Re: arthroscopy #14 yesterday

[Guest guest]

do they know what happened to your knee? were you an athlete?

arthroscopy #14 yesterday

Hello everyone-

I had my 14th knee surgery yesterday (Wed, Oct 13). I've had bilateral

patella realignments and am age 28. I had a debridement and patella

chondroplasty on my left knee. The MRI had shown a large chondral defect at

the

bottom (inferior pole) of my patella along with " diffuse cartilage

irregularities " . Last year I had a defect in the medial facet of my patella

and it was

smoothed out. Yesterday, my OS pulled a lot of scar tissue out and smoothed

out

the chondral defect which was large- the size of a quarter. The defect that

I had smoothed out last year has filled in with fibrocartilage- not as good

as the original but better than nothing. Unfortunately, over 50% of my

kneecap

has " crabmeat cartilage " -- strands of cartilage peeling off signifying

grade IV chondromalacia in most places. The bone he said was clearly visible

in

many places.

I asked my OS about cartilage cell transplants. He thinks for me Carticel

eventually will be the route to go once they get the kinks out. Patella

cartilage is put under more stress than the other cartilage in our knees.

I can put weight on my leg with crutches and started doing my quad sets,

etc. It's pretty swollen and is stinging which has never happened before.

For anesthesia, my anesthesiologist (same one from last year and he

remembered me!) did a knee nerve block and knocked me out during the surgery.

(called

MAC- monitored anesthesia care). They do the knee block in the pre-op room.

I did have a bit of a pre-op scare. I was in the pre-op room all hooked

up to pulse-ox and heart rate monitors, etc. . I get really nervous before

surgery. The nurse had just put the IV in along with Versed and Fentanyl.

The

anesthesiologist was getting ready to do the 4 injections in my knee. I

felt a little relaxed but then got really nervous which made my pulse shoot

to

150. All these alarms start going off signaling tachycardia. The last thing

I remember is a flurry of medical personnel around my bed. Another

anesthesiologist came running from the OR with a huge syringe of propofol

(anesthesia

quick acting drug). He said get her down now. Someone put oxygen on me,

held my hand and that was it. I woke up as they were tranferring me onto the

OR

table.

I'm on crutches but can put weight on it. I'm doing quad sets and get

my stiches out on Tuesday. I'm having a lot of stinging which I don't

remember in the past. It's hurting pretty badly but I'm used to being in

pain so I

don't know if the severe pain is normal or abnormal.

Sorry to ramble but I just needed to talk to people who understand! Margaret

NC

[Guest guest]

hey ... just wanted to wish yu good luck with everything

Kettye Voltz <mom@...> wrote:do they know what happened to your knee?

were you an athlete?

arthroscopy #14 yesterday

Hello everyone-

I had my 14th knee surgery yesterday (Wed, Oct 13). I've had bilateral

patella realignments and am age 28. I had a debridement and patella

chondroplasty on my left knee. The MRI had shown a large chondral defect at

the

bottom (inferior pole) of my patella along with " diffuse cartilage

irregularities " . Last year I had a defect in the medial facet of my patella

and it was

smoothed out. Yesterday, my OS pulled a lot of scar tissue out and smoothed

out

the chondral defect which was large- the size of a quarter. The defect that

I had smoothed out last year has filled in with fibrocartilage- not as good

as the original but better than nothing. Unfortunately, over 50% of my

kneecap

has " crabmeat cartilage " -- strands of cartilage peeling off signifying

grade IV chondromalacia in most places. The bone he said was clearly visible

in

many places.

I asked my OS about cartilage cell transplants. He thinks for me Carticel

eventually will be the route to go once they get the kinks out. Patella

cartilage is put under more stress than the other cartilage in our knees.

I can put weight on my leg with crutches and started doing my quad sets,

etc. It's pretty swollen and is stinging which has never happened before.

For anesthesia, my anesthesiologist (same one from last year and he

remembered me!) did a knee nerve block and knocked me out during the surgery.

(called

MAC- monitored anesthesia care). They do the knee block in the pre-op room.

I did have a bit of a pre-op scare. I was in the pre-op room all hooked

up to pulse-ox and heart rate monitors, etc. . I get really nervous before

surgery. The nurse had just put the IV in along with Versed and Fentanyl.

The

anesthesiologist was getting ready to do the 4 injections in my knee. I

felt a little relaxed but then got really nervous which made my pulse shoot

to

150. All these alarms start going off signaling tachycardia. The last thing

I remember is a flurry of medical personnel around my bed. Another

anesthesiologist came running from the OR with a huge syringe of propofol

(anesthesia

quick acting drug). He said get her down now. Someone put oxygen on me,

held my hand and that was it. I woke up as they were tranferring me onto the

OR

table.

I'm on crutches but can put weight on it. I'm doing quad sets and get

my stiches out on Tuesday. I'm having a lot of stinging which I don't

remember in the past. It's hurting pretty badly but I'm used to being in

pain so I

don't know if the severe pain is normal or abnormal.

Sorry to ramble but I just needed to talk to people who understand! Margaret

NC

[Guest guest]

Hi Margaret,

Here's hoping the sergery was super successful,

and the swelling and stinging go away soon.

Connie

[Guest guest]

Hey Margaret,

Hope all is going well... You will be in my prayers tonight. (every little

bit helps)

Donna T, NC

>

>Hi Margaret,

>

>Here's hoping the sergery was super successful,

>and the swelling and stinging go away soon.

>

>Connie

>

>

>

>

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