Hi everyone, 1st let me say a heart felt "Thank You" to all of you for the birthday wishes, they were truly appreciated!
A while back I gave you an update on my physical status and what was potentially on the horizon. As of today, I've had two more appointments with specialists and took so many x-rays I think I glowed for a day! The two surgeons I saw each had a specific specialty, one for leg/k...nees and the other foot/ankle. The first I saw was the leg and knee guy, after doing a brief physical exam he really needed to see pictures but unfortunately they could not get all the other ones that had been taken so that is why I had so many while there at my first appointment. After seeing the x-rays we spoke on the phone twice, the long / short of it is this: he doesn't feel there is 8 degrees of leg bow, more like 2-3. The bones are about as straight as could be expected, the bow he feels is within the knee itself due to loss of cartilage and a general onset of some arthritis that has now appeared. Bottom line, the bow from his standpoint can't be fixed at this point. My best chance is someday, perhaps in 5 years, I'll need to have a knee replacement and at that time things could be improved. The other thing we talked about was the possibility of making my left leg a little longer, it's 3cm shorter than the right, but that is really not a possibility as even "IF" we attempted it would require about 5-6 months of time and that blasted frame I had on my foot... that ain't going to happen!
Next up, the foot and ankle surgeon, that was today. Pretty much a similar story from him, they don't feel that anything should be done now, doesn't mean something more can't be done, but want my foot to "rest" for another year. My foot has been through a lot and is still healing and also the freeflap is still getting smaller which is a good thing! The best course now is to finish getting my foot to heal on the bottom (heal area) and then get fitted with orthotics. That will give my foot better support and the much needed padding etc for my heal. Hopefully I'm just a few weeks away from being able to do that.
Last thing, with my activity level going up my right hip has been killing me! Along with the leg/ankle x-rays they did my hip. Guess I've got arthritis in my hip and like my left knee I'll most likely need a hip replacement in about 5 years as well. We did do an injection today which has really helped the pain, hopefully it will last a long time so I'm not pounding done other meds to help.
So, there it is, kinda disappointed that not much (nothing right now) can be done to improve my left leg. For those of you who haven't seen me in a while, I'm getting around w/o a cane and haven't used one in quite some time. Have been hitting 24 Hour Fitness 4-5 times a week and getting myself back into shape and a few muscles back on my bones! Lastly, been really watching what I've been eating and since about the 1st week or so in July I've dropped almost 25 pounds... and still going down! My goal is to get back into my old (or new... lol) fighting weight and shape again. I'm feeling a lot more healthy, don't hit ANY fast food places and some are VERY close to home. Sweets, my favorite, aren't as desirable either and that's fine with me but if I do stray my portions are considerably smaller as I'm getting filled up fast now.
Thanks again to all of you who have been so supportive and at times given me a little kick in the pants... that includes my riding friends... "The Posse" for their words of encouragement and for helping me re-focus... it's still hard guys... but I'm doing better and hope that trend will continue. Thank you all again... I'm truly blessed to have those of you in my family and everyone who are my friends!
Mike
A while back I gave you an update on my physical status and what was potentially on the horizon. As of today, I've had two more appointments with specialists and took so many x-rays I think I glowed for a day! The two surgeons I saw each had a specific specialty, one for leg/k...nees and the other foot/ankle. The first I saw was the leg and knee guy, after doing a brief physical exam he really needed to see pictures but unfortunately they could not get all the other ones that had been taken so that is why I had so many while there at my first appointment. After seeing the x-rays we spoke on the phone twice, the long / short of it is this: he doesn't feel there is 8 degrees of leg bow, more like 2-3. The bones are about as straight as could be expected, the bow he feels is within the knee itself due to loss of cartilage and a general onset of some arthritis that has now appeared. Bottom line, the bow from his standpoint can't be fixed at this point. My best chance is someday, perhaps in 5 years, I'll need to have a knee replacement and at that time things could be improved. The other thing we talked about was the possibility of making my left leg a little longer, it's 3cm shorter than the right, but that is really not a possibility as even "IF" we attempted it would require about 5-6 months of time and that blasted frame I had on my foot... that ain't going to happen!
Next up, the foot and ankle surgeon, that was today. Pretty much a similar story from him, they don't feel that anything should be done now, doesn't mean something more can't be done, but want my foot to "rest" for another year. My foot has been through a lot and is still healing and also the freeflap is still getting smaller which is a good thing! The best course now is to finish getting my foot to heal on the bottom (heal area) and then get fitted with orthotics. That will give my foot better support and the much needed padding etc for my heal. Hopefully I'm just a few weeks away from being able to do that.
Last thing, with my activity level going up my right hip has been killing me! Along with the leg/ankle x-rays they did my hip. Guess I've got arthritis in my hip and like my left knee I'll most likely need a hip replacement in about 5 years as well. We did do an injection today which has really helped the pain, hopefully it will last a long time so I'm not pounding done other meds to help.
So, there it is, kinda disappointed that not much (nothing right now) can be done to improve my left leg. For those of you who haven't seen me in a while, I'm getting around w/o a cane and haven't used one in quite some time. Have been hitting 24 Hour Fitness 4-5 times a week and getting myself back into shape and a few muscles back on my bones! Lastly, been really watching what I've been eating and since about the 1st week or so in July I've dropped almost 25 pounds... and still going down! My goal is to get back into my old (or new... lol) fighting weight and shape again. I'm feeling a lot more healthy, don't hit ANY fast food places and some are VERY close to home. Sweets, my favorite, aren't as desirable either and that's fine with me but if I do stray my portions are considerably smaller as I'm getting filled up fast now.
Thanks again to all of you who have been so supportive and at times given me a little kick in the pants... that includes my riding friends... "The Posse" for their words of encouragement and for helping me re-focus... it's still hard guys... but I'm doing better and hope that trend will continue. Thank you all again... I'm truly blessed to have those of you in my family and everyone who are my friends!
Mike
