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PKR My Drama Queen Patellofemoral Knee

Well I am home after spending several days in Ohio with my kids. My 2 daughter’s live about 40 minutes apart so we spent time at both homes.

My knee didn’t do too badly, I felt it most by the time I got home last night. It had that “Pinocchio” feeling that some of you will remember a group of us talking about.

My daughter’s main living area is on the second floor, so there’s a full flight of stairs to do when coming in and out of the house. I actually did some foot over foot steps, and it went better on the first day but I struggled more as time went on. My non operated knee struggled a lot, because of the arthritis in that knee. At home that knee does great as I rarely have any steps to do in my life in Delaware. My non operated knee also hurt a lot getting up and down from a chair. Any other time it didn’t hurt, which is how the replacement knee was before surgery.

So, no change in the right knee is good news, it tells me the arthritis has not yet spread any further. Yay!!

It’s nice to see my kids but it’s SO nice to be home again!! It’s such a long drive (close to 10 hours for us, including several short stops) I didn’t even unpack last night. I went to bed at 8 pm and didn’t get up until about 6:30 this morning. I woke up a few times but went right back to sleep.
 
Welcome back home! I'm glad you had a good time. Too bad your old knee showed itself, but good that the new one did OK! Mine is still far from perfect and I have to be careful how I move it. Being able to do things that I wasn't able to do before is what has made this surgery worthwhile.
 
10 hrs car ride, lots of steps. You are Wonder Woman LOL! I think I’d be in intensive care after that.
It’s so wonderful that you had time with your daughters!
 
I'm glad you had a nice visit with your daughters and grandchildren. But there really is "no place like home". I'll be interested to hear what the conclusion is on your scar, because my 13 month old incision still looks like yours. So does my 7 month old one. Neither of them have just a smooth white line like I see in some peoples photos.
 
jboles said:
because my 13 month old incision still looks like yours. So does my 7 month old one. Neither of them have just a smooth white line like I see in some peoples photos.
Click to expand...
So maybe it’s just a “there is no normal” variety of scar.

I texted my chiropractor asking her about it but I haven’t heard back. I assumed she meant it hadn’t finished healing yet. I did google it. I’ll go look it up again.
 
I couldn’t find anything worth posting.
 
@Jockette

Jockette said:
Interesting that neither my original surgeon nor my second opinion surgeon commented on the dark area of my incision.
Click to expand...

My knee looks like yours after 2 revisions. Were you able to find out why there is a darker area on the incision?
 
Hi, @Belle, no I never did find out. I guess I will add that to my list of questions for my next someday opinion.

That picture makes the area surrounding the incision almost look bruised. It doesn’t look that way to me in person.

But the darker red of the incision line does look like that in person.

Some days, more of them lately, I want another opinion and then I come up with reasons why I don’t.

I actually read through my thread the last few days. The main theme seems to be, “I’m so afraid something is wrong.” I should have counted how many times I wrote that. Other than my bend getting better, nothing else has improved since last September. A whole year.

But 2 surgeons won’t look past an X-ray that looks fine.

How are you doing?
 
I went to 4 second opinion surgeons after my partial and three of them wouldn’t look past an x-ray either. The fourth one was very eager to do a total, which I waited 16 months to have it done. It was a tough decision and never took care of the problem. I have learned a lot over the years. Unfortunately you can’t turn back time.

My RFA is scheduled for next Friday, pre op is Wednesday. I’m trying to stay positive that this will work. I feel that this is my last hope.

Did your husband get a date for his RFA?
 
Many OSs send their patients for an MRI when their knees just are right. Maybe you could request that. Xrays don't show everything.
 
@Jockette I was reading back through some of your thread and I saw the picture you posted of your scar. My scars are pretty thin, but on the right leg where the abscesses were, there are definite dark spots. Not so much on the left leg. I have a feeling that the dark spots will fade in time. They are reminders to me of how persistent, annoying and scary all those skin issues were for me during the first months after surgery. I would think yours will lighten up too.
 
@Jockette i spent the last couple days reading through your journey. It’s so hard to see God’s hand when the journey is like yours..but He is there with you. Praying for you asking specifically that God will tell you when it’s right to get another opinion and boldness to ask for new testing. Thank you for your encouragement to me.
 
@DLR Aw, thank you :console2:
I sure do appreciate your prayers.
 
This coming Saturday it will be 19 months since my surgery. I am trying to accept my situation. I can’t do stairs foot over foot but I’ve decided that’s an overrated experience. I can do them one foot at a time. It’s rare I have to do them anyway.

My son’s condo is on the second floor. When I go there I take my cane and I can manage going up foot over foot. My non operated knee doesn’t like the stairs either (which is why I had the surgery in the first place, stairs were painful for both knees) so it is what it is. I’m more interested in keeping the other knee happy than in pushing the surgically unhappy knee to do more.

The good part about my less than optimal outcome is that at 19 months my leg has relaxed more than ever. My bend continues to improve. I’m happy about that. I haven’t been to PT since just before the 8 week mark, I’m just living my life.

I honestly don’t think my operated leg just needs to be strengthened, I do think something is not right. More than a week ago I was all set to make an appointment for a third opinion and I woke up the next morning scared to death to do that, so I didn’t.

I still have that tight feeling, pants still bother me, weather does sometimes, but in spite of those things I’ve come a long way since the day of surgery. My posture is good and if I’m on a flat surface I think I walk well. Uneven ground, and especially a downward slope is still a challenge.

My bowling is getting worse, so I don’t know if it has something to do with my knee or not. I’m not happy about that. I’ve been bowling for about 2.5 years and while never a great bowler I held my own, but it’s gone downhill since my surgery, more so in the last few months.

I have also learned in the last year that I have the personality of a Highly Sensitive Person, HSP for short (google it) and I’m convinced it has been a factor in my recovery. Things that upset me might only annoy someone else. Bingo with this recovery!

I have my “poor me” days and then other days that I’m ok with where I am.

This recovery has definitely been an eye opener but I’ve become a more understanding person to others who have limitations. Without having had this surgery I would never have met all of you, and I’m very glad to be a part of this awesome community. Thanks to all of you for being here for me. :console2:
 
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You are such a blessing to this forum! Your empathy is a huge help to tons of others! I'm sorry to hear your bowling has gone down. Do you think you're subconsciously protecting your knee and that's affecting your bowling? I understand what you mean about your other knee. I'm trying to hold off on mine, too.

At least you have some good things about your replacement. You and I both aren't completely happy, but things could be worse. I'm thankful I can ride my bike again! Before the replacement, it had gotten extremely painful for even a few minutes of riding. Your ROM is great! Many can't say that. You only have to deal with steps occasionally. That's a good thing, too! :prayer:
 
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