Vamos a Ver...

Surviving a ruptured Baker's cyst

From my new home on the couch, I found this blog post "Surviving a Ruptured Baker's Cyst", and its associated comments, to be both helpful and illuminating.

I notice that first thing in the morning seems to be the worst as far as the pain and stiffness are concerned. This may be due to a few things- probably a combination of all of them. First of all I don't take Vicodin at night because despite its depressant qualities it tends to keep me awake. Michele from across the beaver pond described it well yesterday when she and Rebecca brought over our groceries- that narcotics seem to do this weird thing where you just skim the surface of sleep. The Vicodin makes me feel dreamy and racey at the same time. This can be pleasant during the day, especially since I'd otherwise be in a lot of pain, but at night when I want to sleep, no. I've also, for the last two nights, taken off the compression wrap out of fear of developing blood clots.This may be irrational- or not- I'm not sure. I do know that I did not enjoy the DVT scare last week. During the day, compression and elevation make a big difference. I can't stand for any length of time even with the wrap, and without the wrap forget it. Stretching and moving seem to help, but only when done from a horizontal, not vertical, position. 

A couple of key pieces of information in the various things I've read are that it usually takes a couple of weeks for the body to reabsorb the fluid from the ruptured cyst. Once this happens you usually feel better, except that the cyst tends to recur- unless whatever caused it has been eliminated. Since one of the common causes of these cysts is tears to the meniscus, and since I've had the torn cartilage removed, maybe this will be the end of the cyst. Let's hope so. Vamos a ver... I don't know if the fact that this is a "complex" cyst is of any significance as far as what to do about it. "Complex" in the context of Baker's cysts seems to mean that there is some calcification involved. This explains the grindy sensation I was having at the back of my knee where there's not supposed to be anything hard or crunchy.

The knee itself is definitely improving and better than it was before the surgery. If it weren't for the ruptured cyst situation I might even be up for a walk. Still, today has been better overall. I've been up and about a couple of times and have finally started working on the mid-term I need to have ready for Tuesday night. I have a pretty normal work week scheduled which is a little scary. Monday and Tuesday are pretty light so maybe it won't be so bad.

Dog and Knee Update

I had the knee surgery yesterday morning and it went well, although I am not exactly reaping the benefits just yet. Yesterday I felt great which led me to think I'd been the recipient of a miracle cure, when in reality I'd just been the recipient of lots and lots of really good drugs, including an anti-inflammatory and plenty of local anesthetic put right into the joint before I woke up. Today has been a bit tougher and I'm told tomorrow will likely be similar. Oh, well. The offending torn cartilage has been cleaned up and I should be getting 100% function back once it heals, including back to running. This is hard to imagine right now when I'm living from one dose of Vicodin to the next, but it's definitely something to look forward to. Despite the temporary misery I'm glad I had the surgery because the problems in there were not going to fix themselves.

I really misjudged what the recovery from this would be like. My surgery experience up until now was limited to the mastectomies. As awful as the idea of having your breast chopped off might be and for all the disconcerting pity responses it tends to elicit, it's actually not very hard to recover from. I didn't even need painkillers afterwards. This knee thing almost requires a home health aide. Really. I'm sitting here with Estelle's walker next to me, and I'm grateful to have it.

The dogs are getting along better which is a huge relief for us. Gus seems to be accepting Patches as part of the family and has been close to her a few times today with no attacks. I think our close supervision and clear, strong messages that attacking her is not okay have been very helpful.

Patches will definitely be a great running dog- she needs a couple of runs a day at this point so I better hurry up and get over this knee thing. She's been pretty lively around the house- lots of energy and creativity. She likes to collect things, especially if she's a little bored- you can see her looking around for something to carry off- a pen, a DVD, baby clothes, a jacket, a book off the shelf. She hasn't chewed anything up...yet, and she's been good about handing over whatever she's taken in return for a Nylabone or plushy AKC toy. None of this is unexpected but it sure is a workout.

Calling all local friends. Please don't hesitate to come by if you want to play with her or go for a walk!

Wednesday Woes

Yesterday afternoon the knee situation took another bad turn. Just before leaving the house to see my afternoon clients I got a call from the orthopedics office informing me that my doctor has been "called into surgery" for Friday and has to reschedule. Their earliest appointment is next Thursday. I responded to this news as any rational adult would under the circumstances and began to cry right then and there on the phone. The woman calling was very nice about it and sympathetic but couldn't do much to help me.

They did arrange for my doctor to call in a prescription for painkillers.  We have plenty of those around here, left over from when I was going through the Taxol part of chemotherapy and from a tooth extraction I had (also during chemo), so I declined.

Here's where things stand now. I have the appointment with my usual doctor for next Thursday and an appointment at another practice about 15 minutes from here for Monday. This other practice is also supposed to call me right away if they have a cancellation today. We're having a snowstorm so I was optimistic that this would happen-so far no luck.

 I've finally given in and taken some Vicodin. This is a last ditch thing with me. I don't like how it makes me feel but at the point I'm at I seem to feel better with it (woozy, kind of out of it) than without it (like I'm going to flip out and throw some kind or pain/tension/stress tantrum). I also took an Advil which really I shouldn't take (burns holes in my stomach) but is what really works. I can get away with taking one occasionally as a last resort. If I could take something like this or aspirin regularly I would never get to where I am now. Oh well...

I've canceled my clients for the day, the fire's going in the woodstove, snow is falling steadily outside, the dogs are sleeping, and the plumber who arrived at 8 this morning is almost done fixing the pipes under our bathroom sink.

I've made a little nest for myself here on the loveseat by the woodstove- pillows, a down throw, some green tea, and a pile of books. The new books I have include, "Anti-Cancer: A New Way of Life," by David Servan-Schreiber, MD, PhD, which I bought myself as a birthday gift last month, and  "The China Study," by T. Colin Campbell and Thomas M. Campbell, a birthday/Christmas gift from Anna. Hopefully I'm not too Vicodin addled to read them. I'm also hoping to put together some recipes and meal plans for the next couple of weeks. I was thinking I might do some for Anna too, since she's also been overbusy and tired.

I find that the key to staying on track with my food and nutrition goals is to plan and organize meals and snacks ahead of time. When things get hectic, as they have been for the past couple of weeks, it's easy to find myself drifting into less than optimal eating behaviors; this can then lead to me worrying, which of course leads to more stress. Since I haven't been able to exercise at all for the past two weeks, staying on track with my eating is even more important than usual. I've been able to do a little bit of yoga and stretching, but that's about it. It will be so great to be able to walk again. In the meantime...