Busted Knee, on meds - watch out for strange posts...

[Joe13]

Not to be captain obvious but aren't your posts always strange (@Joe13)?

Maybe we should have been on the lookout for normal posts?

I like to keep it interesting so I suppose I can get out there a bit.

That being the case I wasn't sure how being stuck on the couch would affect my general disposition. (As y'all know I'm an opinionated person already lol)

After a week now, my joints hurt from laying in the same position most of the day and all night, I'm super uncomfortable, getting about half the sleep I need and am quite frustrated having to ask for just about anything that's not bathroom related or I get the 'lecture' both from my wife and daughter. (And it is taking a toll on my other knee that I busted at 15)


Soooo, I have deleted a couple of my posts after second guessing what I posted.


When and if I ever have a normal post I'll get a gold star or something good (like a NWFA Lower!!!).



Had been referred to a job by a good friend and it sounded like a done deal before it even started and was maybe not the best job ever but it was part time with some light office work and a bit of around town driving (and it paid well), but got an email Friday that they are now currently in a hiring freeze. So that was both frustrating and maybe a good thing since I probably would have had a hard time keeping up on crutches.

It always an adventure with me.

 

[Joe13]

They also lead to additional declines in health, as an immobile person can no longer exercise. They can also be huge problems for performing many types of work.

Yup, and I was just starting to loose weight and gaining stamina. I am determined to not gain any weight at the least and get back to being in better shape as soon as my body can handle it.

 

[Joe13]

Great news I guess - they have me set for an MRI tomorrow so I should know by the end of the week if I'm nursing a sprain/strain back to health or scheduling another surgery.

 

[Joe13]

Tore my minsecus in 2 places and am still pretty stuck on the couch.


Once again the squeaky wheel gets the grease... Or the most persistent pest gets fast tracked to the front of the line!

I was told Monday that I was going to have to wait 7-14 days for the pre auth to go thru. Then it would be October ish before I finally got into surgery.

I called insurance and my doctors Tuesday and complained loudly but politely that there was no way I should or could wait 10 weeks to get my knee fixed.

I was so frustrated and pissed that if it were not for having a great GI doc in the clinic I was considering dumping them and going somewhere else (the realization that it would then most likely take as long if not longer kept me in check as well).

Wanted to vent loudly on here but figured it would just further irritate me.

Wednesday was acceptance day and I just dealt with it and got over it... Mostly.


Today I get a call and told I was fast tracked in and to schedule my op and post op stuff! It felt like Christmas when she told me they had an opening for me on Sept 1st!!!!!

So 2 weeks till the surgery and straight into Phys Therapy on the 6th! I figure I'll be close to normal by October 1st and hopefully healed and good to go by Nov 1st.



I'm so ready to get back to my regular schedule and to be able to walk the dog. Right now he settles for running down the hall after a stuffed animal and bringing it back for some tug of war till I toss it again. (There are quite a few benifits to haveing a small dog).

Then I gotta find me a J O B.

 

[SA Shooter]

I'm not goin' shootin' with you until you get off the pain meds, Joe!

 

[Joe13]

I'm not goin' shootin' with you until you get off the pain meds, Joe!

Probably a good idea.

I'm not a pill guy so I'll probably need a few right after but my plan is to always be off them ASAP.

I figure pain is the body's way of telling you your not doing something right and I can't listen to my body if I'm doped up - couch or not.

Odds are I won't get out shooting until after so it will give me some motivation to recover quickly lol.

 

[Medic!]

OK Joe. How is the knee?

 

[Joe13]

OK Joe. How is the knee?

Well on my pain experience scale, #1 seems like food poisonjing that had me in the ER for 12 hours before I was stable enough to take home at 18 seems like it was the worst (actually just begged them to put me down after the first few nausea shots didn't help - was worse then the worst of my drunken stupors) but I was a lot younger and scared with only my now wife with me and parents gone overseas so it probably was more overall pain then acute pain in one area..

#2 I thought was parts of my tat sleeve and chest which had me reevaluate my pain tolerance (as being higher then I expected) (and outer biceps and forearms don't hurt at all compared to around the nipple, chest collar bone, inside and outside elbows and wrists) but that also has a lot of endorphins released as it is exciting for me to see my ink transform.

#3 was my first 2 knee surgeries (or injuries right after they happened) where they scoped them and just smoothed out the cartilage by carvings some off. But again after the initial pain it was more a dull throb pain.

#4 was going over the top of the handlebars on a crotch rocket in full protective gear - only thing on my entire body that didn't hurt was my head (there was a golf ball sized dent in the temple of my $400 helmet) best $400 I've ever spent.

Well maybe not, that's what my wife's engagement ring and the dinner the night I proposed to her cost me. That was for sure my best investment.



I now have a new #1 though...

They were able to stitch up the tear on one side and said the other side was a 'shadow' from the last one on this knee 3 years ago.

So, doc was stoked as he said it would heal up stronger then carving it out, but it was way more invasive to do and he said it was going to hurt like heck compared to last time where I was able to get into the house with a cane right after. Said this only happens to less then 5% of his surgeries like mine that he does.

Absolutely NO weight on this leg now for 4 weeks at least to avoid tearing the stitches which would be bad. So 4 weeks of crutches which kinda sucks. Sitting up or standing and I can feel my foot start to swell. After 10-15 min it will increase in size by 30-50%, it feels like a water ballon filling up - kind of weird but then my foot hurts along with the whole leg.


30 min recovery took 3+ hours, 2 Percocet, 3 shots of dulauted and asprin (as I was at max doses) plus an extra pill that isn't for pain but makes the pain killers work better (but seems to make me itch) and the doc was gone so no way to get a new script of narcotics but the nurses broke protocol to get him on the phone because I tried getting off the table and the 4-5 pain at rest went to over a 10 to the point my eyes rolled back in my head and I nearly passed out. No exaggeration - and I've been told all my life I have a much higher then normal pain tolerance (not bragging).

They had to get an ER nurse to come up and put a full leg brace on (as no one in the Op department had ever had to do one) before I could get up which at least is keeping it immobilized at the right angle. Any rotating though feels like someone just hit me with a baseball bat and it stays sore.

Been using lots of ice and was told to call this morning to ask how far out the doc want to push my physical therapy and figure out better pain management.

I waited too long last evening to take more pills when I got home and ended up shedding some tears from the pain getting overwhelming after a trip to the restroom. Started setting alarms after that to try and stay ahead of it.


BUT I am done with it and recovery will just take an extra month plus probably 8+ weeks of rehab instead of 6-8 weeks from now that they anticipated.


Will have to pass on the part time job offer I received - disclosing the surgery but under the assumption I would be up and walking in a couple days and able to do trainings and stuff sitting down mostly to start, but on crutches and no way to sit up for long periods that's a no go.


I just figure to stay on keeping from injuring it this next month and hopefully the right job will be there when I'm able.


Longest response to the shortest question maybe. I only slept for 3 hours last night and the pain is too much to even try and get comfortable enough to sleep so here I am on the forum.


Thanks for asking man.

 

[Medic!]

You will be better than before. That's good.

I sympathize with you. The first tree days suck.
After that is just sucks.

 

[Velzey]

Glad to hear they were able to fix it. Take it easy and don't fall on that down!! I have a friend that had it done last year and he fell after a week and a half. Oh boy they were mad at him, they had to go back in and put things back together.

I'm not looking forward to the surgery in my future! As a matter of fact I am not going to google it anymore, makes me sick to my stomach..

 

[Medic!]

Oh come on!
I watched mine. It wasn't that bad.

[Warning. I am lying like a Mo Fo! If you watch this Video you will likely barf your guts out.]

 

[Velzey]

No NO and NO, I am not going to watch that....

 

[Joe13]

Oh come on!
I watched mine. It wasn't that bad.

[Warning. I am lying like a Mo Fo! If you watch this Video you will likely barf your guts out.]

Boo!

I could skin an animal easier then watch that up close....

 

[Medic!]

Would you like me to post your knee surgery Joe?

 

[Joe13]

Would you like me to post your knee surgery Joe?

No thanks.

 

[Medic!]

No?

Too soon?

 

[x2ndxall]

Oh come on!
I watched mine. It wasn't that bad.

[Warning. I am lying like a Mo Fo! If you watch this Video you will likely barf your guts out.]

Pretty neat stuff.

 

[Ura-Ki]

I haven't seen one done before, pretty cool! Glad you got it done Joe, now STAY OFF it and be a good boy and post funny stuff here due to the meds again! LOL

 

[DeanfromOregon]

I am very glad you're on the road to getting better. I'm getting my right one replaced soon hopefully.

 

[Joe13]

Thanks y'all. I'm being super easy on it - the oxy is making me itch and the doctors response to my pain was to double it, not change drug family's (Vicodin make me itch bad).

So I'll have to take Benadryl to counteract it - which makes me sleepy. Which could be good thing but dehydrates me and I'm already drinking a ton for the oxy.

I haven't seen one done before, pretty cool! Glad you got it done Joe, now STAY OFF it and be a good boy and post funny stuff here due to the meds again! LOL

Well I was thinking of adding a fiber supliment and net to my hunting gear. That way I can wade into waist deep water, blow a mega fart and just scoop up the stunned fish as they float to the top and head against the current towards me because I'm so handsome, should of seen me in my 20's; even with 20 years on me I'm positive that I'm still more handsome then all of the people on this forum combined.

Not to mention we have to keep the windows at home cracked so when I do fart they don't blow out - it happened once and cost a bundle to repair.


That's the best I have and I'm 30 min past when I should have had meds so being inventive is helping occupy my mind - just waiting for the wife to get back from the pharmacy...