Torn Meniscus

Yesterday was the four weeks anniversary since I injured my leg. It has been a whirlwind so let me catch you up! On November 18th I went to Kroger to get some snacks before my infusion and as I was bending down to get something off the bottom shelf my knee popped and suddenly I was jumping around and yelling and throwing my groceries! It felt like my knee came out of its socket but at the same time it was locked in a certain position. I was truly blindsided and did not know what to do - I couldn't sit down or stand straight so I just leaned and hopped. Luckily a woman was just turning the aisle and called for help. The manager came running over and paged my boyfriend who was on the other side of the store. We agreed that there was no way I could get to the car - I couldn't sit in the wheel chair to get to the parking lot so we had to call the ambulance. What was going on? I seriously could not fathom what was happening but I had a feeling it wasn't good. Once the ambulance came they had to lift me up and put me on the stretcher and prop my leg up so that it could sit in it's locked position with as little pain as possible. The ambulance ride was pretty awful - ever bump we hit was torture and I could hardly tolerate the pain. Once inside of the ER they had to have several people lift me from one bed to the other.They did an x-ray to make sure nothing was broken but they had to literally cut my (brand new) jeans off to do the x-ray because my knee was completely locked in this awkward bending position. Here is a lovely picture of my in the ER - jeans all cut up and they put a soft cast on to prevent my leg from moving at all !

So at this point I still have no idea what is going on but I am convinced that I have shattered my knee or my ACL or something - I mean it was the worst pain I had ever experienced every time I moved - and I've been through meningitis and spinal taps and I would take those any day over this. So the hospital says "oh you can go home if you want" and I start crying hysterically because obviously they don't understand that I literally cannot move in any way shape or form - I can't even get up to use the bathroom. So after some debating they decide to admit me for the night. It was a rough night - no sleeping - just pain meds and lots of doctors. Finally at 5am they get me into an MRI and after 2 hours of sitting in the machine (completely dehydrated and with music blasting) they realize that my Meniscus has completely torn in half and has flipped up and gotten caught in my knee cap. Here is a picture of the meniscus and I had a longitudinal and a flap tear. 

So they say that the way mine tore is pretty rare and I'll need to do surgery right away. I am cheering at this point and cannot wait to go into surgery - anything to get relief! Here I am waiting for surgery:

So a few hours later I am taken into surgery! I was out like a light and when I woke up I had this huge brace on:

Luckily they had this really awesome ice pack attached underneath which provided so much relief! But then came the news that because my tear was on the outside of the meniscus I had to stay off of my leg for 6-8 weeks. The thought of crutching around for 6 weeks was so daunting! But here I am, four weeks into it and I am getting through it just fine! Here is about 5 days into it and my loving dog was protecting me! He is so good!

And here are my stitches at 10 days (don't look if you don't like scars!) but it is pretty amazing that they can do a whole surgery through those two little holes!

 

And here is what it looks like now - just the brace and I am learning to get around pretty well with my crutches! I cannot wait to be off of them but I am making due until then. In fact it has made me realize how important our legs are and how much we use them for other than walking. I also realize how many buildings are not up to code for wheelchairs or handicap people - it has been a real struggle but I have a much better perspective!

I'll let you know when I am walking! January 3rd is the date - hopefully I'll have a cool cane or will be walking just fine by myself!