As I was driving home this evening after grabbing a bite to eat, I looked up and the sun was shining through the very clouds that had contained rain all day today...it was beautiful...and the Holy Spirit brought me back to my childhood days when I used to sing a very simple and fun childrens song. The chorus simply goes: So, rise and shine And give God the glory, glory. Rise and shine and give God the glory, glory. Rise, and shine, and give God the glory, glory, Children of the Lord! It was a precious reminder to me that He is always by my side and He WILL receive the glory from me! Today has been a bit of a difficult day for me and yet I can still honestly say that I am blessed and I have found peace. I have some answers...not necessarily the answers I was anticipating or hoping for, but answers none the less. Long story short, my knee is completely shot...I do need a total knee replacement. However, I have a significant amount of restriction in my leg extension and a knee replacement will do nothing to improve that. As well, my ACL is basically gone. Dr. Henne, upon reading my MRI, fully expected that he was going to have to reconstruct my ACL, but after the physical examination today, there is a bit of a hidden blessing in that respect. From the way that I understand it, as a result of my injury I have developed a large amount of scar tissue and that has created the stability in my knee that the ACL normally provides an individual. Without the scar tissue, my ACL would have needed to be completely reconstructed! So, I dont have to have that procedure done! Dr. Henne was so incredibly thorough and spent nearly an hour with me in the exam room just going over all of my options and answering every question I had. The biggest question I had for him was whether I will ever run again or not. In no uncertain terms he said no. I said, Not even a 5K? His response was, Not even a 5K. I took a deep breath, shed a few quick tears, and promptly thanked him for his candor and straight forwardness. He told me based on my MRI and X-rays, his goal is to get me to a point of walking without a walker and with minimal pain. Barring a miraculous touch, I will likely always live with a certain amount of pain. I asked him if he believed in miracles...he nodded and said, Im always willing take some help from above! I like that answer! So, what are my options? I am approved for a total knee replacement and can have that done whenever I say the word. The downside of this option is that from a medical perspective I am still very young and having it done now will mean signing up for an inevitable revision of that replacement down the road. If I opt for this surgery immediately, I will also not ever have any more range of motion than I have today. The second option is to first have an arthroscopic procedure that will remove scar tissue and bone growth that is the potential cause of my range of motion restriction. There is no way to tell how successful, if at all, this procedure will be as far as providing better extension and reducing some of my pain, but without the surgery I will never have any more range of motion than I currently have. To me, the decision seemed like a no brainer...but I talked to my incredible physical therapist, as well as my parents and Mike, and they all agreed that the best course of treatment would be to have the scope done now and then sometime within the next 6 months to 2 years, depending on the success of the scope procedure, I will have the total knee replacement. Dr. Henne said the ball is in my court as far as how long I want to wait to do the replacement. When I make the call, he will get the surgery scheduled. I am praying that the first procedure will buy me at least another year before the replacement surgery. So, as it stands now, Dr. Henne gave me a cortisone injection today to help minimize my pain and I am scheduled to have the arthroscopic procedure done on September 15. I am so thankful for an incredibly capable medical practice like River Valley Orthopedics that has provided me with the absolute best care over the past year and a half. And so the journey continues...and through the journey I will continue to rise and shine and give God the glory! Thank you for your continued prayers and support. I love you all. To God be the glory, now and forever.
Posted on: Wed, 20 Aug 2014 01:43:00 +0000
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