Started with 10 days in the hospital. I was first sent to one hospital where they reset my leg straight but still had poor blood flow. Was then rushed to another hospital where I went right into surgery to repair the popliteal artery behind my knee. As we have since learned, the doctors I had at Greenville were amazing. Every nurse, doctor, medical professional since then has complimented the work done by those doctors and how rare it is that my kind of surgery ends with such good results and clean stitching. I am so incredibly thankful for the medical team that was extraordinary in every way.
I then had a long road trip to get home to Florida for a few days, only to pack up and drive to Indianapolis and then finally ending in Cincinnati, Ohio. All of that with the rods in my legs and not really sure of anything, other than take it one moment at a time. For the most part I was comfortable in the car but the leg felt every bump, turn, stop, and hill along the way. I was happy to be done with the road trips! With the rods in I mostly just spent my days sitting or lying in bed. My parents were in the middle of moving so there wasn't much for me to do... or to sit on.
Pain and recovering is exhausting. I am so thankful I am able to live at home with the constant support of my parents! I have been able to not stress over life but just be present with healing. The days with the rods were painful and exhausting. Then with those out came three days a week at physical therapy demanding the leg come back strong and as quick as possible. 3-4 hour sessions, with a total drive time of an hour, and me getting around slowly makes those days pretty much done for. I rehab and I eat a ton of healthy food, that's been all I can accomplish in a day. Then when the doctors add other appointments on to my schedule there's anxiety around new people touching my leg. There's always a worry with how it will feel. There's been a lot of trauma to my right leg and even the thought of another person touching it can freak me out. This past week I had to visit the hospital for a vascular ultrasound, then get to physical therapy. The next day follow up with the vascular doctor then get to physical therapy. Force myself to 90 degrees of flexion because that's what I needed before going into surgery. Made it and felt happy about going into the operating room again... well, maybe not happy, but calm and confident for the next step. Wednesday I had my fourth operation in 7 weeks. That 90 minute procedure was to fix my medial meniscus and clean up the knee. Thursday I was back in physical therapy. Today, Friday I finally don't have to worry about going anywhere or anyone touching my knee! (Just a lot of homework of bending and stretching)
Here's the great news-- I might be done with surgeries and on the road totally recovery!!
It just so happens that one of the best knee surgeons in the country works about 30 minutes from where I've set up home. With his medical team and physical therapists, they know what to do to achieve the best success. When he went in to repair the meniscus it was too far gone to repair so part of it had to be removed, but everything is still just fine. He was able to clean up a lot of scar tissue and got a good look at the structure of the knee. We were certain I was going to need complete reconstruction of my lateral ligaments and it turns out, I will not! Mother nature has worked her wonders and I've healed incredibly well. The doctor said almost everyone with this injury will eventually have really bad arthritis and need a complete knee repair later in life. He told my mom that my knee looks great and that will not be the case for me! I am in the top 5% or better for this type of injury and recovery. He made it very clear how lucky I am that I did not lose my leg (because initially they couldn't promise me anything going into that first surgery). And he stressed how lucky I am that more of my knee did not tear. He is surprised by how well everything looks and he's been doing this a long time!
This is my leg currently. The left leg has a scar about 8" long, it's healing slowly. The right leg, big scar on the back of my leg that's healing well. The calf stitches are finally out and should heal up really well. The four puncture holes from the rods are closed and almost healed. I have four new cuts on my knee from the scope with a stitch in each so I'm not completely put back together yet, but these new holes are nothing to what I've had to deal with so I'm feeling great!
And this is me trying to breathe through the flexion test 24 hours after meniscus surgery. I got to 84 degrees which is excellent for me. However, when we told the doctor that he said, "no good, she can do better." haha, well alright, tell my pain level that. Doctor was easily able to get my leg to 120 degrees of flexion during the repair which is also great news that structurally there's nothing limiting me to returning to awesome. Just have to tell my tiny and very tight quad to calm down and life is good. I'm 50% weight bearing and will soon be working on teaching the walking motion again!
I am so happy with this doctor, this hospital and the therapy staff. I haven't even fully comprehended that there might not be any more surgery (possibility of a PCL repair in a few months). I know it sounds crazy to think that this injury was a blessing. The trauma, the stress I've put on family members, the financial stress, the pain... there are many things that are not a blessing but in the big picture, there are many good things that have manifested from this. Since this has happened though, I've only been given the best possible news. With each step and phase of healing I am reassured that things are going to turn out just fine. Still plenty of hard work and pain to get through, but I am only focused on a strong recovery.