I rode today! Only about 10 -15 minutes and mostly at a walk, but I did trot a little. The foot seems OK, but I had a couple Oh S**t! moments/steps when I stopped for gas on the way home. Now just waiting to see how it feels tomorrow. Fingers are crossed.
Hope everything felt okay after your ride red mares.
I just have to vent for a second. I have been to an orthopedic specialist, 2 orthopedic surgeons, the er (er doc did her fellowship in sports medicine), and two physical therapists. The only things they all agree on are no riding and severe bone bruising. Both surgeons said my ligaments are fine ( although they both say it’s highly unusual for me to have this level of instability without ligament damage), but the physical therapist was examining my knee today and was very concerned ( as was the original dr) about the fact that you can rotate my lower leg independently from my femur. For some reason the surgeons either couldn’t ( or didn’t try) recreating that motion. I’m getting a little tired of hearing that my knee is really bizarre without any sort of explanation of what’s wrong.
The break from riding is actually kind of nice right now, but I have a feeling it’s going to get very frustrating after a month.
Add another one…
Left knee was wrecked with a bad step at a dog show, in the ring, photographer even caught it. At least I didn’t fall on the dog. Shredded meniscus, and some other issues, surgery to repair.
Right knee was injured a couple of months ago, tried to ignore and put it off, MRI shows another torn meniscus and need another repair job. Rats! I can’t ride anymore anyway but I’m training my 2yo pony to drive and this really gets in the way.
How’s everybody doing?
EA- Yay diagnosis! What are they going to do for you?
Red Mares- How’s riding going?
Quick - or not lol- update on me. I had an open bone biopsy on my proximal tibia on July 16 where they took out a chunk of the bone. The incision was about 2" long and I had 8 staples, causing some Frankenleg LOL. Unfortunately that biopsy was also inconclusive.
I saw my Dr. on Wednesday, and they think its either Lymphoma of the bone or Osteomyelitis. They are still culturing the biopsy, so far with no growth. I had a PET scan and a contrast CT scan this am and I am now just waiting for results. For the PET scan they gave me an injection of radioactive dye and a card saying I had the injection so if I got picked up by Homeland Security for being radioactive they wouldn’t detain me LOL. I thought that was actually pretty amusing.
This has been a very long almost two months. And it sucks because I’m in a ton of pain, I am completely dependent on my cane to get around. I guess the good news is that the pain doesn’t seem to be getting worse.
hey Judysmom - I remember when I was working at the nuke plant in Saratoga, I had a long weekend and hopped a plane to Cleveland to go sailing w/Dad. Rationally I knew I shouldn’t have a problem with airline security. Honestly, I was really relieved when no bells or whistles went off!
I haven’t been on a horse lately; I did go to horse show a couple weeks ago. Back in the barns I ended up surreptitiously pulling off my sock and sneaker and stood in the bucket of liniment after they got done washing off the horse. It felt so good. 
By the end of the night I could almost walk.
I’ve been wallowing in self pity for the last week. I’ve got a brace on the (not-so) good foot for the next 4-6 weeks. 4-6 more weeks of sneakers! :mad: I should be done w/PT, but the good foot isn’t cooperating, so I’ve been frustrated and whiny. I was pretty annoyed b/c I had to tell the doc about 5X that good foot hurt before he decided to check it out. GRRRRR. He just said it was the ATFL and brace it. Got told to cut back on the walking & drive to work. GRRRR.
But on the plus side, the poison ivy is almost cleared up. Only 8 more days of prednisone (I asked for the shot, doc-in-the-box said “what shot?”) Yep, really whiny this week.
Maybe it’s the weather that’s causing the probs red mares?
At Judy- osteo vs lymphoma is scary. Pls update once the pet is read.
In the words of a former patient, my knee “is painin’ me.” 
I did three orthovisc injections and was told i would have another 4-6wk (after the third injection) of improvement. I have been able to ride, but my damn knee swells and hurts like a mother for at least 8h after. Some days I’ve limped for several days after riding, others not at all. We just got back from a weekend with family in Seattle and it’s screaming from all that walking and hills…ugh.
I feel old
red mares- poison ivy is the worst! I would be whiny too!
La Chasse- sorry your knee is still so painful 
Does ice help at all?
Yeah, both options of diagnosis really stink. My head has been doing pretty well with all of this, but as of my last Dr.'s appointment I’m starting to loose my grasp on “doing O.K.”
The radiologists think its lymphoma, but the lymphoma people think its osteomyelitis. And both biopsies were inconclusive. The PET scan results will be in next week. Depending on that, I may be looking at another surgery on it.
In some ways I feel lucky because I live about a mile and a half from one of the best hospitals in the country. There were people from all over in the waiting room. All I have to do is take the T to get there.
I hope they have hooked you up with a handicapped parking permit. If they haven’t, please ask them. It’s a help, but IME the docs don’t always think to give you one. Pretty standard to get one if surgery is scheduled, the rest of the time seems to be a crapshoot.
I had poison ivy almost everywhere, both legs, both arms, on my waist. But at least I didn’t have it THERE. I didn’t realize it was in the yard, so I didn’t make any effort to keep it from spreading. Got it on my sheets (threw them out after the second wash) Poor cat got a bath b/c I thought it was flea bites to begin with.
Some of the good ankle pain could be weather, but it’s been crappy on & off for the last 2 years, since about 6 mos after I hurt the other one. Basically, I foundered it. It’s been chalked up to PF/trigger points, peroneal tendonitis, impingement & now an ATFL strain. It’s probably some combination of all of the above. The plan has been that once I get the bad foot healed up, this one will follow. It’s taken a lot of abuse though. I had to laugh to myself though, the OS made sure to tell me it was OK if wore the brace on the other foot if I needed it. Kind of ‘Duh’ thing that you actually need to hear though.
So I have the radiology report from my PET/CT scan and there are two things on there that are concerning. I am waiting for my Doctor to call me and explain the results. He was in surgery Thursday and Friday, and I am assuming he needs to talk to the other relevant drs before he gets back to me. Stupid waiting. I really, really wish what ever is wrong with me was more straight forward. Sigh.
Sorry you’ve been having such a tough time getting a diagnosis, judysmom. I can’t imagine how frustrating that must be for you!
I just got back from my trip, and my knee survived, but barely. Hopefully the Dr can give me a better idea of what’s wrong when I go on Friday. I’m getting tempted to find a horse to ride, even for 5 minutes, no matter how much more damage I might do! I did have the unfortunate of finding out that I also have problems with Tramadol while on the plane. OTC meds weren’t helping enough so the Dr first put me on vicodin so I could sleep at night, turns out vicodin keeps me awake and makes me super paranoid, so then the Dr put me on tramadol sui night and fir the plane trip. It works great if I only take one right before bed, but if I take more than one in 24 hours, it makes me violently ill. Finding this out in the last two hours of a 9 hour flight, after which I had to take another hour-long flight on a very small plane was awesome. Then, because I thought it was a fluke I did the same thing and took it right before the second if three flights to get home.
Hope things start to get better for everyone else!
Looks like one foot is well on the way to better. I rode again today. For real this time. 
Actually pushed some today, trotted quite a bit, chickened out of trying canter, and the rebuilt ankle held up pretty well. It’s kind of cranky now, but tolerable. The good foot on the other hand…
I ran a whopping 0.1 mile last week. Yay! It wasn’t pretty. :lol: Bad foot tolerated it fine … the good foot - not so much. I think there’s some pretty significant impingement going on, besides the ever present peroneal tendonitis. I think could do PT until the day I die & it’s not going to fix this.
Have they figured out what’s wrong with you yet Judysmom?
good job redmares! that sounds good. have you tried laser on the tendon? it does well for soft-tissue stuff, so if you have access, might be worth a shot.
for an update on my knee, riding 2-3+ times a week now. still hurts, still swells. jumping again and it’s painful. am betting on the #3: 3 different types of stirrups- my bow balance, regular, and mdc, plus 3 different saddles, plus 3 different horses. after a particularly intense lesson, i could barely walk for 3 days thanks to knee pain and a strained quad. lovely.
just spoke with ortho tonight and going back in for a f/u. asked him if i should ride before my appointment, so he can see what’s really going on. he was like, “no, don’t do something that will hurt.” i replied that i was going to ride anyway but could be sure that i rode before my appt. 
have a pretty good idea that there’s nothin’ they can do at this point, but who knows?..
Hey! So it has taken a while to figure out what’s wrong with my leg.
I have now had 3 biopsies, the last one was on 8/16, and my doctor removed about a golf ball and a half sized chunk of my tibia below the knee and filled in the area with bone concrete and then attached a HUGE plate with rods and screws to hold the bone together. (post op at home pic) http://www.flickr.com/photos/92444452@N05/9683628346/
Here’s a pic of the post op fluoroscope pic http://www.flickr.com/photos/92444452@N05/9683690900/
I got off the crutches Friday, went back on the cane and went back to work Tuesday. I saw my doctor yesterday to remove the staples ( I had 24!) and he told me the biopsy results.
The good news: Its not Lymphoma!!!
The bad news: Its some sort of rheumatoid autoimmune connective tissue disorder that is attacking and destroying my tibia. Bah. At least its not fatal!
So I foresee more doctors in my future… LOL
I get another PET scan in 12 weeks to check on the status of whatever made my pharangeal lymphoid tissue in my throat light up and to check on the lung nodules. Yes, I quit smoking.
But the best part is that my doctor who was also my surgeon seems to think that the giant plate plus the cement should make my leg feel better enough to return to normal activity!!! Thank God- I miss riding so much, I miss being able to walk reasonably well, and exercise in general.
I’m so glad you got an answer. And that it wasn’t cancer. Sometimes I wonder though if the non-fatal, chronic stuff is really better. Chronic gets really old.
Looks like you’ve got your Halloween costume done. Nightmare Before Christmas or Frankenstein?
Judysmom I have been all summer to hear your prognosis…sound better than thought.
I joined the knee brigade…what was perceived as my Baker Cyst flairing up got misdiagnosed wrong brace wrong injection and after 6 weeks of pain worse than child labor I insisted on an MRI and well they were stupefied to inform me I had a significantly torn Meniscus and need immediate Surgery…Tuesday…So people what can I expect? I am a Bad Patient…I can and have hack sawed off casts…moved cinder blocks with hand
while wrist casted for surgery and not good at staying off a horse or driving my truck …what are the chances I can Fox hunt in say 3 weeks?
oh and I do not like pain meds they make me feel sick…
[QUOTE=red mares;7160466]
I’m so glad you got an answer. And that it wasn’t cancer. Sometimes I wonder though if the non-fatal, chronic stuff is really better. Chronic gets really old.
Looks like you’ve got your Halloween costume done. Nightmare Before Christmas or Frankenstein?[/QUOTE]
LOL no kidding. Everyone I’ve told has been like “Yay not cancer! But it still doesn’t sound very good…”
JBRP- It was the news I’ve been waiting for all summer too.
I agree with you- narcotics are terrible! I’ve had two operations cutting into my bone now and I didn’t take any drugs for the first one, and for the second I only took drugs for three days. I found it to be painful but tolerable. My threshold is if its not waking me up in the middle of the night, its not that bad and I don’t need drugs.
I don’t personally know about meniscus surgery, but from what I understand its a two to 3 week recovery.
I am a bad patient too LOL. I got yelled at and benched by my doctor this surgery.
Judysmom…yes mine tried benching me a few times by putting me in casts?..now I have my own personal little hacksaw n lots of vet wrap …you vet wrap the cast back on when you are going for a check up to your spouse is around…I hate those nasty staples … Kept thinking and hoping you were OK and going to ride that lovely Raven Boy of yours…
JBRP did you have surgery? How did it go? How are you doing?
I’m still limping and using the cane, but I’m not as bad as I was. I spoke with my doctor yesterday, and he said based on my most recent bloodwork whats wrong with me is not autoimmune, they don’t know what it is, and just be happy its not cancer.
Well I am happy its not cancer, but my leg & knee still hurts a lot. Hurts way too much to do anything horsey now that’s for sure.
Yay for not autoimmune! My best friend has autoimmune stuff, it’s the gift that keeps on giving - like ugly sweaters from your MIL that you wear periodically.
I turned my ankle a little more than a week ago. Not badly, but it sure woke me up. I was watering the plants before I went into work, and found an uneven patch & over it went. Conveniently, I had a dr appt the next day. Doc didn’t think there was any tendon damage (:)) but enough a sprain to send me back to PT for a couple weeks.
I did get to ride last weekend. I didn’t push it, but it amazes how little riding bothers my ankle. It bothers it some, but like some here have experienced. Geez, maybe the PT told me to wait 6 months for a reason. :lol:
One of the guys at the barn just had his ACL rebuilt 2 weeks ago. It sounds like reality has struck since then. His doc told him could ride on 1 Jan. Our trainer offered to put him on horse outside the grocery store, but he wasn’t supplying the quarters. We need to hang a red cross outside the barn.
RM I am so happy to hear you are riding. That is a great cornerstone.
An update on my end = weight-lifting. It’s amazing. After injuring my “good” knee, I enrolled in a PT treatment program which was way better than the one I had for my other knee. They got me back on my feet and ready to continue at the gym, which I have. Turning on those muscles was key to preventing further pain and problems. I am careful to not over-do anything, but I am now going to the gym about 4-5 days a week with an alternating schedule of cardio+ lifting-arms and cardio+lifting-legs. I feel so good that I am DYING TO RIDE. I am making myself wait. I am trying to pacify myself with cycling and swimming and local hiking for now. I don’t want to overdo anything. I find myself looking at a lot of horse ads for sale and dreaming about riding and competing again. I know I should wait for now and keep working on building my muscle. I’m really happy and feel positive and am trying to not do anything foolish. Unfortunately, I live in a very non-horsey area, so I can’t go to the barn and just get it out of my system by visiting. I wish I had horsey friends in my area, that would make it easier. But at least wanting to ride is a way better problem to have than something preventing you from riding.
