So, on Thursday I had an appointment with the surgeon to follow up after surgery. Things look good but I'm still on crutches for 3 more weeks. Apparently repairing the meniscus makes for no weight baring for 4-6 weeks. I'm just glad I was only given 4 weeks. It could be worse. They said I would be okay to go back to work whenever I felt up to it with restrictions: no heavy lifting, twisting, standing for long periods of time, etc. Good thing I work at a computer. I went in to work after my appointment to give it a try. I forgot to bring pillows to prop up my leg so I had to improvise with a blanket. It was pretty uncomfortable so I ended up needing to take my painkiller. About an hour later I was pretty much worthless. Luckily my husband was about done with his meeting and re-registering my car so he could pick me up and take me home. I made it just over 4 hours that day. Not too bad...one day at a time. Oh ya, when I got home I slept for 4 hours. I'm not used to staying awake all day yet.
Today I went to work after physical therapy but didn't get there until 11:30. I was more comfortable with my pillows today but there is always that discomfort there. And from the picture in the previous post I'm sure you can get somewhat of an idea of that. I was trying not to have to take my medicine so I could focus on work but I broke down around 3:30 to ease the pain. Luckily I had some things to keep me busy or I would not have made it to 5 today. So I made it 5.5 hours today...getting better. I'm not sure if I will be able to handle a full day just yet so I'm really glad we have the Thanksgiving break next week. Only 3 days of work!! We'll see how it goes. It just takes so much longer to do normal things like get ready in the morning, etc. so hopefully I'll be able to get into a better routine soon and return to "normal" life on crutches.
Friday, November 21, 2008
Friday, November 14, 2008
Quick Update
So, I made it through surgery. Everything went fine according to the doctor. I went to physical therapy this morning and they took off all the bandages around my knee. It looked kind of nasty but I tried not to look at it too much to make myself not sick! The therapist told me it looked good and that it shouldn't be too bad of a recovery. I didn't do too much at therapy this morning but it will come slowly. The hardest part for me right now is trying to stay awake. With my painkillers I am taking an anti-nauseous pill but it can knock me out! Oh well, at least I slept through the night pretty well last night. The night before was terrible.
One thing the doctor did tell us after surgery was that even though the radiologist said there was no tear in the Meniscus according to the MRI he had to repair it. (My doctor thought there might be a little tear or something in the Meniscus before surgery so we were prepared for that...just not the crutches for a month part!!) I am now told I can't put pressure on that knee for a month. That means I had better get used to my crutches again!! This is the pretty brace that I have to wear now for 6 weeks. I have no idea what I can wear once I go back to work because it was hard enough to get my gym shorts on over it.
I just wanted to give a quick update while I was awake. Brian has been so good to me and is taking good care of me! I am so grateful for him. Also, thanks to those at work who contributed to sending me flowers! You are all so nice!! Thanks again for all the prayers, support, and love on my behalf this past month. If anyone wants to stop by...feel free. I don't get out much! :)
By the way, the blue thing in the brace is an air cast. You fill it up with cold water and it ices the knee. Very handy little thing. It sure beats keeping an ice pack on it!
One thing the doctor did tell us after surgery was that even though the radiologist said there was no tear in the Meniscus according to the MRI he had to repair it. (My doctor thought there might be a little tear or something in the Meniscus before surgery so we were prepared for that...just not the crutches for a month part!!) I am now told I can't put pressure on that knee for a month. That means I had better get used to my crutches again!! This is the pretty brace that I have to wear now for 6 weeks. I have no idea what I can wear once I go back to work because it was hard enough to get my gym shorts on over it.
I just wanted to give a quick update while I was awake. Brian has been so good to me and is taking good care of me! I am so grateful for him. Also, thanks to those at work who contributed to sending me flowers! You are all so nice!! Thanks again for all the prayers, support, and love on my behalf this past month. If anyone wants to stop by...feel free. I don't get out much! :)
By the way, the blue thing in the brace is an air cast. You fill it up with cold water and it ices the knee. Very handy little thing. It sure beats keeping an ice pack on it!
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
It's Finally Arrived...
Our washer and dryer that is! We finally can do laundry in our own house. It's so nice and so much more convenient. We did 3 loads last night just to break it in!! And to complete the large purchases for the house we bought a couch and love seat on Saturday. We were just going to look at a store because they were having a sale and we just couldn't pass up the deal we found! So next week we will be getting a couch...finally! It's hard to watch a movie or just be downstairs when there's only a chair to sit on. It's just not as comfortable!
On to other news...the day for my surgery has arrived too. I go in tomorrow for knee surgery. I'm just awaiting the phone call that's supposed to come today to tell me what time to be there, ask me a bunch of pre-op questions, etc. Hopefully I find out soon. I just hope it's in the morning so I can just get it over with and not have to wait all day in anticipation. I don't know when I'll be back on to update my faithful readers on how everything goes but I'll try to do a quick update within a couple of days. Or maybe get my husband to write a quick sentence or two. We'll see...until then...
On to other news...the day for my surgery has arrived too. I go in tomorrow for knee surgery. I'm just awaiting the phone call that's supposed to come today to tell me what time to be there, ask me a bunch of pre-op questions, etc. Hopefully I find out soon. I just hope it's in the morning so I can just get it over with and not have to wait all day in anticipation. I don't know when I'll be back on to update my faithful readers on how everything goes but I'll try to do a quick update within a couple of days. Or maybe get my husband to write a quick sentence or two. We'll see...until then...
Wednesday, November 05, 2008
The First Snow!
So it is officially winter here...we had our first real snowfall. These are pictures from outside my window at work. Don't worry though, we definitely have "Utah weather" because the snow is already melted and we've had blue and sunny skies. But boy is it COLD!!!!!!!!
Halloween Pictures
We have so much fun at work on Halloween! I love seeing everyone's creativity come to life. We had quite the outfits this year too. Enjoy the pictures. I am going to let most of them explain themselves so it doesn't become a huge, long post.
The magical brew...homemade rootbeer! So good...thanks Mike.
The Morning Work Crew
Flashback to a place where you shouldn't ever go back to...look at that style!!
The Afternoon Work Crew
Hairspray Cast
Me showing my political side...(I think my husband is rubbing off on me and the things you see in the picture are all things he just happened to have at home...)
My "little" brother and I. He was "The Runner" because that is the title of one of his jobs at work which means he goes around to all the different advisement centers to take and pick up things. So he's the runner between offices. I am pointing to my "I Voted" sticker. Yes...I did actually early vote on Halloween so the sticker totally went with my outfit!
The magical brew...homemade rootbeer! So good...thanks Mike.
The Morning Work Crew
Flashback to a place where you shouldn't ever go back to...look at that style!!
The Afternoon Work Crew
Hairspray Cast
Me showing my political side...(I think my husband is rubbing off on me and the things you see in the picture are all things he just happened to have at home...)
My "little" brother and I. He was "The Runner" because that is the title of one of his jobs at work which means he goes around to all the different advisement centers to take and pick up things. So he's the runner between offices. I am pointing to my "I Voted" sticker. Yes...I did actually early vote on Halloween so the sticker totally went with my outfit!Saturday, November 01, 2008
Surgery here I come!
The final verdict...surgery is scheduled for November 12th. It is a same day surgery so I will not be in the hospital. In and out the same day. It will be at the Central Utah Surgical Center so it's not even at the hospital. I was impressed with the PA that works with the surgeon because he explained the whole process of how the surgery goes, estimated recover time, etc. Brian made a list of questions to make sure to ask so we think we covered everything we were wondering about. The surgeon was nice too. He came highly recommended so I hope this goes smoothly.
For those curious like me of how they fix a torn ligament, I will explain. Apparently there are 2 ligaments (or tendons, I don't remember which) in the bottom of your hamstring that aren't really used. They will take those out, fuse them together, and then put them where the ACL goes. They assured me there would be no loss of function in the hamstring just a little bit of soreness for the first little bit. There will be one incision to take out the parts of the hamstring and then the knee surgery will be arthroscopic. It's amazing what they can do these days with technology.
Two days after surgery I start physical therapy...3 times a week! I have to stay in a big metal knee brace for 6 weeks at all times. The only time I can take it off is to shower. I will be on crutches for the first little while until I feel comfortable enough to bare weight on it. Right now I am estimating to be gone from work for a week but we'll see how things go along the way. After the 6 weeks the knee brace goes away and my physical therapy increases. It increases in what they have me do, not in how many times I go. The doctor even said that at that point they may let me do it on my own if I'm motivated enough to get in to a gym. I sure hope they let me do that so I don't have to pay more to do things that I could be doing on my own. I think the financial part will motivate me! My total recovery time is about 6 months. There's a long list of things I won't be allowed to do during those 6 months. I sure hope my husband can handle doing most everything around the house and whatever else I need help with. My parents will be here for Christmas so that will be helpful too. I think the first 6 weeks are going to be the worst though. That's all I can remember from my Thursday appointment with the surgeon. I have a feeling I may get very bored while I'm home recovering so if anyone wants to visit...feel free. :)
For those curious like me of how they fix a torn ligament, I will explain. Apparently there are 2 ligaments (or tendons, I don't remember which) in the bottom of your hamstring that aren't really used. They will take those out, fuse them together, and then put them where the ACL goes. They assured me there would be no loss of function in the hamstring just a little bit of soreness for the first little bit. There will be one incision to take out the parts of the hamstring and then the knee surgery will be arthroscopic. It's amazing what they can do these days with technology.
Two days after surgery I start physical therapy...3 times a week! I have to stay in a big metal knee brace for 6 weeks at all times. The only time I can take it off is to shower. I will be on crutches for the first little while until I feel comfortable enough to bare weight on it. Right now I am estimating to be gone from work for a week but we'll see how things go along the way. After the 6 weeks the knee brace goes away and my physical therapy increases. It increases in what they have me do, not in how many times I go. The doctor even said that at that point they may let me do it on my own if I'm motivated enough to get in to a gym. I sure hope they let me do that so I don't have to pay more to do things that I could be doing on my own. I think the financial part will motivate me! My total recovery time is about 6 months. There's a long list of things I won't be allowed to do during those 6 months. I sure hope my husband can handle doing most everything around the house and whatever else I need help with. My parents will be here for Christmas so that will be helpful too. I think the first 6 weeks are going to be the worst though. That's all I can remember from my Thursday appointment with the surgeon. I have a feeling I may get very bored while I'm home recovering so if anyone wants to visit...feel free. :)
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