Author: Jen Rios

I worked with Greg on Monday and told him that my shin was really hurting from the tendon scrape. Greg told me it wasn’t a scrape but rather an irrigation or lavage.  He explained the process very well for me.  He almost had it done in his ankle. Well OK, but it still hurts!

He stretched my knee out and told me that my range of motion is pretty good for my knee.  My shin is killing me though! Once we were finished, Greg asked if I wanted ice on my shin while I waited for my mom to come back.  It felt REALLY good!

Larry came over to help my mom transfer me from the table back to my chair. He asked how I was doing and I told him that my, “shank hole” was killing me!  He replied, “Whoa, whoa, whoa –  don’t start  throwing around all of your “medical terms” now!”   I laughed because, “Shank hole” is NOT a medical term  but just what I call it because that’s what it feels like. I showed him that it feels  like the incision is the size of a quarter  with my thumb and index finger.  Really it’s just a tiny slit but is still SO painful for me!  STILL!!!

It was good to hear that my knee is getting better yet my shin hurts so badly still because of the Tenex  that was necessary BECAUSE my knee still hurt. It really stinks and I told Greg that because my left knee is completely normal I know what it is supposed to feel like. And, that’s just cruel.

It was so freezing cold on Friday!   We met Larry at the door and I was working with Matt on Friday. My mom helped me get my coat off and I looked at him and asked if I was working with him. He nodded and told me that I drew the “Short Straw” so I was stuck with him.   I shook my head and laughed as my mom helped me get onto the table.

I have never worked with Matt although I have seen him at ATI a lot. He  was Khal Drogo  for Halloween:

They won the Halloween costume contest for all the ATI locations and got a lunch at work and bragging rights for the year.

He asked me questions about the date of my procedure  and how my knee was feeling and told me that he saw the notes from Greg who worked with me last time He told me that he would do the same exercises with me and he would start by putting my  leg in traction.  As he went to get the belt, Brad walked over. He asked me how I was doing and I told him that I thought I spoke too soon saying that my knee didn’t hurt.  I told him that I iced my knee over the weekend and I was a little bit disappointed. He asked me if it was from the cold and I nodded. I told him that it was either that or I am getting old.

Over the last 17 years, I have figured out that my body is very sensitive to barometric pressure and precipitation in the air. Extreme cold temperatures as well as extreme heat do not go well with my body full of MS either.   The problems I have been having with my knee in the last 15  months has made the pain a little LESS bearable.

Matt came back and put my ankle in  traction and we talked about football. I told him that I wanted the Rams to win the Super Bowl. Again, I guess I spoke too soon because they were eliminated on Saturday. I will take the blame for it;  but, I don’t think Cooper’s turnovers helped very much either.

After traction, Matt stretched both of my legs out and I could feel them relax. We did the leg lifts again and I did extremely well at it with my right leg. I even surprised myself! I told Matt that I should run a marathon after how well I did at it. I did leg lifts on both legs and Matt told me to ask Dr. Moore about my restrictions on completing, “sit to stands” for next time. We ended with ultrasound on my knee that Larry performed.

I had to ice my knee again over the weekend and the Rams lost.  I don’t so much ice my knee, but rather my shin. I think it’s a little crazy that I would think that my leg would be all better from the screwdriver shank in less than a month!   My “Shank-hole” still has a scab on it. Normally, I’m a scab-picker but I am too afraid to pick this one because it hurt so badly when I got it  and for two  weeks afterward.   As I put my coat on to leave, I turned and looked at Matt and told him that I did not draw the “short straw” to get him as my therapist.   He gave me a double thumbs up as we left.

Thinking about it, I think I may ice my knee again tonight…   Icing frustrates me because it is almost 16 months after my original injury and I am still dealing with pain.  But I guess that icing is better than pill popping. I used to take so many painkillers  because my knee hurts so badly!

Yesterday was my first appointment at ATI after my Tenex procedure. I worked with Greg and Dr. Moore wants me to work on my range of motion.   After healing from that procedure and it didn’t feel like a screwdriver was stabbed into my shin anymore  and my “shank hole” has scabbed up, my knee doesn’t hurt. It worked! I am not out of the woods yet by any means but at least I don’t have that  constant, gnawing, crippling pain in my knee.

It only took a little over 15 months!  In those months, I have gone through COUNTLESS bottles of pain reliever!  I think yesterday was the first day I finally realized that my knee was NOT in pain. It’s really tight which is more uncomfortable than painful.  Dr. Moore says that physical therapy will help with that but the pain with my meniscus and my tendinitis is finally gone. I hope!

I cautiously say that it is gone because I don’t want it to return because it was SO PAINFUL!   I think what made it even more painful was that my left knee was perfectly fine so I had a comparison as to what my knee SHOULD feel like. My right knee doesn’t feel normal yet but I’m excited that it is on the way to being so.

Now that I’m back at ATI, I passed Barwis  when we were leaving and saw the signs in the windows and my sadness and longing to go back there  renewed.   Hopefully, Dr. Moore will clear me to go back there on February 16th! Happy birthday  Marilyn and Phil! It will be happy for me if I am cleared to go back to Barwis! Given how my knee is starting to feel, I am hopeful that I will go back!

Greg really stretched my knee out yesterday and it wasn’t a painful stretch but I could feel that my knee was tight. When he was finished, he asked me if I wanted ice and stim. I looked at him for a moment and thought about it.  Previously, I looked forward to ice and stim each time I was at ATI both before my surgery and afterword.  I kind of shook my head with a questioning look on my face.   I told him that my knee doesn’t hurt and he said, ” OK then, no ice and stim.”

Is that really OK to NOT have it? I had been to ATI for so many months NEEDING that ice and stim. so it felt strange  to not need it.   As I got ready for bed last night, my knee felt stretched out but I will take that feeling over the pain of the last 15 months any day!

This past Thursday, I had my follow up appointment with Dr. Moore after my Tenex procedure. It was exactly 15 months to the day of my knee injury and I am STILL having problems! I am not out of the woods yet.

The Tenex procedure was not what I thought it would be. Chad wheeled a large cart into the room and Stephanie manned the monitor as Dr. Moore sat next to my knee.   All three of them stared intently at the monitor as I laid on a table watching the immense concentration on all of their faces. I tried to get a clear glimpse of the monitor but couldn’t make anything out.

Dr. Moore said I would feel a little poke (which I DID) as he inserted the needle into the medial side of my shin.   Chad turned the machine and that made a humming noise. As Dr. Moore scraped my tendon, the machine made not only the humming noise but  also a squeal. It alternated between a squeal and a hum.

As this was going on, because I couldn’t see anything and was just watching their faces I thought of the U2 album, Rattle and Hum.  I never owned this album until my friend Joe (I called him, ‘Seph’ because he called me, ‘Fer’)  told me that I couldn’t  be a huge fan of U2 if I did not own all of the albums!  I had a Columbia House membership so I started buying all of the CDs for a penny. I mostly listen to the ‘Best of’ albums in the car but I never knew that Rattle and Hum had some of my fave songs:

“Desire”

“Pride(In the Name of Love)”

“All I Want Is You”

The procedure lasted about a half hour and the machine squealed and hummed the whole time.   When I left, I could not tell if it worked because my knee was numb so I would just have to wait to see how it felt the next day.

Well, the next day it felt like a screwdriver was jammed into my shin. My knee did not hurt because I was so distracted by how much my shin hurt.  As time went by, and  the prescription for my narcotics  ran out, my knee was feeling better. It still hurt a little bit but I think it had to do with the screwdriver shoved in may shin more than my original injury.

The ports made  on either side of my knee for my meniscus surgery took five months to heal so I think my screwdriver shank is going to take a while to heal as well.   Dr. Moore prescribed more physical therapy and a follow up appointment set for February 16. That’s my friend Marilyn’s birthday as well as Phil’s. So doctor’s appointmenrs continue for my knee. That’s kind of tiresome.

My mom cleaned my screwdriver shank  mark today and Sean walked by to see my shin. He looked at it and was disgusted and told me that it really does look like  I was shanked by screwdriver.  I agreed with him and told him it was a flat head screwdriver because it’s just a slit.  My knee feels tight today and my shank mark is a little sore still.

I called Elle the other day at Barwis to tell her what was going on.  I asked her to save a spot for me to come back because I miss Barwis more than anything!  I’m not even going to be back for at least another two months!