Wow - Ben ze Kneezeez

My 33rd Birthday came and went without too much trauma, we went to Matlock for the day (well a couple of hours), and SWMBO cooked tea, she does the meanest fry-ups known to man. I'm sure she is destined to work in a greasy spoon cafe one day.

To round off this week, I had my manipulation yesterday and to be honest, I was more nervous about this than anything else I have been through with my knee. I guess this was because this basically HAS TO WORK...

I was advised to be at the hospital for 7.00am as my manipulation was scheduled for 7.45am.

I got there dead on 7.00, and was led straight to my room, gowned up etc. The anaesthetist came to see me to ask about my choice of anaesthetic (Spinal or General) - I chose to be asleep, although I thought the noise of the cracking may be very therapeutic, it would probably make
me pass out.

The surgeon then came to see me to explain the procedure. I was in theatre by 8.00am and awake by 9.00am.

Result.
The surgeon came back to advise the manipulation was a success and they managed to break all of the scar tissue, they broke scarring in both flexion (bending) and extension (straightening), there was a hell of lot or scarring therefore a lot of cracking - I am kind of gutted I didn't get to hear it, but glad too. My heel managed to touch my arse which means a bend of 140 degrees as opposed to 90 before.

I was then put on a CPM machine and had physio, although I was told I would be able to come home , I decided it would be best alround if I stayed in, as NO-ONE, especially SWMBO would be able to move my knee as much as the physio could. I stayed on the CPM machine overnight, the strange thing was, although I couldn't feel my leg due to anaesthics and the nerve block in my leg, I could still feel the pain in my knee and it hurt like hell.

I had a fantastic breakfast this morning followed by more physio and came home at 11.00am.

I now have a lot of exercises to do over the weekend before another visit to the physio on Monday, but already feel a lot better and can bend my knee more than I have been able to do for almost 5 months, therefore the start of my recovery and no more limping,

I can't wait to get this thing over and done with. to say it's dragged on a bit is an understatement

Links
-1- -2- -3-

The Return of the Knee

Today was my appointment with the consultant to check on the progress of my physiotherapy to get my knee back to its full ROM.

Although I already knew this, I am going to have to go into hospital again to have my knee Manipulated, this is called MUA (Manipulation under Anaesthetic).

The process is quite straight forward, either a spinal or general anaesthetic the surgeon then manipulates your knee by bending and moving it around, that's it, nothing more, nothing less.

A couple of days in hospital is then followed by intense physiotherapy in order to ensure the knee remains fully mobile.

Although this is something I was completely against at first, I realise I need to give in and have it done, at the moment I can only move my knee between 5 and 100 degrees, my other knee moves between -5 to 140 degress, this means I am unable to walk properly, run, kneel down etc, as you can imagine, these things affect me every day.

The longer I leave the operation, the more chance it wont be successful, by manuipulating my knee, the scar tissue simply breaks and allows for the movement to return, over time this tissue begins to get harder and has been described to get as hard as concrete.

I just can't wait for this to all be over... I have never been so desparate to get to the gym or get on my bike, now it's in my interest that I do in order to build muscles back up in my legs and therefore avoid any further problems with my knees.

Back in Blighty
.
Arrived back yesterday to not so hot weather, a wait for a bus to take us to the airpark followed by a 45 minute drive and we were home (2.30am).

What a fantastic holiday, it was completely different to the usual holidays previously with both the lads and SWMBO, although it wasn't that much of a holiday for SWMBO as she stayed in the shade for a lot of the time feeding Leah, more of a change of scenery.

The In-Laws were great though, taking Leah for walks when she needed to sleep, babysitting while we got ready and generally giving us some together time so thanks for that.

I did manage 1 lads night though on Sunday, and boy did I regret it the day after, out drinking till 5.30am, unable to finish my breakfast the next day and generally feeling shit for the whole of the day. Great night though.....
My knee managed to behave, I managed to walk 2-3 miles a day without too much pain, although stupidly wore a pair of flip-flops for a couple of days, this was stupid as my knee gave way due to the extra work it was having to do to keep the flip-flops on.

The flight home played hell with my knee, as it was only 4 hours I decided I'd be ok.

So back to reality and Physio told me that the usual holiday time has taken me a step back, not only do I need to do extra work, but its's highly likely I'm going for manipulation sometime soon.

I can go back to work on Monday and have a rest....

Knee Update

I thought everything was going fine, my physio was helping improve my flexion (bending) up to 120 degrees and my extension (straightening) was at 0.

Today was my consultant appointment and have shown a different story. He says my flexion is 95 and my extension is only 0.
This has crushed me...

2 days before I go on holiday and I haven't been doing as well as I thought, it seems the Range of Movement (ROM) is based on the amount you can actually move of you own free well rather than being "forced" by someone.

I have been advised told I will need even more physio (I am currently having 2-3 days a week) and if things don't improve within the next 4 weeks, then I have to seriously consider MUA Manipulation under anesthesia before my knee stays like it is... Permanently.
Most people requiring this kind of procedure do so as they have had a total knee replacement (TKR), I can't seem to find anyone that needs a MUA for a "Normal" problem such as mine.

Found a great site about a woman who had MUA, in particular, this post. She couldn't bend her knee past 90 degrees (110 at a push) it seemed to work for her. At least it's given me some hope, if only as a last resort.

I will definately be doing as much as I can over the next 4 weeks, even if 2 of them are while sunning it in Tenerife, who knows, maybe the sun will help too. (I know the large measures of JD & Coke certainly will)

Anyone for a Knees up

Had my appointments with physio and the consultant today,

Physio seems happy with my progress despite SWMBO telling him I'm not doing my exercises (I am, it's just Im doing the minimum recommended), I can now bend my knee between 50 and 70 degrees on my own - or 80 degrees with a little painful help from the physio. I have been told to keep up with the exercises.

The consultant however has told me additional information, he's not happy with the tissue and scar damage in my knee, this is what is causing pain and stopping my knee bending to its full capacity (around 140 degrees),

My consultant has worked with Derby County players apparently football players with knee injuries have £150k worth of physio and spend 8 HOURS A DAY doing so, this is why they get better quicker,

Therefore in order for me to get better as soon as possible, I need to spend as much time as I can doing my physio. if there's no progress made within the next 2-3 weeks then I'll need to go back into hospital and have my knee "Manipulated"...

of course I had to ask what this meant...

Another epidural or General anaesthetic - once this kicks in, the surgeon simply bends my knee "for me".

OW-"f'kin"-CH was my response

To avoid more time in the lovely Nuffield, I have decided to do as much physio as time, my knee, and my daughter will allow.

On a positive though, my PICC line has now been removed, so I no longer need my daily 4 nurse visits. I'm onto tablets for 3 weeks - again no beer, Im wasting away with the lack of alcohol.

Knee Surgery Videos

As promised, here are the videos from my arthroscopies & knee flushes. I'm not sure if these are suitabe for the squeamish, I think they're ok, but hey, it's my knee so I would.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Video 1

Video 2

Video 3

Video 4

I'm Home

I managed to escape at 8.00 last night and it's great to be home.

First thing I did was grab my little girl and give her a massive hug, (my daughter that is, not SWMBO).

My knee still hurts like a bitch although being at home makes me feel better, I have been referred to a Private Healthcare Company (Healthcare-at-Home) who will continue the IV antibiotic treatments 4 times a day, as well as check my blood pressure, temperature, CRP and anything else they need to monitor. This will continue for 3 weeks followed by 2 weeks of oral IV.

Its wierd having a nurse come to your house, they have a ton of kit with them which they use to turn your living room into a hospital room.

It's definately better than spending the next 3 weeks in a hospital, that's for sure. Also it means my hospital diary can now stop and I can get back to blogging more interesting things.

SWMBO is so happy to have me back*, she now has the priviledge of looking after me and Leah.


*Lie

Day 9
WOW - 9 Days...

Good news - my CRP has dropped again to 123, I thought I'd be a lot happier than I was about this result...

I am starting to get very down now, I am beginning feel the world is just passing me by as I lie here, Leah had one of her first giggles yesterday and daddy missed it.

I also had some shooting/stabbing pains in my knee but was reassured by SWMBO that these are my wounds healing (muscles & nerves trying to re-attach etc)

I have decided I need to stay positive though, I am scheduled to have a physio session tomorrow which will also mark the second part of my "road to recovery" (the first being getting rid of the infection itself).

COME ON !!!!

Day 8 - Part 2

Someone must have had their fingers crossed for me today.

My CRP has dropped down to 163, although still high, it's still a drop nonetheless and has given me something to be happy about while I'm here.

My veins has now given up in yet another part of my arms, this now means the doctors are having problems finding a vein which to insert the cannula for my IV antiobiotics. They managed to find one final vein on the back of my arm !!!! but that's it !!!!

(Its my arm !!!- See the wristband and my elbow)

I don't reallly have much option than to have a PICC Line (2) (3) inserted, either that or they'll start using veins from my groin etc (not my legs as that is where the infection is).
I was a bit anxious about the PICC line, however this will also mean I won't have to keep having it taken out every couple of days like the cannula, but best of all I may be able to gome home and have my treatment at home, (when my CRP drops a lot below 100).

At least, finally, I seem to be on the mend, after 7 days in (this) hospital and 1 in the DRI.

You know when you've been in hopspital when the kitchen knows what you want to eat and the nurses say "are you still here?".

Day 7 - Part 2
Above are some nice gory photos from today, the first one is the hole from my first drain and the second is my bandaged knee still with the drain in and the last is the drian by itself, which was removed today, and hurt like a bitch...

On a plus side, the swelling and pain seems to have reduced, however I have spoken to my consultant tonight, my CRP has gone up to 243 which was to be expected after the operation (and there's only a small increase at that).

I still have what is called "septic athritis" (Which isn't the same as rheumatoid or Osteo- Arthitis), we should get the test results of samples taken yesterday from microbilogy which, along with the blood tests for CRP, will show whats next in the story.

Tonight though, I'm happy...

EDIT 15 August
Looked at my states and someone looked on my site by googling for do doctors put you to sleep when they drain fluid from the knee?
The answer is yes and no, I had a needle drain without any anaesthetic on 2 occasions had 2 washouts under local and 2 under general. needles in the knee quite 'kin hurt...

Day 7

I have decided not to get too upbeat about things any more, that way i have less to be disappointed about, the staff are doing a great job, the room i great, the food is lovely, my mates are still managing to take the piss, but when I'm on my own, I'm very down,
I have now had Gentamicin added to my daily drug diet which already includes, paracetamol, Codeine, Diclofenac, Tramadol and Flucloxacillin, I'll be a pharmacist before I know it.

The nurses are insistant on giving me a bed bath, however I have decided to leave that to SWMBO, I know she looks forward to it, but I dont want the whole world checking out "Steven and the Twins".
I am going to see if they'll let me have my Xbox in. That will pass some time

Knee update - Day 6 - Part 3

I have woken up.

I was again put to sleep, although I did ask if I could just have a local, I was advised against this as a spinal could lead to further infection (in my spine) which is probably not so good. I have had an injection to put a nerve block in my leg, so although I wiggle my toes and move my foot and even my leg from side to die, I can't actually feel it, even if iI i touch it with my hand, it doesn't feel like part of me.

I was back within a couple of hours feeling very drowsy, it was 2.50pm but I thought it was 8.50pm.

My mum was here to greet me, and SWMBO came along shortly after bringing goodies (which I always like). I'll need to wait until tomorrow to see the consutant to discuss the operation fingers crossed though he did mention that the Flucloxacillin is working as it should, but they are looking at adding something to it.

I also managed to get video clips of the operation, I can't upload them yet as my connection here is now down to 56k (remember them days).

I am hoping I am now mended and don't need any more surgery.

Knee - Day 6 - Part 2

The results are in.... and my CRP has gone up again, to 236, this means another operation.

Knee - Day 6 - Part 1

I was woken at 6.00am for breakfast and drugs (sounds perfect to some of you I bet). I also had a blood test so they could get it to the DRI to check my CRP, I'm hoping that it's dropped it's really the only way I know I'm on the mend.

The physio came in to give me some more excerices, just imaging you are lying on your bed looking up, and you cannot lift your right leg up or bend your knee, thats exactly what is happening to me at the minute, I can wiggle and move my toes and move my feet, but when it comes to trying to move my whole leg, not a chance, the physio helped me to bend my knee, I can now manage half way (about 30 degrees). After about 30 minutes of trying, I also managed to lift my foot a couple of inches of the bed, it's not a big thing, but to me its massive.
I have a walk in shower in my new room now, I managed to have a proper shower last night too, albeit sitting down.

Now I just have to wait for the blood test results.
Fingers crossed ...

PS - Thanks everyone for taking the piss, especially Uncle "Grant Mitchell" Steve, Bossman Dave and Tao, I knew I could rely on some of you to keep me sane.

The Knee story continues

I managed a nice 4 hours sleep last night between my IV treatments every 6 hours, I must say some of the nurses here are really nice, i know most people expect nurses to be caring, kind and gentle, but believe me they're not always.

I woke up at 5.45am and my treatment started at 6. I was brought a cup of tea... I think, due to the amount and levels of drugs I am taking, I am beginning to lose track of time and the names of the peole who work here.

I had a few visitors today, who always seem to look worried when they see me, I think its due to the fact I look like death, again down to the drugs which make me feel sleepy all day long.
The physio came in with another contracption known as a CPM machine , now this did look like it was going to hurt me, it was good though, basically you have to put your leg in and it spends all of its' time bending and straightening it for you, now I can actually bend my leg to 45 degrees from -5 degrees. I have used it all day and it doesn't hurt that much.

The good news was that my first surgeon was back from his holiday today so I will find out exactly what will be happening. The bad news is that I ound out exactly what is happening
. He came in about 4.00pm straight from the airport (lucky b*stard). Asked all about what had happened and then advised me that;

• My knee, although is still swollen (oh it's swollen alright) has no red marks and is not causing too much pain
• I have a normal (36.4) temperature
• I dont feel flu-like

This shows I am responding to the anti-biotics so it looks like we can totally rule out MRSA. (phew)
but...

• I may need to increase my dose of antibiotics as my CPR has again increased , now its at 212 (up from 206 yesterday), this may mean a stay of another 3 weeks... :-(
• If my CPR is raised or constant tomorrow, they are going to do another drain of my knee, which i basically another flush out using the arthroscopy holes, I don't think I'm scare anymore. - Did I just say that ?
  

All I want to do is go home to my family.....
I do realise that it's better to wait a coupe of weeks and be 100% than go home after a day or three, get the bug back and either have to come back or wore still, erm die..

The good thing is they wheel me out to reception where I can see my little angel and SWMBO so I can now see them every day. I must thank SWMBO for coming twice today xx.

I have also moved rooms now and have the biggest and best room available at this hotel hospital.

I am staying very positive, the pain is better, the drugs are working, I have my internet, my room is nice, the staff are nice and I will go home at some point. I'm also saving a ton of cash.

We shall See what happens tomorrow

Ouch - V2

Thanks to Bossman Dave - I am on the t'internet from my hospital bed, wonderful ah the wonders of vodafone 3G Data cards, It just means I can also "Work From Hospital"

So to recap - I had my arthrospy on 7 July, no problems following that, had the final checkup last Friday (3 August), thc consultant confirmed all was healing well, although I mentioned to him that I did have some fluid leaking from my wound, he assured me this is perfectly normal.

Went out for some drinks on Saturday night, cooked sunday dinner and got up Monday morning for work as normal and had a normal day at work. Approx 2.00pm I felt a slight tightening around my knee but thought nothing of it, 3.30pm came and I tried to stand up but my knee had other ideas and I fell back into my chair . I managed to drive home but as soon as pulled up to my drive, I realised something defintely wasn't normal, I was in severe pain, I couldn't walk through my door as it involved "stepping up" through the door.

I managed to get in, limp to the settee which is where i stayed until SWMBO came home to look after me, I called the hospital who tried to get hold of my consultant, I called again and was told if the pain is so bad to go to A&E, unless the consultant can get back to me.

At about 8.00 I couldn't take any more, I called NHS Direct in agony (and tears) and they immediately sent for an ambulance that came around 9.05PM. I was rushed into a stupidly bisy A&E department where I waited in a side room, in the time of my wait I went through 3 bottles of Gas and Air,

Eventually a doctor came to see me and examined my knee, took some blood and a gave me a shot of morpheine, (the morpheine had no effect whatsoever)

I then waited for a couple of hours before another doctor came and attempted to take a sample of fluid from my knee, using a 4" needle he stabbed into one side, tried again (with the same needle), tried the other side (with the same needle) and tried again(with the same needle) , he apologised for being unable to get a sample and left, bearing in mind, each of these "attempts" caused me to scream so loud that
a: My cousin recognised my "Noise" from a totally different part of the hospital b: The "rude boys" in the bay opposite were wincing at my scream. Eventually a Senior doctor came and after one attempt, got about 50ml of "fluid" from my knee, which he sent away for testing.

This was to establish if it was infected, inflammed or I had gout, all of which are treatable by drugs or operation .

After another couple of hours of gas and air, morpheine and waiting they came back to say there was nothing wrong and sent me home .... at 3.45am

The following day was spent wit my leg up trying to get into see my consultant, during the day, my knee had swollen up to twice the normal size. I managed to get into the Nuffield (private) hosptial at 7.00 where the consultant took another 100ml from my knee, took one look and said it looked einfected, however sent it away for further analysis.

By 8.00pm he had it confirmed it was indeed infected and I needed an operation STRAIGHT AWAY. It also meant I needed to stay overnight so they could monitor it.

I was fine with this, it was basically another arthoscopy, nothing too bad there, I have been there, done that etc. I was in a room by 10.00 resting.

The following day however was a different story however. All was fine until 2.15pm at which my knee was in so much pain I was screaming louder that I have ever done before , so much so that the staff kept calling the consltant for advice, at 5.15 3 consultants and 2 aneasthatitsc came along and had no idea why i was in so much pain, however suggested nother operation so they could take a further look into my knee, however this time under a general anasthetic, this is something I was not happy about (i was actually more scared than unhappy as I have never had this done before).

I went under for what seemed like 2 seconds and woke up without pain. The nurse explained something to me that I cant remember, mind you, I can't remember much of anything that was said that night.

The consultant came to see me on Thursday morning to explain the "Holes in my knee" 2 were for another arthocscopy and to clean all of the fluid out with 5 litres of fluid, and the massive one was so he could "get his fingers under my skin to feel for anything unusual". I'm glad I was put to sleep now.

They have confirmed I have "Staphylococcus Aureus" which is bascially M.R.S.A. without the MR.

I have had a couple of days laid up bed now trying a little bit of physio and walking etc, they are treating me really nice, I am on a drip for IV antibiotics (Flucloxacillin), taking paracetamol, diclofenac, tramadol and codeine for pain and inflammation, and have found out today I may now need to stay in for another 2 weeks to "ensure they hit the infection hard"

I have also been give my Blood CRP results which show as follows

• Monday - 5
  
• Tuesday - 126
  
• Wednesday - N/A
  
• Thursday - 168
  
• Friday - 206
  

While they are still increasing If anyone reading this knows what these mean or how they went from a normal "5" at the DRI to 126 after a day, please let me know. basically is this someones fault !!!

as Cookie and Goona said. "you can cut my balls but leave my knees alone"

Ouch Ow Ouch

This would have been the perfect weekend for me,

• Friday was a work party with unlimited free beer and food.
• Saturday was lads night, an evening away from reality, having "a few" drinks in town with the boys
• Ending the weekend on Sunday with a free - YES FREE ticket to the British Grand Prix at Silverstone, not just a normal ticket, but full corporate hospitality courtesy of "someone very nice"!!!!!

However today was my big day for something more important... my operation

I got the hospital at 7.30 where I was led to my room, my operation was scheduled for 12.00 however it could be earlier.

The consultant came to see me to explain and make sure I was happy with everything, the anaesthetist came to see me to explain the procedure and again, make sure I was happy. My only question was...

"Will I be able to go to the Grand Prix tomorrow"

"Not very likely" was their response, - Well I tried my best

At 9.30 I was humiliated, I was asked to shave my knee, wear a backless gown and some paper pants. This is not fashion but I did it nonetheless

at 10.00 I was taken for my operation, given an injection in my hand to "ease me" followed by a spinal epidural. Had my leg painted yellow and off I went.

The op was weird, I could feel anything but a tugging sensation as the Doctor (Sorry Mr) shoved a camera and some other instruments deep into my knee, the strange but amazing thing was that I was able to see everything they were doing on the monitor in front of me, I could actually see inside of my own knee... WOW

There was some damage to my cartilage, along with some other damage to something else that I can't now remember, hopefully me notes will tell me this.

After the op I was taken back to my room for observations, no pain I thought, this was great, a little surgery but no pain.

I had some lunch and was allowed back home at 4.30pm - when the pain started as a slight twinge, as I write this at 23.32.... MY KNEE IS HUGE - AND KILLING ME...

It'll all be worth it however, in 3 weeks time I'm going back to the gym

Oh and the F1 tickets... I gave them to someone who I hope I’ll have a great day - but owes me BIGTIME.

Knee Update

3 weeks on, I am still in agony with my knee, luckily thanks to my company healthcare, I managed to get referred to a consultant at the local private hospital, a 2 week wait and today was my appointment.

8.45am - appointment with the consultant, who advised I would need an MRI Scan as he thinks it may be lose cartilage in my knee (Meniscus Tear), he doubts it is ligament issues or "I'd know about it".

MRI scan arranged for 12.30 TODAY - now that is fast

I have now had the MRI scan and although not obvious from the scans, the consultant believes it is what he first thought, so I have to have some keyhole surgery (Arthroscopy) to sort it.


Booked in for next Saturday.

I must say I am very impressed with private healthcare, and nervous of having my first ever "operation".

Off the road I have knackered my knee and I don't know how....

After wetting Leahs head on Saturday (and boy did it get wet), I have knackered my knee, not through drunken dancing, not through falling over, but by doing nothing. I don't know how it happened, but woke up Sunday morning in absolute agony, unable to bend my leg, unable to straighten my leg, i thought I could "walk it off".

All day Sunday I tried walking it off - no joy

After googling for "inner knee pain" it sounds like ligament damage.

Went to work Monday thinking it was just a twinge, had to get colllected from work as I couldn't move. My lovely work colleagues told me to go and get it sorted and call BUPA (after taking the p*ss of course)

I don't really like wasting peoples time, so didn't call the Doctors, didnt call BUPA and didnt go to the hospital...

Then I finally gave in and went to A&E on Tuesday night

I sometimes wonder why we have A&E, why not just "E"
My evening consisted of;

• Waiting to be seen by triage (20 minutes)
• Waiting to see a Doctor (1 Hour 30 minutes)
• Being seen by a nurse (3 minutes)
• Waiting to see a Doctor (1 Hour 15 minutes)
• Being seen by a Doctor (3 minutes)
• Waiting for some pain killers (ETA 3 hours)

Doctor asked what I'd done, i explainined everything and said I think it's my ligament, after shooting me down for appearing to be a know-it-all, he advised that I have damaged my ligament and te Rest/Move/Ice/Raise my knee.

I gave up waiting for some pain killers and decided to go and see my Doctor/Bupa
After seeing my Doctor I now have an appointment with BUPA on 6th July by which time I expect my knee to have healed or my leg to have fallen off.
NHS eh, gotta love em.