Category: Barwis Methods

Yesterday, I had my follow-up appointment with Dr. Moore. This was the first time I got out of my house all week and when my Mom came to get me she told me that it was cold outside so I should put my coat on.  I discovered something in my pocket from last winter that gave me pause and made me a bit sad.  I probably will write about this later.

Anyway, as we waited for Dr. Moore to come back after the nurse took my blood pressure, my mom unsnapped my pants but I kept my compression stocking on  and pulled up. Dr. Moore came in and I asked him how Halloween went because he was going with his kids (3 and 5) and his wife as Star Wars characters. He was going to be Chewbacca because he is so tall compared to his kids, comparative to anyone really!   There was this piece of paper that gave background information about Dr. Moore and I took this picture  because this is what he looks like:

I didn’t see a piece of paper with Dr. Frush’s information and I have never showed you guys what Dr. Frush  looks like and I don’t want to leave him out so here he is:

These are the two doctors working on my knee to make it better.

Dr. Moore left the room to get his phone to show us some pictures which was really cool! When he got back in, he asked me how my knee felt. I told  him that it still hurts and it only felt better for a little while after I got the Cortisone shot at my last appointment. It started hurting again before I got home. He said that  Dearborn from West Bloomfield was not that far for it to start hurting again. He asked me if I used any topical solution to help with the pain.

I looked at my mom and said, “Oh yeah,  I have some of that!”   Dr. Moore asked who prescribed it and I told him that he did. He smiled and was pleased with himself that he already had done that. I looked at my mom and she looked at me and asked, “Why didn’t you remember?!”   My reply was simple, I told her, ” I have MS, I don’t remember anything!”

My mom and I started to laugh and I looked at Dr. Moore as he said to me something that I have never heard before, “You’re  so cute with your MS! I have never seen anyone like this before.” I kind of chuckled and shook my head, I disagreed with him and told him that he doesn’t know what’s going on in my head. It’s a lot of swearing and cursing the disease.

It reminded me of shopping with my mom a few years ago during Christmas time. We were at Target and started to bicker about something  and my mom looked at the lady next to her and said, “Well,  I HAVE to be nice to her, she’s in wheelchair.”  The woman looked mortified as my mom and I laughed hysterically!   I looked at Dr. Moore, smiled, and asked him, “What else am I going to do?”

He said that he thinks the best thing we can do is to have the Tenex procedure.  The old tendon scrape.   I knew this was going to be the next step to try to get rid of this pain in my knee. It’s scheduled for December 7th.   I no longer have ATI so I don’t think I’m going to leave my house until then but it’s colder outside so it will be miserable anyway if I do leave.  I’m having the procedure in Commerce where I had my surgery.

I asked him if I could take video of the procedure and he said I could. I also asked him if I could keep the stuff he scoops off of my tendon but he said there’s not going to be much. I wonder if he’s going to make a sound effect  as he scrapes it?  I’m pretty sure I will in my head regardless if he does or not. I’m trying to figure out if it will be the scary movie stabbing sound or a funny, “Boop” or a,  “SCRRRAAAPE.”  I’m going to have to ask him.

I will find out all the answers to these questions on December 7th.  It’s crazy that it’s been over a year since I was injured and it still hurts so badly! So much so, that they need to scrape my tendon. Gross!  I have a return appointment after the procedure on December 22nd  at his and Dr. Frush’s office in West Bloomfield. Hopefully everything is resolved so then I can get back to Barwis in 2018!

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!

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!

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!

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.

I worked with Brad on Monday. As I was getting onto the table, I told him and Matt that if the Eagles don’t make it to the Super Bowl, it will be dumb! All of my teams lost last weekend!

Once I was on the table, Luba came over to talk to  Brad. She told me that she was leaving and she told me to, “Hold it (ATI) down with all of these boys.”  I told her I would as I looked around and noticed who was there  as Brad put my leg in traction. There was Brad, Larry, Matt, and another client. I totally could handle this! I grew up with four older brothers!

As Brad unsnapped my pants and pulled my compression sack down, I told him how my knee was feeling. I haven’t worked with him since after my Tenex.  As I was telling him about my, “Shank hole” Larry yelled from the other end of the room that I need to find another analogy. We laughed as Brad looked at my leg and pointed to the, “Shank hole”  and asked if I was talking about, “this little slit.”  I told him that I was and how badly it hurt and how it felt like it was the size of a quarter and that a screwdriver was stabbed into my shin.

I’m not sure how the conversation started but we (the four guys in me) talked about the playoffs and the upcoming Super Bowl and then we started talking about Tom Brady.  I told them that I wasn’t a fan even though I went to Michigan. I just don’t like him.  Matt told me it was because I was hating on greatness. I laughed and  agreed.

Brad told me that my tone was not too bad and he kneaded  my shin mostly. I kind of winced at times and he asked me if it was tender and I nodded.  When he was finished, he told me that it was time for ice and stim but I told him that ice would make me too cold and that the last time Larry just did an ultrasound.   Larry started doing that and kind of  marveled at my football knowledge. He told me that I should be a bookie or something. I told him that, “You  would think I would be good at fantasy which I am not!”

I’ve played on Draft Kings a few times and at the beginning of the second quarter once, I was up seven dollars. At the end, I finished 27,000   or something.   I told him that I enjoyed the game and the NFL Network.

My knee is really starting to get better. I wish it was all the time but there are still times when it aches and my knee pops out of it socket. I will say, the pain isn’t like it was before surgery and the further I get away from my surgery date now that my Tenex is completed, it’s starting to feel better.   I just wish I could trust that because then there are days like yesterday and this morning. The pain can still stop me in my tracks.   I will talk to Dr. Moore more about that on February 16th.   In the meantime, I really like coming to ATI!  It helps my knee to feel better AND I have great conversations with everybody!

I worked with Greg on Friday. He stretched my leg out really good  and for a really long time and then he had me do my leg lifts with the bolster under my knee. I really rocked them with Matt and I do OK with Brad, but doing my leg lifts on Friday with Greg proved to be really difficult! I told him that my legs felt, “Heavy.”

This fact frustrated me and tried to put these frustrating thoughts out of my head (if just for a moment) so I immediately thought of the movie Across the Universe and this song. I could see Max carrying the Statue of Liberty with all the other guys.  I love that movie!

“I Want You/She’s So Heavy”  Across the Universe Soundtrack

We ended our time with the ultrasound and I really could feel the vibrations from the ultrasound more than I ever have before. It felt nice! I think it is crazy how ever since my injury, I am hyper-aware of my knee, it’s aches, and how much it hurts… STILL.

My knee is still popping out of it socket and I don’t know why. I will talk to Dr. Moore about this when I see him.   In the meantime, when it pops out and I gasp, my mom will grab my ankle and pop it back in. I remember I told Mr. Langford about this and he said something like she was, “Hard-core.”   I remember laughing and I didn’t really think about it but, I guess she is!   It’s just crazy that this is still happening a year and a half later.

I worked with Greg again on Monday but first, he had Larry do an ultrasound on my knee for about 20 minutes.   Once Greg came over, I told him about tests my neurologist has me do at my annual appointments  as he stretched my right leg out.  He was familiar with these tests and put his index finger out in front of me.

It was probably a foot or a foot and a half in front of me and he told me to, “Go!”  I  concentrated a whole lot as I touched my nose and then his fingertip with my left hand index finger  repeatedly. He kept telling me to go faster and faster and I did this about 10 times. On the 10th time, he told me that I was, “Killing it!”

We both laughed as he bent my right leg and had my knee kind of crossed over my body to the left. He leaned on the outside of my  thigh. I immediately got alarmed because I felt the stretch on my hip and it hurt! I told him so and he told me it was OK because I just don’t use these muscles because I sit so much and so he was stretching them out for me. Then he added, “You’re Welcome!”

I laughed again as I tried breathing through the pain. He stopped leaning on my right leg and walked around the table and did the same stretch with my left.

My mom and Greg helped me back to my chair and my legs felt like Jell-O because both of my hips were really stretched out and kind of hurt. My mom had to put me into the passenger’s side of the car pretty much by herself because I couldn’t offer any help because I was unable to stand.

Both of my hips hurt and my right hip hurt a little bit more than my left. It wasn’t until we were at the light on Plymouth Oaks and Sheldon that I realized that I have had this pain before. This stretch was very similar  to the, “Ooh Doggie!” stretch that Michael used to do on me in 2014.

The table I worked on with Michael at Barwis was about the size of a full-size bed and was lower to the ground. I didn’t equate the two because the table at ATI is similar to a gurney in a hospital.

Michael laid on me more and pushed the opposite shoulder down to the table.   I used to grab his wrist because it hurt so much!  Thinking about it, I welcomed this return of the, “Ooh Doggie!”  Stretch and it made me miss Barwis so badly! As we were driving on the freeway, my hips burned and I remembered the first time I felt this 2013 with Jesse at Barwis.

It’s crazy that I seem to have reverted  to my abilities from 2014 or even 2013 because this stretch hurt me so badly because my hips were so tight. I can’t wait to get back to Barwis but my knee is still popping out of it socket. The other day, I was awakened and shocked by the pain as I rolled over in bed in the middle of the night and heard and felt the  very familiar click of it popping out and I had to roll back over to get it to pop back in.  February 16th cannot come fast enough!  Happy Birthday Mar-Bear and Adam!   Hopefully, it will be a good day for me too and Dr. Moore will clear me to go back to Barwis.  It will really stink if my knee popping out will become my new normal!  Grrr!!!

So, I had my normal visits to ATI on Mondays and Fridays from January 26th to the week before February 16th.  February 16th was my appointment with Dr. Moore so I thought I would have been cleared to go back to Barwis. My time at ATI was a lot of fun before the Super Bowl. Sean has always told me that I am a, “bandwagon-er”  when it comes to the Super Bowl and for this past Super Bowl, I was on the Eagles bandwagon.

First of all, I am NOT a Patriots fan so I would’ve gone for anyone NOT the Patriots but I vividly remember the Eagles being Phil’s team.  I really liked Nick Foles’ story and I liked their showing at the championship game the previous week. Once they won the Super Bowl, I got my Super Bowl champions shirt which I am not ashamed to say is my new favorite shirt because it is SO comfortable!

The whole time I was at ATI from January 26th, Greg stretched me out very well getting me ready to go back to Barwis. At my appointment with Dr. Moore on February 16th,  I mentioned that my knee was still popping out of its socket and it still hurt. Dr. Moore cleared me to go back to Barwis and told me that if it continues to pop out or is really bothersome that I should give his office a call and they will set up an MRI.

I was so excited to get back to Barwis that I called Elle immediately, that day, and asked to get fitted back into the schedule.  That weekend, my knee popped out multiple times and it was excruciatingly painful! I called Dr. Moore’s office to schedule an MRI that Monday.  I was frustrated that my knee is still a problem but I’ve felt in my core (and in my right knee) that something was still the matter with my knee.

Today, a woman called me from the DMC to make the appointment.  As she asked me the routine, clarifying questions, she asked me when my birthday was and wished me an early birthday because it is my birthday in 10 days. I am scheduled to go to Harper Hospital on St. Patrick’s Day for my MRI.

I want to be back at Barwis so badly that it hurts but I want answers to why my knee is still popping out more. I remembered that it popped out before my surgery and I explained to Mr. Langford how my mom would pop it back in and he said that she was,  “Hard-Core.”   Well, she still pops it back in when it pops out and she is STILL, “Hard-Core!”

Until my appointment for my MRI, I will lay low in my house as I have been for the past 18 months until I get my answers. I will call Monday morning to make a return appointment with Dr. Moore to discuss my MRI results and I can’t believe this is STILL going on.

I talked with Sean briefly that it would be pretty terrible if I needed a third surgery or fourth procedure on my knee.  I’m not concerned about the scarring but only the recovery time.  I just want it to STOP popping out because it is pretty painful! Since before surgery,  and after my injury, it probably has popped out about 100 times!  It is excruciating each and every time!