Category: Barwis Methods

I got onto the table at ATI on  Wednesday and told Brad about the pain in my knee I experienced all day Tuesday. It was an ache that felt like the two bones that connect at my knee were smashed together!   It was a constant pain and was tough to bare!   He put on his thinking face and thought for a moment. He decided that he would put my leg in traction and that made me feel better.

He worked on the inside of my knee and my  adductors were a little bit tight. He worked on my calf and  said that was tender as well. It frustrates me that it is only going to be a month after surgery and Dr. Frush said it was a four-month recovery so I have to endure this pain for three more months!   He left to get the belt for traction.

I’ve said before that it looks like a seatbelt, a beige seatbelt. As he was tying one end around my ankle, I asked him if other places have belts in different colors. He laughed and he thought that everybody just has beige ones. I told him that I would special order purple ones! Just to make it fun!  After he tied one end around my ankle, he clicked the buckle and put the other end that was another loop around his hips. Then he took a step backward and I could feel my knee-joint opening.  It felt so good!

He looked like he was counting so I didn’t say anything.  I can talk someone’s ear off comfortably  or I can just sit in silence  equally as comfortable. My knee felt SO MUCH better!   My mom came in just as my traction was finishing and she asked Brad about it. Larry hooked me up for ice and stim and I remained quiet. Once my stim was over, Brad came over to put my brace back on and told me that he was not going to be there Friday so I was rescheduled for Thursday.  That conflicted with my schedule so this was my last meeting for this week and I will see Greg on Monday.

I am SO frustrated that it is taking SO long for my knee to heal after surgery and I think I can credit that mostly to having MS.   I’m choosing to look at it as a blessing though to help me get through it. I’ve always thought that I was limited being in a wheelchair; but, being confined  to a recliner with my feet up and my  knee iced constantly,  only getting up to be carried to the restroom is SO MUCH MORE limiting!   I am so much more limited!!!  I can’t wait for these three months to be over!

I saw Greg on Monday because Brad was at a training. I think it was in Chicago. I’ve worked with Greg before at ATI but not with my knee.   He is a really good physical therapist so it was OK with me.  Greg just got  engaged a couple of weeks ago so we had tons to talk about!

I never thought that it would be a good thing to say that, “he broke me easily;” but he did.   He bent my knee pretty easily and I could feel the tightness in both my quad and toward my calf on the sides of my kneecap. He rubbed a lot of massage lotion on my knee and worked my quad out.  He even had a picture of his fiancé’s ring, her name is Melanie.

He extended my leg on some sort of wedge under my knee and  told me to raise my foot up. Are used to do this all the time at Barwis! I tried my very best and could not raise my foot up.   Because I was not able to do this, he held my ankle a little ways from the table and told me to hold it up and not letting it fall. Again, I tried my best and  my leg immediately fell to the table.

He then told me to flex my quad muscle as he pushed on it. For a third time, I tried my best and looked hopefully at him. He just slowly shook his head and said he didn’t feel anything even though I was trying so hard.  It was completely depressing! Are used to do all of these things with ease at Barwis.

My inability made me miss Barwis even more!   It’s been nine months since I’ve been there and I can’t see me going there anytime soon. Dr. Frush told me not to return until my knee didn’t hurt anymore. It still hurts!  It does not hurt as badly as it did before surgery but it still hurts!

I was glad that I did not find out my inabilities until the end of my time with Greg. Right afterward, I got hooked up with ice and stim so I could be silent and stare at the ceiling.   I was quiet on the way home.

My friend Renée took me to my appointment with Dr. Frush.  Sean accompanied us.   I wasn’t sure what he was going to say because my knee still hurt and felt unstable.  Once we got into the office, I put my leg up on the end table next to the chairs in the waiting room again.  Once I was called, Renée came back with me to the exam room.

Casey brought me back and rearranged the chairs  so I could sit at the far end of the room, across from the door. She brought another chair over and propped my leg up on it.   Renée sat on the exam table. We laughed! Casey  unclicked my brace  and took it off of my leg so my leg was completely exposed.   She asked how my knee felt and I told her that it still hurt and it just felt unsteady to me.   The few  times that I put weight on it while transferring, it felt wobbly.

She told me she wasn’t sure what Dr. Frush was going to say about that so she didn’t want to say anything.  Dr. Frush’s assistant came in, Dr. Sutton,  and looked at my knee.   He asked about my ACL scar and moved my kneecap around a little bit. I told him about Brad doing it at physical therapy not long after surgery and how it hurt. He said that they have to make sure that the patellar tendon is healing properly.

I told him about my reaction to the pain meds and how my knee feels wobbly and still hurts. He  listened thoughtfully to everything I said. He left to concur with Dr. Frush and told me that he would be back.   When Dr. Sutton came back with Dr. Frush; Dr. Frush shook mine and Renee’s hands.   Because of the rearranged chairs, he had nowhere to sit; so he hopped up on the counter next to the sink.

Once he was seated, I told him that I didn’t believe it was a four-month recovery after surgery but because it still hurts so much, I believe him now. He laughed and said, “Four… Or five months.”  WHAT?!  That idea really stinks but it is completely believable!  He told me that I could be in pain for another two months.  WHAT?!

He told me that by now, I should not have my brace anymore.   The thought of this scared of me because my knee still hurt and felt unsteady. He examined my knee and pulled it inward to the left  ( that HURT) and then pushed it outward to the right which didn’t hurt as badly.   He told me that my leg muscles were extremely atrophied and that at my next appointment with him, we would talk about transitioning back to Barwis.

I was really excited when he said this! I have missed Barwis so very much! I made my next appointment for six weeks from now and when we went back to the car, I still sat in the backseat.  My knee hurt and it felt better when it was stretched out and I was a little nervous being brace-less and having to bend my knee to sit in the front seat.

My Mom took me to physical therapy on Monday. Sean didn’t even have to come with us because I could sit in the front seat and didn’t need him to help me get into the backseat. He was at football practice anyway. I was EXCITED to be sitting in the front seat and  in control of the radio, I turned the radio on as my Mom got the wheelchair into the trunk.   I heard “Shut up and Dance”  by Walk the Moon.

This song reminds me of Michael (Rhoades) so it is technically a Barwis song. He told me he liked it a couple of  months after I had already posted it on the  monthly “Faves” portion of my blog.   He said it was “pop-y”  but he liked it anyway. I liked it but didn’t feel the need to explain myself.   I was excited to hear  some of my favorite songs because I was in control of the radio;  however, I only remember pulling out of my driveway because I fell sound asleep! Like, totally zonked!   I woke up when we are almost on Sheldon Road near ATI to the sound of Peter, Paul, and Mary. “Leaving on a Jet Plane.” 

This song has always been my Mom and Dad’s song,  are used to sing it to Sean  when he was small when we would  go to sleep and I was too tired to read a story to him. I woke up hearing this song and smiled to myself because I really dig it!  We pulled up to ATI and my mom helped me out of the car. It feels strange not having my brace and hurts a little.

Brad worked my knee and I told him about Dr. Frush taking my brace off, telling me that my leg muscles were atrophied, that I would be in pain for another two months, and  possibly  transitioning back to Barwis at my next appointment.  Dr. Frush worked on my range of motion and this was when he noticed how atrophied my leg muscles were. He told me that the goal would be to get me to 120°. So Brad worked on this and get me to 107°.  It felt good and he finish me off with stim and ice.

I am nervous to NOT have my brace any longer. I don’t like that I could be in pain for another two months  or that this whole process will be five months. It is so much easier getting into the front seat of the car now but it is not without some pain. Eventually, that won’t be the case but not anytime soon.

My physical therapy schedule has changed. To stretch out my physical therapy time  until I see Dr. Frush again, and to keep in the parameters of insurance covering them, I have moved to twice a week with Brad. Mondays and Thursdays.  I told Brad that my knee still hurts and feels a little bit unsteady. I am not looking forward  to two more months of pain!

He listened and once I was on the table he bent my knee a little bit and worked my knee, concentrating on the inside.   After he did that, he got the seatbelt and attached it to my ankle. My Mom was there and asked about the traction.  He explained about, “opening the space” and I just laid back and enjoyed it!

After he was finished pulling my leg in traction, he straightened my leg and pulled my leg sideways toward him. I felt the stretch in my groin and in my hip. It felt nice.   Then he bent my knee and started tapping on it to get me to lift my foot. Because I haven’t been to Barwis in so long, I wasn’t very successful in moving my foot.   He thought for a moment and left to get something.  Before he left, he told me he was going to try something new.

He came back with something that looked like one of my two deodorants.   I started using natural deodorant about 10 years ago when I went “organic”.  I use “the Crystal” and then I put on a separate stick of deodorant (just because it smells good).

I couldn’t find a good picture that actually shows what it looks like  so this other one is not the kind I use but it shows what it looks like better (I wish I used it because it’s purple!):

When you use “the Crystal,” you get it wet before you apply it. Brad brought over something that looked like that. He started rubbing it on my need to activate my muscles. Turns out it was  ice.  Now, I guess its a good thing that I can’t really feel my legs 100%, it wasn’t so bad. It wasn’t insanely cold!  After my injury, my knee pain at it’s worst was a 10 but maybe it really was a 15 but I couldn’t feel it all the way.

So he would rub it on my knee and then he would tap it with his fingers to activate my muscles.  I asked him what he was doing was called  he told me it was “Facilitory Icing.”   He wanted to facilitate muscle movement in my leg. I’m not sure how well it worked but it felt nice to numb my knee from the pain.

After a while, he finished, dried my knee with a towel, and hooked me up for ice and stim.   I think it is really cool that they use all kinds of tools to help my knee feel better!  It just stinks that it is going to be another four months until my knee feels completely better!

My knee ached as we drove to ATI.   It was a constant ache that has been constant for 274 days. It’s been 274  days since  my knee was injured.   It is an ache that I am very familiar with, used to it but still not comfortable with it.   It hurts! It’s an ache inside of my knee and there doesn’t seem to be anything I can do to get rid of it.

I’m not sure if Brad saw the desperation in my eyes or the frustration  or the pain; probably a combination of all three because that’s exactly what I felt! He started off with traction to relieve some of that ache.  It looked like he was counting so I just laid back and closed my eyes because it felt really good!

He worked on the inside of my knee when he was finished with the traction.  He worked on my calf as well and I asked him about the ache. Why is it aching so much?!   He told me that there is still some swelling, that the inside of my knee feels tight and my calf feels tight as well.   Hearing this frustrated me!

After he did this, he bent my knee a little bit and told me that we were going to work on lifting my foot again.   For my first couple of times, I tried too hard and tensed my body. It didn’t really matter; I didn’t really move AT ALL!  He told me not to tense my body so much and instead tapped on my kneecap  to help activate the muscles  as he had me try to lift my foot off of the table again. It did start to move but definitely not like the movement I used to get when I was going to Barwis.

When I finished this, Mira set me up with ice and stim.   It is only during these 15 minutes that I feel true relief.   As I write this post, the outside of my knee is aching tremendously! It hasn’t ached like this since before surgery. It is the ache that I used to describe as a little bits that needed to be sucked out of my knee and then my  knee would feel better.

The healing process is very slow and is concerning to me. Putting up with this ache for 274 days is BEYOND taxing!   But, I know that the only way to get through this is to get through this!  There is no other way and to me, that’s sad but true.

Today, my friend Renée took me, Sean, and her daughter to the Secretary of State to get the kids’ permits.   Now, I have not left my house since surgery other than to go to physical therapy; but given that I am the sole legal guardian of my son, I had to go to sign for it with my proof that we live where he says we live  and that I am responsible for him.

My son is BEYOND helpful all the time! He was MORE helpful  today because he was getting his permit. He helped me into  the front seat of Renee’s car and the drive there was shorter than it is to get to ATI.   Renée  ran in with all of their documents to make sure we had everything before Sean got me out of the car. Once  it was certain that the kids had all  necessary documentation,  Sean got me out of the car and Renée wheeled me into the Secretary of State.

It was empty! Absolutely empty! This has never happened to me!  We were there for about five minutes, just long enough for Renée to snap this picture of me and Sean.

   

When Sean handed me his permit to sign, I started to cry. I can’t believe that my baby is getting his permit! He is growing up too fast!   This all seemed a bit overwhelming to me! Now, given that I have undiagnosed PBA, I started to laugh as tears welled up in my eyes. I could feel myself smiling from ear to ear and I felt so silly.

I’m grateful that we were in and out so quickly because my knee began to hurt more than it was before we went there! I was uncomfortable in my chair and I really just wanted to put my  leg up and ice my knee.  Just after we returned home, my mom came to take me to ATI. Sean helped get me into the car and as he did asked my mom if he could drive.

Surprisingly, she said yes so Sean and my Mom loaded me into the backseat so my mom could sit in the passenger’s seat and Sean could drive.  He  did well but he drives too fast.  He took a turn too fast so my Mom had him pull over and she finished driving the rest of the way to ATI.   As we got into ATI (Sean  stayed in the car)  and Brad met us at the door,  my mom exclaimed that we were not good!

I laughed and told him that I was good but she was not. She told him all about Sean driving there! Because she needed to relax,  she sat in the white chair next to the table and we talked with Brad and Alaina  about learning to drive. It was entertaining and everyone had stories, some of them horror stories, about learning to drive.

Brad started off by rubbing the inside of my knee and I told him that yesterday the outside was hurting like it did before surgery. I asked him why and told him that it made me kind of nervous because I thought Dr. Frush had shaved the outside of my knee because it was a bit frayed.   My Mom asked him if I was going to need another surgery and he shook his head. He explained that the places I said hurt were muscular and there was nothing broken but there was still tightness in my knee so that is why it was hurting.

He put my knee in traction for a long time and that felt so good! I told him that it felt so good!   When he was finished with that, he bend my knee and kind of tapped on it like he did the last time for a short time and then he had Alaina hook me up for ice and stim.

As she was doing so, she told my mom that she was going to a Train concert at DTE this weekend.  My mom told her that I saw them and I just looked at Alaina and told her it was in my younger days.  I told her they put on a good show because they do and didn’t want to spoil the beginning for her but I told her that it’s pretty cool.

As Brad and my Mom got me back into my chair, my Mom told Brad that she was going to drive home and that she was not going to let Sean.  When we get the car, she told Sean that he could drive. I don’t like sitting in the backseat  of my car but I know that I could not direct him in the front seat.

Now, kids have to  input their driving time into an app on their phone. He didn’t and put it on the way there but he set it to record for the way back. We were almost home and then it started to rain. Like,  torrential rain! It scared me! But Sean was a trooper! He did very well and pulled over when it continued and my mom and he switched  places. He has to log 30 hours of driving before he can register for segment two class.  It is his first day and he has 38 minutes. When we got home, I told him that he drives too fast but he did well.

Over the weekend, I was trying to help a little bit with my transfer to the bathroom A few times, I put the slightest bit of weight on my bad knee to help. I woke up Monday morning and my knee  was swollen. I really thought I was making good progress and I was a little bit bothered  that apparently I wasn’t.

I couldn’t believe that my knee was still not being close to functional. I had just put the slightest bit of weight on my knee  and it swelled up in reaction to that. It’s frustrating! When I got to physical therapy, I told Brad about the few times I put a little bit of weight on my leg.

I got on the table and as he unsnapped my pants, he saw how swollen my knee was.   He bent my knee and really worked on it hard! I asked him why it was so swollen and he said, “Because it’s a surgery…” I cut him off by laughing kind of hysterically. Duh! It had only been less than two months after surgery!  Dr. Frush told me that I still had another two months of pain ahead of me so why wouldn’t I have swelling too?!

I’m kind of over this pain and swelling in my knee! It has been over nine months that I have endured this and it really stinks! At least the pain after surgery is not as bad as the pain before surgery.   That pain was excruciating!

As Brad worked on me, we talked about the change in the schedule for next week because of the holiday and our plans for the long weekend.  Since surgery, I have not been out of the house except to go to physical therapy. On Sunday,  I had plans to go out to my cousin Shannon’s house in South Lyon. This was our second annual cousin get together and I was excited! She’s not my  blood cousin but we grew up together so she has always been my cousin!

Brad told me about a couple of barbecues with friends that he was going attend with his wife and how his parents were camping so he might see them over the weekend. Aside from Girl Scout camp when I was young, I only remember camping once  when I was pregnant. Now, I can’t do the outside thing; being warm  and bugs and stuff! He explained that his parents go “glamping” instead of camping. He described their camper which is basically a house with the fireplace in it and it needs to be pulled by his dad’s F350.

I told Brad about Shannon, Sean, and my selfies that we started taking 15 years ago when Sean was a baby before camera phones. Here is our first one:

We took another one a couple of years ago when we got together for the first time at her house.:

 

I told Brad that if I had to go camping, I would much rather go glamping like his parents do.   As he hooked me up for ice and stim.  I wondered how I would do at Shannon’s this coming weekend. Sean would be driving out there to get hours in because he just got his segment one permit. We were taking my ice packs  and my pain meds  with us in case my knee started to hurt.   It did hurt and I got tired but before we left we had to take our annual selfie with Sean. I was really tired when we took it and it shows but I absolutely loved hanging out with my brothers and  Shannon and her sister (her brother Chris couldn’t make it) and their  families.   Our most recent picture:

It took two days of constant icing to get over hanging out at my cousin, Shannon’s, house. But it was a great time and I wouldn’t change it for the world!  My knee hurt more, yes, but I think it may have been an MS thing because I was so excited to go in the first place.   I didn’t go anywhere or do anything on the fourth, I just remained in the recliner with my feet up and knee iced  as I have been doing since surgery.

My physical therapy schedule was changed to Wednesday and Friday this week because of the holiday.  Brad had Monday and Tuesday off and he would be working on Saturday to recoup the hours. As I was getting ready to go to therapy, I was not in the recliner so I was seated and brought my right foot closer to me. As I moved my foot,  I heard a large POP  in my knee.  ABSOLUTELY scared the BEJEBUS out of me!   It took me a moment to realize that it didn’t hurt.

I  told Brad about the POP.  What I was doing to make it POP, how it sounded, how it scared me, and how it really didn’t hurt.  I told him that it sounded like knuckles cracking  in the middle of my knee. It didn’t hurt but the sound scared me. It didn’t feel like anything that broken when it POPPED.  He listened and told me that it was just air pockets in the synovial fluid in my knee.

I told him that that sounded really cool! He laughed and likened it to cracking your knuckles. He said it was more startling than anything  and I agreed because my knee has been hurting for so long, to hear that sound, it sounded like damage was being done but took a minute for me to realize that it did not hurt. Always, in the back of my mind, I wonder about my feeling of pain in my legs.  I am in a wheelchair and I really can’t feel the true extent of pain in my legs.  I think that is what  makes this whole knee injury so much worse because it has been excruciating since September 21st!   After surgery, it still hurts a lot but not as badly as it did before surgery.

I always wonder if it is hurting more than I feel it is. But it hurts badly enough even if I am not feeling all of the pain  so I guess that really doesn’t matter!  It’s become routine for Brad to put me in traction at therapy and that feels really good!

We ended  with ice and stim.  And that feels equally as good! I don’t like how my knee can’t always feel that good when I am not at therapy. I’ve asked Brad before if it was because I have MS that it is taking so long to feel better.   He paused for a moment and thought and then slowly nodded his head. All of the hardware is fixed in my knee but, because of my MS, it is taking longer to feel better.  Well, doesn’t that just stink! Gotta love that MS and by “love,” I mean “hate.”