Day 663: A Tale of Two Surgeries

“Child, It’s about damn time!”

Is what my knee would say if (1) it could speak and (2) my hearing ability were set on supersonic. Ideally a sassy woman who wears big hats to church and makes the best lemonade in the world would be living in there, teaching me the ways of Oprah and shouting me down with a “Don’t you dare!” every time I start to slouch.

Because after a year and a few months of pain and limping, the day of surgery for my right knee had finally arrived! I checked in early in the morning at the day admission centre, went through a bunch of pre-op questions with a doctor, got changed into a super airy blue gown, double-checked and triple-checked the operation consent forms, waited another 5 hours to be taken into the operating theatre, and eventually drifted off to an anaesthesia-induced La La Land.

…

Then BOOM! I’m awaken by the choking sensation of a breathing tube being gagged out of me and the most intense pain in my right leg. And no, I am not my most glamorous self when I’m begging people for strong pain relief. But it sure shuts me up when you give me morphine. Which they did thankfully, at a maximum dose.

I’m back in the ward, a little woozy from the morphine that was gradually wearing off as the hours approached the night, and a whole lot of hungry from all the fasting since 12AM. My whole knee, especially the back of my knee hurts like my muscles and bone have been ripped apart. And the heavy duty knee brace I have on makes every toilet experience (as if it wasn’t so darn difficult already) feel like you’re hanging a bag of bricks off of your leg.

Me and my Robocop-esque brace

All of this will not matter as much because I get to be discharged tomorrow after an X-ray scan and my final dose of antibiotics. I get to go back to the hotel, take a non nurse-assisted shower, have a fancy birthday meal with my family and friends, and fly back home to my comfy bed. Surely this screaming soreness at the back of my knee is just a standard post-op muscle pain that’ll go away in no time.

…

But of course, NO.

No, no, no, no, no.

This kind of a poop situation dares show itself:

Poop X-ray, made of poop

Apparently, the calcium phosphate injection material had leaked into the back of my knee, hence the unbearable pain that’s been bothering me since the surgery. So I waved an imaginary goodbye to an epic birthday weekend, a plushy hotel bed, and an early flight back to Malaysia, as they wheel me in to a second operation within less than 48 hours of the first one. The only thing worth looking forward to is going under general anaesthesia once more. You know, this is entirely their fault if I become a general anaesthesia addict.

Speaking of, the anaesthesiologist at this second surgery did such an excellent job that I woke up feeling like Sleeping Beauty – true story. Note to self: The brain wave monitor really does work (just like it did at my oopherectomy). But major credit to the anaesthesiologist who visited a day before the surgery to find out what drugs worked vs didn’t work in my past general anaesthesia adventures. I don’t think he’ll ever read this, but if you are doctor, you are the BEST!

Nevertheless, the surgery was successful. We know that because the surgeon double-checked by using suction on the injected material to see if it would leak again. And there is a clean X-ray scan to prove that it’s been taken care of. Fragments of material may peel away from the knee with time, but hopefully by then my bone would have incorporated with the majority of the material to hold its structure. At this point, I’ve only been instructed to avoid putting any weight on the operated leg and to keep my knee fully extended. Which sounds simple enough until you start thinking about things like: ” How the heck am I gonna clip my toenails??” But that’s another story for another day, far far away from my 28th birthday this weekend.

I was so pissy (Darren can prove this) when I found out I had to cancel on dinner with my family (who had flown in just to celebrate my birthday in Singapore) and Korean BBQ lunch with my friends; that after getting discharged in the afternoon, I wasn’t expecting anything more than just a quiet night in the hotel. But having a few of my closest friends and loved ones around me was more than enough, it was actually perfect. I wish I could explain the feeling. And no, I’m pretty sure it wasn’t residual anaesthetic drugs in my system. It felt like warmth and fluffiness! It tasted like sugar-dipped tomatoes (a Korean thing I highly recommend on a drained day)! It smelled like entering a Peter Alexander store or passing by the Barbie lane in Toys “R” Us! And it had me hugged around its arms like prosciutto-wrapped figs!

Earl grey cake handmade with love by an angel!

 

This week may not have turned out as expected but hey (albeit painful), what an adventure it was. And what a story to tell.

 

 

If all of this makes little to no sense, you might want to meet me at the beginning: https://beebstory.wordpress.com/2016/01/18/first-blog-post/

Day 655: Just a Spoonful of Jelly

Figuring what to do with this knee is almost as fickle as Ross and Rachel’s relationship in “Friends”. One moment it’s happening, next minute they’re on a “break”. One moment I have my flights, accommodation, and brain booked for a knee operation on June 12, next minute all plans are tossed into an abyss just less than a week before.

Geez, how did we get here?

About 2 months ago, we had decided that an osteochondral allograft transplant was the best option moving forward. What they would do is remove the dead bone with a core and fill in the cavity with donor bone by packing it in. After confirming the procedure for June 12 we left Singapore for home to give them some time to source the donor bone.

Bear in mind that this was 2 and a half weeks before June 12 and by then we had already arranged flights and accommodation. Darren too had made plans to fly in the weekend leading up to the surgery for moral support (and love!). This is where it got so frustrating I wanted to smash my face into a.. tree (not possible because that sounds like it’ll hurt like poo, but I can’t think of anything else right now).

After several unreturned calls (basically me calling non-stop for confirmation), the doctor tells you that they can’t find the donor bone. So you wait (im)patiently for the doctor to come back to you with good news but still, nothing. Of course, you call back and go through another string of unreturned calls, until finally they tell you that they’re changing the entire procedure altogether and have it scheduled on June 21. (That emoji with the rolling eyes) / (That emoji with the “what to do” look).

For multiple plausible reasons (*cough* birthday is on June 24 *cough*) this decision did not sit well with me. But after talking to my surgeon face-to-face we felt more at peace with the surgeon’s choice. He had consulted a few experts in the field with conflicting opinions. Some of them thought the allograft transplant would be most reasonable, and some supported the subchondroplasty (calcium phosphate injection) as the best option. After some “um-ing” and “ah-ing”, my surgeon decided that the subchondroplasty was the safest block to draw from the currently unstable Jenga tower.

My latest knee X-ray showed that the superstructure of my knee, although slightly compromised, was still intact. But what my surgeon kept coming back to as the solid reason for this sudden change in procedure, was the fact that he wouldn’t be burning any bridges with the subchondroplasty. He would merely be removing some debris and filling the cavity with cement-like material (like piping jelly into a donut). The allograft transplant on the other hand would force him to remove some parts of good bone to make way for the donor bone. And if my bone collapses from the transplant, my only apparent alternative would be a metal knee replacement. The subchondroplasty (injection) would serve as a safe linking procedure to a future allograft transplant if needed. But if the injection works, I would have avoided an invasive procedure with longer recovery time and higher risk of damaging good bone.

Again, I’ve done so much complaining at the beginning only to be humbled at the end. I am truly thankful that the team of surgeons and doctors put a lot of thought into my care and wellbeing. So, jelly-piping it is!

On the plus plus side, I got to spend more time with Darren when he visited. Time I wouldn’t have had if I had been in surgery all day. We caught up with some friends over hot pot, played Tetris (a lot), celebrated our birthdays together, and um.. stumbled upon the Trump-Kim summit situation..

Media frenzy at our hotel!

This reporter got all excited asking questions when Darren walked out in a Captain America/burger T-shirt. To which Darren replied innocently, “I just like burgers..” while holding onto our McDonald’s breakfast delivery. We later found out this was what they were lining up for:

Note to self: Avoid controversial T-shirts (Uniqlo or non-Uniqlo) while people are discussing grown up nuclear issues.

This harmless T-shirt

Darren’s trip also coincided with the Marvel Studios exhibition at the Art Science Museum, to his utmost delight!

Ahh.. art

Thankfully, they had a wheelchair hire service which we (absolutely) took full advantage of.

Bifrost: Choice route of transport any day

If only I could take the Bifrost bridge to the other side of this knee ordeal!

 

If all of this makes little to no sense, you might want to meet me at the beginning: https://beebstory.wordpress.com/2016/01/18/first-blog-post/