My ankle joint itself isn’t my problem, it’s the hardware on the fib. And the surgeon says it would be at least 6 weeks NWB…the last time the 6 weeks turned into 11, so no thanks, not at this time
Time for me to join up properly, now I’m over sulking, and when I say join up I promise it is not in any sort of weird and wonderful NH way;)
Last summer knee hurt a bit, I’m getting older, no big deal, got on with life. Was getting on horse one day and felt something give, non weight bearing straight away, HUGE hugs for saint of horse, (pig headed bitch of a mare being ridden for about the 6th time after 10 year lay off) I was already in mid swing when it went, so the only way was up, and I was dearly hoping that it would feel better when I hit the saddle, WRONG. Anyway saint of mare stood stock still while I got it together and slithered off into a heap on the mounting block.
Trip to ER and we get diagnoses of Bakers Cyst, confirmed by x ray, which has burst, fair enough, take pain pills, rest up for a few days, use crutches as needed, get on with life.
Wait a few weeks, still having pain, manage on two occasions to fall down rabbit holes on farm with bad knee, feel really glad that we live so far out of town as language was not pleasant, nor quiet.
Eventually decide to go to doc, sent for more x rays, turns out there is nothing to be seen so I’m going to be sent to specialist to check for soft tissue damage.
In the meantime ride a video dressage test, and when I see the video cry, because although it scored fairly well, horse was a superstar to pack around someone so one sided:o
So October rolls around, get to see orthopedic guy in the city, looks at the x rays, says the knee is fine, does physical exam, says knee is fine, maybe a strain, suggests rest, and would I like an injection? No I wouldn’t like one, not until I know what we are injecting for, so get reluctantly referred for MRI.
Canadian system grinds round to my turn last week, go for an MRI and new x rays. Get a call back to specialist on Tuesday, and my perfectly fine knee, could be a slight strain, has torn cartilage and extensive arthritis. So now I’m on the wait list for surgery, for a trim and a major debridement. My own doc is away this week, I’ll have to go running to her next week to actually read the report, the elderly male chauvinist pig ape I saw in the city doesn’t think patients should worry their uneducated heads about the technicals.:mad:
Any way, here we are, waiting dates to see an actual surgeon, wait to go on the actual waiting list, then get the op done, please God/Earth Spirit/Jehovah/Allah who ever if you could see your way to getting me fit before summer I would be so grateful.
Haffy, fingers crossed you get a very early date! I would never call my thing lucky, but at least it was considered emergency and so I got them 5 and 19 days after dislocating my knee.
PT going well, and I have also discovered that PT has good and bad days. Today was great, but Wednesday I did have to peel myself off the ceiling a few times.
Two weeks from today I can slowly begin transitioning to weight bearing, God and surgeon willing and the creek don’t rise.
Coreene, glad to see your PT is going well!
Have to say I’m disappointed in how slowly mine is going…I’m at 6 1/2 weeks post-op for my meniscal repair and debridement. Still can’t do squats or stairs without pain. Haven’t even been able to THINK about getting on a horse! 
It seems like most people are much quicker to bounce back from this (relatively) minor procedure. My surgeon said on Friday at my follow up appointment that there’s “nothing mechanically wrong” with my knee and I should be just fine to hit the gym and resume normal activities within reason. He told me to do yoga to help with the pain–stretch everything out and release pressure on my knee. At least it will help build core strength and flexibility for riding when I ever get back in the saddle!
Can I join?
After 7 years of putting up with my knee randomly deciding it was going to hurt like h-e-double hockey sticks every now and then for no reason at all, I am at the end of my rope. I’ve had x-rays, tons and tons of physio, 2 insane knee braces and an MRI that said it’s just fine… So what the fruitbat… Last week it decided it was going to wake me up in the middle of the night for the first time in months, no change in activity, no awkward steps, nada, just out of the blue. The next day it was fine until I went for my usual run and it goes into full on battle mode, I made it back to the car but the drive home was agony, I almost threw up and was pretty much non-weight bearing the rest of the night. I stayed in bed the next day with ice and advil barely able to hobble around the house. I managed on day 3 to make it out to lunch with the hubby wearing the current version of insane knee brace, by day 5 I was able to walk without the brace around our neighbourhood for 20 minutes or so, today is day 7 and it’s damn near fine except a bit ouchy on stairs… So by the time I get in to see the doctor, it’ll be fine, until the next random attack…
I mean I could understand if I had an accident, or if something showed up on the MRI but the only sign something is wrong is a small permanent swelling on the inside of my knee, which they tried to stick a giant needle in once. That didn’t go over so well, the knee was pissed for days after and they never did get any fluid out of it… It’s just super frustrating because I finally found a horse to start riding again, and my lungs are clear for the first time in 15 years (it’s amazing what moving to the desert will do for asthma) and I just don’t want to have to deal with this again, the knee had been feeling the best it has in years up until last week… Bang… Head… On… Desk…
Thanks for letting me vent, hope everyone else is having a good knee/ankle day!
CB
Oh I am soo a member. Broke my ankle in two places last May. Surgery a week after the accident (a ton of permanent pins and a plate), six weeks convalescent leave at home. A soft cast for two weeks, hard cast for two more, air cast(non-weight bearing) two months, air cast(weight bearing) for three more months.
Had to watch my horses from afar, no riding/grooming for a total of five months. Finally started back to riding and in to physical therapy. Nine months after the accident I still don’t have full range of motion in my ankle.
CB, that sucks, that was my biggest fear when I had my MRI, worse I think to be told that there is no reason for such pain, than to actually have a name to put on it, and hopefully a fix for it.
Still waiting for an appointment to see the next guy, I have no idea how long this is all going to take, sigh
Camaraine, how is the riding going now you are back on the saddle?
CB,
I have to ditto what Haffy said. The MRI on my ankle was pretty clean except for some tenosynovitis, and the bone chip on the x-ray. I barely remembered spraining the ankle, just rolled it off a pair of moderately heeled mules (shoes, not the ones w/big ears!) Even after that healed, I hurt for no good reason. When I finally convinced my OS that my life sucked enough to do surgery, he found it was FULL of scar tissue that didn’t show up on the MRI. He took the “I told you so” pretty well.
The most frustrating thing about my spine is that a MRI and a dozen x-rays over the years have all been clean. Still hurts, but the films look good. Oh well.
You might try crying the next time you see your doctor. That’s, unfortunately, the only way I was able to effectively communicate how much life sucked b/c of my ankle. It really ticks me off that it got that far, but it did work.
Unfortunately xrays and MRI aren’t perfect. Had 2 sets of xrays and an MRI on my finger which showed it was just inflamed. Surgeon operated on it and found I had torn the volar plate. Even afterwards looking at the xrays he still couldn’t see it
Thanks for the kind words everyone! I just moved so I’m hoping a fresh set of docs will be able to shed a little more light on whats going on. I’m planning on making an appointment next week so I’ll keep you posted. Today it seems almost back to normal, just a twinge every now and then so I’m going to try riding this weekend hopefully. We’ll see what happens… Redmares, I may just pull out the tears in the office, goodness knows I end up in tears some nights from the darn thing anyways…
Haffy, I hope you get in soon! I had to call my doc when I hadn’t heard about my MRI appointment for a few months and then magically got a call to see if I wanted to come in the next week for one, it was at 3am but I really didn’t care. Maybe if you keep bugging your doc they will bug the ortho for you and get you in sooner. That seems to be the way it is in the Canadian system, squeeky wheels get seen faster…
CB
Yesterday I discovered that you can indeed sit with tears a-rollin’ from pain in PT. Tomorrow I will try and remember to take Tylenol an hour before, and bring tissue in case I cry again. But the good part is that I am getting much more bend, and the bad leg is getting much, much stronger.
Another follow up appointment with surgeon on Monday, and in theory next Friday I should begin putting weight on it.
I also have the extra drama of us switching insurance carriers yesterday, who only do 60 days of PT coverage. Fingers crossed when the surgeon pleads m case to them, I will get it extended. I can’t afford three additional months when I have to pay it myself.
CB, I hear you about the squeaky wheels, but I struggle with complaining to much. Being both an immigrant, and a farmer, I don’t feel that I have contributed much to the health system, so I am not ‘entitled’ to much.
Also the main part of my job these days is providing back up support for the men, which I can do with a bad leg, I only really NEED it fixed so I can ride. Damn I’m just to honest for social medicine.
Coreene, Aghhhh crying in PT doesn’t sound like a good thing, but getting increased ROM is great, keep at it. Hope that your surgeon manages to pleads your case, and gets your extension.
Oh, Coreene, I remember that from the PT after my shoulder surgery. “I’m either going to cry or hit somone…” It does get better, and yes, keep up with the better living through chemistry.
On a good note, I have a pair of jeans on today for the first time in two months, and I might just get back on my horse for a walk around on Sunday 
[QUOTE=atr;6119305]
On a good note, I have a pair of jeans on today for the first time in two months, and I might just get back on my horse for a walk around on Sunday :)[/QUOTE]
Very Good for you, and I’m so jealous (in that order) 
My physiotherapy was going great- no pain, [way] ahead of the average, 2 and 3 week intervals between visits :winkgrin:! Hoping to ride end of last week, doing some lunging and (ahem)[whispers] sitting on horse 
Until last Tuesday when I… Saw the Surgeon. He said I couldn’t ride for another MONTH!!! 
:no: I was so sure I was good to go, now it will be 10 weeks post surgery before I can get back going:( (He also said he’d fixed a tear in my rotator cuff- news to me, 6 weeks post surgery!!!:mad: So I kind of galloped and jumped when I should have still been hand-walking myself. I don’t think I’ve set myself back too far though. I’ll know better next week at my physio appt.
Best wishes, Coreene (and all post-surgicals in PT), for the pain in PT to GO AWAY and for you to be 100% sooner than you expect.
Hi, I’m new to the COTH forums, but I thought this was the perfect place for me: I shattered my left tibia/fibula in July when a school horse I was showing bucked me off in the middle of my course. I spent an hour in the mud/water while paramedics figured out how to a) get in the arena while trying to stay as clean as they could - they stopped to roll up their pant legs b) stabilize me and c) figure out how to cut off my tall boot (which was fairly new! I had just gotten the boots in February!). Ended up transported to a hospital with surgery very early the next morning to repair the leg and aid a bit of metal - a 8 inch plate with about 10 pins. A couple of days later, I got discharged for many weeks of no weight. Started PT in September and return to riding in October.
Had more bad luck and my OTTB spooked (actually a very rare occurrence for him) when I was getting him from the field one night in November. Although I tried to clear out of his path, I didn’t move fast enough and his leg took out my GOOD leg and I ended up with a compound fracture of the right tib/fib. Another evening with the paramedics, another surgery - this time it was a rod down the length of the tibia with about 4-5 screws. I had some respiratory complications after the surgery, so the hospital stay was longer. No fun. Even better - my insurance limited my PT and so although I got some home health PT (very basic), I got no typical “office/outpatient” PT for the second break. I’ve had to continue rehabbing the first leg and do most rehab for the second on my own.
I did get clear reports from the doctor at the end of December so I am slowly returning to riding. I am hoping to take my OTTB to our first schooling show at the end of March!
WHOOT…
No haven’t got an appointment for my knee surgery yet, but I rode yesterday…
It may not be much to some people, but I overcame fear, of both pain, and riding, to climb back in the saddle, TG for both patient horses, and a trainer who makes me believe that I CAN…
It was awesome, I rode in my brace, even dropped my stirrups for a while, and I couldn’t believe how well G Man responded. We only walked, but considering he hasn’t been ridden in a couple of months, I was so impressed at how he worked, he was actually better than when I parked him.
The best news of all, riding was relatively pain free, I’m paying for it today, but I can ride:D
Can I join?
Just had Dr appt. to check out knee with 20yo Acl reconstruction and was told that is either torn or stretched so badly as to not be useful but Dr said that he wouldn’t recommend replacing it as the symptoms I’m having are due to arthritis and not the ACL. Also that, judging from my old scars, the surgery would be hard. He said that eventually the arthritis would make the knee tight enough that the ACL would be pointless anyway. I was kinda hoping to avoid arthritis that bad. He asked me if I could live with the knee the way it is right now and I did say yes I could. I mean it hurts at times, and is wobbly but does function. Maybe this is where I messed up and gave the wrong impression.
The knee is fairly trashed with minimal cartilage left but Dr did say the x-rays didn’t look too bad. He gave me a list of option and I had picked 2 and he left the room to check on one, I thought he was coming back but he never did. Just the guy to fit me for a brace and the nurse with the PT script. Kinda disappointed in him and myself(should have asked to see him again to finish the appt as I had wanted to ask about the MRI). I’m moving soon, maybe I’ll just get a second opinion with another Dr as part of me thinks that stabilizing the knee would slow the arthritis down somewhat but I’m not a Dr so…
Thanks for letting me vent. Not sure what I was hoping for and if I should even be disappointed or not. Have PT and a brace on the way. Think I was looking for more of a fix but maybe this is all that can be done. He did offer injections but never came back so didn’t get that far either. I feel I can’t complain too much. I know coworkers with much worse knees than mine but the point is I would like to avoid mine becoming like theirs so being am being proactive now rather waiting until it is at a point that I can’t live with it.
Thanks again and healing thoughts to all.
Helen
So the good news is I now have a bending brace and can start “gait therapy” on Monday in PT. Bending past 70 degrees is very hard still, but it will come. Sleeping with a bending brace is so much easier.
The bad news is my dad passed away on Tuesday night. That’s why I’m not jumping up and down - figuratively of course - about my good knee news. I’m happy it is progressing but just so sad about my dad.
Oh, no. I’m so sorry. {{hugs}}
I am so sorry
