Ankle Update - not great news.
In the interest of keeping everyone in the loop, I'm just going to write this up and post it here and on Facebook.. apologies for the redundancy.
I saw the specialist yesterday to talk about my ankle, and possible next steps. He confirmed through another set of X-Rays that the cadaver plug has indeed shifted and is protruding into the cartilage 'cushion' between the tibia and talus.
Should
After surgery, this is how the interior of my ankle should have looked in a frontal X-Ray. Pins holding together the Osteotomy, and the plug situated smoothly in line with the rest of the talus. The black mark is to show where the original defect was prior to surgery.
Does
This is how it actually looks now, in frontal X-Ray. I've exaggerated it a tiny bit so that you can see what's happening, but not by much. You can still see the bone protruding. The little groove I've drawn in the Tibia is speculative - this is what Dr. Haskell feels will happen on a fairly rapid basis if I don't have the protrusion filed down or the graft replaced.
The end result of this is that I will need to have surgery, and soon. I asked him if I could take a year and get my life back in order, and he very compassionately said "Not really." He's afraid that the damage I'm risking to the tibia outweighs the inconvenience of having the surgery ASAP. I think he's talking about doing it before the month is out.
The interesting part is that we won't really know which surgery I will need until it is happening. Best case scenario is that he goes in there arthroscopically, sees that the graft is healing well, just in the wrong position, and he shaves off the protrusion, and I have a 4-6 week recovery period.
Worst case scenario is him getting in there arthroscopically, seeing that the graft is *not* healing properly and deciding to remove it. In that case he would open up the whole thing again, re-do the osteotomy on the medial malleolus, remove the old graft, and then remove a plug from my own knee to fill the area. This is sincerely bad news because then I would not have use of my entire right leg for 10-12 weeks or more. I would be laid up for the same amount, if not longer, than I was for my last surgery.
Needless to say I am extremely disappointed, frustrated... all of the teds I can muster. I hate that I have to endure this again, and I hate that I don't have more time to consider it, work on it, prepare for it. I'm not in a great headspace. I feel like I've been set free for a few days, and now have to go back to jail in pain-land.
More later when I'm not working and feeling grumpy.
I saw the specialist yesterday to talk about my ankle, and possible next steps. He confirmed through another set of X-Rays that the cadaver plug has indeed shifted and is protruding into the cartilage 'cushion' between the tibia and talus.
Should
After surgery, this is how the interior of my ankle should have looked in a frontal X-Ray. Pins holding together the Osteotomy, and the plug situated smoothly in line with the rest of the talus. The black mark is to show where the original defect was prior to surgery.
Does
This is how it actually looks now, in frontal X-Ray. I've exaggerated it a tiny bit so that you can see what's happening, but not by much. You can still see the bone protruding. The little groove I've drawn in the Tibia is speculative - this is what Dr. Haskell feels will happen on a fairly rapid basis if I don't have the protrusion filed down or the graft replaced.
The end result of this is that I will need to have surgery, and soon. I asked him if I could take a year and get my life back in order, and he very compassionately said "Not really." He's afraid that the damage I'm risking to the tibia outweighs the inconvenience of having the surgery ASAP. I think he's talking about doing it before the month is out.
The interesting part is that we won't really know which surgery I will need until it is happening. Best case scenario is that he goes in there arthroscopically, sees that the graft is healing well, just in the wrong position, and he shaves off the protrusion, and I have a 4-6 week recovery period.
Worst case scenario is him getting in there arthroscopically, seeing that the graft is *not* healing properly and deciding to remove it. In that case he would open up the whole thing again, re-do the osteotomy on the medial malleolus, remove the old graft, and then remove a plug from my own knee to fill the area. This is sincerely bad news because then I would not have use of my entire right leg for 10-12 weeks or more. I would be laid up for the same amount, if not longer, than I was for my last surgery.
Needless to say I am extremely disappointed, frustrated... all of the teds I can muster. I hate that I have to endure this again, and I hate that I don't have more time to consider it, work on it, prepare for it. I'm not in a great headspace. I feel like I've been set free for a few days, and now have to go back to jail in pain-land.
More later when I'm not working and feeling grumpy.