It's been a CRAZY two weeks!

I am now officially two weeks post-op.  I thought that I was going to be able to post almost every day in order to keep a running journal of how I felt and whatnot.  Obviously that didn't work out so well for me.  It was rough and to this point in the recovery process, I would NOT have done this if I had known how bad it was going to be. 
Today is the first day that my lower leg and foot haven't swollen to the point to where it cut off circulation to my toes every time I stood up.  Yesterday was also the first day that I was prescribed and wore TED hose.  They are a fashion statement, let me tell you what, but they have kept my swelling at bay and that's all that matters to me at this point.
On Saturday, 4 days post-op, my calf felt like I had a constant charlie horse that wouldn't go away.  It was absolutely miserable and so much worse than the pain from the surgery site itself.  I was told to go to the ER when I called on Sunday morning.  4 hours later, they tell me that a clot did not show up on the ultrasound, but that I wasn't necessarily in the clear and to come back if symptoms continued.  Well, symptoms did continue throughout the week and in fact, symptoms got worse.  My leg eventually not only hurt like the dickens, it then began to swell, and was hot to the touch.  At one point, I was running a fever of about 100  about a week post-op.  So, I was at the ER once, the nurse practitioner once, and then my surgeon once all in about a week and a half after surgery.  I was given muscle relaxers at one point and I couldn't tell that they did me any good.  I had to just live through the agony. 
I had a nerve block done that wore off about 30ish hours after surgery.  That made it nice because I didn't really feel much of any pain for almost 2 days after surgery.  Pain at the surgery site never really was that terribly bad, it was just my calf, and eventually, my quads having to swing my completely straight leg out in order to bare a little weight. 
I was able to bare weight about 5 or 6 days post-op.  I went to full weight-baring without crutches 2 days shy of 2 weeks. I probably could have done it beforehand, but it is freaking scary to trust your recently operated on knee to bare your full weight.  I was also able to bend my leg to 90 degrees within about 9 days.  The PT for me hasn't been bad at all.  The surgeon told me that at the level of sports I had been playing with as bad of a knee as I had, PT would be a breeze and thankfully, it has been to date.  I go again on Friday, so we'll see how that goes.
I'm not driving yet, but I will be today after work.  My brace was unlocked to where I can bend it to 90 degrees any time I want.  That is MUCH nicer when walking, trust me!  I'm still sleeping with the brace on and even unlocked, it still sucks.  I was exhausted yesterday from doing all kinds of things with the brace unlocked, but couldn't get comfortable.  I think I was able to sleep so easily for the first week and some change because I was so doped up on meds.  I was taking Percocets sometimes and Lortabs sometimes, Phenergan because it all upset my stomach terribly, Flexeril, stool softeners, baby aspirin, ibprofen, and heck, I don't even remember what else.  I was a walking pharmacy and with all that nonsence in my body, no wonder I slept peacefully.  I haven't taken a pain pill in about 4 days though and I am SO glad to be off of them.  I HATE taking pills with a passion. 
Anyway, in closing, I am doing well after getting past the calf swelling and pain that really no one knows what the exact cause was.  If you don't have that pain, recovery is a breeze.  With that, recovery is pure hell.  Like I said, at this point, I still wouldn't have had the surgey, but as every day goes on, my opinion starts to change a little.  Oh, and I'm finally back to work.  I was hoping to only take off 1 week, but because of the calf pain, it ended up being 2.  Things are okay today, but if you're laid up...find something aside from watching TV to do.  Also, have someone with you.  If my Mom hadn't stayed at my house the entire time, I couldn't have done it.  I went through a stage of what I may have considered depression, but it faded in a couple days.  That sucked too.  I don't know why I was so down and out, but man, your mind really starts playing tricks on you after being down and out for a couple weeks.  Today is a good day though and I'm happy to be back at work.  Hopefully I don't have any set-backs and I will continue to get better.  I almost fell today after getting out of the shower and putting my clothes on though...that could have potentially been REALLY bad.  Anyway, it is good in the hood today and when I drive to work tomorrow, it will be better.

Morning 2

Yesterday was not bad at all. Of course the nerve block was still active until the middle of the night last night. Now the nerve block is done and I am in the worst pain I have ever been, hands down. All of my pain is in the posterier and medial aspects of my knee. It hurts and it hurts bad. I don't want to do anything but sleep, but my mom called the doctor yeaterday because my lower leg was quite a bit warmer than the non-operative one. Every time I get up on the crutches too, mg little piggy toes turn into little blue sausages. The doctor wanted to see me, so in I go here in about 2 hours. I don't think anything is wrong, but we'll see. The percocets make me dizzy and sometimes sick to my stomach. I shoud be getting something else today, but the doctor said it was expensive. The most I have to pay on my plan is 40 dollars, so I say bring it on if it helps. These percocets aren't even touching the pain. Started taking them last night as the block begun to wear off. Took them every 4 hours. I took two about 40 mins ago and the pain is at a level 9 out of 10. This sucks!!!!

So it is 2am and I have been awake the majority of the night. My leg doesn't hurt because the nerve block I got hasn't warn off yet. If you can get one of those bad boys, do it!! It made getting home and settling in much more comfortable. I'm talking on a scale of one to ten, right now pain is at a zero. Sleeping with my leg propped up in this brace isn't too bad either. I know this is just the calm before the storm, but I have been taking percocets every 4 hours as I was told to because I never know when the block will wear off. We're going on about 15 hours now and they said it last 12-24. So, by morning, I imagine I'm going to be in pain.
I am weight bearing as tolerated with my leg numb, I am able to rest it on the floor while standing, but because of that block, I am unable to bare really any significant weight. Found out shortly ago that my leg just crumbles underneath me when I try. Getting around is not hard right now. My mom is staying with me and she's already been a big help. I really would not recommend trying this on your own at first. My first pt appoint was supposed to be in 5-7 days. Unfortunately because of the holiday and because of a meeting I have at work on Tuesday, PT won't be until Wednesday of next week. Until then, the brace remains on and locked at 0 degrees. After day 5 I will be able to take a shower and change my dressings which should only include band aids and the ace wrap that is covering mainly only my knee area. The doctor explained that I can return to driving in 2-4 weeks likely. Not happy about that because my mom and/or dad is going to have to take me and pick me up. My boyfriend works an opposite shift, so he's not really able to help out much aside from the weekends. Speaking of him, he has been really supportive through this. Honestly, if it hadn't been for him, I'm unsure that I would have went through with it right now. I probably would have pushed it off like everything else.
Anyway, the nerve block itself was not in the slightest bit painful. Getting my iv was worse. I almost passed out from that. I don't know why. It didn't really hurt that much and I have always watched when I got my iv in the past. Maybe it was because I hadn't eaten or drank for about 12 hours. It scared the day lights out of mom. Surgery itself took about 1.5 hours. It was only supposed to take about an hour, but they said all was fine and they didn't have to do anything that wasn't planned. I got there at 10:30 and left at about 3:30. I was sick to my stomach after waking up, but that went away in about two hours and I had no problems after that.
So, that is where I am at now. No significant problems and all is well. I know I'll be glad I did this eventually, but right now needing help to do the smallest of things isn't fun. I'm just lucky I have such great family and friends who are willing to help me however they can.
I'll be posting more as recovery goes on. Hopefully it all goes as smoothly as it has this far!! :)

Dooms Day has arrived

This morning is it for me. I'm laying in bed and typing this from my iPhone. Oh how I love my iPhone. I am not supposed to eat or drink anything and that has been since midnight. Right about now, I'd kill for a diet coke. My belly is grumbling and I don't want to get out of bed, but I can't sleep any longer. I am definitely an early bird. I'm not sure I'm ready for this, but I guess here goes nothing. Surgery is in 4 hours. I have to be at the surgery center in 2 and a half hours. Guess I better be getting any last things done around the house. I'll post more later if I'm coherent. Bring on the pain pills! :)

A couple more days to go

I'm still trying to wrap my brain around the fact that here in 2 days, I won't be able to walk without crutches.  I'm thinking that yes, it is going to be painful, but more than that, I'm going to be so frustrated that I won't be completely independent.  I'm not good having to have someone help me, but we'll see how it goes.
I have been in the process of making sure all of the deep cleaning things that need done every so often are done around my house.  I figure the last thing I'm going to want to do is clean while I'm healing up.  Pretty sure my Mom won't want to live in a dirty environment even for a couple days either.  My floors are all swept and mopped, all of my laundry is done and put away, my spare bedroom has been cleaned out, all the sheets are washed and beds are made, the lawn is mowed, and everything is in it's place.  Hopefully I won't have to do any house cleaning for at least a little while.  I'm also trying to finish up the last few details at work.  Thankfully my case load is relatively low, but I'm getting a new client tomorrow and starting up another existing client on Friday when I'm not here (I'm a QMRP).  I hate being away from work and not having access to my e-mail.  When I went on vacation a couple months ago, I tried to get my work e-mail forwarded to my personal e-mail (because it is taking them forever to get work e-mail on my phone...), but it took FOREVER for the e-mails to be forwarded over, it wasn't immediate.  Hopefully this time around is better.  I'm REALLY hoping that I don't have to take any more time off than just a week...but I guess we'll just have to wait and see. 
I'm getting more and more nervous as the day gets closer.  I know it isn't that big of a deal, but still...this is not something that I'm going to enjoy going through...

D-Day is quickly approaching

I am having such a hard time realizing that in about 5 days, I'm going to go from being able to get around and do whatever I want to being stuck in that God awful brace for 6 weeks.  I'm still undecided about going to Mom's or staying at home, but as it looks now, I'm going to try to stay at home.
     On another note, I despise insurance companies.  Note: I am glad I have a job with insurance.  I called the surgery center to ask if they had notified my insurance as the insurance told me the doctor should.  They told me to call the doctor.  I called the doctor and after waiting around, they finally said that they had pre-certified me for the surgery and the insurance had been notified.  Then I call the insurance just to double check and they were showing no history of it.  Great...  I get transferred to another person so that I'm able to notify them.  They get the procedure codes from me and say that I didn't have to pre-certify OR notify them of the surgery.  That scares me because my policy states "reconstruction procedures" under the things that the insurance has to be notified about.  I would think that an MPFL reconstruction would be under that, but maybe not.  Heck, I don't know.  All I do know is that I've written everything down so that if there is any question down the road, I hope to have no problems getting the insurance to pay.  I'm estimating that the total procedure will cost around 7-8,000 and hopefuly my portion is1,000-1,500 or less.  That may be something else I post about once it all gets settled.  Again, just so that people can estimate what they're looking it. My insurance covers 80% of eligible expenses after the deductible is met, which it has been.  Since my doctor is in-network, I'm estimating that there will be in-network deductions from the original cost as has been the case with every other medical claim that has been submitted.  I guess I'll just have to wait and see on that one. Oh, make another note...if there is absolutely any way to find out what kind of brace you are going to have after surgery, see if you can find out what kind of brace it is and order it online!  The total cost for the post-op telescoping Breg brace that I got according to my claim was about $700!!  Since I have a 250 deductible for those things, the brace and crutches are costing me 291 right off the top!  I found the exact same brace online for less than 200 dollars.  I also found ergonomic crutches that had I known about, I probably would have purchased on my own for about 50 bucks and if they help with the underarm pain at all, that 50 dollars would be worth it.  Since I have now met my deductible, it really isn't THAT big of a deal that the brace cost so much, but if you have a higher deductible and don't want to pay out the rump, get one online if at all possible.     
     Anyway, that is where I'm at right now.  The surgery center called today to get some medical history and whatnot and they told me to wear comfortable clothing to the surgery.  I really wanted to say "No s**t Sherlock".  It worries me that they actually have to tell people "Hey, you're having knee surgery, please don't wear a three piece suit".  I have a feeling I'll be living in basketball shorts for the next couple weeks, but hey...no problem with me on that one at all.  Work will probably consist of skirts if I'm unable to wear the brace over clothing in the later stages of recovery.  If I could get away with basketball shorts at work, I may try that as well.  Hey, my boss has only been in my office once in the last 6-8 months.  It might be worth a try. :) 
     In closing, I'm still in good spirits and not really too nervous yet.  My knee went out the other day just as I was walking around my house and it pissed me off enough to want the surgery right then and there.  It has gotten to the point that yes, it hurts when that happens, but now it just makes me mad.  Bring on surgery...I think I'm ready.  Feel free to ask again in a couple days if I still feel the same way. :)

A few things I discovered yesterday...

So, after visiting my doctor last week, I came home with crutches and the hip to ankle brace I'll be in for 6 weeks.  They told me not to adjust it and that I will wake up from surgery with it on just as it is right now.  I thoughy, "well, it might be a good idea to try and get used to this bad boy so that it doesn't such NEARLY as bad as when they just slap it on and send me on my way."  I have come to realize over the past week that it really is going to suck no matter how you look at it.  The two major break-throughs of understanding that I discovered yesterday is that 1)there is no way on God's green earth that I'm going to be able to sleep comfortably with the brace locked at 0 degrees and 2)my bathroom is NOT set up to have one's leg straight out in front of you.   When on the toilet, there is a wall approximately a foot MAYBE a foot and a half in front of your bent knees.  Haha...funny joke trying to see me sit on the toilet with the brace on last night.  I tried sitting on it sideways and that was a joke as well. If I stay at home, I have NO IDEA how I'm going to do it.  All that is secondary to the fact that the part of my bathroom where my toilet and shower is really isn't big enough to accomdate the crutches either.  I can see another injury following closely behind this surgery.
My only other option aside from staying home (my mom has volunteered to stay with me for a couple days before I go to the boyfriend's to be waited on hand and foot..note:can't wait for that), is to go back home with my mom.  Her house is much larger and more open than mine is, BUT there are about 5 steps to get inside and then the bedroom where I stay is in the basement so we're talking another flight of stairs to sleep in a nice bed OR sleep on the couch which probably won't work well.  Staying at my Mom's also means having to take my dog with me who is normally an inside dog and at Mom's, he would have to be outside.  I'm honestly trying to do whatever I can to stay at my house, but there are pros and cons to both situations and I'm a TERRIBLE decision maker.