Days after the surgery

So I had surgery on Monday March 10th, 2014.  I had to be there by 5:00 am and surgery started at about 7:30.  Got there, went back to my pre-surgery room, got IV's and whatnot, they also gave me a patch behind the ear to help with nausea after the surgery with the anesthesia.  So it was a little after 7:00, my parents and my wife, Kayla, were there, they came to get me and drugged me up with some relaxing stuff, and that stuff was awesome, I have never been high before but I am sure that is about what it feels like haha.  We got back to the freezing cold room, I was still laying on the bed, and they still had time before the surgery started so they started showing me stuff around the room which was kinda amusing and kept me calm.  Then they gave me the oxygen mask and I was out until I woke up in the recovery room.

When I woke up I had no pain, no IV injected pain meds or anything.  Got wheeled up to my room, they gave me 2 pain killers, and my parents and Kayla got up to my room.  Then I took one more pain killer around 8:00pm and then only have taken tylonell extra strength since then with some aspirin for blood thinners but that is it.  I then got released on that Tuesday (a day before I was supposed to be released), went back to Johnstown for the night, then headed back to York on Wednesday where I am now at.

So the Doctor said that everything looks good now.  They cut me open like they did before, right over the old scar (which I think is why I didn't really feel any pain except for an ache every here and there).  He took everything out that involves the synovial chondromatosis, he said that the one piece was about the size of a ping pong ball behind my knee and he has no idea how I was even walking on it because my knee couldn't even bend or extend.  He also got the rest of the little pieces.  He took an X-ray before they took me out of surgery to make sure that he got everything which it looks like he did from what he says.  Right from I woke up in recovery, I could see that my knee was a lot straighter than it was before I had surgery.

So I had the nurse and the physical therapist come today, nurse said everything looks good, she showed Kayla how to do the dressing and the ace bandage on my leg.  The physical therapist showed me some exercises, she is gonna call the doctor to see what else I can do.  The nurse is done and doesn't need to come back anymore unless I call, and the physical therapist will be back on Saturday.

My next knee appointment with Dr. Weiss in Pittsburgh is on Wednesday March 26th.

From now to then, Kayla and the pups (Ellie and Hannah) will be taking care of me!

Here is some pictures, I will get some pictures up of my scars and surgery marks when I get a chance to take pictures of them.

Pre-surgery:

After surgery:

Patch behind the ear for my nausea:

On my way home from the hospital:

9 Months Later

So it has been a while since I have updated this, and it has now been about 9 months since I had surgery and most of this disease removed.

So I was at the doctors in Pittsburgh on Friday (9/20/13) and got some x-rays done.  Nothing major has changed, I could tell, as well as Dr. Weiss, that it has changed, but nothing that it bothers me.  It is still up to me if and when I want to have surgery.  I am just going to play it as not until it starts bothering me, like he said, it could be tomorrow or many years down the road.  Nothing new in the front of my knee, still as empty as it was since after my surgery.  My next appointment is in December, and then we will go to meeting every 6 months, then every year after a while.  No new pictures of my scars, they are generally the same as there were 3 months ago.

I bought an exercise bike and ever since I started using it my knee has gotten 10x better.  It is still sore on some days, especially with this time of year and the temperature varying like 30-40 degrees from morning to afternoon.

So other than that, I got married to Kayla on July 6th, we went on our honeymoon to Aruba, and I am one happy man cause I got me a wonderful woman!!  She is now all moved in with me in York.

Also, we got another puppy!! Here name is Hannah, so now we have Ellie Belle and Hannah Banana.  Ellie is on the right, and Hannah is on the left, she is half Black Lab and half Boarder Collie and she has a white glove, fingertips,

I also have another blog going on if you want to check it out:
http://inspirationald.blogspot.com/

It is updated almost daily.

Here is the Facebook page (that you should like!) and the Twitter feed (that you should follow and you will get a follow back!):
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/InspirationalD
Twitter - https://twitter.com/Inspirational_D

14 Weeks Later

So this week marks 14 weeks since I have my right knee operated on.  Everything has been getting better day by day. It is hurting less each day.  I started to heat my knee before I work out all the time and it seems to be helping it, it hurts less during the day, and if it is hurting and I heat it before I work out, it feels a lot better during and after working out.  I am still icing it each night after working out.

Mountain bike season is coming up so I am getting pretty excited for that!!

Monday was my Ellie Belle's (my dog) 1st Birthday!!  Also, on Thursday, March 28th, is the day that it will be 100 days until me and Kayla get married!!

Not too much else to really talk about with my knee.  Pictures below of my knee, my dog, and the balloons which are almost done, surprised the one lasted this long.

Started outpatient Physical Therapy

So this past Tuesday, 1/8, I started outpatient physical therapy at Western PA Sports Medicine & Rehab Clinic in Johnstown, PA.  Today was my 2nd time going.  My knee actually feels a lot better after doing all that.  Today I did everything from Tuesday plus some.

I started out today's workout with some electrodes, or something like that, being injected into my quad muscle and loosening it up and I had to flex the quad muscle when it was tightening it up.  I then did some typical motions exercises, then I got to get on a bike to do some more motion exercises.  At first the bike was bothersome to my knee, but once I got going it felt good, I just had to keep on pulling up my shorts because they kept on rubbing the incision on the back of my leg.  I then did some calf stretches, then some more motion exercises, then back on the bike for the second time.  After that, I iced my knee and then I was done and came home.

I am able to start walking without crutches fairly well, starting to get up and down steps without my crutches, but I keep my crutches on hand just encase I would need them.  I can't walk down steps yet normally, I can only go one step at a time with both feet on both steps, but I can go up steps with one foot on each step.

The people up at Western PA want me to get pictures of my surgery so they can see what it looks like, because I am one of the first cases up there with synovial chondromatosis, and now there have been a few more people with cases like mine in different joints, but no where near as severe as mine was.

Below is some pictures of my incisions with most of the strips off of my leg.  I also might have said in the last blog post that I am taking Advil, I am taking Aleeve instead because I miss heard what the doctor said, and they said that all the strips coming off already is good.

On Saturday, January 12th, will be 175 days that I get to marry my best friend Kayla. :-)

Here is a picture of me and my Fiance's dog Ellie, she is 3/4 Black Lab and 1/4 German Shepard.  She lives with my fiance currently, but once we get married she will then be living with me as well.  Just thought that I would share because I don't think I showed any pictures of her yet.