgery and have no worries during recovery. I know I'll have to buy some clothes since I always wear skinny jeans and I was told shorts or baggy pants are more comfortable/helpful for recovery.

There really isn't much else to update right now. (plus I'm tired and only thinking about how comfortable I'll be laying on my pillow with ice on my knee) so I'll go now so I can get to bed. I plan on updating this often once I get surgery since there are not many resources around for MPFL surgeries.

Baking, knitting and knees

Oh what a few weeks it has been!

I have a few minutes to update while I wait for my ceramic pot to preheat so I can bake some more bread. Let me just tell you, this is the best bread I have made! No adjustment for high altitude needed either, which is a big thing for me living at 5,000 feet. I first discovered this recipe through my favorite crochet blog.... you might have heard of it: Attic24! Yes... dear Lucy's blog. I do love her happy, rainbow-y posts! She's quite inspiring and someone of a celebrity in the crochet world now. Her blog post about making the bread is HERE (I just love her detailed pictures for everything she shows us that comes out of number 24) Now, Lucy does link to the recipe, but I don't want to upset the person that posted it, so HERE is the US version of the recipe. It's delicious. I've made a few variations so far: plain (my personal favorite), thyme/rosemary/orange zest, pumpkin seed/sunflower seed/poppy seed (two versions: one with spelt and one without) I have also taken to cutting into the top before I bake it and I've not had a single problem!!!

Plain version of the bread

Seeded version without spelt

Plain on the left, seeded without spelt on the right

Plain bread inside.... we devoured it at dinner that night! 

I will have to post the spelt topped variety in the next post (I haven't taken a picture of it before.... and the newest loaf is in the oven)


Lately I have been working on socks a lot. A year ago I could barely get it done, but the start of this year I was knocking them out in a few days! I've slowed down a lot as I have been busy with other projects, physical therapy and getting ready for school to get out next month!  If you want to check my projects, HERE is the link to my Ravelry projects.

Baby cocoon

I just finished the baby cocoon set (above) for a PA at the hospital in town.... I've tried to push her to learn to knit and crochet more, as she is interested, but she does work at our hospital daily it seems. I came up with the idea of using the Fair Isle Cocoon pattern for the hat and figured a cast on of 80 would be good. This is a good Fair Isle pattern to learn the technique and can also be a mindless one for a more advanced Fair Isle knitter. I also used four colors, as you can plainly see, though the pattern calls for just two. I want to use this pattern again, but make a sweater for one of my kids with it maybe  -   or a hat for next winter! Or socks!!!! Pretty socks.


Lastly, for tonight at least, I finally have an idea of what is next for my knee. For those that didn't follow my other blog (which I've deleted).. I dislocated my patella (knee cap) in early January. I was given a brace, crutches, a walker, a cane and physical therapy. I hated being on crutches (and later) the walker.... then the cane (my friend, Bev, made it easier because she got me a pink cane and it was sent to my house!) Physical therapy did help me get movement back since I was not using my leg for a couple of weeks after my injury, but my knee isn't stable, has so much pain and it is STILL swollen. I'm so very scared of a repeat of the dislocation so when I went to my last appointment (Yesterday) I felt like I was being conned into doing the very minimum (which seems to be the case going to the VA hospital) so after a back and forth of questions and answers (in which I backed the doctor into the corner with him not being able to answer why he suggested certain routes if they won't help stabilized my knee, couldn't guarantee that I wouldn't have more dislocations and would possibly damaged my bones since my patella is grinding against other bones) so surgery was decided and agreed upon after I was made aware of the possible complications and the risks involved. Let me illustrate the damage to my knees:

Xray of my knees. I believe the one with the backwards 'R' is my right knee (this is the day before my injury) they didn't re-xray 

Here is an MRI image of my knee after the injury. You can see that white faded area on the bone, is bruising. and you can see where the patella isn't aligned still

 
I must go, the bread has 2 minutes left in the oven and I still need to get a cooling rack out.


I hope you have a great night, thanks for stopping by.