Keep on keepin' on!

I am extremely pleased to announce that I am down to taking just one pain medicine! That might not mean much to you guys, but it's an awesome thing for me. My pain has dramatically decreased, and it has become a lot easier to work on the exercises that I've been given in the time before therapy starts. While it is still difficult to walk, I am doing a lot better and gaining more strength by using my walker. My knee is still pretty swollen, but it's mainly because I've been weight bearing as tolerated. My muscles are still very weak, but I am making great progress. I am so ready to strengthen my muscles back to where they were, and be able to work out again. It'll be a lot of work, and I'm sure it'll be frustrating at times, but I know that I will be able to do it. I am so excited to have a normal knee again! :)

"Let's put this cadaver to work!"

I had my first post-op appointment on Friday afternoon, and it went a million times better than I expected it to! :) They unwrapped my knee, and OH MY GOODNESS it was swollen and bruised. My incisions looked perfect though, and they took out my stitches with no problem at all! When they first took my brace off and unwrapped my knee, it felt like jell-o. It's crazy how heavy and unstable it feels when there's nothing there to support it. After they removed my stitches, I was taken back to get an x-ray to see if everything was still in place and there was nothing wrong underneath. It came back and everything looks awesome! Before the end of the appointment, my doctor wanted to check my range of motion to see what it was like. He wasn't expecting much, because the normal range of motion for someone this soon after surgery is usually 0-45 degrees, at most. With a little bit of his help, I was able to bend 75-80 degrees and hold it! He was so impressed with me, and I'm pretty sure he was impressed with himself. He was so excited, and is super anxious for me to start my physical therapy. "Let's put this cadaver to work!" was his comment regarding my physical therapy. I am still locked in my straight leg brace, but I am slowly learning to walk with a walker. I have given up the crutches completely. I will continue to be locked in a straight brace until my physical therapist thinks that my quad muscles are strong enough to support more of my weight. On a positive note, I am slowly weaning myself off of one of my pain medications! :)

This is what my knee looked like after everything was taken off and my stitches were taken out! 

Yesterday was a super relaxing day, as I went to get my hair done. I got to visit with one of my closest friends (my hair dresser), Lyndsey, and see her precious kiddos! It was a really nice day, and I spent the afternoon catching up on my shows once I got home. 

Today has been another relaxing day! I haven't done anything but watch tv, take an amazing nap, and snack. I did, however, take my first real shower since my surgery! It felt so nice to be able to shower on my own and not just get a sponge bath. I am slowly making progress, and it feels SO good! :) I'm getting stronger everyday.

7 days already?

Today is post-op day 7, woo! They say it only gets better from this point on. I sure hope so, because yesterday was brutal and my worst day so far..

I've been in quite a bit of pain throughout this whole process, but yesterday it was absolutely horrible. I couldn't get comfortable, my medicine wasn't taking the edge off AT ALL, I couldn't think straight, and the amount of swelling underneath my bandage was unreal. I ended up texting the nurse at my surgeon's office to explain to her what was going on, and they ended up calling me in another prescription to take in between the doses of the original medicine they prescribed. So, I am now on Norco AND Tramadol. The swelling in my knee has gone down considerably since adding the Tramadol, and I was finally able to sleep through the night and most of this morning. 

There's not a whole lot to report today, but I will have more interesting things to say tomorrow. Tomorrow is my first post-op appointment, and I am pretty sure that I am getting my stitches out! We'll see. :)

Day 6..

OH. MY. GOODNESS. 

As I drifted off to sleep around 10 o'clock last night, I was relaxed and most of my pain was gone - honestly, it was the most comfortable I had been since the surgery..

I'm not even sure that I slept an entire hour before I was jolted awake with the worst pain I've had since my nerve block wore off. You know when you're almost asleep and you feel like you're falling? That's what happened, except my entire leg felt like it locked up. Luckily, it was time for my next dose of pain medication. The medication seemed to release the tension in my leg a bit, but it didn't take the pain away at all.

Instead of focusing on how much my knee/leg hurt, I tried watching tv to distract myself. My favorite show was on - Forensic Files! Even though it was an episode that I hadn't already seen (very few of those exist), I just couldn't pull my mind away from the crazy amount of pain that I was in. So, from about 2-6:30 this morning, I browsed Pinterest, did some online shopping for things I really don't need, played some games on my phone, and listened to Kaitlynn's kitten, Primrose (Rosie), chase her catnip toy around the house. 

It isn't even noon yet, and this has been one of the longest days I've had in a very, very long time...

Excuse how rough I look, but isn't my snuggle buddy the cutest?! :)

I have been staying at my mom's house since my surgery, due to Michael having to be away at a conference for work. My mom has been AMAZING getting up with me throughout the night to make sure that I take my medicine, make it to the bathroom without a fall, and making sure that I am comfortable. Shelby has been an awesome helper during the day as well, "taking care of his Nannies". Even though I hate having to be away from Michael, Scout and Lakota, I am definitely in good hands. :)

Post-op days 1-5

Days 1-3 were absolutely excruciating, and there was a lot of crying that was done. I couldn't get comfortable, I couldn't sleep, I dreaded getting up to hobble to the bathroom, and all I wanted to do was take a shower and stop hurting!

This was taken the first night at home! Gotta love the HUGE, clunky knee brace that you get to drag around...

Day 4 (yesterday) wasn't nearly as bad as the first few days, as I was FINALLY able to take a shower with the assistance of my mom and sister. After my shower yesterday morning, I was feeling quite a bit better and I definitely wasn't as cranky. My TENS unit was delivered yesterday, and that has helped my pain tremendously! I slept most of the night last night, only getting up to take my pain medication every four hours.

Well, today is post-op day 5! I definitely still have a long way to go, but my pain has diminished drastically in just the past few hours. I still have my leg elevated, as it keeps the swelling and pressure off of it so that it is not as uncomfortable. I was told to keep my ACE bandage on for a few more days until I have my follow up appointment with my surgeon, but I have a crazy rash going on underneath and it is about to drive me insane! I called the office and they said that I could loosen it and see if that helps, but it hasn't made any difference. I just want to scratch! Any suggestions?

This morning as I was laying here watching tv, I thought I would look up different experiences of people that have had the same MPFL reconstructive surgery that I just had, and I have come across a lot of different blogs. It seems as though that is how a lot of people in our situation communicate and share thoughts and ideas, and that is what prompted me to start my own blog! Not only can it help other people by sharing my experience, but I am always willing to answer questions or help in any other way possible! I'd really like to get in touch with some of you that have had the same surgery, so feel free to contact me! :) 

MPFL Reconstruction

I am just now 22 years old, and I have had knee problems for about the past 8 years. After countless doctors and surgeons told me that there was nothing that they could do for me and that I "needed to suck it up", I decided to get one last opinion before giving up. I met with an awesome surgeon in Quincy, IL, who told me that I have a very shallow trochlear groove (the groove where my patella sits), and this is what causes my knee to dislocate. After giving me a diagnosis, she referred me to one of the best surgeons in the country, who happens to be in Columbia, MO. After 8 long years of not having an answer as to what was wrong with me, I was finally feeling optimistic. 

My initial appointment with the surgeon in Columbia was on January 8, 2016. He spent about 20 minutes looking at my previous scans and notes from the different surgeons and physical therapists before he told me that he could fix what was wrong with my knee. Yes, you read that right - after EIGHT YEARS of struggling with pain, not being able to do the things I love, seeing a million and one doctors... I was FINALLY going to get surgery to correct the problem. He explained to me that because my patella has dislocated so many times in the past, it has damaged my medial patellofemoral ligament (or MPFL) for short. The MPFL is the primary stabilizer that is meant to keep your patella in place. 

My surgeon explained that he was going to clean out all of the damaged cartilage and debris that may or may not be floating around in my knee cap before he does anything else. The next step is reconstructing my MPFL. Since mine is so damaged, he thought that a donor ligament would be the best option for me. After he explained everything that he was going to do during my procedure, I signed all of my consent forms and set up a date - January 28, 2016. All I had left to do was wait..