Extreme Makeover: Patellar Edition
Well, it might be about that time…
Around last Tuesday, I was bending down to get something off of the floor, and I heard and felt a loud pop in my right knee. I have never had a problem with my right knee before in my life, it’s been the reliable one. The stable one. The normal one. The next night, it definitely proved me wrong… I couldn’t walk with a normal stride without experiencing EXTREME sharp pain, nor could I get up or sit down normally. I went to Patient First (fun driving a stick shift when both knees hurt), and they x-rayed my knee and found no bone damage, which was good. The PA told me that since I have had problems with my left knee since I was twelve, that the right knee got injured compensating for that one. Bottle of Vicodin, Naproxen, a doctor’s note, and a reminder to call my orthopedist… and I was on the way home.
After being house-bound for a week - and pretty much a jungle gym for kittens who wanted to climb my knee immobilizer at every turn - I went to my orthopedist’s office. I made sure that I was going not for something stupid or foolish, but after the pain had been going on and no medication was really helping. I’ll have to give House my vicodin then… 
I didn’t get a chance to go to the orthopedist that I had been to before, but another physician, Dr. Beach, was able to see me that day. Aside from being wonderful to take a last-minute appointment, he was very thorough and actually listened to the history that I have had with my left knee. He went through things that he wanted to do, things that we would try, and did the “if this does this, then we do this..” for every possible outcome. I like that, because then I can do research on my own and I don’t have to worry about anything unplanned. I know what I’m getting into and I don’t have to get worried and watch my hair get gray while I wait to find something out.
So, now, we have figured out the following. Dr. Beach wants to do a tracking CT to see how my knee tracks while moving. He also might want to do an MRI since the last one I had was before my last surgery in 2004. After that, options might be either a patellofemoral arthroplasty or putting in an artificial kneecap. I was supposed to have a high tibial osteotomy back in 2004 because of the left patellar subluxation, but when they woke me up, I was told that my kneecap was not strong enough to go through the surgery.
I am not looking forward to having another surgery done, but if I have to have it done, it will be an improvement from what it is now. The thing I’m looking forward to is being able to do things that I haven’t been able to do for a looooong time - hiking, some horseback riding, going on walking trips with family, etc. Also, I’ll have more time to improve my writing skills… been a bit rusty on the blogging/journaling front…
I’ll keep you posted!