Went for my follow-up visit with Dr Lim Mui Hong today when he replaced my bandages and checked on my wound - nothing amiss, except for the $100+ from my wallet. Will be going back one last time in a week's time to remove the stitches.
The highlight of my day was my first visit to my physiotherapist, Mark from The Physio Movement. It's my first time seeing him, and they are well-reviewed online. It's a bit too early for me to leave my review, so I'll save it for a few weeks time.
Mark is a friendly guy, trying to chat abit to break the ice. During the session, he did some manual therapy (basically some massage to release tight muscles), a 15 mins session of TENS, and he ended it off with some advice on walking with crutches (try to retain my normal walking gait, don't overcorrect with a limp), and prescribed some daily exercises to do at home.
He told me that:
- I should walk without crutches in 2 weeks
- After 5-6 weeks he may let me do some light jogging
- Back to normal activity after 3 months
I'm slightly disappointed with the recovery timeline, as my informal Google search showed some people who actually went back to normal activity in 2-4 weeks. Oh well, have to trust the process and just pray for speedy and FULL recovery!
The general progress so far is some slight improvements in knee extension over the past 3 days. Knee flexion entirely depends on how much swelling there is in the knee... today there suddenly seemed to be some swelling so my sub90 knee flexion became a very tight 90. Bearing weight on the knee is still quite uncomfortable, though I can generally survive on one crutch, even no crutch if I limp hard.
Saturday, 4 August 2018
Tuesday, 31 July 2018
Plica Syndrome - Part 2 - Surgery + Post-Surgery
Just got home from my knee arthoscopy surgery for my plica syndrome!
I decided to journal my experience so others can have a point of reference.
To read more about my exact condition, you can check out part 1 here.
After a long time of ruminating and consideration, I decided to go for a knee arthroscopy surgery. According to my doctor Lim Mui Hong, it’s a fairly minor surgery with low risk. He seemed quite confident so that was reassuring.
My surgery was scheduled at 9.30AM, which meant I was asked to check in to Mount Alvernia Hospital at 7.30AM. I had to fast for >8h before the surgery, which meant I skipped breakfast and didn’t drink anything in the morning (I read that you can actually drink, just not eat. All the Nurses who asked me a gazillion times also only asked ‘when was your last meal’ and didn’t ask when did I last drink water so.... maybe you can drink? Check with your doctor)
Checking in was pretty fast, and I was changed into my operating gown by 8+ and chilling in my ward. As it was my first surgery, I was pretty nervous and didn’t know what to expect. Thankfully the Wife was with me!
Just before 9, someone came to wheel me up to the operation theater. It is time!!
It was a surreal feeling being wheeled in the bed/gurney... slightly disconcerting.
When I reached upstairs, I had to wait again as it wasn’t time yet. It was an uncomfortable (and cold!) 20+ mins as I heard patients being wheeled around me and heart rate monitors beeping out of rhythm. Can be quite unnerving! Not sure why the air con was so cold too, won’t the surgeon shiver or something.
Luckily the surgery was very punctual - at 9.25 my anaestheologist came to me and briefly explained what was going to happen. ‘You will go to sleep, and it will be done!’ He said cheerfully.
THEN he wheeled me into the operating theatre and suddenly like ten different things were happening at once. Someone was preparing the operating table for me, another put a heart rate monitor on my chest, another took my pulse, the anaestheologist was inserting the tube into my hand which my GA would be fed in, and my surgeon was jokingly asking me ‘so which knee ah?’ It was very confusing, but impressively efficient too as each staff worked like cogs of a wheel and had me all hooked up and ready to go within a minute.
I wasn’t asked to count down from a 100, unlike all those stories you hear. I don’t really remember what the last thing said to me was, probably ‘is that bozo still awake?’., I don’t remember dozing off. Next thing I knew I woke up in my ward, about 1.5h later, and my whole body felt like it was still asleep due to the GA still in my system.. I groggily said some stuff to my wife to tell her I’m awake then went back to sleep as the drugs slowly wore off.
I was kept in bed for another few hours (including a lunch break of porridge) and my surgeon came by at 3+ to check on me. Everything went smoothly, and he told me to do some quad squeezing and leg extension/flexion, with the goal of regaining full range of motion.
Currently my knee feels very tight, and I can’t bend it nor extend it fully yet, especially with the thick bandages still wrapped around it. Quite hard to move around without crutches too since the joint is quite weak and stiff.
Hope it gets better quick! Will be going back to see him for a follow up in 4 days time, and also see the physio for some PT.
I decided to journal my experience so others can have a point of reference.
To read more about my exact condition, you can check out part 1 here.
After a long time of ruminating and consideration, I decided to go for a knee arthroscopy surgery. According to my doctor Lim Mui Hong, it’s a fairly minor surgery with low risk. He seemed quite confident so that was reassuring.
My surgery was scheduled at 9.30AM, which meant I was asked to check in to Mount Alvernia Hospital at 7.30AM. I had to fast for >8h before the surgery, which meant I skipped breakfast and didn’t drink anything in the morning (I read that you can actually drink, just not eat. All the Nurses who asked me a gazillion times also only asked ‘when was your last meal’ and didn’t ask when did I last drink water so.... maybe you can drink? Check with your doctor)
Checking in was pretty fast, and I was changed into my operating gown by 8+ and chilling in my ward. As it was my first surgery, I was pretty nervous and didn’t know what to expect. Thankfully the Wife was with me!
Just before 9, someone came to wheel me up to the operation theater. It is time!!
It was a surreal feeling being wheeled in the bed/gurney... slightly disconcerting.
When I reached upstairs, I had to wait again as it wasn’t time yet. It was an uncomfortable (and cold!) 20+ mins as I heard patients being wheeled around me and heart rate monitors beeping out of rhythm. Can be quite unnerving! Not sure why the air con was so cold too, won’t the surgeon shiver or something.
Luckily the surgery was very punctual - at 9.25 my anaestheologist came to me and briefly explained what was going to happen. ‘You will go to sleep, and it will be done!’ He said cheerfully.
THEN he wheeled me into the operating theatre and suddenly like ten different things were happening at once. Someone was preparing the operating table for me, another put a heart rate monitor on my chest, another took my pulse, the anaestheologist was inserting the tube into my hand which my GA would be fed in, and my surgeon was jokingly asking me ‘so which knee ah?’ It was very confusing, but impressively efficient too as each staff worked like cogs of a wheel and had me all hooked up and ready to go within a minute.
I wasn’t asked to count down from a 100, unlike all those stories you hear. I don’t really remember what the last thing said to me was, probably ‘is that bozo still awake?’., I don’t remember dozing off. Next thing I knew I woke up in my ward, about 1.5h later, and my whole body felt like it was still asleep due to the GA still in my system.. I groggily said some stuff to my wife to tell her I’m awake then went back to sleep as the drugs slowly wore off.
I was kept in bed for another few hours (including a lunch break of porridge) and my surgeon came by at 3+ to check on me. Everything went smoothly, and he told me to do some quad squeezing and leg extension/flexion, with the goal of regaining full range of motion.
Currently my knee feels very tight, and I can’t bend it nor extend it fully yet, especially with the thick bandages still wrapped around it. Quite hard to move around without crutches too since the joint is quite weak and stiff.
Saturday, 21 July 2018
My Plica Syndrome - Part 1 - Pre-surgery
It was a seemingly harmless niggling feeling in my knee after running.
I decided nothing too bad, and went for another run the next day. And then walked a whole bunch in Korea the following week.
What followed was a 9 month long knee pain/discomfort that I couldn't really explain for the first 6 months until MRI results showed a medial plica in my left knee that was possibly causing my problems.
My exact symptoms evolved and varied with time, but some of them:
- Tightness in both quads, at the blue spots marked above
- Tightness in hamstrings
- Abovementioned tightness would happen mostly with prolonged standing, and very oddly, when any fabric rested on my knees.
- Rubbing sensation on the inside of left knee (plica)
- Knee would feel warm at the red region after certain exercises (e.g. deadlift)
- Weakness/tight feeling in left knee.
- Tightness can evolve to pain if I keep applying pressure on left knee.
I did everything - see multiple doctors and specialists, physios, even TCM. But nothing helped. I stretched diligently every day, foam rolled. But nothing helped.
So after a long and fruitless battle... I gave in and decided to try for the last resort, surgery. It would be a simple procedure - a knee arthroscopy, where the doctor makes 2 small incisions on each side of the knee, and goes in to shave away the plica.
The thing is, there is no guarantee that this will take away my problems. It is the best hypothesis as to what was causing it, as doctors had ruled out ligament / meniscus damage. I'm quite apprehensive of this surgery, as I've never gone for surgery (or been under GA) before.
My surgery will be in 2 week's time... I'm hoping it will go smoothly, and recovery will be quick and easy. I'll update again then.
I decided nothing too bad, and went for another run the next day. And then walked a whole bunch in Korea the following week.
What followed was a 9 month long knee pain/discomfort that I couldn't really explain for the first 6 months until MRI results showed a medial plica in my left knee that was possibly causing my problems.
 |
| red area is where the pain/discomfort is. Blue areas are where i experience tightness for unknown reasons. |
My exact symptoms evolved and varied with time, but some of them:
- Tightness in both quads, at the blue spots marked above
- Tightness in hamstrings
- Abovementioned tightness would happen mostly with prolonged standing, and very oddly, when any fabric rested on my knees.
- Rubbing sensation on the inside of left knee (plica)
- Knee would feel warm at the red region after certain exercises (e.g. deadlift)
- Weakness/tight feeling in left knee.
- Tightness can evolve to pain if I keep applying pressure on left knee.
I did everything - see multiple doctors and specialists, physios, even TCM. But nothing helped. I stretched diligently every day, foam rolled. But nothing helped.
So after a long and fruitless battle... I gave in and decided to try for the last resort, surgery. It would be a simple procedure - a knee arthroscopy, where the doctor makes 2 small incisions on each side of the knee, and goes in to shave away the plica.
The thing is, there is no guarantee that this will take away my problems. It is the best hypothesis as to what was causing it, as doctors had ruled out ligament / meniscus damage. I'm quite apprehensive of this surgery, as I've never gone for surgery (or been under GA) before.
My surgery will be in 2 week's time... I'm hoping it will go smoothly, and recovery will be quick and easy. I'll update again then.
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