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Knee Infection* The Story of My Knees Part 1

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Re: The Story of My Knees

Hello Everyone!:D Tomorrow is the day I travel to Dallas for 6 hours.:shk: The next day will make it all worthwhile when I finally get to see Dr. Maale and then his team will start working on a solution to the osteomyletis in my femur and joint replacement.

My leg has gone from 122 ROM down to 75 and in a day it has swelled up big time to where the bend is probably a 40!:sigh: I am in so much pain and ice, elevation, and pain killers are refusing to help anymore.

I am ready to have two "normal" knees so that the traveling can begin! I know that "God never gives us more than we can handle", but I think I am close to my limit!:whis:
 
Re: The Story of My Knees

Best of luck, Sonja. I will hold you in my prayers. I have been following your knee story and you have been through way too much already. Hope this doctor holds the key to a final solution for you. Safe trip!
 
Re: The Story of My Knees

I shall be praying for you too, Sonja. I do so hope you will be getting some solutions.
 
Re: The Story of My Knees

Hello Everyone!

I went to see Dr. Maale today and I found out that I am a "high management risk case!":wink: Now, I have been called a lot of things,:rotfl: but not that before.

What it means though, is the MRSA has totally engulfed the knee replacement and seeped around it, causing the ligaments to get weak, i.e the hyperflexion, and buckling. The good news is it CAN be fixed!

Dr. Maale has perfected the one phase technique. This means that there will be no cement spacer in between surgery times. I will have the washout, debridement, and a new knee put in at the same time. Then he will follow up with 6 weeks of IV therapy. He said that he used to do the 2 phase with the cement spacer, but that with learning about the human body, he went to one phase and said the results were a lot better.:D He has been doing this and perfecting his craft for 32 years, so I do believe that God has put him in my path!

The only drawback to all of this is he is in a neck brace right now, so he can't do the surgery for a month.:sigh:
I guess the way I need to look at it is "I am waiting for the best!"

I see an infection control specialist tomorrow so I can continue on the Zyvox. The only drawbacks to Zyvox for me have been double vision, and loose bowels. It hits me at both ends!:rotfl:

Thanks to everyone who is praying for me! I really appreciate everyone! Bonesmart has been such a lifesaver for me and I have learned so much. :D
 
Re: The Story of My Knees

Sonja

I cannot imagine all that you have been through..Sounds as you are on the right track to get well...That is wonderful:jump:

Wishing you all the luck in the world.. And prayers as well:pray:..
 
Re: The Story of My Knees

Thank you Karla!

It has been a long ordeal for the whole family. I didn't realize how bad it had been until I told my husband "it sure was good to hear your brother get so excited and be so happy about your dad's progress.

My husband replied, "I will be excited when you are happy again! When you don't have anymore pain and can laugh and celebrate!" He said, "It's been a long time." I thought about it and he is right. It has been a long time since I have felt great, but Dr. Maale is going to be the answer to our prayers. I just know this is true!:D
 
Re: The Story of My Knees

I hope I'm not being repetitive, but in case I haven't told you before.....be sure to eat yogurt or kefir every day when you're on antibiotics. You need to replace the good bacteria which is killed off along with the bad. Should help you feel better.

I know you don't feel like cooking and it's so hard to eat right when you're not feeling well, but remember that the most important thing you can do is give the body all the nutrients it needs to build a healthy immune system. You've got a big fight ahead of you and it's going to take everything you can give it.
 
Re: The Story of My Knees

Well that was good news and worth waiting for. He sounds like THE man!
 
Re: The Story of My Knees

Sonja, as always my prayers are with you, hon....you have been through so much. It does sound like this doctor knows his stuff. Hopefully he will be able to get 'er done for you soon. Until then...you know we're here for you.
 
Re: The Story of My Knees

Hello Everyone! :D
I have a few things to say about the doctors that I have just met. Maybe in the future if anyone is needing a knee revision due to infection they will be informed.

My first new dr. is Dr. Maale in Dallas. He doesn't talk much but he is very self assured. When I when in to see him, I had the white cell scan results, and the bone scan results with me. His nurse put all of the pictures plus the orginal pictures from my x-rays up on a big computer screen. It was quite obvious at that point that MRSA was all around the knee joint and had gone up into the femur. Dr. Maale came in and explained that I was going to be a major surgery, and with his neck collar, he won't be able to operate on any major cases for 4 weeks. He wants to put in a "fixed" joint. I'm not sure how that differs from the smith and nephew that I currently have except I know that a spike is driven into the femur as well as the tibia for stability.

When I went to see the Infection Specialist, it was a different experience. He might be "one of the best", but he makes judgements based on appearances.:skp: As I have stated before, "I am a big gal", but I don't like having snap judgements made about me!:shk:
He was quick to ask me if I had diabetes, and when I said "no", as I had answered on his questionnaire, he said "well, I am really surprised!" He said "we will do a blood test today to make sure you are not diabetic!" Well whatever floats his $#@&boat!:shk: He was very critical about whomever had prescribed me Zyvox, and promptly took me off of it. I am taking a med that is causing nausea and vomiting now plus the loose bowels.
When I told him I had lost a lot of weight since my first surgery, he just looked at me! I was left wondering just who this IS was!
 
Re: The Story of My Knees

Oh, Sonja. Sorry you did not have a very positive experience with the last doctor.

I am very overweight - have been all my life - and I know I am very sensitive to people's remarks. I certainly understand how you felt! I am also diabetic. However, perhaps the Diabetes remark may have had more to do with your infection than your weight. I was told diabetics have a much greater chance of infection than non-diabetics.

Hope this makes you feel a little better about things. You are in my thoughts.
 
Re: The Story of My Knees

Maggie makes an excellent point, Sonja. My husband is diabetic and any infection is more serious when that disease is present. The diabetes makes it more difficult to treat and cure an infection. So hopefully, he had this in mind when he was talking with you. I am overweight also and I know I am sensitive to comments about it. Give him a chance. There is nothing wrong with telling him that a particular comment bothers you....especially if it doesn't seem to have relevance to your knee problems. You should be having a two-way dialogue.
 
Re: The Story of My Knees

The new knee will likely be something similar to this, Sonja. The one one the left


 
Re: The Story of My Knees

Thank you, Maggie, Jamie and Jo :D

Yes I realize diabetics get more infections, but I had already answered him on his questionnaire that I was not a diabetic! He drove me crazy, but that's all right. I will get back at him when I see him. He likes to joke, so I will have a doozy of a joke waiting for him!:evil:

Jo, the knee that you showed me is almost identical to the knee that he had as an example except for the fact that there will not be any screw in the fibula. How is this knee different in terms of being able to live a normal life from the one I already have?
 
Re: The Story of My Knees

Well, the new infection specialist took me off of Zyvox last Friday and put me on a name I can't remember. They use it for kids with acne. (At least I won't have to worry about any pimples; even though I don't have any!):rotfl:

Anyway, I have been throwing up every time I take the medicine, and last night my knee started getting worse on the outside. Believe it or not, it was the only place that wasn't killing me before. Today I started running a fever again and so I tried to call his office. They have a recording that tells you to give them up to 24 hours to return their call!:shk:

I am so tired of these runaround places! I wish that they could just call me and take care of the problem. When I was there, they certainly weren't that busy. LOL:D (Of course, that is just my opinion:wink:) and I want my medication changed so that the MRSA doesn't spread. So, nah, it's not an emergency for them...just ME!:skp:
 
Re: The Story of My Knees

I can't believe they don't have someone on call for the office to handle emergencies. I guess in that case you just have to try and wait it out. That's not right, though! Any time you start a new med you could have problems and require immediate assistance.
 
Re: The Story of My Knees

Aaaaaarrrrrrhhhhhgggggg!:shk:

I am so tired of trying to deal with offices that are 300 miles away from me!

I finally called the revisionist's office to explain that the knee was getting worse and that I was running a fever!:doh:

I bet you would never believe it, but about 10 minutes later, the Infection control drs. office called!:hehe:

She told me Dr. Rueben is not in the office today, and I said "well he was yesterday when I first called you!" So she put me through to the nurse who gave me my test results.

My ESR has dropped from 102 to 57 and my c-protien has gone from 9.8 to 22. I told her "well it sounds like the Zyvox was working, so I want to go back on it. She said she would contact the PA and I didn't hear from anyone again.

Oh, and by the way they did an A1C1 and a blood glucose test and I DO NOT have diabetes. Maybe next week when I see Dr. Rueben, we can actually move past the "I can't believe you don't have diabetes issue."
After all, I am very shy,:blush: and always listen to what the doctor has to say!:rotfl: It seems when they get my Norweigan blood to boiling, they had better watch out! I can match wits with the best of them.:wink:
 
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