Hi Lloyd:
Saw my surgeon today. Got stitches removed. He said the area was very
swollen but he is not alarmed about it (while well above average it is
within normal range).
He had to remove quite a bit of cartilage (medial meniscus and lateral
meniscus I think were the terms). It was really in bad shape -- brittle,
hanging down, useless.
He also did very minimal smoothing of the kneecap due to calcium deposits.
There is calcium deposits throughout the cartilage, in other words
arthritis. But he said it was moderate, not severe. I am nowhere near a
TKR,
but there may be one in my future in maybe 15 years, so no point worrying
about it (besides, who knows what new developments they will have at that
time). However, he did emphasize arthritis is unpredictable. He sees
people
who look bad, but it doesn't get any worse and people with minimal
arthritis
yet 2 years later it gets bad. But his best guess is that the arthritis
won't be a problem. He did say that my cartilage damage is probably due to
the arthritis and it was the cartilage that was producing most of my
symptomatic problems. He feels over time I should be fine with the major
problems resolved.
We start P/T on Wednesday (earliest they can see me; I'm on a waiting list
to get in sooner). Also, he did suggest I get back on anti-inflammatory
(ibuprofin or Aleve) for awhile as that should also help with the swelling
(I guess lowering inflammation will help lower the swelling). He seems to
think I'm doing it right in terms of activity. He says I probably won't
hurt
the knee by pu****ng it, but I really shouldn't push it too much since that
can set me back.
Overall, a positive result.
Question for this group: ibuprofin vs. Aleve?? Which do I use? Aleve
seems
like more long term pills (12 hours) but I'm not sure I like that. I would
almost rather take more and experiment with skipping a dose.
Mel
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