Author: Jen Rios

As soon as I woke up, I am mediately thought of David Bowie’s song in the movie Labyrinth,“Within You.”  I thought about which one of my knees was being more cruel. My right one, for hurting but my left one, for feeling completely normal! I’ve decided that it is pretty cruel  for me to know exactly what a healthy knee feels like!    I’m having a really hard time getting over the fact that it’s been over a year that my knee has not been okay.

I worked with Luba when I get to ATI.  She asked me what kind of sensation I felt it in my legs compared to sensations I have in my hands. She rubbed her finger on my right hand and I thought about it for a while. I took a deep breath and  told her 3. If feeling in my hands is it 10, then feeling in my legs is a 3.   I told her that my bathroom floor is cold still and that was a good thing because I am barefoot in my bathroom and my bathroom floor did not start getting cold until I started working out at Barwis so sensation is still there.

I thought about my knee hurting so badly, if my sensation is lessened in my legs, maybe it hurts a whole lot more, I just can’t feel it! Again, that’s pretty cruel!   Luba’s  verbal catalyst for me to raise my left leg was, “Hit it!”  That made me chuckle a bit to myself. I remember that I had a friend in high school who used to say, “Hit it” all of the time  referring to driving somewhere, like, “Hit the road.”

Luba did the ultrasound and Larry hooked me up with ice and stim.  The combination of those three things made my knee feel really good but just for that time. When I was almost home after physical therapy, my knee began to ache again.

Monday morning, my knee felt like it was “tweaked.”   Obviously, it did not feel good! I felt like something was pinched on the medial side of my knee. I just learned that “medial”  refers to the inside of my knee. I didn’t like how this felt and it greatly concerned me! Once I got to ATI, I told Brad and Larry that it felt tweaked or pinched.

Brad decided that we would not stand and instead really rubbed my knee out well. I told him about what Dr. Moore said. I told him the cortisone didn’t really make my  knee feel any better and my next appointment is November 10th which probably will schedule the Tenex.   I can’t believe that my knee is STILL  hurting!

I told him that Dr. Moore said he was going to scrape my tendon and that it kind of freaked me out!  Dr. Moore said that they would make an incision and put the needle in my knee to scrape the tendon. Gross! Brad asked me which one because there were three tendons on the medial side of my knee. He told me the three and it completely sounded like a different language.   I kind of shrugged my shoulders and had him repeat my three options. I told him that the first one sounded familiar.

I usually am so interested in finding out the technical terms for things but I think I am a little exasperated with how much of my knee is hurt,  STILL!   We did my leg left and  Brad had me push my leg out and in. After we did that, Larry came over and did the ultrasound for me.

I thought I was done after that but then Larry hooked me up with ice and stim.   I liked that my knee felt better for this short time! Brad told me that he will talk to Nicole to see how things will look for continuing physical therapy because we aren’t making gains so much.   Neurologically, that’s pretty much impossible.  I asked him if I would transition back to Barwis because they have a Neuro doc.there now.  He wasn’t sure of the answer and I  reminded him of that Dr. Frush told me not to go back there until my knee didn’t hurt. It still hurts!   What are my going to do?!

I had an appointment on Friday with Dr. Moore. I was told that he works closely with Dr. Frush but he is a non surgical sports medicine doctor.   My knee was kind of hurting when I saw him. When he came in, I noticed he was really tall and he spoke freely with my mom and me both.   He pressed my knee in all the spots where it hurt and he talked about a few options to help it to feel better.

He talked about another Cortisone shot to help and if that didn’t work to do a procedure called Tenex.   If that didn’t work either, he talked about a third procedure but that is not covered by insurance. He told me it would be about $1000. I don’t have $1000 for a procedure so I’m hoping that the first two options work out.   He pulled up the images of my ultrasound and took a look at them.

He decided that we would do a Cortisone shot that day, see how it does, make a return appointment in about four weeks, and then see what we’ll do from there.   The nurse came back in to get things ready for the Cortisone shot. I had two previous Cortisone shots from Dr. Frush  with one not making my knee feel better before surgery and one making my knee feel a little better after surgery.

After the nurse readied the needle for the shot, she left and brought back in the ultrasound machine. Dr. Moore came back in and we kind of played musical chairs where to situate me in the room so this could work.  Dr. Moore is a couple of years younger than me so when he put my chair, in the corner, facing it, he laughed at my Blair Witch Project reference.

After all of  equipment was set up, I commented that this is a little bit more involved of a Cortisone shot than the ones I received from Dr. Frush.   The nurse sprayed numbing solution on the medial side of my knee and then glopped a whole bunch of ointment on for the ultrasound machine. Dr. Moore pushed the ultrasound wand onto my knee  and looked at the monitor that was over my shoulder. My mom said that it looked like the ocean and I think those scans look more like a pork loin.

Dr. Moore put the needle in my knee and looked at the monitor. He moved the needle around a bunch while it was inside my knee.   I had a needle moving around in my knee. That should hurt. But, it didn’t because it was numbed.   After he found a good spot, he injected the Cortisone into my knee.

He asked how my knee felt and at that moment it felt good. It felt completely numb. He told me we may have found the spot where it would do the  most good for my knee but told me to make a return appointment for four weeks to see. I left, and my return appointment is set for November 10th.   As my mom and I were driving home, my knee started to hurt.

I can’t believe that it has been over a year since my knee was injured and it still hurts! I told Dr. Moore that I told Dr. Frush   that he could cut my leg off but Dr. Moore agreed with him that that was not a good idea. Since my latest Cortisone shot, my knee moves from a dull ache too a sharp, stabbing pain.  I know that is not normal but I hope to get some more answers at my next appointment.

Dr. Moore said the Tenex is where they  make a small incision to put a needle in  and then he said something about scraping my tendon and then I kind of stopped listening. That sounded gross! But if it’s going to help,  I’m not going to argue. I just hope this procedure works so I don’t have to do the procedure that is not covered by insurance.

I received two calls last Friday. The first call was from Kristen, Dr. Frush’s assistant, and she told me that the ultrasound showed that everything with my MCL was okay but I have tendinitis in my knee and she wants me to make an appointment with Dr. Moore.  He works with Dr. Frush and is a non-surgical sports medicine doctor.   I was shocked that there is still something wrong with my knee over a year after my original injury and over five months after surgery. But I felt better that Dr. Moore works closely with Dr. Frush.

The second call was  Audrey from Dr. Frush’s office.   She was calling to schedule my appointment with Dr. Moore. I see him this coming Friday. Audrey spoke of the possibility of a Cortisone shot or a steroid shot to reduce the inflammation  but Dr. Moore would know more once he sees me. He works out of the same office as Dr. Frush.

I told all of this to Brad and Larry as they got me onto the table. Brad started out by putting me in traction and that relieved some of the pain temporarily.  He bent my knee and rubbed it out.  Brad pressed the places where it hurt and I think that concurred with tendinitis. I did an abbreviated version of my leg lifts and then I pushed my heel down to the table as  my knee was bent and his hand was on my hamstring to feel the muscle activation.

Then, Larry came over and we got ready for stands. Standing was difficult on Monday. Of my four downs, I only *BINK*ed once.   My knee kind of hurt as I was trying to stand. Larry asked how my, “Jendinitis”  was doing and I said it kind of hurt my knee to stand and I stood one more time and for a brief, shining moment I was able to stand fully but it was not even long enough for a *BINK.*

My mom came over as he hooked up the stim and he said that the tendinitis  might be a good thing. I couldn’t imagine how my pain could be good but he explained that  inflammation comes from movement and the fact that I can move my knee is a step in the right direction. The inflammation is a setback and I hope to get that figured out on Friday.   So then, maybe I can get back to Barwis!