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Fusion Long ride to a successful Fusion

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Social Security Disability and insurance benefits can vary from case to case. When I was approved for Social Security disability, it was backdated to when they thought my disability actually began. When it is backdated, you get medicare 6 months aafter you are approved for SS Disablity. Mine was backdated several years before I actually applied. I needed insurance badly when I applied and didn't think I would get it, but within 3 months of applying for SSI was approved and had Medicare in 6 months. God really provided for me.
Greda
 
Wow, Greda! That is wonderful! Mine was also "backdated". I think I have the (2) year waiting period because I currently have insurance (?) Not quite sure, but I'm curious now, so I'll be making a call to inquire today! Even if it can supplement my current insurance, any bit helps...especially since I'm looking at another surgery quite soon!
 
Well...got off the phone (online sure didn't work!) with Social Security. Found out that yes...your benefits are based on a "case by case" basis. Unfortunately, I won't be able to apply for Medicare until January, 2013...two years after I received my first "official" disability check. Went round and round asking questions, but that's the official word. Hopefully, I won't be on disability at that time, but you never know. :thumb:
 
.Sorry to hear that. It is frustrating when you are on disability but they won't help with the disability costs...it just doesn't make sense to me. I guess I was really lucky.
Greda
 
Well...I did something really stupid yesterday. :DOH:We had 60 bales of hay delivered to the house, and I was feeling pretty good, so I thought i could pull some of the hay off the trailer and get it ready to go into the barn. Had "Peg" (my cast) on, and felt very stable. Afterwards, my "great idea" turned into a really BAD decision. In lots of pain last night...hamstrings and tendons in the back of my leg were just SCREAMING and felt like a knife going into the back of my leg. :cry: Knee swelled up, and just to touch it...well...let's not go there! A lovely shade of reddish purple accompanied this also. RSD really stinks.

So....I guess if I had any doubt at all about fusion, it's gone now. Any movement of this knee, even in the cast, brings on pain and RSD symptoms. What was I thinking? :hissyfit: Ughhhh....guess I just wanted to be "normal" again. At the time, it sure felt good (mentally wise) "chucking" hay bales, laughing and getting covered in hay...and itching! LOL
The consequence: pain all night, pain all day, and spending a hot summer day laying on the couch with my leg elevated and dreading even walking to the bathroom. Next Friday can't come soon enough with my visit for the second opinion regarding fusion. I'm sooo done with all of this "experiment" stuff. We've got enough information now to know that simply bending the knee will bring on pain. We won't even have to discuss the lack of quad muscle I have....seeing is believing!

How is everybody else doing this summer? This "heat wave" isn't going to leave us here in Maine until Sunday. But....I'll take this over 20 below zero any day!! :biggrin:
 
I know it must be frustrating to try and do something you enjoy and then pay for it like you have. Hopefully things will start going in your favor soon.
When I looked at the temp outside this afternoon it was 107...it is just too hot for me right now. I went on a short trip to the grocery store and the heat just adds to the exhaustion. I feel bad for the people working outside.
Greda
 
Awe, Audrey, that's such a shame. We do so desperately desire to be normal, don't we?
 
Yup! We sure do. My daughter if finding it difficult to accept that "Mom" just can't do the things I used to do, nor do I have the energy. She just wants her Mom back. :cry:
Does anybody have any input or questions they think I should be asking my 2nd opinion Dr. on Friday? I know I've definetely got to ask about the sharp pain in the tendons and hamstrings behind my knee...what's up with that? I can go a few weeks without having that pain, and then ZAP! Lasts for days. I only get that freakish pain when I've been sitting and bend my knee from 90 degrees to "straight". Doesn't matter how long, or how short a time I've had my leg bent. It JUST happened and I was sooooo careful standing up. I think I pounded my fist on the coffee table a few times, which was enough to worry the hubby. He's had enough of this also...and wants me better...or the best that I'm able to be. Thus....fusion (?) Been doing more research the past couple of days and I think I'm researched out. There's only so much out there, and thus far, I've kept an open mind on the good, the bad, and the ugly. ("Roger" still freaks me out! :scare:)
 
Given your situation, I think the tendons/muscles/ligaments have a tendency to contract when they have tension removed. Let me explain.

Muscles groups work in pairs. For every group that applies pull in one direction, there is another applying pull in the opposite direction and the pull is applied onto bones. It's called pressure and counter pressure. One muscle contracts, pulling on the side of a bone causing the bone to move and the opposing muscle is stretched. The stretched muscle is then in a state of readiness to contract to move the bone the opposite way. It's this see-saw of action and reaction that keeps muscles healthy and in good tone.

Now because of the problems in your knee, your muscles are dreadfully out of tone. Thus when you sit and the muscles at the back of your knee spend some time in a relaxed state, when you stand and they are required to undergo stretching, they can't cope and pain is the result. The hamstrings are the worst culprits for this because they undergo more of that stretch-and-contract activity than almost any other muscle group in the body and they are BIG muscles!

I suggest you try this and see if it works: when you sit, put your heel on a small stool or box and keep your knee (and therefore your hamstrings) straight and stretched.
 
Your experience with the hay brought out a memory of my "stupid" thing.
I was feeling pretty good, so I decided to hike a 9 mile loop over 3 big, rocky mountains in NH. about half the way through, my daughter (who is my usual accomplice in these sully endeavours) looked at me, dragging my sorry @$$ along, and asked me what the he!! was wrong with her to accompany me on such a disaster. We also ran out of water, so stupidity was accompanied by dehydration....
Jo os right, we all really want to be 'normal".
Yes, I paid dearly for the escapade.
Sandy
 
Thanks for sharing your "stupid" story, Sandy! I'll bet with all of us, we could write a heck of a book!

Jo: thanks for the great explanation! That would explain why it feels like it often "pops" or feels like one (tendon) is crossing over another (tendon) when I straighten out my leg after bending it to sit. And....why it's sooo difficult to stand straight and try to "walk" (ha ha) without my cast on. All the more reason I'm thinking fusion is the right decision in my case. It's such a PAIN to bend this knee/leg....and the consequences could end up with me getting a few coffee tables....or a bruised fist! ha ha
 
Hi Audrey!:biggrin:

I am still working on the ligaments, muscles, and tendons that run down the inside of the knee!:rolleyespink:

MRSA ravaged them, and it has been slow going to get them back. I will be doing so good, and all of the sudden, the tibia, fibula shifts, and/or the kneecap slides out of place.:hate-shocked:

I had the worst experience that I have had in awhile on Thursday, when Katie was taking a "mini vacation." The lower bones shifted, the kneecap went up the leg, and a huge knot popped up on the outside of the knee. Valerie, my substitute therapist quickly called for Chris, and he came and set it straight.

I hope you can get some relief to your problems with the back of your knee soon!:thumb:
 
OOOOooooo, Sonja! That does NOT sound pleasant! I'm glad there was somebody there to "re-set" it. Does that happen to you often? You must have been a little freaked out! I know I would have been! ....my son is loving his vacation here in Maine. He says the Texas weather is just waaaay too hot for him! He heads back to Port Arthur this Sunday. We had a lovely family gathering yesterday in SW Harbor at my Mom's place. High temp: 78 beautiful degrees! AAAAhhhhhhh!!!!!!

We are picking up a new pony on Thursday! She is my mare's grandmother. She's 16 years old and looks just like my mare, "Gracie"....another "Black Beauty". The lady that has her can no longer take care of her, so....she's coming here to live with us! That will make (3) Shetland ponies and (1) miniature horse! ....oh...and did I mention (4) Pomeranians and a Golden Retriever? LOL
 
Animals are the best "people" I know. They are always there to listen to you and never yell at you when you do something you shouldn't be doing!!!
 
wanttoride said:
That will make (3) Shetland ponies and (1) miniature horse! ....oh...and did I mention (4) Pomeranians and a Golden Retriever? LOL
Click to expand...

.....and a partridge in a pear tree.......:hysterical:

I bet there are no dull moments around your house!!
 
wanttoride said:
OOOOooooo, Sonja! That does NOT sound pleasant! I'm glad there was somebody there to "re-set" it. Does that happen to you often? You must have been a little freaked out!
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Hi Audrey!

No, it doesn't freak me out anymore!:wink1: It happens less frequently than it used to so that is a blessing!:biggrin:

The knee hurts pretty bad when it happens, but when Chris or Katie put it back in, the pain stops!:biggrin: It does get sore afterwords sometimes but that is a small price to pay.

I love the picture of your horse! It is so neat to hear about all of your ponies and dogs!

I am sure it has been quite an adjustment for your son in TX! It is just a "little":wink1: hot down here! LOL
 
oops! I just needed to log in! :th_heehee:

Lovely family!
 
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