Hardware Removal

08:18

December 29, 2020

And here it is! Finally, the morning of the fifth and final surgery. I am quite hungry due to the pre-surgery fasting. Probably leaving the house at 9:15am. Surgery is scheduled for 11:45am which is the latest start time I’ve had. It is crazy to think that I’m only a couple of months away from being metal-free. The plan is to stay in the hospital overnight and go back home tomorrow, just in time for New Years. I’m excited for this all to be over. Good luck!

18:05

As per usual, after waking up from the procedure I immediately fell back asleep and have just now woken up. I can’t feel anything on my leg. I’m guessing that the local anesthetic has yet to ware off. I do know that this time around I did not receive a nerve block which makes sense considering my femur was not broken. The general “trauma “of this surgery was much less than the insertion of the nail.

21:43

Still not in a lot of pain. I’m beginning to regain some tactile awareness on my left leg but I still can’t feel any pain from the incisions. I was actually able to get up and crutch around the recovery ward. It felt amazing to be up and moving only 7 -ish hours after the procedure ended. I can remember getting up for the first time after the first surgery. Any rotation of my femur caused me discomfort. Even the slightest 1mm twist was uncomfortable. But this time around, I have no broken bone and I’m already able to move around with much more comfort. I have no idea how I will sleep through the night considering I slept all day. I’ll also note that I feel much less dizzy than last time. Scopolamine is magical.

December 30, 2020

03:31
I sorta predicted that I would be up at this hour. At least Mom is able to sleep on the chair.

07:41

I went to the bathroom no problem and crutched around again. The anesthesia seems to be half-lifeing out of me pretty fast. I have no dizziness or grogginess. I was able to check out my bandages, too. The skin around the insciions has definitely begun to swell and I can feel my kneecap being pushed to the left by swelling. Not fun. I’m also guessing that most of the local anesthetic has worn off because I’m starting to feel the incisions. I can’t really feel the lower distal incision (where the bottom screws of the Nail were removed) because it’s in a comfortable elevated position. I can feel some pain in my hip because some of my bodyweight is going through the hip.

08:12

Dr. Kasser came by to check on the incisions and say hello. He is a very nice man. I am trying to get discharged ASAP so I can go home and sleep. I’ve already completed some of the items on the discharge checklist: I’ve used the bathroom, been disconnected from my IV fluid, and I’ve gotten up and moved around. I think what’s left is a PT evaluation ensuring that I know how to use crutches and won’t crutch out of this hospital and fall down a flight of stairs. Luckily I’ve done this four times already and know the drill.

08:47

I can definitely feel some pain in my knee. This is something I experienced with all of my 8-plate insertion and removal surgeries. The swelling of the medial side of the knee pushes the patella distally which prevents me from using the knee as a joint. It also is pretty uncomfortable because the patella does not want to be pushed around. When I get home I will ice it; normally that works to relieve the pain and decrease the swelling. Currently the only medication I am taking is Ibuprofen and Aceitominophen.

16:53

And finally I am home. I elevated my knee on a couple pillows and the only pain I’m feeling is from the kneecap and the lower screws incision. I have an ace. bandage wrapped around my entire leg which I will probably remove in a couple of days. My hip incisions don’t hurt that bad. My patella feels very tight and the patellar tendon is super tight. It’s also looking slightly bruised which is normal. I’ve seen this many times. Icing it does help a lot. I’m also sensing my vastus lateralis and IT band tensing up. The left outer side of my leg is feeling pretty darn tight. I’ll have to work on releasing those muscles and ligaments when physical therapy starts.

21:50

I can’t shower for a couple of days. I am setting up my bed for elevated knee positioning and for a (hopefully) restful night of sleep. I’m exhausted. I got up from the couch today probably 10 times and did laps around the main floor of the house with the crutches. I’m probably putting 5-10 lbs of weight through the leg. Any more weight and I feel pain in the VL and IT band. When I do get up I experience orthostatic hypotension which I’m used to at this point and yes I Googled that name.

10:47

December 31, 2020

Today is the second day after surgery. I feel better. Night was fine, I wa able to to sleep. I did some late-night meditation which really helps me relax. I am icing my knee right now to decrease the pain. Hip incisions don’t really hurt. Lower screw incision just feels bruised, like my vastus lateralis was sliced lengthwise. Reminds me of an injury I had where I must have strained my psoas and VL. Just feels like shallow muscular pain. Nothing that Tylenol can’t handle. Knee is probably the most painful but not the incision portion. Unless I touch the knee incision, I can’t really feel it. This means to me that all the knee pain I’m experiencing is coming from the swelling that’s dislodging my patella. There’s still some bruising over my patella and it turns purple when I get up. But that will probably go away in a couple of days. It’s time to rewatch the old James Bond movies.

17:35

Was able to get up a lot today which is good. The pain I feel is mostly a slight burning sensation, which is probably a result of the swelling. My left leg has a surface temp of 97ºF while my right leg reads 91º. Exciting!

21:24

Still only taking Tylenol and Ibuprofen. From like 7:30-9 I was having pretty bad muscle spasms. Every surgery comes with its own unique side effects. Sometimes the muscles randomly tremor. That’s a good sign I think. Tomorrow I will probably take off the ACE bandages to relieve the pressure on my knee. One thing I learned from my past knee surgeries is that raking off the ace bandage can relieve a lot of pain. Trying to avoid all swelling is impossible. Swelling allows the wound to heal. I’m not concerned about removing the bandage a day early because I will just apply ice to it. Ice and coldness is much less painful than constrictive pressure.

09:28

January 1 2021

I fell asleep at 10pm and forgot that it was New Year’s eve. I’m glad 2020 is over. 2021 can start off on a good note by letting me heal properly. I removed the ACE bandages and got a look at the tegaderm films covering my incisions. Visible edema in my knee and palpation of the knee and surrounding areas is pretty painful. And bruised. It’s all bruised. But the bruising will soon go away. I’m at the healing stage right now where each night feels like a weeks’ worth of rest. Each morning. I wake up with less pain or less bruising or more flexibility. My knee range of motion is still incredibly limited because of the swelling which has yet to go down.

15:12

Last night before I fell asleep I was in a strange amount of discomfort. It wasn’t really pain. It was just a weird sensation which my body did not like. Part of the tegaderm on my knee sits over a spot where I don’t really have any sensation (as a result of nerve damage from 3 prior knee surgeries). And when I rest my knee in a way that’s comfortable for my hip and leg incisions, the tegaderm pulls the nerve-damaged skin taught and that does not feel good. Again, it’s not a painful feeling its just a discomfort that initially prevented me from falling asleep. I found a solution, however. Turns out the secret was to not cover my knee with any sort of blanket. My sleeping arrangements are strange enough right now, but I made them even stranger last night when I covered every part of my body with blanket except my knee. It was weird. But it worked.

17:47

Removed hip ace bandage (had previously only removed knee ace bandage) and my hip is pretty swollen. It’s not red or painful to the touch, though. Considering I can’t elevate my hip, I’m guessing that getting the swelling down in my knee will be much easier. I’m also getting these weird nerve tingly feelings that shoot around my incisions. I think this is what nerves trying to reconnect feels like.

18:33

I just remembered that I get to shower tonight. As of now, my knee swelling is only thing that hurts. The NSAIDs I’ve been taking have relieved some of the pain and swelling so that the only pain I feel when I’m not moving is from my kneecap being yanked to the left. I am starting to clench my quad and straighten out my leg using the quad muscle. I don’t want my leg muscles to atrophy to the extent they have in the past so I’m making sure that I engage them in some way. Tomorrow is the fourth day of recovery which feels great to say. I’ve been sleeping really well, too. If I could have it my way, I’d sleep for another 4 days straight and then wake up. Sleep really is amazing.

21:37

Shower was awesome. It’s amazing how easily forgettable the pleasure of a nice shower can be. I did some quad exercises and will probably go to bed early just for the extra couple of hours of healing time.

18:19

January 2, 2021

Today has been a good day. I was able to put more weight on my leg today. Pain has been manageable. Using Tylenol and Ibuprofen every 5 hrs and it’s been fine. Knee still feels pretty tight and swollen but the pain is decreasing. Tomorrow should be a good day too. I’m sure that I will continue improving each day. I was able to crutch around the house 10 times today, I did some muscle exercises, and I kept my knee elevated. I’m excited for the swelling to continue. going down.

09:29

January 3, 2021

Last night part of the tegaderm on my numb spot (over the knee) was really bugging me so I removed some of it. This is probably an issue specific to me so I’m not sure why I’m including it here in my surgery journals but in the off-chance that someone does in fact experience this weird numbing sensation, at least I will be able to empathize with them. Removing part of the tegaderm was really frustrating. It’s not painful to remove. But it’s a feeling that my brain just can’t figure out. It’s almost as though my body feels nothing touching it, but my eyes are seeing me touch the knee so my brain just gives up and tells me to stop. In other news, I can now fully extend my leg using my quad. Slowly my quad strength is coming back. My swelling also seems to be going down. I put. 80 lbs through the leg this morning with no pain whatsoever. Still using crutches, but I’m relieved to know that my bone strength is still there.

07:32

January 4, 2021

It always seems that by days 5-7 post-op, my recovery slows down. The first couple days are monumental for my healing and then once my pain and swelling start to decrease and once I gain bone strength, everything seems to slow down. I’m now taking baby steps in the recovery process. Not much of a difference today when compared to yesterday. My ventroglute is disappearing before my eyes, leaving a weird indentation where i’m supposed to have hip muscle. This makes my second hip incision look insanely swollen, but it’s not. It is just sticking out because my butt is eating itself. Today is also the first day of school for me. School is good. It distracts me from pain.

22:13

I’m going to go to bed in about 5 minutes. Going to meditate because I truly believe that if your mental state is not at peace, you’re not going to be able to heal yourself successfully. Leg feels stronger every day. I’m taking my NSAIDs every 6 hours now, which is good because my pain is going down. My knee is starting to migrate back to its spot, too.

14:02

January 5, 2021

Even stronger today. Starting to only use one crutch when I walk. I’m absolutely amazed by how fast this recovery has been. I had been planning on 4 weeks of crutches and I am probably 4 days away from taking my first steps without crutches. My pain is getting a lot better, too. My muscular strength is coming back and I’m doing some physical therapy exercises to help maintain my lateral hip mobility.

07:33

January 6, 2021

I’m still using only one crutch to move around. When I do laps around the house, I’m moving my left leg in the way that it’s supposed to move when I walk. I’m increasing my knee flexibility too, although I’m quickly seeing that until the IT band/VL incision heals, I won’t be able to work on that flexibility without pain. I’m getting stronger every day and doing very well. School is a good distraction, too.

10:38

January 7, 2021

I took a step today without any crutches. It was a weak step, but a step nonetheless. And, I did it in the morning and I hadn’t taken Tylenol since the night before. So I trust that it’s not a medically dangerous thing to do. My knee strength is still good. And it’s very nice to see my knee swelling going down. Much less pain.

16:00

January 9, 2021

Today is a Sunday I think. Not sure why I said that because it doesn’t relate to anything I’m writing right now. My leg is doing very well. I’m still shocked at how fast this recovery process has been. Being young is awesome. Knee flexion is getting better, quad and glute strength are coming back, and I’m practicing walking with crutches for safety. I can hobble without crutches but I don’t want to make a habit out of that. I am trying to re-learn how to walk. My incisions are only painful if I touch them. My knee is still pretty tingly especially in the spot where I can’t feel pressure.

21:14

Oh wow. They’ve begun. The healing itches. This is a good sign, though, because it means that my skin has begun to stitch itself back together and the nerves are regrowing and everything is healing.

08:35

January 12, 2021

I took a break because nothing significant has happened. My walking has gotten better and I’m not really limping anymore. And I’m off pain meds. I’ve been waiting for the 14-day mark (which is today) to remove the tegaderm films. I really want to see the incisions and remove the stitches and apply some nice vitamin E oil to help the skin heal.

22:13

Bandages came off today. Removing the tegaderms was painful only because of my leg hair. Note to self: shave your leg hair next time you prepare for surgery. I removed the sutures and took off the steristrips. The incisions look great. Right now they’re still a little elevated and 3D-looking but they’re not red, they’re not swollen, and they’re not leaking fluid. No signs of infection and they don’t even feel that painful to the touch. Pretty happy with how they look. I will update more as I go along.