Good news and bad news
Good news first—Hallelujah! After seven months of horrific knee pain I finally found out what is wrong with my knee! I just came back from seeing a new orthopedic doctor (same office as my original OS). I have one thing to say: IT PAYS TO GET A SECOND OPINION!!! This new doctor did a thorough physical examination on my knee, moving it this way and that way, looked at the results of the CT scan, and within five minutes (not kidding), he knew exactly what was wrong. Yay! That’s the good news—finally someone figuring out the cause of my pain!
Bad news: I have to have knee surgery, again. Yep, the doc has to open up my knee to fix the problem.
What exactly is wrong you might ask? Well, my surgery will be a knee revision with upsizing polyethylene component, with revision of the patellar component and lateral retinacular release. Basically that means the plastic button underneath my knee cap that was placed during my replacement in December has loosened and will be taken out and the bottom of my knee cap will be cut smooth, and a slightly bigger plastic button will be stuck on. And something else will be cut. I do not know what a “lateral retinacular release” means. Does anyone know?
The doc said my replacement is wobbly and it shouldn't be doing that. The good news is that he won't have to do anything with the femoral component or the tibial component or take any of the cement out! It’s mainly my knee cap area. AND it won't be as painful as the original surgery. Thank God because I almost “died” of pain with my replacement surgery in December.
I want the surgery scheduled right before Fall Break (teachers in our district have one week of vacation in October). That way I only miss two weeks of work, which is all I can afford. The doc said I can walk on it right away but going back to work after two weeks is pushing it. So with fall break, I’ll have three full weeks of recovery.
Anyway, I’ll let you know when my surgery takes place. This will be my FIFTH knee surgery, on the same knee (first surgery was in 1998).