To say it was a fantastic visit to the hospital today would maybe be a bit of an exaggeration.
I suppose that i can say that i walked away at the end of the day with good news, but still not completely over the moon just yet...
The day started with the customary trip to the physio first, and he told me that i needed to add a few more exercises to my routine now.
I spoke to him about the instability in my knee, and that, after some research online, i thought that it may be related to the tear of the LCL that i sustained.
I asked him if there were any exercises that i could do to strengthen the LCL, but he explained that the LCL is a ligament made up of fibrous tissue, and therefore it cannot be strengthened like a muscle can.
The only way to fix it would be to strengthen the other muscles in the leg, notably the quad muscle, in order to take the strain off of the LCL and let it repair itself over time.
These kind of tears (mine was a Grade II, a severe tear, but the ligament still intact) can take years to completely repair themselves, as they grow back very slowly.
I also asked him about the difference in my leg length, which has been a bit of a worry of mine as well.
He got out the tape measure and measured from the tip of the hip joint, to the inside of the ankle, in a straight line. He did this both sides, and told me that i have a difference of 3cm. 2cm is the accepted difference, and anything over that would necessitate getting orthotics so as not to mess up the spine, hips and knees in normal walking posture.
He told me to chat to the orthopaedic specialist about this as well.
He also told me that it was possible that a knee brace might help in the lateral instability that i was feeling in my knee.
Then it was off to the ortho specialist to see what he had to say.
Unfortunately it was a pretty busy day and i could not see the guy i normally see, so it was a new doctor today.
I explained what the story was, and he took a look at my file.
He sat me on the bed and also did the leg length measurement, and told me that he would book me in to the orthotics clinic they held every 3 months at the hospital, and that they would custom make me some inserts for my shoes.
I told him that i was experiencing some popping and grating noises in my knee whilst i was doing my exercises, and he told me that he would have to do arthroscopic surgery in order to ascertain what the problem was. More than likely it was due to the tear of my meniscus though.
In the MRI i had, it was indicated that i had a small medial meniscus (the schock absorber material under your kneecap) tear.
He said that they would do keyhole surgery, and drill 2 small holes in my knee, 1 on either side of the knee.
They would insert a camera in the one side and the tools in the other side.
I will have to stay over for 2 days, as there is apparently a lot of bleeding involved wit this type of surgery, and they can only release me when the bleeding subsides to an acceptable level.
I asked him about the LCL tear, and he said that even if it was a level III, which is a complete rupture of the ligament, they do not do the surgical repair on the national health system. I would have to have it done privately!
He said that even professional rugby players have recovered from severe tears to the LCL by strengthening to the quad muscle to such a level that it takes over the function of the LCL and lets the ligament repair itself.
So the diagnosis for recovering from the pain i find myself in, and being able to walk again, is to strengthen my quad muscle to super strength.
I asked him how long he would expect this to take, bearing in mind that i can only just lift my leg from bent to straight at the moment. 6 months minimum was the answer!
Some more prescriptions of pain killers and anti inflamatories, and i was on my way again.
The orthotics clinic is booked in for the 5th December, and the next available date for the keyhole surgery is the 5th March.
So until then, its gonna be the usual exercises, with the new ones added by the physio, and a lot of quad exercising.
On a personal note, it was disappointing to be told that i will have to exercise for at least another 6 months before i can hope to be walking again, but if i look at the positive in my visit, i will be getting inserts for my shoe that will make the walking process better, i will also be getting surgery to repair the tear to my meniscus, and i now know exactly what i need to do in order to relieve the pain to the lateral part of my knee.
So, like i said, all in all, today was a pretty good day....! 8)
