Don’t Brag – Listen to Mother – Knees Are Important

I had too many choices for a title and I couldn’t pick one so you got the top three.
 I know I haven’t posted in a while. I had knee surgery on Monday. It is amazing how much better I feel. Even though the pain level is still where it was before the surgery, it is easy to deal with. I know that if I feel like this 72 hours after surgery, then I am really going to feel great after a week.


I thought I would take the time to give you a little background on what happened because so many people have asked.


Never brag. My Mother tried to teach that to my brothers and i. She said that when you brag you will either 1) embarass the person you are bragging to because they don’t have or can’t do whatever you are bragging about or 2)embarass yourself because the other person has or can do more. She also mentioned something about repercussions, but I knew that would not apply to me.
In 1992 I was sitting in her living room with my boyfriend. Both of them had their fair share of broken bones and they were comparing war stories. Then I got stupid and did it and I wish I could take it back. I piped up with “I’m 32 years old and I have never broken a bone in my body”. Famous last words. Less than 24 hours later as I tried to walk and talk at the same time, I slipped. My right foot slipped in water and I landed on the concrete on my left knee. I shattered the patella.

If there is one bone in your body that you do NOT want to break, it is the patella. The knee is a major weight bearing joint. You can only have so many knee replacement surgeries and they last a limited time. At 50 I am too young for the replacement surgery, although my Ortho says that it is what I need.


The surgery on Monday went well. i am already a little bit better off than before the surgery. My pain level is about the same bit it is consistant. Same places all the time. that is alot better than having it hurt so that I can’t walk then 5 minutes later, nothing is wrong.


I will find out on the 13th what the Ortho has to say now that he has actually seen the inside of the joint. Wish me luck!

Oh My Aching Knee

I learned the hard way (which is how I learn) that you should not brag about certain things.  In 2002 I was in my mid-30′s and in the process of moving from Washington to Oregon.  The man I was in a relationship with and I flew to Texas to visit my Mother.  One evening we were discussing injuries and broken bones.  Both of them had long lists.  My response however was “I have never broken a bone in my body”.  What is the saying about “Famous Last Words”. 

Less than 24 hours later I slipped and in the process of falling decided that the best course of action would be absorbing the impact of the fall on the concrete with my kneecap.  A word to the wise, Don’t do it!  Your knee is not one of those things that heals well.  Lets see, I had an arthroscopic surgery in 1996.  I have been in physical therapy off and on about 10 different times.  I have received 3 cortisone shots and all the shots do is make me long for the time of less pain before the shot.  Is that how they are supposed to work? 

I was at the point where a decision whether or not I could do something was based on what I needed to do within the next couple of days.  I could not walk or otherwise stress my knee if I had things that needed to be done within 48 hours.  I had to save up my time on my feet.  That is no way to live.

I moved to Nevada in 2006 and finally went to an Ortho back in November of last year.  After seeing the results of my tests he came into the room and the first words he said were “Your knee is really messed up”.  He told me that the “fix” is to have total knee replacement but at 50 I am considered too young.  So he suggested a series of shots.  When I calmed down, he explained that they were not at all like cortisone.  The compund was a healthy version of the fluid in the knee.  Good knees that is.  The fluid in my knee is deteriorated. I received 1 injection a week for 5 weeks and was told that the effects would last about 5 months at which time we could do it again.  The effects lasted 8 months for me and a few weeks ago I started getting twinges.  Within a week all the pain came back.  

I started a new series of injections today.  You know that there are always rules.  Well I only have one rule to follow.  For 48 hours after the injection, I have to limit the time that the leg bears weight to less than45 minutes at a time.   I can live with that, especially now that I know how good the knee will feel afterwards.