Now what am I supposed to do!

I have continued to struggle with the crutches and my left knee is quite sore. I was stretching up to undo a door lock and the back of my knee complained quite noticeably. I had noticed that it was difficult to straighten the leg fully. It was the weekend so I headed to the A&E to get it checked out. It may have been mishandled during surgery, who knows! With my hyperextending joints it would be quite easy to twist it the wrong way.

I waited for three and a half hours with only Australian rugby programmes to entertain me. My fusion was getting very sore and it was difficult to elevate it. My pain relief was overdue and I was not feeling happy at all. I decided to pull the plug. I went to the desk and told them I was leaving.



I tried to book an appointment with my GP and could only get an appointment in four days time. So I took it and tried to baby my knee in the meantime. It was very difficult to use crutches if I needed to and even using my knee crutch put extra weight on it. I’d finished all the nice pain relief and I was just taking regular paracetamol and that was not helping my knee.

Finally my appointment came around. I’d also managed to twinge my back somehow so I was truly the walking wounded. I explained what was happening and the doctor felt it was most likely a Baker’s cyst (named after the discoverer not because they are common in bakers.). It’s where the synovial fluid in the knee increases due to an injury or inflammation and it fills the bursa at the back of the knee and bulges out.

She said there wasn’t much I could do about it apart from pain relief and it will hopefully resolve. She was against draining it because of the risk of infection. To correctly diagnose it I need an MRI. I booked one in the soonest possible slot....in two weeks time!

In the mean time I’m taking my regular medications and tramadol. It makes me a bit sleepy but since I’m supposed to be recovering it’s probably a really good side effect.

Looking up how to treat a Bakers cyst it recommends good pain relief - ticking that box, strengthening exercises - doing those, and using crutches to rest it until the pain is controlled. Well I am using crutches but not to rest that leg! My poor left leg is supposed to be responsible for moving me around and now I find it needs to rest. The cyst is supposed to dissolve back into the body but I didn’t think it has much chance of doing that since I still need to use it. There is a risk that the cyst might rupture and the fluid would drain into the calf and cause pain very similar to a DVT. If this happens you’re supposed to see a doctor urgently. Hmm good luck with that.

So my knee is complaining a bit but I’m trying to rest it as much as possible - I crawled into the shower instead of hopping. The good thing is my back is much happier with the tramadol. Hopefully that’s all I need for it. I don’t want to go back to the osteopath again. I both love and hate the cracking and I really don’t like being picked up off the table to stretch it out. It works, which amazes me since I’m a real sceptic. Hopefully all this rest will sort it out too. 

Time keeps on ticking...

After clomping around a week I had my bandage removed to check what was happening.

The wound looked really good. There was no sticking to the dressing like when I had my calcaneal osteotomy so that was a relief. The external stitches were removed and the rest are dissolving stitches.

The nurse told me that my surgeon would come and look at it and then I could put my moonboot back on. Horrors! I did not want that heavy, hot unwieldy thing on if I didn’t have to. It looked ridiculous wearing a moonboot and a walking crutch. I said I’d been expecting a cast. The nurse said to tell that to the surgeon....and I did. Got my cast! The nurse then told me only the patients who can be trusted to follow instructions get offered the moonboot option. I took that on board - I’m a trusted patient 💖 and then I got my cast put on! Not as bright as I’d have liked. She was out of all Fluoro colours sadly.

When she checked my foot the surgeon moved the ankle nicely up and down. That was reassuring. While the cast was being put on I had to keep my foot at right angles to my leg and push my toes flat. My toes don’t do flat they do a weird curling so it was a real mission getting the foot just right.

I had to use crutches to leave because the knee crutch might dent the cast. This was not fun, I couldn’t seem to get the motion right. I was glad to get to the car. It was nothing like when I’d previously had crutches. I struggled around at home and then decided I’d google how crutches should be adjusted. It turns out the crutches that the nurse thought were a perfect height for me were way too high. No wonder I was literally leaping around. I adjusted them correctly in anticipation of my next journey.

Unfortunately even with the correction of the height I still struggled with the crutches. I tucked them in the corner of the room for emergencies and went back to solely using my knee crutch.

I have only summited our driveway three times since my surgery. The first time I used my crutches and my knee crutch and resembled some sort of mantis like creature. The second time I weaved

 backwards and forwards and it took forever. Then it came to me - use your walking stick! I set out on a trip to the train station to check I could get there for work and then to have a nice lunch and maybe some shopping. There are two very steep walkways to the station but with my walking stick I made it relatively easily. Success! I had lunch and walked home. Halfway there I suddenly remembered to hold the grip on my knee crutch when going up and down hills and it will be no problem. And so it was! After lunch and shopping I was able to put my walking stick in my bag and trundle home. I was thrilled by the fact that I beat an old lady to get up the hill.

It’s the small things that make your day! Now I just need a tripping hazard sticker and maybe a safety flag for my foot!