About a month ago, I was playing in the midseason state tournament, which turned out great because the USTA insisted that all of my matches be played indoors due to my sunlight photosensitivity. One team objected to playing indoors, but they were forced to do it or default the match.
Anyway, during my last match, I hurt my knee. Something popped, and I went down. I could not walk on it without it buckling.
It has taken me over a month to get my insurance company to agree to an MRI. They denied it and denied it. I still cannot walk on my knee without it buckling. I have been on crutches and a full leg brace ever since. I can walk a little now without the crutches as long as I have the brace on.
Today I got my MRI!!!! My dad, a radiologist, gave me a quick read afterward. I have a contusion of my tibia, a 2/3 tear through my lateral meniscus, and a partial tear of my LCL. The ACL is intact, thankfully. All of this from just a doubles tennis match, not soccer, not football!
An orthopedist is in my near future and also, most likely, a surgery to repair the meniscus. I am bummed about it all, but I suppose it could be much worse.
Awww!!! I'm so sorry. I hope you heal properly and quickly! I miss my tennis playing days.
Hugs, Sharon
Sorry to hear that Ark Mom. Hoping they can fix you up quickly and as painlessly as possible. CK
I am sorry for your injury but JEALOUS that you were able to play tennis. Not really jealous but wish I could get through a 1/4 mile walk without dropping. Hope you heal quickly and get back on the court.
Well, I'm not sure they actuallly repair the meniscus.
take out the torn parts.
Do a transplant if you're under 45.
I had a torn meniscus with the torn part jammed into my knee joint. Surgery removed that piece.
Too old for transplants.
Here's WebMD on the subject of meniscus tears
http://www.webmd.com/a-to-z-guides/meniscus-repair
A lot depends on the size of the tear.
I would say tennis is pretty stressful.
But only you can decide what it's worth to you.
Keep us posted
Hugs
Elaine
Ark mom
Sorry to hear of your injury, hoping you get the treatment you need and healing is fast and painless!
Cricket~
Thanks guys for the support! I saw a PT today who gave me some isometric exercises and stretching to do while I am waiting to see an orthopedist. I will keep you updated.
Update! I saw an orthopedist today. He looked at my MRI and after giving me a knee exam, he concluded that I indeed have an ACL tear. I am scheduled for a reconstructive surgery on June 14th. I will have the meniscus tear "cleaned up" as well. He was not concerned about that very much.
I am disappointed for sure. I had 3 different radiologists look at my MRI, and 2 said that my ACL was fine, including my very knowledgable dad. The third radiologist said that my ACL might have a partial tear because it looked wavy in the images. But, due to the instability of my knee and the large pop I had, the ortho concluded that it was a complete tear.
I am already keying myself up with dread and anxiety to the 10th degree.
I agree with odie about wishing you well and being jealous. I hope the surgery helps and you regain full mobility.
Sorry to hear that... but maybe now you can be the bionic woman...better, faster, stronger. Or is that Wonderwoman? Sorry, just trying to cheer you up, hard to get the humor over the net sometimes. :o CK
Ha, ha CMK12! I grew up with in the bionic man and woman! I made similar sound effects when I was running....
Thank you, Joe, for your well wishes! Don't be too jealous, I am not doing squat, now! LOL.
Litliwlowa, thank you for your reply about your surgeries. I am debating the patellar graft vs hamstring graft for the next few weeks. Which one did you have? I read that 40% of patellar graft patients have permanent knee pain, mostly when performing deep knee bends. Hamstring grafts are more complicated and have a longer recovery period. I don't mind healing longer.
Apparently some people can lose their ACL and still walk around! Wow. My knee buckles instantly. I am fairly athletic, despite 20 extra pounds, which I am dieting to remove. It is depressing, especially with two little kids at home to care for.
[/quote]
My knee situation that necessitated the original reconstruction of both was from injuries sustained in automobile accident when engine block came through the dash. I have no idea what the surgeon did then.
[/quote]
I'm wondering if your AI diseases showed up after that? Rather often people had a major trauma right before they became sick.
That was one horrific crash! While I'm sorry for your suffering, I'm glad you are here on this forum!
Sharon
I had my ACL reconstruction done yesterday. Everything went as expected, and he said that I have a good strong knee, despite the torn ACL. He cleaned up my torn meniscus, too.
I spent yesterday vomiting from anesthesia and pain meds. I thought I had a handle on it, but this morning, 5 minutes after I took my morning pain meds, I vomited it up! They all dissolved, and so I don't know how much, if any, is left in my system. This sucks.
Glad your surgery is done and that your knee will function well again. Sorry about the nausea and vomiting. Can the doctor call you something in for that? Maybe some zofran ? Works like a charm if you take it before vomiting, Phenergan with vomiting. Good luck. CK
Seems like you are allergic to the pain meds?
I'm allergic to codeine and codeine analog drugs.
I used to vomit them, but now I just get unbearable itching which as amazing as it seems is worse than pain.
Have you tried Aleve? Ask for a muscle relaxant so you can rest perhaps?
No fun, but you're on the road to recovery.
Don't forget to breathe.
Elaine
Thank you everyone for your help and advice!
I am finished vomiting. I determined that the Percocet was causing it. I have another script for hydrocodone, and that doesn't make me vomit or nauseous at all. It doesn't provide as much pain relief.
Today, I am having a flare up of fibro pain, I think. Every muscle in my body hurts, my elbows, my hands, and my foot on the leg that had surgery. I am also feeling cold, a little bit of chills, but I do not have a fever. I am watching that, of course, in case of infection.
Ugh, the knee pain is bad enough, but now I am having this flare up. Any ideas?
Quote from: Ark mom on June 15, 2013, 11:44:56 PM
Thank you everyone for your help and advice!
I am finished vomiting. I determined that the Percocet was causing it. I have another script for hydrocodone, and that doesn't make me vomit or nauseous at all. It doesn't provide as much pain relief.
Today, I am having a flare up of fibro pain, I think. Every muscle in my body hurts, my elbows, my hands, and my foot on the leg that had surgery. I am also feeling cold, a little bit of chills, but I do not have a fever. I am watching that, of course, in case of infection.
Ugh, the knee pain is bad enough, but now I am having this flare up. Any ideas?
Glad to hear that your knee surgery went well. Sounds like good news that the rest of your knee looks good. Really stinks tho that you can't tolerate the pain med. wish I could offer you another suggestion.
The surgery probably triggered your fibro pain. What do you usually do when it hits you this bad?
Hope you feel better quickly.
Glad the surgery went well and that you are on the road to recovery.
Cassi, there is not much to do when I have a fibro flare. I am a little better now, less generalized pain. The pain meds have knocked most of that out anyway.
I had hoped for a relaxing weekend to heal, but my husband was irritated that I was sort of dependent upon him, so impatient. I was afraid to even ask him to help me with ice for my cold therapy machine in the middle of the night. I asked him once to carry a glass of water to my room for me at 3:00am, and he was MAD!!
Of course, he would have never even offered to help at all. Nor, did he ever even ask him how I was doing! It was hard getting up and around trying to carry ice on crutches while drugged with narcotic pain killers. I just don't understand him at all.
Now, he shipped off to Mexico at the last minute, and so now I am alone with my little kids. My mom is coming tomorrow to help.
Wow, I am so sorry Ark Mom. It has to be a real disappointment when you should be able to really count on him. Thank goodness for mothers.
Feel better soon.
Sorry Ark Mom, Hoping today maybe you are feeling a little better. It is always better when our mom's come to take care of us :)
Saying a prayer for your speedy recovery. Take care, CK
I know, CMNK12, my mom is great. She is sleeping in the girls' room on a cot to keep them company. I have my CPM machine (Continuous Passive Motion) in the bed with me and sleep with it going all night, slowly bending/unbending my knee.
I changed my dressing, and found that the swelling is minimal and the incision site looks great!
I had physical therapy today. It was quite painful. A few hours later I had another fibromyalgia flare up. Every muscle in my body hurt, my skin hurt all over, and any pressure at all on my skin caused terrible pain. All I could do was lie in bed, waiting for pain med to kick in. I hope that all of my physical therapy sessions don't end like this. I still feel achy, but not horrible anymore.
:-\ :-\ Gosh Surely they will get better, maybe too much too soon. Talk to the therapist when you go next time. Let them know about your fibromyalgia and what you experience after PT and maybe they can adapt your therapy accordingly. Hoping today will be better. CK
Good idea, CMNK12. I think what really sent my nerves into overdrive was the electrical muscle stimulator. I had it only on level 5 (the usual effective level is 20), and it really hurt. I am going to talk to him about it. He told me that particular therapy is not essential, but my progress will be much slower without it.
He said that ACL patients come out of surgery with quad muscles that refuse to work. In a sitting position, I cannot raise my leg at all with my quads. I have to use my hand. They are completely shut down. Thanks again!
So how are you feeling Ark Mom ? Hope you are doing much, much better. CK
From one Ark. mom to another ---
Hope things are getting better. Is you mother still there helping you? I'm sorry your husband is not being understanding to all your needs. That can definitely make things worse.
You are in my thoughts and prayers. If I could come across the state and help I would.
Jennifer
CK and Jennifer,
My knee is doing really well. I am walking without crutches and without a brace now. I can bend my knee about 115 degrees now, too!
Unfortunately, I am still in the midst of a bad flare. My muscles and joints have been hurting ever since my surgery. It has been almost 3 weeks! I am still using hydrocodone about once a day just so I can function. Everything hurts. I am so depressed about it. Here my knee is doing great, yet the rest of me is a wreck. My mom helped me for a few days, and my husband has been out of the country for every day of the last three weeks except for three days.
I just worry that I am not going to get out of this flare, that this is my new normal, a walking vegetable. Please, let it end!!! Ugh. Thanks for checking on me ladies. You made my day. :)
;) Hey...we gotta stick together! Take care. CK
This, too, shall pass, and you'll be easing back onto the tennis courts before you know what happened!
Hugs, Sharon
Thanks, Sharon!
I had my rheumy appt. today. I explained that while he told me that I would probably have a flare after my surgery, that he didn't tell me how to manage the flare and was on vacation when I called to discuss it. He apologized for not giving me instructions. He is really a nice guy.
He increased my Neurontin dose to 400 mg thrice daily and kept everything else the same. He said that tingling and other weird sensations are controlled at a lower dose (which I have found to be true--no more tingling), but I would need to go up to 600-900mgx3 to find relief for the other muscle pain and such. He thinks I had both a sjogrens and fibro flare. I am still unsold on the fibro thing. Why isn't all of this pain a result of sjogresn? Why does it have to be another disease? Sjogresns causes pain. The end. Sigh.
My knee is doing really great. The swelling has greatly subsided, and I am working hard to build up my muscles in therapy. My quads atrophied, and rebuilding them is slow. Did I mention how SLOW? Quite slow. Okay, good night.
My husband has been out of the country for two weeks, and my little darlings miss their daddy.