Phew! We are finally back from my appt. Not a fun day on the highway, as we almost got side-swiped not once, but TWICE on the way down. I think my knuckles are still white! Anyway....the bones still have a ways to go before they are completely fused. I had 2 xrays, and you can still see the white line. It's not as prominent, but it's still there. When the tibia/patella/femur and completely fused, there won't be a white line showing. It will look like "fog". So...no horseback riding for me for a while. DARN IT!
My next appt. is in Sept. He hopes and is quite confident that the femur/patella/tibia will be fused at that time. He said the anti-inflammatory drug that I'm taking (Naproxen) can slow the bone-healing process a bit, but not to worry. We talked about the mid-femur pain and shin pain that I still have, and he's a bit ??? about the femur pain, as that's not usually a place where somebody who's had a fusion has pain. But...he chuckled and said, "well...you've never been a textbook case, so why start now!". ha ha
He wants me to keep an activity/pain journal for a while so that I can try to pinpoint exactly what makes this pain "tick". I told him the femur pain is the worst when I'm trying to drive, or sit in a chair. When the front edge of the chair rests against the back of my thigh...right where the rod end is...it's VERY hard not to winse after a few minutes. This also happens when I sit in a chair and put my foot on the floor. We are hoping that both the femur and shin pain go away in time.
The very last thing he asked me was ,"so...compared to post-op from the TKR's and the revision, how would you compare this"? I told him that although it's not perfect, it's sooo much better, and I have absolutely no regrets on having the fusion done. I'm in MUCH less pain, and I can function and not want to spend the day in bed doing nothing. Life is getting better...and it will continue to do so. I just have to have patience!