Knee Infection* Here I am again

[Coppernob]

Well 4-5 months has turned into nearly 11 months but I will finally be having the surgery on my IT Band on 9 July. Today I went for my second pre-op assessment. The first was in February, but as it was only valid for 12 weeks, I had to be checked again. The good thing was that it was a very quick appointment as nothing had changed in the meantime.

I can walk for ages on the flat but as soon as I go uphill or up a flight of stairs the pain in my knee and hip starts and takes a while to settle down again. Even losing a considerable amount of weight and generally being more active hasn’t helped so I just hope this surgery will finally solve the problem. Linda x

 

[KarriB]

I’m sorry you’re still having pain. Hoping this solves the problem for you.

 

[sistersinhim]

What will they do to your IT Band?

 

[Coppernob]

I’m not entirely sure until they do it!

 

[Jockette]

Wow, you’ve had a lot of knee surgeries.

Best wishes for this one!

What happened with your partials that they had to be revised?

 

[Coppernob]

They became painful, loose and unstable.

 

[Jockette]

I’m sorry. Not what we expect going into this.

 

[Coppernob]

All done and dusted on Monday and was home the same day - eventually. I had to wait several hours as my blood pressure was very low after the op and took ages to come up again. Apparently I had soft tissue release surgery, but I didn’t see my surgeon afterwards so won’t really know what he did until I see him again in 2 weeks time. It’s not too painful, as long as I take pain killers regularly, but my whole leg is very swollen. Today I’ve been feeling grotty from the general anaesthetic. It always hits me about 48 hours later. Hopefully tomorrow will be an improvement.

I hope everyone else who had surgery on Monday is going on ok. Linda x

 

[Jockette]

Best wishes and hugs for a good recovery!

 

[Coppernob]

I had a major panic last night when my wound, which still had stitches in and a dressing on, suddenly started dripping blood everywhere. As I was due to see my surgeon today, I tried not to stress too much, wrapped some bandages round my knee and went to bed. During the night I realised it was still bleeding so I wrapped some cling film round it and tried to sleep. No chance! I was imagining all sorts of scenarios! When I finally gave in and got up, the blood had seeped through everything including all the bedding. I took off all the night time padding and then found I had another long dressing stashed away so put that over the top and tried to keep my leg up as much as possible. By the time I went for my appointment at 2.00pm the new dressing was stained too.

I didn’t see my actual surgeon but one of his underlings who had assisted with my surgery so he was able to tell me what they had done. Apparently I had a bony ossicle which was pushing onto tendons, ligaments and my IT band and causing the pain. They removed the growth to make more room and loosened some tight tissue. He wasn’t overly bothered about the bleeding but said to keep the wound clean and dry and they’d see me again in 4 weeks; meanwhile a nurse would come and remove the stitches and redress it. This she did, but she wasn’t happy that it hadn’t healed more than it has and was still weeping so I have to go back to the Nurse Led Clinic next Thursday for it to be checked again. The last thing I want is more problems with a wound that won’t heal.

The good news is that the pain I was having seems to have gone away. I still have a lot of swelling and bruising so it’s hard to be completely sure and, of course, there’s still a lot of healing inside to happen, but so far the signs are positive. Linda x

 

[sistersinhim]

Don't you just hate going through all the trouble and pain of going to see your doctor and then you don't see him!? I'm glad you're going back next week to get your incision looked at again. I would have been so afraid! It hasn't been but 10 days since your surgery. To me, it seems too early to remove stitches. My staples were removed about 3 weeks afterwards, which was too long! Skin had grown over most of them. There must be a happy medium somewhere in between!
How is your bleeding now?

 

[Spex10]

You poor thing. What a terrible time you've had. I really hope that when your wound is safely healed your knee won't ever give you any more trouble.

 

[lovetocookandsew]

@sistersinhim I agree with you-staples bite! (pun intended) My happy medium for the closure is the glue and steri-strip route, although my steri-strips were a bit much this time.
@Coppernob You have had a lot of surgeries! Here's hoping this one does the trick!

 

[sistersinhim]

@Coppernob, How's your bleeding?

 

[Coppernob]

Not good news I’m afraid. I had an appointment at the Nurse Led Clinic this afternoon. The nurse took the dressing off my knee and straight away said she wanted a doctor to look at it. My surgeon is away on holiday so one of the other orthopaedic consultants who was holding a clinic came to see me. The bottom half of my wound has still not healed and he said I have an infection, which he hopes is just in the skin, which is red and very warm. But he said he can’t be totally sure as he doesn’t know how deep a cut my surgeon made, and whether he went down as far as the metal work or not. He took a swab from the wound and has put me on the dreaded Flucloxacillin antibiotic again. I have to go back again next Thursday unless it gets worse in the meantime, in which case I must ring straight away. I’ve also been given an appointment to see my own surgeon as soon as he comes back from holiday in 2 weeks time.

I’m trying to think positively, but I must admit I’m feeling really scared as I can’t bear the thought of going down the infection route again - once was more than enough! Linda x

 

[lovetocookandsew]

 

[sistersinhim]

Oh no. I am so sorry to read that you have another infection. I pray is just an upper skin that affected.

 

[Coppernob]

Was back at clinic on Thursday and I have a staph aureus infection so still on the antibiotics and see my own surgeon next Thursday.

Then, this morning, I got up feeling ok and was making breakfast when I suddenly became really clammy and disorientated and ended up in a heap on the floor. My husband called an ambulance which came very quickly and the paramedics were very thorough. Given the infection, they took me into A and E where I was again thoroughly checked out, lots of blood was taken and I was put on an iv drip. Several hours later, and with me feeling much better, the doc decided I could come home, as long as I rest and do very little. Not good timing when we have 2 granddaughters coming tomorrow for a week’s stay! I shall be glad to see my own consultant to get his slant on what he thinks is going on.

 

[kneeper]

I'm glad you were seen quickly. Keep us posted.

 

[sistersinhim]

Please take it very easy with those granddaughters. Your body is going to be lots of rest.