EMG

The EMG test was a little daunting once i was sat on the bed.
I suppose being an electrician, you know all about electricity, and even though that should probably help the situation because it is only tiny amounts of voltage, I think it just means i am more aware of what is coming!
3 small electrodes were placed on the nerves in my feet, near my toes, and then something looking like a soldering iron with 2 prongs at the end, was held further up my leg, just above the knee area, and a dial on the machine was turned up, slowly increasing the voltage, until an electrical kick was felt in my toes.
This electrical impulse was measured by a pc system and recorded for analysis.
About 5 shocks were sent thru my leg from each location he put the prongs, starting at very mild, to sumtimes quite strong.
The entire set of tests took about 45min or so, and i was chatting to him during the sequence.
He said that my nerve respnse was perfect. As though i had brand new nerves! He said that my sensitivity of the nerves was above the norm, and the response times very fast.
I told him that i was kinda hoping that he would find sumthing wrong so that i could find the cause of the pain, but he said that nerve damage is the last thing that you want to find!
Nerve damage caused problems getting signals to the muscles, and in turn meant that muscles would not function correctly or be as strong as they were before.
He told me that certainly a positive result to his set of tests is what anyone would be hoping for.
After leaving him, it was back to the hospital, the queue system for my file, and the wait to see the ortho specialist.
After 4h sitting on a very uncomfortable hard plastic chair, i finally got to see one of the docs.
He wasn't too impressed to see me back again, and after looking thru my file (i had not seen this guy before), he wanted to know how on earth i could be expecting them to diagnose a pain in the knee problem after only 2 weeks post op!
I told him that i had been sent for this EMG test, and that i was asked to return to look over the results.
He went thru the results with me and told me what i already knew...the results were perfect.
Another thing ticked off the list of possible problems.
Then dr Cappaert walked in and said hello. He'd overheard me talking and came in to see how i was doing.
He told me that i wa trying to rebuild Rome in 2 weeks and that it wasn't going to happen.
He said that i had a lot of things wrong with my leg as a whole, and that the recovery procedure was going to take a long time yet and that i should be patient.
I asked him about the possible knee replacement that i would need to have in the future, and he told me that i should pray that it was not anytime soon, as the nail in the tibia would need to be removed in order to facilitate this op. And he said that the tibial nail was inserted in such a way that it would make removing it very difficult indeed. To the point he feared that they might shatter the tibia or knee in doing so!
This wasn't very comforting knowing that the procedure would need to be done at some point in the future!
He reiterated the fact that until i was strong enough in my muscles, they could not proceed with anything to help me diagnose further.
They booked me in for a return assessment in 3 months time, giving me enough time to get myself as strong as possible.
My physio return is on monday, so until then, its back to the drawing board as far as pain and exercises are concerned!
Another frustrating day in my life, but on the positive side of things, at least one more thing ticked off that could be causing problems...
Ps: i decided on removing the stitches myself as i was pretty certain they were nylon and were not going to dissolve by themselves. I got a pair of tweezers and untied the knots, and pulled them out. Painless. Now my knee can heal up nicely!

Post op checkup

Today i was back to the hospital to have a 1 week checkup, and to get my stitches out.
After the usual long-winded queuing system to get my file and see the specialist, i was directed to dr Arnold, one of the operating surgeons with my op.
I spoke to him about the continued pain in the side of my knee, and he suggested that an EMG might be the answer to see if there were indeed any trapped nerves near the fibula head.
An ElectroMyoGram, is basically a nerve conductive test, where they check the condition of the nerves, and can tell you whether any damage has occurred or not.
He signed the necessary forms, and booked me in next wednesday for the test procedure at a clinic down the road from the hospital.
I asked about getting the stitches removed and he told me they were dissolving stitches and not to worry.
So, the knee pain saga continues...lets hope that the next set of tests reveals something...

Post op physio

I've started with the post op physio exercises that i have been assigned.
They may seem rather simple, but for a very atrophied leg, they are rather challenging. The same pain in the side of the knee continues to hinder me, and makes even the simplest movements such as sitting and standing a painful exercise!
But i'll try my best, as i need to get thru this...

The ticked exercises are the one's that i have been prescribed to start with so long. I have a return date in 2 weeks time to see the physio and she will access my progress and give me some more complicated one's if she sees fit.
The entire workout only takes around 20min to a half hour.
The pain i am feeling in my quads especially from these exercises is tremendous though.
I think they call it DOMS, Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness.
Its from overworking a particular muscle group.
Unfortunately, when your muscles are atrophied to almost nothing, even the easiest workout is going to cause soreness, so i have just been working thru the pain, which at times, has been rather difficult.
But i have no choice...soldier on and get it done...