Let me start this by apologizing now, in case I end up confusing you or running in another direction while writing. Also, I was in no mood to write up anything yesterday.
*caution, I am under the influence of pain killers as I write this!*
It’s been a long few days. I’m exhausted and I have already over done it because of the awesome pain killers I was pumped full of for the surgery.
I know there are not many blogs that have been on the subject of MPFL tears or patella dislocations (which go hand in hand) or the surgery process. I’ve come across a few, and figured I’d write about mine since everyone has different procedures, healing times or even post operative issues.
I dislocated my knee cap in January doing nothing more than going into my closet to get clothes, turning (while feet firmly planted on the floor, as I’ve done time and time again, with an occasional pop here and there from the knee) but this time, Mr Righty (so called because it’s my right knee) had other ideas and decided enough was enough, which is wear the most pain I’ve felt to date came into play with my dislocation. Now I can’t tell you if my knee went back where it was supposed to before/during/after I passed out and fell to the ground like a ton of bricks. But it did somehow. I awoke around 10/15 minutes later, on the bedroom floor screaming in pain like I’d never felt in my life.
My cousin came running to me after realizing my goat cry (yeah it pretty much sounds goat-like…. which sounds sort of like a laugh to some) was an actual cry and not a laugh, and took me to the VA hospital (I’m an Army Veteran, this knee was first injured in Germany in 2003 in a motor vehicle accident when the driver’s side dash/steering column crushed my legs)
Okay, so after physical therapy for a few months, and a slight run around with what we were going to do with the VA, it was decided surgery was the only option left that had the best chances of (hopefully) stabilizing my knee and keeping the grinding to a bare minimum to zero.
I was scheduled for surgery in less than two weeks of meeting up with the surgeon (VA referral) and that surgery happened yesterday. I was just getting MPFL reconstruction (which is where they use a harvested ligament *I’ve read from the hamstring* from your body, or a cadaver ligament…. I’m not sure about non-biological materials because it wasn’t part of my plan) and a chondroplasty which is where they go in a clean up the damaged tissue. It wasn’t until I was awake from surgery, that my cousin relayed to me what the surgeon told him, which was there was more work to be done, and that was sort of like a mini lateral release, because my knee cap wasn’t releasing into it’s normal grooved “home” so there needed to be minor trimming to allowed it to go where it needed to go.
Be prepared for some slight discomfort to pain because you will be without any medication that you’ve been using. Well, at least my doctor asked to discontinue any blood thinning medication/over the counter drugs (such as Ibuprofen, Advil, or Aleve) not to shave for 5-7 days, no nail polish on fingers or toes and to shower the night before and use a special pre-op wipe on the surgical area…. as well as showering and using the second wipe in the package (you’ll store it in a zip top bag) the morning of surgery…. oh and nothing to eat, drink, etc after midnight the night before surgery. That includes water, hard candies, cough drops…. everything!
After going over my medical history with the nurse, she had my change into my hospital gown, put those non slip socks on and mark my legs with “Yes” for the knee that was being operated on, and “No” for the knee that was not.
I also was asked to leave a sample of urine for testing. Finally, I locked up all of my personal belongings in a locker and gave the key to the nurse as instructed. She took an inventory of my items and had me sign. Now it’s time for the “fun” to begin. My nurse took my vitals and started an IV…. well she attempted to start an IV. I have never been able to have someone give me a proper IV in my hand (why would you even do that?!) and though she tried her best, she blew my vein.
I proceeded to show off the inside of my arm… that pale, soft (almost baby like) inner arm skin with it’s gorgeous blue veins begging to be poked. She took the bait and gave me quite a painless IV which made me happy after the first failed attempt. The next thing I remember, is meeting the anesthesiologist and his assistant. They went over my history with anesthesia and any complications I’ve had in the past, and then they suggested my cousin leave because it was time for me to be prepped for my Femoral Nerve Block. AMAZING! No… really! I would suggest anyone get that if it’s offered. It worked to block muscle and pain nerves for around 30 hours…. how great is that?! I’m not a big fan of medicines, but pain killers + surgery is a MUST in my book. Then I remember them giving me the oxygen tubes in my nose, and being taken into the surgery room but I don’t remember the “ride” there on the bed (apparently the drugs they gave me were working even though I was fighting them, which I do to make sure I’m COMPLETELY knocked out before anything happens) but I do remember being asked to shift from the bed I was wheeled in on, to the operating table, which was no problem. My arms were extended from the table to those little arm things they have on surgery tables…. then I was given a mask and told to breathe in deep a few times. I can only remember inhaling twice, then I woke up in the first recovery area in HORRIBLE pain!
I also was nauseous and had to deal with a couple bouts of bile before my stomach calmed down and my knee started to hurt a little less. It’s mostly a blur after that until they took me into the secondary recovery area where I was given some water and buttered toast. I swear to you, that toast was like eating a steak, I was so starved!
I was then allowed to change and get ready to go, so I could pick up my prescription before the pharmacy closed, then picked up some McDonald’s for my to shovel in (which I don’t normally eat) and went home to start resting. I’m going to be honest with you, I totally over did it Thursday night. With the Femoral Nerve Block still working quite well, I felt no pain which meant my hard-headed tendencies crept out of hiding.
So I semi-cleaned the bathroom, organized my shelves in the bathroom and cleaned the toilet. I also crutched through the house back and forth a few times picking up little things here and there that I was sure I’d need (I had a little bag with me to carry these items, as well as my pockets in my shorts): mini screwdriver for my glasses, flashlight, pencil sharpener, phone charger, pens/pencils, pad of paper, envelopes, stamps, address labels, crochet hooks, and an apple. It took about three or four trips to get all of those items which meant after cleaning as well, I didn’t get to bed until after 1am! I suggest NOT doing that! I paid dearly for it Friday morning when I woke up in so much pain with the stiffness/soreness that accompanied it.
After I got my kids off to school, I decided to do the one thing I’d been wanting to do since before surgery…. paint my darn nails! Well, let’s just say my 5 y/o probably would have done a better job than my doped up hands! After three tries and removals, I gave up.
*until today…. toward the last hour of my dose wearing off, I painted my nails and they are acceptable for now* I played phone tag with the VA, my surgeon and physical therapist yesterday (Friday) as well. Long story short, I have my first PT appointment Monday morning!!!! I can’t wait, because I know that they will teach me the proper ways to move this new ligament.
Today I woke up feeling even better, less stiffness/pain and little to know throbbing! It was post-op day 2! That means…. I got to take off my brace and ace bandage so I could remove the surgical dressings and clean the surgical area with rubbing alcohol.
There was a large gauze pad under the cotton wrapping, with a very small blood/saline leakage spot (yes, just one) which was approximately the same size as a ping pong ball. After cleaning, I placed a bunch of the waterproof band-aids that I bought … I bought 2 boxes of 30… and used 18 band-aids!
So make sure you buy LARGE ones! Then I used an ice pack on my knee before re-wrapping the Ace bandage…. that was heavenly! I left it there for 30 minutes experiencing the most relief from icing my knee, that I’d felt since surgery.
Maybe you are asking yourself why I did not get the continual icing system that surgeons offer… well the VA wouldn’t cover it and I couldn’t justify purchasing the item outright. I was also told it’s quite bulky/heavy, so I opted out of it since it seemed like over kill.
I took my first post op shower and it was A-mazing! I had a step stool that is large and sturdy. A bath towel on top of it to keep my soapy body from sliding and put my leg on the ledge of the shower. Not bad, but next time, I’m going to take a shower where the bathtub shower is…. instead of the small shower. I wrapped my leg with cling wrap and taped it just to be on the safe side. I’m also able to bear more weight on my knee and use just one crutch! Happy day!
Now I will add a little photo essay of my surgery and recovery to now.
I hope some of this info can help you if you are about to go through this surgery, I’ll update as much as I can and answer questions you ask about it (the best to my personal experiences) I’m off to bed. Goodnight
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