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...
Thursday, January 17, 2013
Friday, January 4, 2013
ONE YEAR!!!
Yesterday I went in for my one year check-up. And yes, it was two weeks early, but who's counting. I was a little nervous going in not really sure where I stood and if the doctor would be happy with my overall progress.
As the Doc came in his first words to me were, "Was it worth it?"
That alone gives you a basic understanding of how difficult the surgery and the recovery are for this procedure.
After a brief five minute conversation it became clear that I haven't been progressing the way that I should. Some of the basic things that helped us reach that conclusion were:
- I was still having pain with any extended walking or standing
- I still have moments of swelling (specifically a real large knee this past weekend after working in the garage for a couple of hours)
- No real maneuverability while playing with the kids in the backyard. (Doc suggested I should be able to jog around and play soccer with the kids without any setbacks)
All of this to say... the last year and a half and two surgeries hasn't put me any closer to my goal of being semi-active again. At this point of the blog you might be wondering what the next step is from here.
The first step from here is to go and get a 3T MRI (an advanced MRI test) to see exactly what the status of my knee is. Based on the results of that MRI we will move forward. What does it mean to move forward? If I am honest I really don't know. What we discussed before the ACI surgery was that if this procedure didn't work the only real place to go would be a total knee replacement. I just cannot imagine having to go through a total knee replacement at my age. However, I also cannot imagine living with my current knee issues for an extended amount of time.
Emotionally the last few days have been a little difficult to digest. Knowing that the last surgery, pain, time, family and financial stresses didn't accomplish what we were hoping for is hard to swallow. I can liken it to running a marathon only to find out at 26.2 miles you ran the wrong direction and now you have to run back. I don't know exactly what the next year will bring. But what it seems is endurance will be the key to 2013 just as it was in 2012.
Obviously there is more to come.
As the Doc came in his first words to me were, "Was it worth it?"
That alone gives you a basic understanding of how difficult the surgery and the recovery are for this procedure.
After a brief five minute conversation it became clear that I haven't been progressing the way that I should. Some of the basic things that helped us reach that conclusion were:
- I was still having pain with any extended walking or standing
- I still have moments of swelling (specifically a real large knee this past weekend after working in the garage for a couple of hours)
- No real maneuverability while playing with the kids in the backyard. (Doc suggested I should be able to jog around and play soccer with the kids without any setbacks)
All of this to say... the last year and a half and two surgeries hasn't put me any closer to my goal of being semi-active again. At this point of the blog you might be wondering what the next step is from here.
The first step from here is to go and get a 3T MRI (an advanced MRI test) to see exactly what the status of my knee is. Based on the results of that MRI we will move forward. What does it mean to move forward? If I am honest I really don't know. What we discussed before the ACI surgery was that if this procedure didn't work the only real place to go would be a total knee replacement. I just cannot imagine having to go through a total knee replacement at my age. However, I also cannot imagine living with my current knee issues for an extended amount of time.
Emotionally the last few days have been a little difficult to digest. Knowing that the last surgery, pain, time, family and financial stresses didn't accomplish what we were hoping for is hard to swallow. I can liken it to running a marathon only to find out at 26.2 miles you ran the wrong direction and now you have to run back. I don't know exactly what the next year will bring. But what it seems is endurance will be the key to 2013 just as it was in 2012.
Obviously there is more to come.
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