March 31, 2010

The Knee Saga is Now a Trilogy

I don't know what I was expecting today when I went to see this new surgeon. It wasn't what I got; that's for sure. He spent over an hour with me, going over my other surgeon's notes, asking me questions, examining my knees (both of them) like I don't think they've ever been before. When all was said and done, it boils down to several possibilities that he wants to rule out, before he said he would even think of cutting.

First, I have an MRI tomorrow. Then I have a bone scan next week at the hospital. He's thinking a bunch of different things after examining my knee:

-possible PCL sprain
-possible stress fractures
-possible bone infection from the allograft
-some cartilage deterioration under both knee caps (this is the only one that's for sure)

We barely even addressed the issue with the screw sticking out. He said he needs all the evidence before we can move forward.

He also said that the fat atrophy issue is going to require a good plastic surgeon. Maybe I will be able to get some fat from somewhere else sucked out and put there after all.

I also have to pick a 48 hour window over the next week where I put no weight on my knee at all and go back on crutches. He wants to see how I feel after that time period and report back to him.

I left there feeling like I wanted to cry. I hated getting an MRI last time. The bone scan sounds like no fun at all and is an all day affair. First an injection of isotopes and then I'll have to go back hours later to get about 30 minutes worth of scans.

In the meantime, this new surgeon who is in my insurance network, says he's going to get the operative notes from both surgeries, and the first MRI scan, so he can see what my other surgeon did and put together all the pieces.

In the meantime, no karate, no working out, no running and he'd like me to limit the amount of walking I do.

I guess if there's one thing I'm glad about, it's that this wasn't all in my head. I definitely still have problems. Here's hoping they get fixed once and for all.