Monday afternoon I had the privilege of sitting in the MRI machine for 45 minutes as I they did a cartilage map of my knee. Today we got the results.
The results were that the ACI procedure done a year ago, yesterday, didn't fully take. The lesion on the outside of my knee looks good but the other lesions (the larger ones) didn't work. Hearing that news was both good and bad. It was good in that it meant that I wasn't crazy. Bad...well I think you get the bad side of it. Hard to believe that we went through all the pain, craziness, time, money, etc. to be no closer to fixing the knee. Where do we go from here?
That is a good question. A question that we hoped would be answered today but what we found out...my knee is seriously jacked up and there aren't any real good alternatives. Here are the current three options on the table as discussed with my doctor today:
1) Do ACI surgery all-over hoping this time the odds fall in our favor
2) Try another procedure called: Osteochondral allografts. What is this? This procedure involves the transplantation of a piece of articular cartilage and attached subchondral bone to a damaged region of the articular surface of a joint. Basically transplanting cadaver material into my damaged knee parts with the hopes it works. (Probability of this working is around 50%)
3) or Knee resurfacing. A procedure in which a metal plate is placed in the damaged area of the knee. better alternative than a total knee replacement in that it allows me to keep all of my ligaments and tendons in tact.
*A total knee replacement is still not a good option due to my age.
At this point you might be wondering what our game plan is? We are not 100% sure if I am honest. We are going to seek an audience with a couple of specialist in the Osteochondral Allograft procedure to get their perspectives of my knee and whether or not this is a good option for me. One of those doctors is here in Phoenix and the other in San Diego.
There are still a lot of decision to be made and a lot of information to gather. More blogging to come...
I am so sorry to hear these results, Pastor Lee! We will be praying that God guide you in making your decision on how to proceed.
ReplyDeleteTheresa Sorrels
Hi Lee,
ReplyDeleteI just stumbled on your blog tonight while googling "how to sleep with a bledsoe brace," and reading about your experience is helping me feel better about my own situation. I am 8 days post-op from a patellofemoral joint replacement with mpfl reconstruction. Today I was getting very frustrated with some of the things you described early in the blog- having to rely on other people for help with everything, craziness from lying on my back all day, worries about pain and pain meds...my brain gets going into overdrive and I can't imagine living like this for any significant length of time. But your blog really reassured me that things will get better and maybe the next week won't be so bad. I admire your discipline in rehab and your attitude throughout your experience. I really hope you are able to resolve your lingering knee problems. Your resurfacing option sounds a little like my joint replacement- metal prosthesis on the femur where the kneecap tracks, and polyethylene button on the articular surface of the kneecap. It's sort of like half a TKR, which is nice because I am still quite young. Anyway, I'm certain your surgeons have better insight into your case than sinew random person on the internet, but after reading your last post here I thought I would share. Thanks for sharing your journey so far with us, and I wish you the best as you continue on.
Liz K.