Knee Surgery recovery - Scared I won't recover

Hi Everyone,

I injured my knee on August 17th.  I displaced the patella and there were a few loose bone fragments.  I had surgery on August 23rd to removed the bone fragments and repair and tighten things up to hold the patella in place.  I am so scared I won't recover or that it will keep popping out of place.  The night of the injury was the scariest, worst night of my life.  I am trying to stay positive but it is so hard.  I don't know how I am going to get through this.  I keep reading horror stories online and can't stop myself.  There isn't much out there regarding to positive recoveries online.  I am sad, scared and freaking out.  I am hoping to fine some folks who have been here and can help me feel better about my recover and possibly cheer me up.  If anyone has a similar story or even just an idea to cheer me up, I'd like to hear it.  I just want to go back to work and have my life be normal again. *sobs, sniffles*

Thanks for listening.

I don't have a solution.  Just wanted you to know that you are not alone.  I do not have as severe a problem as you and am not you so I can't say I know what you mean.  I do know about pain and wishing my body would just quit with the fits and let me always be able to walk uptight.  Hang in there and take your time.  Hug your companions, be they human or fur persons.  With all my heart, I hope the best for you.  I'm glad you reached out. 

I got hit by a car almost six years ago.  Or maybe it was five.  Anyway, that's not important.

I've, since then, constantly dislocated my knee.  There's really nothing holding my knee bones together.  Tendons and ligaments were destroyed, I have decreased muscular mass in my right knee, and I'm overweight on top of that.  It is a very painful thing, and it can happen at any time.

Some days I can run down the street and be okay, others I can just stand still and it'll snap out of place.  It feels like I'm breaking my knee every time.  I collapse, black out for a minute, and have to live with limited mobility for a few weeks until it's strong again.  It's really not the most pleasant feeling, at all.

Some things in life we just have to live with.  I have a knee brace, bless it's little soul, that has metal joints on each side of it, as well as a reinforcement in the back of the knee.  While it's gruesome to look at, and even more horrid looking under jeans, it does keep my knee in it's proper place so it won't dislocate on me.  At times it does make my knee ache because it holds it in a position I'm not used to, and I will gimp a little, but I'd rather hobble than hurt.

Physical therapy is always an option, and swimming can be a great exercise to build up strength.


Best of luck.

I am so sorry to hear about your injury and the way it is recurring so frequently.  That must be horrible.  If I were you, I would wear that brace nonstop.  Again, I am so sorry, and am so terrified I will keep dislocating mine as well.  Do you have to go to the ER every time it happens?  I admire your ability to deal with it.  I would probably be so depressed.  My injury was from missing the last couple of steps coming down my stairs.  So stupid, and I keep reliving in my mind that horrible night, feels like the worst night of my life.  My doctor said I would be back to normal in two months, but I fear that I won't.  Clearly, my issues are psychological.  I am always fearing the worst possible scenario.  I am guessing that I will be given some sort of brace also.  My doctor surgically repair a tendon or ligament that was damaged, successfully.  He also put the knee in the proper place and removed a few bone fragments.  I am in an immobilizer currently and am doing a couple of static exercises to improve muscle strength.

I spent almost four months in an immobiliser, and even longer on crutches.

I don't have to go to the emergency room anymore, but when it first started I did.  Now I know how to shift it back into place, and get spoiled rotten by my significant other.

I used to wear the brace every day, but it's fitted and the more weight I lose, the less support it provides.  I'm also stubborn and refuse to believe I have a problem.  I was scheduled for a replacement a few years ago but my health insurance expired.  Hopefully before long my super cool phlebotomy job I'm aiming to get will have one hell of a health package so I can get it taken care of.

I was promised to be perfectly fine after a few months of physical therapy.  Didn't happen.

Now my sister, who's a dumb little bugger and rode a bike without handle bars down a steep hill and slammed into the back of a parked truck, she tore her ACL and was told she'd be gimpy for life.  She's just fine and dandy..

One Kitty with a bad knee to another,

You'll do fine.  I think a lot of the recovery is attitude.  If you don't let it stop you, then it won't.  Rehab is hard, but if you know what you want to accomplish you will get it done.  If I could give any advice it would be this... Don't limp.  When you start walking around, it is almost second nature to favor it a little.  But don't.  Walk normally, if slowly.  It'll help your leg heal right and it'll do wonders for your back as well.

Two years ago, I was in a motorcycle accident and DESTROYED my right leg from the knee down.  Twelve days in the hospital, two surgeries, and I now have a titanium plate and 14 screws in my leg.  Then, 3.5 months in a wheelchair... no weight bearing at all.... and then another month or so on crutches.  The only rehab I could do for the longest time was just sitting on the edge of my bed a bending my knee.  I was terrified that I would spend the rest of my life gimping around.  I can honestly say that you can't tell I had an injury now.  Not even a limp.  Both my Dr. and my physical therapist said that it was all because I was so determined not to be beaten by it.

fitnesskitty,

I handle medical claims in insurance, and can agree with vstar that your attitude and determination will allow you to accomplish what you want or need to. It's going to be difficult, but if you push through it and remind yourself that this situation is only temporary, there's no reason you can't have a full recovery. I wish you the best!

fitnesskitty:  oh, I'm so sorry.  Hang in there and I agree attitude is a big factor.  For now, try to keep your mind off of it.  My advice:  do NOT read the horror stories.  Every situation is different so stay away from those.

I have had 3 surgerys on my left knee.  The last one seems to have fixed the problem.  I had no cartilidge in my knee so the doc put plugs in my knee to form scar tissue and that works for cartilidge ( i think im spelling that wrong).  Anyway I had a long recovery and it was very painfull but now I am pain free and feeling great. 

Fitnesskitty dont read the horror stories, do what you need to do to feel better in the long run.  Please make sure that you get at least 2 different dr's opinions before you decide what to do.

Good luck!

Hi all! 

Thank you for the support and positve wishes.  I am feeling a bit better after talking with family and friends and the supportive messages from you. 

I have already had surgery and started a tiny bit of rehab, but my surgeon is rated as one of the best.  My best friend has had surgery with him and I asked around about him.  He is very talented and I am trying to make myself trust medical professionals.  It's hard for me.

I had my staples out today (15) and now it itches like crazy.  The staples being pulled hurt a bit but not for long.  I have been doing static exercises and he told me to start bending, working up to 80 degrees and I can start just by propping it up with a rolled towel or pillow.  I wear an immobilizer and use crutches to get around.  Once someone helps get my foot on the floor I can get around pretty decent on my crutches. 

I am sorry to hear about the others that have had bad accidents and surgeries but it is encouraging to know that others have had some success.  I just need some more stuff to do while I am sitting around.  I have read six books, knitted two scarves, manged all my accounts, watched all kinds of TV and need a new activity.  Hopefully I'll find something else to do.  Maybe I'll regress into childhood and color! :-) LOL.

Thank you everyone!!!!  I am happy to have you here!

Love, Sarah

I hope everything goes ok for you and you recover quickly!

regress into childhood????  I dont think I ever got past it  (and I refuse to)...Im 38 and LOVE to color.  DO IT!  its fun. 

It is amazing how different it is for everyone. For me, I twisted my left knee twice and severed my ACL, partially tore my medial miniscus. Then, several years later (for unrelated reasons) I had compound fractures in both my feet, both my knees, and both sides of my pelvic bones. These never seemed to heal properly. Somewhere in my life I developed osteoperosis then arthritis in most of my joints.

I've been through several months of physical therapy (I also see a nutritionist, who helps with building up my body, which does help physical pain) and I have routine check ups with the doctor. I want you to know that there are a great number of avenues you can take to ensure you stay healthy after your recovery. Nutrition and lifestyle play a major role in pain management. With arthritis and chronic pain, winter months are always harder (Oh, and you'll be able to tell when a storm is coming! You'll get that ache in the joints).

Hi FitnessKitty!

I just did the same thing to my knee and have been sitting around for two weeks. I also have read books, watched tv and gotten pretty philosophical about life with so much time on my hands! :) lol... Any advice on exercises I can do? I'm in an immobilizer and don't see my doctor for another 11 days...not that I'm counting or anything! ;) I'm really ready to get going on the rebuiliding of my muscles, etc. I'm frustrated that I'm playing a waiting game now....I feel like I should be strengthening the muscles around my knee. I haven't had surgery or anything yet---just a HORRIBLE dislocation of the patella (also a SUPER SCARY night for me! 4 hours in the ER...). When will I be "normal" again and able to do pilates, walk and will I ever be able to jog???? Thanks a million....jill

Hi Jill,

I cannot tell you how long your recovery could be since each injury is different and everyone heals differently.  I am still recovering from my surgery and am having a hard time regaining range of motion and may need another procedure to get it back, but don't let that scare you; this is the exception and not the rule.  I am a little more than 7 weeks post op.  There isn't much you can do in the initial phase I don't think.  I also spent four terrifying hours at the ER too, where they eventually popped my knee cap back in place. 

I saw an orthopedic surgeon the following Monday (my accident was on a Friday night) and he took more x-rays, saw that I had loose bone fragments that had to come out and that my patella was still not in place.  I was scheduled for surgery three days later.  He had to repair a tendon also.  Under normal circumstances, the doctor said my recovery time would be about two months and that I would be normal again.  I will need a few extra weeks, but I will be back.  It takes a long time to be completely normal again.  Climbing stairs is one of the last things to come as it takes time to build muscles and stabilize the knee again after surgery.  Someone told me that the odds of dislocating the patella again are a lot less if things are taken care of surgically.  They said that people with recurrent dislocations are often the ones that tried to do without surgical procedure.  I wonder why you aren't seeing a doctor sooner. 

I do know what it is like to be bored.  I have been out of work since August 20th.  I still cannot drive my car, etc.  Like I said though, I am the exception as I understand it.  Most people get their ROM back much better than I have.  If I had to guess, you will be normal once you are rehabbed, but it might take two or three months before you run, maybe a bit longer, but I would think that you will be fine.  I am not a doctor so I can't say for sure, but I think so.  The first machine the physical therapists will have you do will be the stationary bike, either to rock the pedals back and forth, or they will wait till you have 90 degrees of flexion or more and put you on it to ride and tone up the legs.  I was not instructed to start exercises till a week or two after my surgery, so you should check with your doctor on that as I would not want you to do any further damage.  Ask your doctor about doing quad sets and ankle pumps.  You might be able to do these now.  I would call and ask.  Those are what I started with after surgery when instructed.  I still do them along with more advanced exercises. 

I am also working on bending.  If I don't get more flexion by the 23rd, I will be scheduled for another procedure to break up the scar tissue.  I have medical bills leftover from what my insurance doesn't pay, but remember that if you have bills from this too, that it is totally worth it to get back to normal.  Follow all instructions from your medical professionals to the T.  What did the ER give you for pain meds?  Mine gave me a strong ibuprofen and Lortab.  My surgeon had me stop the ibuprofen when I saw him a few days later as it is not good for healing or something to that effect.  My injury was not that painful after several hours.

Also, if you have to get surgery, please don't panic too much.  I did and even cried all the way to the OR, and really, the surgery was nothing.  The last thing I remember was scooting over onto the operating table.  The anesthesiologist said he put something through my IV and I was like what? and then the next thing I remember was waking up in recovery.  Then, I must have fallen asleep again because I have no idea how I got back to my room.  Then I went to the bathroom and left the hospital a few hours later.  It wasn't bad at all.  The anticipation was much, much worse.

I think that you will recover fine.  Your doctor will know best and be able to recommend a time frame on your rehab.  If you want to ask me questions, you can PM me here or post here or even PM your email address to me and I will respond to you that way.  It is up to you.  I am here if you want to talk about this further.  Sorry for the excessively long post.  I think you will be okay, it is just a long road, but you will likely get through it and come out good as new. 

Best of luck!

Sarah

Hi Sarah!

First of all, you are an angel from heaven!!!! You don't know how thrilled I was to read your message. THANK YOU SOOOO MUCH!!! It is such an amazing relief to know that you have been through exactly what I have. It's so funny because even the timing is almost identical. I had my accident on a Saturday night and also went to my orthopedic doctor on Monday.

Just like you, i had x-rays in the ER (it was a NIGHTMARE!!!!!) and after waiting 4 hours, the ER doc popped my right kneecap into place. I still have LOTS of pain, and it's been 2 weeks. I was taking Tylenol because I am very sensitive to all medications (allergies to ibuprofen and lots of other stuff) so I didn't want to take the Percoset pain meds at home after I got back from the ER. They gave me TONS of morphine while I was at the ER which really didn't help a lot, but made me drugged so I didn't care as much. Then they gave me some sort of sedative and and AMNESIAC (scary,huh???) for when they popped the knee cap back in. I was in so much pain and so scared after the x-rays (which were soooooooo painful!!!) that I wanted them to knock me out completely for popping it back in place. They wouldn't do that (use general anaesthetic), but the sedative made me fall asleep instantly and I don't remember anything because of the amnesiac. My husband was there with me the whole time, and he says I was sitting up and screaming when they pushed it back in. I don't remember that because of the drugs in my IV.

You made me think of some questions though----my doctor never even looked at the actual x-rays taken at the ER! Isn't that weird? I had tried to have the ER send them over, but they promised me they would and then didn't. My doctor said that happens all the time, and just read the printed report of the x-ray diagnosis. He also examined me and said he might have to do surgery because he thought I might have bone fragments in there too, but said "I don't have to operate on that right away." He said I have to stay  in an immoblizer for three weeks because he is out of town now. I'm wondering if that's the only reason I'm not having surgery right away. Now i'm thinking maybe i should have had more x-rays at his office...i'm having trouble waiting until the 24th to see him! I still have pain and that's a whole 10 days from now....i'm so frustrated!

Your doctor sounds fabulous...you are very lucky. Where are you? I'm in Florida...how great would it be if you could share the name of your doc with me and he happened to be close by! A long shot, I know...you're probably in Kansas or something. :)

My email is jillpalm@comcast.net if you'd like to write me back. I'd love to talk with you while we both work through this...I too fell from something simple (getting a juice box from a high shelf for my son and slipping), and have replayed the scenario again and again in my head. It's so disappointing. I also can't drive because it's my right leg---my "driving leg"! AIEEEEE! Anyway, thank goodness the last Harry Potter book was over 700 pages! That kept me busy for a nice long while. Any recommendations on good (LONG) books to read? :) I'm not usually the type to sit around...this is a big challenge for me, but the good thing is that I'm noticing how sweet my girlfriends really are. They are coming over with People magazines, US magazines for me & other mindless stuff to distract me...;)

Well, sorry for the super long post....I really appreciate your advice, and I'm going to call my doc's office tomorrow and see if they think I should come in and see his partner or something while he's away BEFORE the 24th. I still have PAIN! Is that not normal???

Thanks again, and God bless,

Jill

I've been dealing with a kneecap that constantly dislocates for 6 years.  I have no insurance, so I can't get any treatment.  On top of that I have OA...and I'm overweight. 

 I want to exercise, but there isn't much I can do that will not hurt me.  So I know how you feel it is a scary thing indeed.

Hi Jill,

I just sent you an email.  I hope I can help and support you.

Jennilee,

I understand that you do not have insurance, but can you really put a proce on your health and well-being, and living without the constant fear of your knee?  I think you deserve better and hospitals will work with you for payments.  They have to take what you can pay.  I know what it is like to have medical bills, but you really can't put a price on getting back to normal.  I am going under for a second procedure to get my life back and then loads of PT, but I am not letting the cost stop me.  I can't.  I can't live like this.  I am so sorry you feel like you cannot get your knee taken care of.  Hope you get ins. soon. 

Best of luck for you both,

Sarah