Six Month Follow Up

Angela went today for her 6 month follow up for her ACL reconstruction. The appointment bore good news and she was pleased to hear what Dr. Shannon had to say.

Her knee has improved since we were there in November. He released her to go back to physical education at school, with a brace for any contact sports. He wrote a prescription for an ACL brace which she will wear when running or participating in contact sports. She is to continue therapy once a week with the supplemental therapy at home. Her gave her permission to play softball in the spring if she desires and feels comfortable doing so provided she wears the ACL brace. She and I talked on the way home and she wants to wait until he releases her in July to play sports again. She doesn't feel her knee is ready for the intensity of playing and practicing every day. However, with the brace she thinks she will become more comfortable and plans to start jogging to help strengthen her muscles in her leg. We go back in July for her one year follow-up.

She knew several of our friends were praying for her and her appointment today and expressed her thankfulness for everyone's prayers today as we met with the doctor.

X-Ray Results

After twenty eight hours I finally heard back from the doctor concerning the x-ray. The report showed that my foot is sprained. I am supposed to stay off of it as much as possible, evaluate it, and ice it. If it is still giving me problems next week I am supposed to call and he will do a MRI.

My patience had worn thin by the time I finally got an answer. But at least now I have my answer.

Foot Injury

Yesterday morning I injured my foot at the office. I always sit at the computer with one leg under my rear end and this is the way I was sitting yesterday prior to getting up from my desk. When I got up, my leg buckled and I turned my left foot completely over on it's side. When I realized that I was falling I grabbed the desk but the glass on the top started sliding so I turned loose of the desk and landed on top of my foot. I was thankful that no one was standing in my office at the time of the accident because I know I looked foolish.

After falling my foot began to swell and ache. Pastor Brian tried to get me to go to the doctor to have it x-rayed, but I put it off until today. This morning I went to the doctor and he ordered a x-ray after examining my foot, my ears, eyes, nose and throat. I still don't understand why he felt it was necessary to do a complete examination since I went in strictly to get an order for x-rays, but I'm satisfied that he wanted to be thorough. On top of having me go for x-ray's I have to go back tomorrow for a complete blood work up because I haven't had one done in over a year. I still haven't heard what the x-ray showed but am hoping that when I go for the blood work in the morning he will have the results.

The kids have been awesome waiting on me and helping out around the house. They have tried to get me to use the crutches but I am afraid I'll injure more than my foot if I use them. I tried them last night at church and I was very uncomfortable on them. I'll just be relieved to have my foot return to normal or at least know if it's fractured or sprained.

Surgery Pending

Today Angela had her knee x-rayed again to see if her growth plates were closed. She has anxiously been awaiting this appointment since November of last year when Dr. Churchhill her that the plates were not closed. All the waiting has payed off and she was thrilled to hear that her wait is over, the growth plate is closed. Dr. Shannon (one of the other orthopedic surgeons in the group) came in to consult with us about the surgery since he will be the one to perform the surgery. He explained to us both the procedure of the arthroscopic reconstruction of the ACL. It will be a same day surgery followed by 3 months of therapy. I have never seen someone so excited about having surgery. Dr. Shannon's office will call us Monday to schedule surgery. Angela has already told them she wants it ASAP.

A few weeks ago, Angela began complaining that she was having trouble seeing the board in her classes and reading as well. We made an appointment to have her eyes tested. Sure enough the eye exam revealed that is both near sighted and far sighted. This is uncommon in children her age according to the Optometrist. So we picked out a frame for her progressive lenses. As it turned out progressive lenses are more expensive than your normal lenses and I was shocked when the lady assisting us told me the cost of the glasses. Sadly, I had to explain that I was not prepared to make the purchase that day and we would have to come back at a later date to purchase them. Being a child, Angela did not grasp the concept that I was not financially prepared to purchase them. However, after explaining that she would get them eventually she was understanding and patient.

It never ceases to amaze me how God works things for good. A family member learned of the situation and graciously gave the money to purchase them with. Angela was thrilled that she would no longer have to struggle seeing the board and reading. The glasses are now in and we are hoping that she will quickly adapt to the progressive lenses.

Our Trip to Ft. Myers

We traveled to Fort Myers this morning for Angela's six month check up on her torn ACL. After taking David to school, Angela and I enjoyed breakfast at Common Grounds Coffee Shop before heading over to the coast. In spite of an accident on I-75 we arrived an hour prior to our appointment so we stopped at Target to purchase a baby shower gift for our friend Michelle. While we were there we purchased a Christmas wreath for our front door and a few additional ornaments for our tree. With our purchases completed we arrived at the doctor's office right on time. Once in the room they took Angela down for an x-ray of her left leg. This was done so that the physician could see the difference in her growth plate since May of this year. The growth plate has begun to close some, but not enough to do the surgery. Dr. Churchill wants to see her back in 6 months to x-ray the leg again. He told us that normally on girls their growth plates close by the time they are 14. Angela was not happy about the fact that she is going to have to wait another 6 months or more to have the surgery done. She wants to get back involved playing sports. I felt sorry for her as she sat on the table listening to Dr. Churchill explain all this. She had the saddest puppy dog expression. The saddest disappeared minutes after we got back on the road. In fact she has decided to pray that she goes through a growth spurt before she returns in 6 months.

Shopping, Doctor's Appointment and More Shopping

Angela had a follow up appointment with her orthopedist yesterday in Fort Myers. Since we were going to be over there, I decided to shop for her some school clothes as well. One of her close friends, Cheyenne, went with us as she needed to get some school clothes as well. We went to Old Navy and then went to Edison Mall before going to her doctor's appointment. Unfortunately, we had no luck finding what we needed prior to her appointment, so we returned to the mall after her appointment. We ended up with some shirts and one pair of pants and a pair of shorts and Angela a pair of new tennis shoes. However, since we didn't find everything they needed to start school we will be going to Wellington Mall today to finish our shopping. I was proud of the girls as they looked for sales, appropriate fitting styles, and were joyful in their attitude.

Her doctor moved into their new office which thankfully I found without too much trouble. Their office is beautiful and it's nice that they now have an office to themselves and not sharing it with 2 other practices. Dr. Cardone thinks she is progressing wonderfully considering the type of injury she has (ACL tear). He gave her some exercises to do at home which will improve the strength in her quad mucles. We have to schedule an appointment in four months to have another X-ray done of her growth plate. This will show how soon they can do surgery to repair the ACL.

While we were shopping, my doctor (Dr. Murray) called to discuss with me the results of the tests that I had done back in June. All my blood work was fine. Which was surprising to hear, since I thought my cholestrol level or something was sure to be out of whack. My mammogram was negative! However, the ultrasound showed a small cyst on my left ovary. Dr. Murray said the cyst was about 1.5 cm and that unless I started having more trouble than I was having now he would not suggest that we do anything at this time. He said to contact him if the pain got worse or I started having irregular cycles. If not, he would see me in a year for my regular check-up. I was relieved to find out all is okay.

Tests, Tests, and More Tests

Yesterday I finally went to see a Gynecologist. I have always dreaded these appointments, but due to some pain I have had for over a year in my left back I felt I could not put it off any longer. Honestly, I'm not sure why I dreaded it so. Upon the examination Dr. Murray didn't find anything that was out of the norm. However, being that I have put off my yearly checkups he wants a full battery of blood work done, a mammography and a transvaginal ultrasound. Thankfully all these test can be done at our local hospital and I won't have to make trips to the coast to have these test done. Once all results are sent to Dr. Murray I will be contacted for another appointment, at which time he will review the results of the test and recommend where to go from there. I have all the tests scheduled as of this morning. The mammography will be done on July 11, the blood work and transvaginal ultrasound on June 28. Did I mention I hate blood work?

Angela's New Fashion Accessory

Angela has a new fashion accessory, however it is not the rave. We picked up her knee brace this morning before she went to her first physical therapy appointment. She says it is uncomfortable but stablizes her knee. Her first session of physical therapy went well and only took an hour. Del, her therapist, said he would start her out coming twice a week and then increase it to three times a week. He explained to us that she would be sore after the therapy but this would increase her other muscles and lessen the likelihood of her damaging anything else. He is also going to prescribe her some exercises to do here at the house.

Diagnosis

We got the final diagnosis on Angela's knee today. Dr. Churchill said the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is torn . There is bone bruising and fluid just as the MRI showed but the ACL is torn. Because her body is not finished growing he does not want to do surgery now, however he prescribed physical therapy for 1 month (2 - 3 times a week) along with a knee brace. We will see him again in a month to see how the therapy has helped. Whena sked how this would affect her activities in sports he said provided the therapy and the brace work she could participate in sports. Angela has decided on her own that she will take the season off from soccer this year and give her body the opportunity to heal.

MRI Results

Angela's MRI results were faxed to me this morning. That doesn't mean I understand it by any means of the imagination. I'll still have to wait until we see the orthopedist on Friday, May 19 before I understand the results totally. Which I did make a phone call to a friend that is in the medical field and he says it's only a bad bruise and that the small joint effusion means there is fluid on her knee. He said if there is the orthopedist might drain the fluid off the knee (I see me leaving the building if they do). However for those interested this is the results:

Findings: The cruciate liagaments are intact. The is no focal meniscal signal abnormality seen. The medial and lateral collateral ligaments and quadriceps and patellar tendons appear normal. There is abnormal signal in the lateral femoral condyle and lateral tibial plateau compatible with bone bruise. There is a joint effusion present.

Impression: Bone bruise, lateral femoral condyle and lateral tibial plateau. Small joint effusion.

lateral femoral condyle

Tibial Plateau

Update on Angela

Angela's knee is still swollen today. She tried to go to school this morning but had to come home because of the pain. We went to the primary care physican for him to check it out. He pushed, pulled and tried to move it around. She let him know that it was very painful when he was doing so. He suggested that stay on the crutches for a week, alternate heat and ice, take Advil or Motrion for the pain and return for him to re-check it in a week. At that point he will be able to better access the knee and decide if a MRI is necessary. He said a lot times that these type injuries will take a week to 6 weeks to heal. If he decides a MRI is needed he will then refer us to Pediatric Orthopedics in Fort Myers.