Current Status: Broken but not Beaten, the Post Knee Surgery Update

I've been putting off making this post for awhile and I am not even sure why. Maybe I've been wallowing a bit in self pity, or maybe I'm just trying to pretend that it didn't happen. Or maybe it's that everything just seems so much harder these days and motivation has pretty much totally abandoned me. Whatever the reason, it has been almost 4 weeks since I had knee surgery and I've yet to make a blog post about it.

Over the course of this blog, I have several times mentioned that I have crap knees. They have been getting worse and worse the last six months. It had actually gotten to the point where it was in pain and limping a bit most times, running or not. And when I did run, inevitably, my knee would sort of collapse at some point, kind of like blowing a tire. I'd have to stop and limp it off a bit before I could start running again. I ran a Half Marathon in March and while I was able to pull a slight PR (30 seconds) I really struggled at a few places with my knee, slowing down around mile 7 after setting a pretty aggressive early pace with it giving flat out around mile 10.5 where I had to stop a moment and stretch it out before making the final push to the finish. Even with my knees taped and wearing a Body Helix knee compression sleeve. After that race, I decided it was time to get it checked out.

My donked up knees

A few orthopedic doctor visits later and after an X-Ray and MRI, it was determined that I needed surgery. Or rather 5. I was slated to have a Meniscus Repair, Lateral Release, Removal of 3 Bone Cysts, Plica Removal and Microfracture Drilling to repair/replace damaged cartilage. The Microfracture procedure was the most extensive and the one that would take the longest to recover from. Basically, it's where holes are drilled in the bone and bone marrow drained into the joint to combine with cartilage that has been roughed up a bit. This is to encourage the bone marrow to grow into new cartilage. But, in order for that to happen, it requires 4 weeks of not weight bearing and to wear a locking brace. The doctor said that he anticipates that I will have to take a total of 12 weeks off from running and Burn.

To say the least, I was completely gutted. But, trying to look a bit on the bright side, at least it was happening during a time where races and group runs were basically non-existent. If I had to do it, this was probably the best time to. 

The surgery was on June 11th. Due to the Covid-19 situation, I had to go alone which was a bit scary, but the nurses were super kind and comforting. The surgery was out-patient and I was there for about 3 and a half hours total. I was given a sedative and wheeled into the operating room. My bed clicking into place was the last thing I remembered until I woke up to a very nice nurse trying to give me something to drink, my leg already bandaged and braced. 

It seemed pretty in and out and they were wheeling me out the door before my meds had really worn off, leaving me a bit confused. I know I talked to the doctor briefly after, but don't remember much of what was said, just got a prescription for pain meds, was told to remove the bandages on Monday (surgery was on a Thursday) and to go in for a follow up appointment in 10 days. 

My entire leg was wrapped up from ankle to upper thigh with a mass of bandages and already locked in my stylish brace (which is also ankle to upper thigh). That first day I could get around pretty well on my crutches though my cats steered pretty clear of me. Mostly right now I was just super tired, in and out of sleep on the couch most of the first day The drugs they gave me to put me to sleep were no joke and took a while to clear from my system. Felt like a mild hangover that won’t go completely away.

As far as pain, honestly I didn't feel too much. It was and sore, but not nearly as painful as I expected. Having the whole leg locked in place not super comfortable, but overall, not really much more pain than I’ve been feeling in my knee for the couple weeks prior to surgery. I never ended up taking any of the pain meds they prescribed, but did have an anti-inflammation med for the first 5 days and I've taken an aspirin each day since.

On the Monday morning after surgery, I finally called into the doctor because I was honestly a bit scared to change my bandages and still didn't know much about how the procedure actually went. I didn't want to wait 10 days to find out. Here's what I found out on that call - 

Bit of good news, bit of bad news. The good, the meniscus wasn't as damaged as originally suspected. In fact, he ended up not needing to repair it as it is anticipated that the having my leg immobilized for recovery from the other procedures will heal it on it's own. So yay!

Unfortunately, some of the other issues were found to be a bit worse once he got inside my knee. The lateral release and removal of the bone cysts were done no problem. The plica issues were much worse and he ended up removing 3 instead of just 1. The cartilage damage was also more extensive. He had to remove a section on the side of the patella and ended up doing the microfracture drilling in 3 separate places (including one place on the top of my femur) instead of just 1. Because of that, I will be unable to bear any weight on the leg for 4 weeks. So, less yay.

So much dang cotton!!

After the call, I went to work removing the bandages. Holy butts there was a ton of cotton under that bandage! No wonder I was so freaking hot. My left knee was HUGE with swelling compared to my right. I had 3 holes, two larger with stitches on top and 1 smaller on the left side. The two on top will leave scars. I was able to shower for the first time after, which was awesome, but still had to keep the brace locked at 0 degrees and use crutches to walk, bearing no weight. Sleeping in the brace was super uncomfortable and to be honest, I've not had a great night sleep since my surgery.

On June 22, I went back to the doctor for evaluation. Had the stitches removed and the doctor evaluated it, moving it around and so on. Knee was looking pretty good, in fact he expected it to be swollen much worse still. Still was not allowed to walk on it but I was given the go ahead to bend it to 70° when I sit. If that gets easy, I can go to 90° but no more than that. I wasn't given to go ahead for PT as I had been hoping since I was still unable to walk, but he gave me a few exercises I can do on my own. They have been a bit tough for me but I have mostly gotten so I can do them without much of a struggle. I haven't gotten to 90 degrees yet either, though I may try this week some. I go back in on Friday, July 10, which will be 4 weeks and 1 day post-surgery. Really hoping to be given the go ahead to walk again. I am a bit nervous, but ready to get actual recovery going. 

As far as my mental state, I am going to be totally honest now, it's not been great. Going from running 30 miles a week to not being able to even walk. I had bad days. Really bad days in fact. Like laying in bed crying days. I also had less bad days, but ones that still were hard to get through. This has only been made worse with the feelings of isolation and hopelessness from Covid-19 Pandemic  and other turmoil in the World and also being furloughed from my job for 3 weeks during this time as well. I know that everyone is going through troubles and uncertainties during this time, but the added loss of my mobility has been really rough on me. I've not had much to look forward to for awhile as my recovery is dragging on and races and events continue to be cancelled as the Pandemic in the US continues to drag on. I've been trying to be more positive in July, but it's been hard.

I've tried to make it outside a bit and have been enjoying spending mornings on my back patio having my coffee in the morning, which my 10 year old has been graciously making and carrying out there for me. It's been the best part of my day. I so miss being outside. 

Best part of my day

I've tried to go for a few short "crutches" - walks around the neighborhood on my crutches, with limited success. The first two times I went out, I got extremely light-headed and almost passed out. One of which was after only a quarter of a mile. I think it has to do with the brace cutting off circulation being so heavy and tight. I had talked to the PT specialist who fitted brace and she said that it was fitted properly, that I just needed to stay off it more. Boo. 

I've also had trouble trying to eat healthy during this time. It pretty hard to prepare fresh fresh fruits/veg. They don’t keep long and I can’t really go to the store. Any kind of prep work washing, peeling, chopping... crazy hard to do on crutches. I hate eating prepared foods but they’re so easy. I know that I have put on some weight with the lack of movement combined with not eating well, further dragging me down. I am going to seriously have to buckle down once I can walk again. 

So there it is. My long sad tale of my knee surgery. I go back on Friday for another reevaluation of my knee, and I am hoping this time I am given the go ahead to be able to walk and start PT. I am hoping that my next update will be a far happier one and I will be able to begin actively working at getting better both physically and mentally. I cannot wait to begin the road to recovery. I know it is going to be tough, but I am ready to start tacking goals again. I need that. 

Now that I have this initial massive post of the the way, I will hopefully be able to start posting more regularly again. Having some actual recovery to (hopefully) talk about will help to. Since I won't have much running to post about for awhile still, hopefully recovery posts and meeting some recovery goals will be forth coming.