Hey y'all,
As you know, mom had to have another total knee replacement done about a week and a half ago. This decision came about after she had her first total knee surgery a few years ago and then two subsequent surgeries to make adjustments as she was still having a great deal of pain and trouble walking despite physical therapy.
After her first total knee surgery, the doctor thought the problem was that she had developed a lot of scar tissue around the prosthesis so for the second surgery he went in and removed the scar tissue and mom went back into physical therapy almost immediately afterwards.
Then after another year of no relief from the pain in her knee and with her knee still locking up occasionally, her surgeon thought that one of her tendons might be pulling the prosthesis in awkward/painful positions so they decided to do a tendon release.
After the third surgery, she went through another long period of no relief and her knee locking up. Finally, they figured out that the problem was with the prosthesis itself and the total knee surgery needed to be redone with a different prosthesis. The surgeon had put the "gold standard" prosthesis in but it turns out that mom's quad muscles are stronger than what they had originally anticipated and they were pulling the prosthesis out of the joint (causing it to lock up and causing mom a lot of pain). There would have been no way they would have known mom's quad strength and the surgeon did the right thing by putting the top of the line prosthesis in to begin with, it's just one of those frustrating rare situations that happen sometimes. I hate it for mom, but we were glad that they finally figured out what was going on.
So mom went in for her 4th surgery and 2nd total knee replacement on July 30th. She was really dreading having to go through all of that again. The first total knee removed her natural knee joint completely, along with part of her femur (thigh bone). Then they had to essentially nail the prosthesis up into the femur to attach it - needless to say, it was a very long and frustrating road to recovery the first time around...one that proved to be fruitless for mom so that was very disappointing and disheartening. The second total knee replacement went well and they replaced the prosthesis with a different prosthesis. They also removed the membrane that surrounds the natural knee cap as they found that mom's was unusually thick and could have been becoming entrapped inside of the prosthesis when she would bend her knee. (And since she has an artificial knee in there now, that membrane isn't necessary). So all went well with that surgery- mom was in a lot of pain but she was discharged from the hospital after a few days and was able to go home to rest. My sister Janna has been there taking care of her.
Then a few days ago, mom was getting up to use the bathroom and on her way back she forgot to use her walker - probably an effect of being on the pain medicines since they make you loopy and confused and forgetful. It's also possible that mom was just trying to test the limits and see if she could go without it...not sure, you never know with Donna! Either way, she ended up taking a nasty fall and hit her knee on the hardwood floor. She got a spiral fracture in her femur, popped out several of her staples in her knee, and lost some blood because she's been on blood thinners post-op. Dad and Janna called an ambulance and they took her to the emergency room so she's been back in the hospital since Wednesday night.
The consulting surgeon thought that they would need to either remove the broken part of the femur and put another prosthesis with a longer stem in mom's knee....or that they would need to plate the bone and fix the 2nd prosthesis. When her surgeon got back from a trip yesterday morning, he decided it would be best to do the latter option and plate the bone/fix the staples. So he worked her into his schedule and she went in for surgery around 6 pm last night.
Everything went well with her surgery. Of course, she is in a lot of pain and a little out of it from the pain medications. Janna has said that she's been pretty combative about keeping her oxygen mask on so Janna and the nurses are having to put them back on her when she settles back down or falls asleep again. Janna has also said that they are keeping an eye on her blood pressure - it has been spiking a little bit whenever she wakes up - which is actually normal because the pain she is in is going to be more salient when she is awake. It's also normal for everyone's BP to go up upon first waking...but they are just going to keep an eye on it. It's probably just related to mom's pain perception :(
Her recovery time to walking normally/pain free is going to be a lot longer than before since physical therapy will have to be a lot less aggressive...she's basically going to have to keep it immobile for a couple of months and will have to take it slower to allow her broken femur to heal...but keep praying for her and pray that this is the last surgery she will have to go through, that her pain will go away quickly and things will progress as they are suppose to this time around.
In other news, we recently ventured out of hiding in the 'burbs for Sterling's coworker's 30th birthday dinner. There were 15 - 16 people that met up for dinner at Rudi Lechner's - a great little German restaurant. All of the wait staff dresses up in traditional German attire and there is live music as well so it was a lot of fun. The boys enjoyed their big beer mugs and we all ate a ton of food. I was a little bummed to have to miss out on the beer and all of the great sausage but it won't be too much longer until I can partake in the fun again - and it was helpful that I wasn't the only pregnant lady there. Jake's wife, Brisa is also pregnant. She is a few weeks ahead of me and their baby boy is due in late September I believe :) Here are some pictures from the night:
As you know, mom had to have another total knee replacement done about a week and a half ago. This decision came about after she had her first total knee surgery a few years ago and then two subsequent surgeries to make adjustments as she was still having a great deal of pain and trouble walking despite physical therapy.
After her first total knee surgery, the doctor thought the problem was that she had developed a lot of scar tissue around the prosthesis so for the second surgery he went in and removed the scar tissue and mom went back into physical therapy almost immediately afterwards.
Then after another year of no relief from the pain in her knee and with her knee still locking up occasionally, her surgeon thought that one of her tendons might be pulling the prosthesis in awkward/painful positions so they decided to do a tendon release.
After the third surgery, she went through another long period of no relief and her knee locking up. Finally, they figured out that the problem was with the prosthesis itself and the total knee surgery needed to be redone with a different prosthesis. The surgeon had put the "gold standard" prosthesis in but it turns out that mom's quad muscles are stronger than what they had originally anticipated and they were pulling the prosthesis out of the joint (causing it to lock up and causing mom a lot of pain). There would have been no way they would have known mom's quad strength and the surgeon did the right thing by putting the top of the line prosthesis in to begin with, it's just one of those frustrating rare situations that happen sometimes. I hate it for mom, but we were glad that they finally figured out what was going on.
So mom went in for her 4th surgery and 2nd total knee replacement on July 30th. She was really dreading having to go through all of that again. The first total knee removed her natural knee joint completely, along with part of her femur (thigh bone). Then they had to essentially nail the prosthesis up into the femur to attach it - needless to say, it was a very long and frustrating road to recovery the first time around...one that proved to be fruitless for mom so that was very disappointing and disheartening. The second total knee replacement went well and they replaced the prosthesis with a different prosthesis. They also removed the membrane that surrounds the natural knee cap as they found that mom's was unusually thick and could have been becoming entrapped inside of the prosthesis when she would bend her knee. (And since she has an artificial knee in there now, that membrane isn't necessary). So all went well with that surgery- mom was in a lot of pain but she was discharged from the hospital after a few days and was able to go home to rest. My sister Janna has been there taking care of her.
Then a few days ago, mom was getting up to use the bathroom and on her way back she forgot to use her walker - probably an effect of being on the pain medicines since they make you loopy and confused and forgetful. It's also possible that mom was just trying to test the limits and see if she could go without it...not sure, you never know with Donna! Either way, she ended up taking a nasty fall and hit her knee on the hardwood floor. She got a spiral fracture in her femur, popped out several of her staples in her knee, and lost some blood because she's been on blood thinners post-op. Dad and Janna called an ambulance and they took her to the emergency room so she's been back in the hospital since Wednesday night.
The consulting surgeon thought that they would need to either remove the broken part of the femur and put another prosthesis with a longer stem in mom's knee....or that they would need to plate the bone and fix the 2nd prosthesis. When her surgeon got back from a trip yesterday morning, he decided it would be best to do the latter option and plate the bone/fix the staples. So he worked her into his schedule and she went in for surgery around 6 pm last night.
Everything went well with her surgery. Of course, she is in a lot of pain and a little out of it from the pain medications. Janna has said that she's been pretty combative about keeping her oxygen mask on so Janna and the nurses are having to put them back on her when she settles back down or falls asleep again. Janna has also said that they are keeping an eye on her blood pressure - it has been spiking a little bit whenever she wakes up - which is actually normal because the pain she is in is going to be more salient when she is awake. It's also normal for everyone's BP to go up upon first waking...but they are just going to keep an eye on it. It's probably just related to mom's pain perception :(
Her recovery time to walking normally/pain free is going to be a lot longer than before since physical therapy will have to be a lot less aggressive...she's basically going to have to keep it immobile for a couple of months and will have to take it slower to allow her broken femur to heal...but keep praying for her and pray that this is the last surgery she will have to go through, that her pain will go away quickly and things will progress as they are suppose to this time around.
In other news, we recently ventured out of hiding in the 'burbs for Sterling's coworker's 30th birthday dinner. There were 15 - 16 people that met up for dinner at Rudi Lechner's - a great little German restaurant. All of the wait staff dresses up in traditional German attire and there is live music as well so it was a lot of fun. The boys enjoyed their big beer mugs and we all ate a ton of food. I was a little bummed to have to miss out on the beer and all of the great sausage but it won't be too much longer until I can partake in the fun again - and it was helpful that I wasn't the only pregnant lady there. Jake's wife, Brisa is also pregnant. She is a few weeks ahead of me and their baby boy is due in late September I believe :) Here are some pictures from the night:
Sterling, Jake, and Jake's friend Erich
Brisa and I with beer mugs full of water
Alpine horn - over 20 feet long!
The owner made the group (sans pregnant ladies) get upand do the chicken dance in honor of Jake's birthday...
Sterling was having a good time :)
Getting his peepers going, haha
Me, my love, and our baby bump :)
Happy Birthday Jake!!!We will keep y'all updated on mom's progress. Thanks in advance for all of your prayers. That's all for now.
-Jenn & Sterling
-Jenn & Sterling
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