Thanksgiving

All,

Obviously I have a lot to be thankful for this year!

To be alive, to be walking, to be at home, to be at work, to be with my family...

To have such a supportive family...

To have so many wonderful friends pouring out their support for us while I recover....

This list could go on for a while this year.

One of those things I am thankful for is to have all of Cara's and my families up to Fayetteville for Thanksgiving.

This is a tradition we started back in 2000 after we moved from New Jersey to Missouri (I missed 2004 due to military activation, but the families were at our house anyway - they sent pictures) and are thrilled to continue.

I will try to post some current photos from our celebration this year.

Taking a Break:

Since I am not seeing Dr. Arnold until December 17th and it is unlikely that I will have corrective surgery on my knee until after the new year, I will be taking a break from physical therapy.

They simply can not push me forward until the knee is corrected. Obviously after the knee is worked on again, I will be right back at physical therapy and hopefully posting new improvements. This past Friday, I spoke to my therapist about the walker / cane / crutches and she said that she would prefer me to continue to use the walker to preserve the walking gait. Both the cane and the use of crutches have a tendency to create an unwanted limp that is hard to correct.

While I am desparate to walk without devices, it looks like I will be using the walker well into January and possibly February depending on what we do to the knee.

With this in mind, I may not be posting to the site as often.

Thank you for all of your support and I hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving!

J

The Wait Continues

I now have an appoinment with Dr. Arnold in Fayetteville on Decmeber 17. This is a little further out than I would have wanted, but it was the best they could do. It would have been in January if I had not been an existing patient. This is an office visit and not a procedure which means to me another month plus before I get some relief from the knee pain.
Sugar, I am still using the walker more than the cane. There are a couple reasons for this. The first is the distance from my car to the door to the office. It is long and I am still a bit un-stable with the cane. The second is lack of mental faith and fear of falling. The 4 points of support from the walker feel more secure than a rubber stopper on the end of the cane. I think I am going to declare Saturday cane day at the house and try not to use the walker at all. If that works out, I may try to go to church with the cane. I need the practice.

Thanks for continuing to read,

J

News from Dr. Stafford - regarding the MRI

I want to summarize this the best that I can right after the call:
What the MRI found:
As expected, no major damage to the ligaments.
The joint is stable overall.
Inflamed patellar tendon
Some form of bakers cist that has likely been there for a long time.
I think he said the tendon and the patella are not where they are supposed to be.
(This was moved back in 1987)

What he would do:
Arthroscope to physically see the cartilage, scar tissue and patella to make a determination
If feasible, he would remove scar tissue, re-shape the patella (again) remove the cist and possibly the old screw. If the cartilage is in bad shape and the patella is not worth re-shaping, he mentioned having surgery to remove the patella again. He almost leaned that direction, but made sure he wanted to see inside with a scope before making the determination. This would require a minimum of 2 more trips to Tulsa for operations.

What he is going to do:
His office is going to call Dr. Arnold's office in Springdale this morning to see if he would accept the referral. If he accepts, they will forward all the information and records.

What I am going to do:
Call Dr. Arnold's office this afternoon at about 3:00 to make an appointment.
I assume this will be an office visit before we schedule any procedures.
If Dr. Arnold's office has not heard anything about this, I am supposed to call Dr. Stafford's office.

The bottomline is that an office visit here is a lot easier oon alll of us than continuing trips to Tulsa. Dr. Arnold has operated on me before, so he knows most of my history, just not about the motorcycle wreck. Hopefully this will help me push forward.

J

November 17 - No Results Yet

All,
I was hoping to post some new news based on the MRI that was completed last Thursday.
At this time, we have not heard the results. During the visit with the doctor before the MRI, he mentioned a few options that could improve my left knee (all requiring some form of surgery). One option is the removal of scar tissue and maybe re-shaping what is left of the knee cap orthoscopically. Another option is the removal of the knee cap (which is not uncommon for people who have crushed their knees like I did). At no time did he mention a knee replacement. He was pleased with the progress of the nerve re-generation and reminded us that it will likely take at least a year. This nerve re-generation is also directly related to the loss of hamstring signals. With the progress that we have seen, it is likely that my hamstring will come back as well.

Not much other news. We had a relaxing weekend - especially Saturday.

As always, I appreciate your concerns. I look forward to reading comments and receiving e-mail.

I feel your prayers.

Thank you,
J

November 7 - Lake

All,

It seems that I keep doing more firsts:

Last weekend was my first return to the reserves and it was wonderful.

Last Wednesday was my first return to the ASCE engineering club lunch. They were very nice as they welcomed my return (Thank you Natalie!). Golden Corral even had a person carry my tray and get my food...

This weekend, I will return to the lake for the first time (just the cabin, not the boat). We were at the lake the weekend before the wreck with my sister's family and I really do not remember anything. I do have pictures on my digital frame to remind me.


My trip to Tulsa to evaluate my left knee has been moved to Thursday. I will meet with the doctor and have a MRI scheduled that afternoon. Hopefully we can get a solution and continue with the recovery. While I occassionally use only a cane, I am worried that I will be stuck with the walker until this knee gets better. We should also get an idea of what to expect with the left hamstring muscle that is not working.


For those of you who have not spoken to me in a while, you would be amazed at how strong my voice has become. It seems like just in this past week my voice has returned to almost normal!

PAIN:
This is a hard one to explain. I stay in nearly constant pain. It used to primarily be what I called "blood pain" from having my leg down for long periods of time. Now it is primarily the AFO (ankle brace) that keeps my drop foot from getting worse and stretches my calf. I tell you, by 1:30 to 2:00, the pain is unbearable. 99% of my pain starts at my left knee and makes it's way down to my toes.

Thank you all for your continued cares, prayers and support.
We discussed last weekend the importance of prayer and I am aware that there were(are) literally thousands of people praying for my recovery.
I will never forget this.

J

November 3 - Reserves

All,
I had been planning last weekend for weeks, but could not tell but a very few people. Scott picked me up last Friday and drove me down to Little Rock AFB. I participated in my first drill weekend since the wreck. It felt so good to be back and see so many friends. The planned event was kept a secret from most of the squadron to make the surprise entrance Saturday morning more memorable. While the weekend was exhausting, they were all very understanding. I look forward to returning to drill again in December.
Thank you to the members of the 96th APS for making me feel home again last weekend!

Healing continues, but I have had to schedule an earlier appointment with the knee doctor. I will be going back to Tulsa on Tuesday, November 11 to hopefully determine what is wrong with my left knee. We also discovered last week that one of my hamstring muscles in my left leg is not firing.

Cara and I are still looking forward to a weekend at the lake cabin this weekend. It should be a very restful time together.

Talk to you soon,

J