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Off Topic We all need TLC - tendons, ligaments and cartilage

Discussion in 'Watford' started by andytoprankin, Oct 28, 2016.

  1. andytoprankin

    andytoprankin Well-Known Member

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    As my knees and ankles give up and I slowly turn into the Bionic Man, I thought I needed a place to come and moan.

    Latest:
    1. Left knee cartilage surgery not as good as last time - is this the norm for second cartilage ops?
    2. Right Achilles' tendon partially torn. Due to see surgeon on Wednesday.
    3. Right ankle joint very painful. Doc reckons that may be cartilage prob there, too. An MRI will allow assessment of all there.
    4. Right knee cartilage going to go soon.
    I coach disabled football (called Inclusive Football, but if you call it that nobody knows what you mean) on Thursday nights. Did all the aforementioned stop me from modelling goalkeeping last night? Side to side running, fast bent-knee tippy-toe running. Paying for it today. Hot/cold pads on the knees and right ankle. Why is it that when the football is there we just do it? Buy now pay later.

    Anyway. Another reason I started this was I never asked you, BB, how your knee op went after the immediate. How is it now?

    The rest of you, please post and may me feel better by telling me how you're falling apart. If you're not falling apart, I expect you to make something up. ;)
     
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  2. andytoprankin

    andytoprankin Well-Known Member

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    That goes for you, too, H. Sponsored Tiddlywinks is a far better option. ;)
     
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  3. Bolton's Boots

    Bolton's Boots Well-Known Member

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    It's a tad early to tell andy - the previous one took about a year to fully 'bed in', but the signs are positive. It's been ten weeks now & the knee is still swollen, but I can walk properly for around a mile now, can walk upstairs normally - going down is challenging though, still have to clutch the banister and go slowly. The pain has reduced too - am down to half dosage of painkillers. I even managed to drive my car this week, much to my wife's delight - it means she is no longer on the school run for our youngest. Two more weeks and I hope to be back at work.

    Re your point 1 above - my surgeon told me that no two knee operations are alike & he was right.
    Re point 2 - get it fixed asap. I snapped my left one playing squash on a Thursday night, wasn't diagnosed until the Saturday morning & had to be operated on that afternoon, otherwise it would have been too late. Three months in plaster from arse to toe with leg and foot totally straight, followed by an inordinate amount of physio (I'll never forget watching the Scotland v Australia WC qualifier in 1985 on tv - spent the whole match jogging on a mini re-bounder) - had to wear built up shoes for a while too.
    Re point 3 - the dreaded arthritis?
     
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  4. yorkshirehornet

    yorkshirehornet Well-Known Member

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    I have major problems pelvis... waiting on MRI results.... can be in great pain... :(
     
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  5. oldfrenchhorn

    oldfrenchhorn Well-Known Member
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    One of my football friends that I have lunch with on a monthly basis has knee problems, and the treatment he gets once a year if required is an injection of something that he describes as polyfiller. Usually he is much better after it and despite it not being a cure it brings him great relief.
     
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  6. andytoprankin

    andytoprankin Well-Known Member

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    Bloody hell re the swelling! That's amazing. I know it was no small op but bloody hell. I find going down stairs hard too. My children find the noises I make hilarious and do impressions of me. If I was any quicker I'd sort them out. ;)
    I didn't realise the painkillers would go on for you so long either.
    Thanks re two ops - sounds right.
    I keep thinking the tendon will snap one day. I've no idea how much is still connected to the heal. I'm getting more pain on the back, traditionally where one thinks of the tendon. Until recently the pain has been a postage stamp size on the outside back of the heel.
    Heard of the full leg cast. Desperate to avoid that. I'm a bloody awful patient due to my lack of patience with that sort of thing. ;)
    Glad to hear that your knee seems to going in the right direction... :emoticon-0138-think ...so to speak. ;)
     
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    Last edited: Oct 28, 2016
  7. andytoprankin

    andytoprankin Well-Known Member

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    Ouch. Can't imagine that. Presumably this hits pretty much all movement?
     
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  8. andytoprankin

    andytoprankin Well-Known Member

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    A pal of mine, two years older but with nigh-on same medical history, has this too. I angled for this from the surgeon but he said wasn't appropriate for me. I know it sounds disrespectful, and I don't mean to be, I'm sure he's professional, but when it is a non-NHS facility you do wonder if your operation is put onto a whiteboard some as helping sales figures.
    Funnily enough, with my Achilles, I'm angling for the op. The non-surgical answer is full leg cast with weekly recasts as they change angle of toes. Or something like that.
     
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  9. oldfrenchhorn

    oldfrenchhorn Well-Known Member
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    I snapped my Achilles completely on a Saturday, managed somehow to drive home 150 miles on the following Tuesday, and then went to A & E on the Wednesday morning. The surgeon told me that if I had left it any longer he would have had problems joining it back up as it would have gone too far up the leg. He sewed me back together on the Thursday morning and sent me home on the Friday morning. I had a plaster from knee downwards with a slot in the back so that the district nurse could remove the stitches, and he told me that would be on for four weeks, then it would be changed with a new one for a further four. He decided that he would leave the original one for a total of six weeks, then off it came. Four weeks of physio, three times a week, and lots of exercise at home, and I was given the OK and told not to do it again. I promised never to play tennis again.
     
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  10. andytoprankin

    andytoprankin Well-Known Member

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    :emoticon-0120-doh:
    That's extraordinary, ofh. A neighbour told me they had to get his from up near his knee. :emoticon-0104-surpr
    I don't have the stomach for this sort of thing.
    My Achilles was done doing karate, long stance did it. I do want to go back to this but with a more realistic stance for a man with knees and ankles as crumbly as mine. ;)
    I've already had to give up playing cricket (back), playing football (knee and elbow) - although I get around that ban with 'coaching' ;), and competitive playground marbles (poor eyesight :emoticon-0126-nerd:).
     
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  11. Mexican Hornet

    Mexican Hornet Well-Known Member

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    Jesus - is this what old age is about! I am scared!

    Good luck gents! Hope it all runs smoothly !!
     
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  12. andytoprankin

    andytoprankin Well-Known Member

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    Old age? <yikes>
    Cheeky bastard. ;)
     
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  13. Hornet-Fez

    Hornet-Fez Well-Known Member

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    Fortunately I've not had anything like those problems. I am arthritic in one hand as the result of many a sprained thumb in my rugby playing days and a severe dislocation playing football - as a gk diving at a player's feet. I also had tendonitis in the knee back in the day. An op, similar to Steve Stone of Nottm Forest and England fame, saw me right... was playing and/or reffing for 15 years after.
     
    #13
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  14. Bolton's Boots

    Bolton's Boots Well-Known Member

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    The swelling has actually reduced, but the knee is still bigger than the good one - it just takes time. Like the bruising - given that they 'operate' with a hammer, I had a bruise on the side of my leg from just above the knee right down to my toes - it only faded about two weeks ago.

    Probably the worst thing about all three operations is the last thing you would think about - once you're home, going to the toilet is a nightmare. In hospital, the toilets are equipped with all sorts of gadgets to help you park your arse & get back up again - different story at home. :eek:
     
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  15. andytoprankin

    andytoprankin Well-Known Member

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    <yikes> re the bruising.
    I agree about toileting. My sister (who is no shrinking violet - about 17-18 stones over that) had the same op as me on both knees at the same time. I can only imagine visits to the khazi must've involved falling over backwards from standing upright until ars.e hit seat. Not something to attempt upstairs for fear of being very quickly downstairs.
    With just one straight leg out lowering myself resembled a kossak dance.
     
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  16. Bolton's Boots

    Bolton's Boots Well-Known Member

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    Christ! <yikes> Maybe that's why bedpans were invented?

    I bought myself a booster seat - fits over the top of the toilet seat & raises the level by 3-4 inches - makes the process much easier...
     
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  17. hornethologist a.k.a. theo

    hornethologist a.k.a. theo Well-Known Member

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    Isn't the thread getting rather bogged down with all this toilet humour?
     
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  18. Bolton's Boots

    Bolton's Boots Well-Known Member

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    Are you saying we should wipe it?
     
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  19. hornethologist a.k.a. theo

    hornethologist a.k.a. theo Well-Known Member

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    Or s...crap it maybe...
     
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  20. andytoprankin

    andytoprankin Well-Known Member

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    You're just papering over the cracks.
     
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