Crappy week in the hospital and now off for knee surgery...

Well, aint i having fun? Finally get my knee surgery scheduled for sept 9th. Been having problems with it for 1 1/2 yrs now since i had a grade 3 tear of my MCL in march 2003. After numerous cortisone injections and PT doc said it was time to get in there and find out what exactly is going on. Had 2 MRIs and looks like a possible meniscus tear. Hes gonna do a "diagnostic scope" and look around...could be a tear, could be scar tissue from MCL, could be all in my head :D Who knows...but the pain sucks and the knee giving out on me while im walking sucks too.

So here i am getting all ready for that...wednesday 9/1 i get this excrutiating abdominal pain with all the good stuff that goes with it....sweating like a pig...and down i go...out cold...11 yr old has to call ambulance for me. Get to hospital...im told after a sonogram that i have 3 stones in my common bile duct ( had gallbladder removed 7 yrs ago) one stone is 5 cm. Oh goody...next day i am in the OR getting an ERCP...glorified extended endoscope...they take out the 1st stone...start bleeding...cut the sphincter muscle...bleed some more...have to leave the other stones in...put a stent in. A 15 minute procedure is now a 1 hour thing.

I find out i have a mild infection and my liver enzymes are sky high...need antibiotics and a few days in the hospital...meantime im screaming in pain...well maybe not screaming....but ready to...and along comes my godsend...a nurse in white...like myself...gives me the best stuff ever invented...Dilaudid...i am now a happy person again. I live on that stuff for 4 more days and get my ass out of the hospital on sunday 9/5...

Yippee....now i just talk to GI doc and he gives me the green light for the knee in 2 days...shit...i still have pain in the belly...may as well have pain in the knee too. Thank god for drugs :D And after that i get to go back in a month for another ERCP to get the stent out...more drugs.

Just thought i would rant...gonna lay down now...damn stomach...LOL...see y'all after the knee is done!!!

That sucks, Kris.

Hope all goes well and the knee pain is "just in your head". How much PT have you done on it?

Sounds like you're going to be wasted on narcs for some time to come.

At least soon you'll have this ordeal behind you. Good luck.

Damn, and I was whining this morning about 2 cracked teeth.
hang tough

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..start bleeding...cut the sphincter muscle...bleed some more..

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My god, I hope the story gets better after this line. I couldn't read any further.

Get well soon.

Gallstone pancreatitis or just stones in the duct? Scary shiz, that's for sure. Are your enzymes back down? I'll say for sure that it sucks being the patient, but at least you scored some Dilaudid!

Hope you feel better soon! Good luck with the tummy and the knee!

-Nurse Ratchet :D

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Originally posted by LAN
Gallstone pancreatitis or just stones in the duct? Scary shiz, that's for sure. Are your enzymes back down? I'll say for sure that it sucks being the patient, but at least you scored some Dilaudid!

Hope you feel better soon! Good luck with the tummy and the knee!

-Nurse Ratchet :D

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Thanks for the good vibes guys...been doing PT for about 3 months with zero improvement.

Just stones in the duct...have a 5 to 10% chance of getting pancreatitis...sister had it and i dont want it. Enzymes are going down, not looking yellow anymore. Tummy feeling better...post op reports coming soon.

Good to hear that your tummy situation is settling down - and that you don't look like a Simpson! Most of my pancreatitis patients are totally fucked - NPO, NG to LIWS, TPN ---> whacked out liver, drains coming out of every possible place ... I'm glad you escaped such a terrible diagnosis (not that yours was a piece of cake by any means though).

Keep your head up! My fingers are crossed that you heal up quickly. :)

Sorry to hear about all the truma. It sounds like it would have been less painful to just get hit by a big truck.

Hope you're feeling better very soon, and you're able to ski this season.

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Originally posted by LAN
Good to hear that your tummy situation is settling down - and that you don't look like a Simpson! Most of my pancreatitis patients are totally fucked - NPO, NG to LIWS, TPN ---> whacked out liver, drains coming out of every possible place ... I'm glad you escaped such a terrible diagnosis (not that yours was a piece of cake by any means though).

Keep your head up! My fingers are crossed that you heal up quickly. :)

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Nope...no simpsons anymore...i did the NPO and iv shit...dont want anything else i dont enjoy being on the recieving end...i like to be the one giving it...LOL. NPO after 2400 tonite...surgery at 11am...see ya post op.

*awaiting Kris' post-op drug induced post*

Well, i am back...not as bad as i thought i would be. Only needed the drugs for a day or two...vicodan was making me sick anyway. Turns out i didnt have a meniscus tear. I had Plica syndrome...i actually had to look that one up. They shaved it off and did some fine tuning of scar tissue. So looks like i will be hitting the snow as soon as we get some. Stitches come out on wednesday and knee is a little stiff...doing my own home PT. Anyone ever have this Plica thing?

Glad you're doing better! No ,that's a new one on me!Enlighten us if you will.