Probably Off To Hospital

Hey MGs I might not be around for a while.
It is looking like I will be needing a total left knee reconstruction.

On Sunday night my Rhodesian Ridgeback was startled by the electric roller door on my workshop touching her head (it has autoreverse so not hurt) and she went to run up the yard. Unfortunately she crashed into the side of my left knee at full speed and this snapped the posterior cruciate ligament and tore the anterior cruciate ligament. I had scans and x rays on Monday and find out the full extent of the injury when I see the doc on Wednesday at 11:20am. The problem will be my depleted calcium levels caused by long term corticosteroids and immunosuppressants for my SLE. My GP says the orthopaedic surgeon won't put the stainless steel cables in if he can't anchor them to bones strong enough to take my body weight.
Currently my knee joint keeps separating so it is heavily strapped and I am surviving on Endone ........even so the pain is barely tolerable so I am really hoping the doc has a solution.

Have any MG members had a knee reconstruction with low bone density or knows someone who has had one? I am worried if my bone density is too low then they won't operate and a snapped ligament doesn't heal although the doc says the torn one may come good in about three months but may cause ongoing pain.

 

All the best to both of you.

 

Thanks guys and jeez Tim, your situation doesn't sound too good either.
Just about to leave for the doc to find out the scan results, it is a one hour trip and it is tricky for me getting in and out of the car.

BTW I won't be getting a whole new knee as my bones and knee joint are still very good. It is just one ligament snapped and the other one torn so my understanding is they replace the ligaments with stainless steel cables anchored onto the bones in your leg. Of course having low bone density means the bones may crack when they screw in all the bolts.

Good luck Tim and I hope it works out okay for you

 

Thanks and you are quite right........rehab can be quite a challenge

Thanks Laura and here is the update hopefully mine will go better than Tim.

I went to my GP yesterday for the results of all the scans and x rays I had on Monday and the scans revealed no broken bones or new damage to the knee joint but the posterior cruciate ligament is ruptured and the anterior cruciate ligament is torn. The ruptured ligament needs surgery to be able to heal and the torn ligament will heal by itself in time, with some physiotherapy, so now I have been referred to an orthopaedic surgeon to get a steel cable to replace the ruptured ligament. The next step will be getting a fresh bone density test done so they can work out if my legs bones will be strong enough to have the cables bolted to them. If the bones aren't strong enough then I still haven't been told what my options will be for a long term solution. Here's hoping for a good outcome.........the next appointment is yet to be confirmed but could be next Monday.

Meanwhile I have taped around my leg below the knee and can now carefully walk around and I have also managed to reduce the Endone to one pill per day and six Panamax which is better than the three Endone and nine Panamax per day earlier in the week and if things go okay then in a few more days I might be able to completely stop the Endone.
Hopefully the orthopaedic surgeon will have some good news or if not at least have a workable long term solution as I would like to remain active.
I think I need to go to the shops and buy a great big bag of good luck as I think I might be running low and there isn't any more in the cupboard.............

 

Hi Tim
My understanding is that ligaments can't easily be rejoined when they are snapped in the middle but they can be reattached if they break away from the the bone at either end or they can be repaired with a tissue graft if it is only a tear and not a complete break.
My PCL is ruptured in the middle and the usual procedure when it is completely separated is replacing it with a stainless steel or titanium cable anchored to the bones at either end. In my case it is likely to be just a PCL replacement so only one cable although they may opt to replace the damaged ACL at the same time. In my situation I am not a good prospect for a repair as I have almost no immune system and I have low bone density due to calcium loss from the long term immunosuppressants and steroids for my SLE. My recovery may be compromised because of my SLE so they are looking at immediate solutions with a better chance of success that has typically less healing time involved but I guess it is now up to the orthopaedic surgeon to make the final call and I see him next week.
Here is the details of the procedure if a PCL cable will be fitted
https://www.zimmerbiomet.com/conten...truction-rationale-and-surgical-technique.pdf

FYI any football player needing ACL or PCL repairs due to snapped ligaments or any other sports related knee reconstruction where the person requires the best chance of success so they can continue with their sport use this or a similar method because of the much better long term outcome. For me the much shorter recovery time is important so it is well worth considering.

 

Having any type of surgery sucks plan and simple.But i hope both of you get a fast recovery.

And this virus thing does not help every ones situation.My mom has a nasty hernia and needs surgery for that.

 

Yep if I had a better less invasive option I would jump at it but sadly my situation is not too flash and I have to take what is likely to yield the best outcome.
Gee Tim your surgery by comparison should be a walk in the park and only leave a couple of keyholes where they do the grafts. Good luck and I hope you get your surgery ASAP.

Thanks Wile and best wishes for your mum

Latest update
This afternoon I had a call from the orthopaedic surgeon's admin staff saying that my Monday appointment has been cancelled and they won't have a new date until late tomorrow or maybe Monday. They didn't say but it seems he might now be under CoVid quarantine as the girl I was talking to said all the dates are likely to be pushed forward by at least fourteen days and quarantine lasts fourteen days........bugger
Oh well I am starting to get better at hobbling around the house and I have started playing the new Fallout 76: Wastelanders that only came out a few weeks ago

 

A ligament repair is much less invasive than a knee replacement, so if that is all that is required, you will be ahead of the game. Hope all goes well.

 

Thanks and as mentioned previously my situation is a bit different to most as I have almost no immune system (it has been shut down because my SLE causes my white blood cells to attack my body) and I also have diabetes so whichever solution is going to heal the fastest is what my doctors are planning to implement. From what I have been told ligament tissue heals very slowly and often can't be relied on in the long term. The orthopaedic surgeon may have another solution and I am waiting to see him......my appointment for next Monday was cancelled this afternoon and I was told all appointments would probably be pushed forward by 14 days so I am guessing he is in CoVid-19 quarantine

 

Jeez Tim.........it looks like both of us somehow drew the short straw for crap health and bad luck......I'm not sure I would be too keen on the throat surgery but I guess it is better to be able to swallow properly..........yeah I am finding that growing old is less fun than I anticipated and now with all these health challenges, I reckon getting poked prodded and jabbed with sharp things by the doctors is becoming tiresome and sadly for me, it won't be ending any time soon

My grandma, who lived to 104 years old thought she had it worked out. She called her place in aged care "God's waiting room" and she used to get one of the carers to deliver the paper to her in bed every morning. She would then check the paper to see if her name was in the deaths column and if not then she would get up and have breakfast.....it seemed to work for her lol

Sending you my best wishes that both of your surgeries are successful and you have a speedy recovery.....stay strong

 

Yeah I agree and my mum, who is 89, says she would just like to see her friends again and go out for dinner with them.........sadly she has outlasted almost all of her friends..........mum is still independent and lives in her own town house although she now has help with the cleaning and gardening. Her last remaining close friend, who is 10 years younger, has dementia and is in a secure care facility on the other side of town.........because of her friend's dementia, she can't see her or write or even talk on the phone so it is quite sad for my mum.....at least she still has our family.
My point here is that once you have reached say 75 yo and as you continue to grow older, you become more isolated and lonely because you have outlived your friends and many family members too.......this is one thing I am not looking forward to achieving.

Lucky for both of us Tim as neither of us have reached 70 yet.....but it is getting closer

 

True that, but the older you get, the more things start falling off or needing to be replaced. After 70 (I turn 80 in 3 weeks) I had to have a pacemaker and at 75 a partial knee replacement. But am still golfing. Hang in there.

 

Joffa, and TimW -I hope you don't have to wait too long, for your ops- and that the ops are straightforward for you, althoughhey sound a bit complex. All the best

 

This is wonderful news Tim and I am pleased it went well for you
Hopefully your arm will come good although it might need some help from the physio so all the best.
My orthopaedic surgeon still hasn't rescheduled and the papers have been saying that there are about 10,000 elective procedures that have been postponed due to CoVid and because my situation isn't life threatening it is classed as elective surgery so I am now in the backlog waiting

 

Thanks Tim and I am hoping for sooner rather than later too..........

 

Jeez Tim looks like they did bugger all........not even some little ho;es where they put te camera in..........I guess your knee will still be sore for a while...........take care and hope they actually fix it

Thanks Dave.......I hope so too as I am sick of taking Endone (oxycodone).......there is no healthy future in that

 

TimW--You must have re-course against them, if they had you down for a knee replacement - If you had to pay, as I know in America, things can be different to UK.
I would create hell for them, if you can, as my granddaughter went in for a hysterectomy , and they only cut her tubes, but in doing so they did some damage that caused her to have to have a bag attached , and nothing will enable her to relieve naturally now (happened a few years ago, and efforts to help have not worked owing to other problems she has).

 

ROFLMAO

 

I am glad to see it has been replace. From my wife's knee replacement, I woud say the pain side is usual, just depends on what painkillers you can take for a while -All the best

 

good luck to you 2

im 66 never had any surgeries but i feel tired a lot lately...have PHN from shingles

i dont believe in any vaccines much

 

maybe just a polio one googgle dr ten penny

 

Thanks for the good wishes

BTW I have all my vaccinations....over here there is a lot of poisonous wildlife and if bitten you often end up with something extra so vaccinations give you every chance to not catch something and BTW even just working on rusty metal in the workshop you can get Tetanus unless you are up to date with your shots

 

People acting on this craziness are causing things like tuberculosis, smallpox and polio to return.
In Australia these diseases had been almost non existent since the late 1950s and early 1960s and the only new cases were brought in by foreign visitors that were missed by quarantine but now in some "fashionable" inner city areas where they exercise their right to antivax, these serious diseases have made a comeback leading authorities to ban unvaccinated children from preschool and school.
If it keeps going with some kids not being vaccinated then the unvaccinated people will end up like India's lepers and be excluded for fear that they are spreading disease.
Sad situation for the kids........

 

You know what the great thing about science is? It doesn't require you to believe in it to work.

 

Wait until they rip the bandaid off.

 

It is looking pretty good Tim.........but what would I know

 

Yeah but no but ughhhhh...........when mine gets done I will be out cold and not hearing anything.....I hope

Latest update: I was rejected for surgery because of the back log caused by CoVid. Over here they only opened operating theatres for things that were "life threatening" and mine is classed as "elective surgery - urgent" and this really means get in the queue.....what a bummer The operating theatres are just having restrictions lifted and they reckon they can clear the back log in about 5 to 6 months.........sheesh
Because of the CoVid restrictions, to get immediate attention, I needed to be dying from my knee injury.........so if the injury was that bad then with my luck they would chop off my leg instead of fixing it
Talk about a crap system

I see my GP again on Tuesday and I'm hoping he can magically pull some strings and get me in somewhere

 

Whew!!!! Here was I thinking you were being Captain Courageous and stayed awake for the surgery..........it was suggested as an option to me and I declined.......I definitely don't want to hear the specialist say jeez that's not supposed to happen or oops, I didn't mean to cut that and now it won't stop bleeding...........

I will find out more on Tuesday when I see the GP because the Orthopaedic Surgeon sent him a report with reasons why I have been put in the queue so here's hoping

 

If you don't have a queasy stomach, you should search for and watch the you-tube videos of total knee replacement. My son sent me a link and I watched it. Awesome, but I'm a doctor and not squeamish. Wild video though. Unbelievable precision.