Synovectomy Follow-Up Appointment

On to more serious matters. I had my follow-up appointment yesterday morning with Dr. Dye. It was another rainy day as my Mom drove me back to the city in the pouring rain. I was a little sad to be leaving Lafayette, but knew I needed to move on to my next stage of recovery from surgery. I wanted to hear what Dr. Dye had to say and whether my knee was healing appropriately or not. I also wanted to get back to my apartment to rest more and catch up on my TiVo'd shows. Hey, a girl has to stay up-to-date on Lost and The City, you know? ; )

We arrived at Dr. Dye's office around 10:00 AM. Dr. Dye's assistant Lesley brought me into the exam room, took out my stitches and checked the temperature of my knees. Huh? This was the first time anyone had done this before! The "temperature" of my knees? Lesley pointed a laser at each knee and aimed the red dot right on top of the patella. My left knee temperature was around 89 degrees and my left knee was 81 degrees. Interesting. This seemed to make sense to me as my left knee was the one healing and probably requiring more energy than the right one. Lesley confirmed this was normal. Then Dr. Dye came in and took a look at my knee. Very quickly he repeated some of what he told me in the hospital. He said he found the problematic synovitis under my kneecap and removed it. He said the synovitis (inflammation of synovial tissue causing pain) had attached itself to the underside of my patella. I think this sounds a lot more creepy than it really is and made me wonder how common this is and how misdiagnosed this origin of knee pain can be. I'm sure in most people, if they take the time to rest, the inflammation dissipates and even goes away. Dr. Dye repeated, yet again, that this was not the case for me and it needed to be fixed surgically. I asked him about my silly white stockings and he said for safe measure to leave them on until the weekend. O... K... 

I was given a referral to physical therapy and Dr. Dye said the next 2-3 months of my recovery is critical. I must not do more than what is prescribed by my physical therapist. I should also try not to get up and down as much as I usually do from my desk at work. He said to have someone "get the files for me" whenever possible. Anything that causes any pain in my knee should be stopped immediately. I need to stay within that "envelope of function" Dr. Dye always mentions. The PT referral said I should go to 2-3 times a week. What? I thought this was a lot, but I figured, alright, this is what he requires. I'll do my best to follow his program.

After my appointment, my Mom took me to Trader Joe's for some milk and needed groceries. We hauled everything (my suitcase, flowers, and food with my Mom doing most of the work) into my apartment and soon after she was on her way back to Lafayette. I stretched out on my couch and turned on the TV. It continued to be a rainy afternoon which, again, made it easy to be cozy indoors. I soon realized how hard it is to stay in one place in your own apartment. Each time I sat down I thought, "I need this, I need that." It took me a while to get set up where I could reach what I needed and not get up constantly. I iced my knee as much as possible and finally got online to answer personal emails and start to update my blog. I love my laptop! It makes it so easy to keep my leg propped up and type away. My knee felt pretty achy as I hobbled around on my crutches. I just kept telling myself, take it easy. I tried to do the same as when I was at my parents. Rest, read, watch TV, keep that leg on a pillow and ice. The main difference was that I had to get up and cook for myself. Even though my kitchen is only a few feet away, it's amazing how much effort it took to grab my favorite soy crisps or cut up an apple! Don't worry, I didn't starve. I've never been the type to go without! 

I was officially in recovery stage 2.