Surgery coming up!!

[Bruce Urie]

I'm having to go in this Wednesday for arthroscopic surgery on my right knee. Have a meniscus tear, medium. Been hurting like hell for months and months!!!

First injured it two years ago when I climbed up on the kitchen sink to rescue a little bee in the garden window, slipped, fell onto the the oak kitchen table chair, ripped open the front leg to the bone.....pain like you wouldn't believe. Tore the meniscus. (yes, the bee survived and was set loose.)

A shot in the knee section fixed the pain back then. Plus four weeks of physical therapy.

For the last two months, been working on my Jeeps and house.....further injured the meniscus after putting in ball joints, floorboards, steering wheel repair, pinion seal replacement, inner axle seals......lot of physical work, bending, squatting, twisting around like Gumby up and down, etc. Can hardly walk at all, and when I do, have to limp like Chester on Gunsmoke.

Pain had gotten excruciating for me.....no sleep, grouchy, grumpy, and getting pissed that my physical activity is slowing down. That part has really gotten me worried and down.

Thus, after an MRI, it showed more damage to the meniscus...a medium tear......thus, surgery.

I'm very worried about it.....amputation maybe? Crippled for life? Have to get a wooden leg, a parrot, and an eyepatch, aye?

Am I being too worried here? From research on the Internet, this type of surgery was pointed out as NOT good for people in their 60s....I'm 69......jeez. That old already? That part is scary. This is what's a bitch getting older......

Anyone out in the forum have this done? What can I expect? Will I ever be able to get back to work again? I had to give up my little car repair side business because of the pain, can't do it anymore.

Just yesterday I was going up and down ladders to fix the gutters and washed my wife's Lesabre. Even putting the ladders away was so painful. Hurt so damn bad that a chain saw looked inviting. Had to apologize to my loving wife for being so bitchy and snappy due to pain.

Should I plan for my funeral this weekend? Write up a will? Donate my body to a cat food processing plant? Or what? I'll be put under for a little over an hour....of course, all the risks here were gleaned upon by the RNs and various people who deal with this at the hospital.

Should I be worried? Any input from anyone experienced with this problem would be so welcomed by me.

If I sound whinny, please point this out and I'll slap myself.

Bruce '87 Grand National

 

[skidlid]

Never had my knee scoped, but have had my ankle scoped. No big deal, I was actually awake during the surgery and watched on the video screen. They just gave me a spinal tap so I could not move below my waist. I believe they let you walk out even after.

 

[Chuck Leeper]

They just gave me a spinal tap so I could not move below my waist.

I think that's what was wrong w/ my last girlfriend!

Bruce, don't worry about it! Just get it done, and do the rehab. Good luck!

 

[Grumpy]

Are you self employed ???

 

[bpman1234]

the best thing to do is the physical therapy and don't rush it as far as putting the weight on it. no weight bearing .I had left knee scoped out right knee has 2 pins in it still and just hip replacement.everybody is different and some people heal faster then others .you willhave a therapist for rehab they will work with you. when I had my left knee scoped was out for 6-8 weeks then to go back to work you have to get your clearance papers to work for your job from your doctor....good luck it will be over before you know it .

 

[greeneyegi]

Hopefully that bee had good insurance, hes gonna need it. Your insurance company is gonna go after him soon!
You two aren't gonna "BEE" friends much longer .

 

[Turbo Keith]

Hey Bruce , To help your feelings my 75 year old cousin had a complete knee replacement for the third time , yes 3rd , She only stayed one night in the hospital and is doing great . They live two houses down from us so I see her just about daily , She had it done bout 4 weeks ago and first was on a walker and now on a cane but that want be for long . I'm sure you will do fine , Therapy is the key , it may hurt like hell for a little while but will be worth it in the end , Good luck and let us know how things go Keith

 

[Pronto]

My son had a torn acl and meniscus surgery in October. First couple of weeks were awkward since he couldn't bend the knee. As the let the brace have more movereat it got easier. Doc told him an out 6 weeks out it feels better but that's the critical time. People tend to over do it and get in trouble. Physical therapy was hard in the beginning but do the exercises and you'll be ok.

 

[Bad Boyz]

Guess you'll have to skip the funeral and will. At least for awhile. I think the hardest part for me was trying to get my leg to stay straight after surgery. That gets better with time. About a week after surgery I was shaving and all of a sudden I felt a sharp pain in my leg. The leg swelled up and all my toes looked like they were all big toes. Next day everything was back to norm. The doc didn't tell me that this does happen once in a while. Just letting you know in advance that this happens. Good luck.

 

[whitehot1]

Hope all goes well,i'm sure it will. Good luck and let us know when you can.

 

[Frederickdav]

Hey Bruce! I had my left knee scoped back in the mid to late 1980's. Other than my doc was a total jerk, everything went well. Now I'm 65 years old and I think I have a little more osteo in that knee than my right one. But then I have osteo arthritis in pretty much all my joints. You won't have any problems as long as you do the PT and all that crap. I did one thing that helped me a lot. Even though it hurt a lot I worked my knee on the weight bench as much as I could stand for the week before surgery. That way it was in the best shape it could be. Good luck. God speed.

 

[Nick Micale]

Bruce, with your great attitude, you will certainly come out better than before, and I wish you well and will say a special prayer for your fast recovery!

 

[dynoman]

Bruce , a wooden leg , black patch with a turbo 6 logo on it , and a parrot riding shotgun would be Bad Ass !!

Both hips replaced here and good as new , they can do wonders now . Just do your rehab , you'll wonder why you waited so long . Sam

 

[Bruce Urie]

I want to thank all you guys for your evaluations, advice and concerns on what I must do on this upcoming operation.......all of you gave me excellent help and will help me get through it.....the caring about this greatly touched my heart.....you are just a great group of guys.....I knew, without a doubt, that you all would lift my spirits, quash my fears and guild me to a safe procedure and a good recovery.....a lot of this I did not know.

The stuff I read on the Internet about this type of surgery kind of knocked the wind out of me in a way...as I hate being immobile, or not being able to walk, or work on my cars, doing repair work to take care of them.

No, Dan, I'm not self-employed.....retired mechanical engineer years ago, but did work on the side in my garage for friends, relatives and so forth....rebuilding carburetors, oil changes for those who can't do it, installation of shocks, brake repair, wheel bearing replacement, all kinds of stuff like that...but it required a lot of physical activity which I have found out that I can't do anymore......kind of sucks......I just like a mechanical challenge so much......very relaxing and I like learning about the mechanics of everything. Sort of an addition, if you will. Just like the tech section on this site is an absolute gold mind to me....always a great read on how you fellas solve all these perplexing problems that come up,not only with our Turbo Buicks, but all kinds of cars.

Was even getting so hard to just use a jack on cars and SUVs, so I finally bought a real nice air powered floor jack....was going to go the route of a lift, and considered one of the guys here on preparing the concrete floor with cracks, but it would have been more expensive, more time and effort that I didn't have.

Losing the ability to do mechanical work, take care of our home, etc. was greatly worrying me, that's why I came to you guys for some guidance....I sorely needed that. As I've already lost most of my hearing in both ears, have to wear two hearing aids to hear, I didn't want to lose mobility.....I did think about how lucky I am to just be alive....so many others in this world are not, or crippled in some way, and have it way, way worst than I'll ever have, so I really have no reason to complain......I'm very grateful that I can play my guitars, drums,keyboards every day...(well, for now, the drums will be out) (no overdoing it as you guys have advised me, and I sure will take it to heart)

You fellas here are just like a band of brothers to me...always remember that....as I'm just an ordinary dweeb, I'm so happy to have you as my brothers.....as I've said, I knew I could count on your help and suggestions.....I will follow every one of them, I promise.

Plus, some great laughs I got from you....which I really needed and dwell on.....nothing feels better to me that I good, funny remark to lighten up the mood.....to which you guys are EXPERTS at!

Chuck's comment about his ex girlfriend knocked me on the floor....the "bee insurance" thing just killed me. Such an uplifting group of caring guys......so proud to call you all my buddies......all in all, in this respect, I'm one hell of a lucky guy.

I got the much needed confidence from all of you.....I needed it.

I'll let you know how the operation went and if I can find a prosthetic leg and Home Depot on sale. If not, I'l check the area mortuaries for a donor leg. Will have to make sure I get the right one,not a left one. If I had the leg put on backwards, then no one would know if I'm coming or going......ah, jeez, such a bad joke there.

Thanks, to all of you, and seriously, from my heart. I love you all! And may the Lord bless each of you.

Bruce '87 Grand National

PS: Nick, once again, I'm so glad you survived that horrible wreck you had.....close call.....you are blessed.

Dynoman, I was told I will need a hip replacement also, on my right hip......I just don't know what to do about it. Fricken arthritis, bone against bone there....hurts all of the time. And you had TWO? I don't know how you did it! I've been told that there are great limitations after a hip replacement.....a lot of them.....man, getting old sucks an egg! How are you making out with two new hips? Awesome! You are brave.

 

[deezdad]

I want to thank all you guys for your evaluations, advice and concerns on what I must do on this upcoming operation.......all of you gave me excellent help and will help me get through it.....the caring about this greatly touched my heart.....you are just a great group of guys.....I knew, without a doubt, that you all would lift my spirits, quash my fears and guild me to a safe procedure and a good recovery.....a lot of this I did not know.

The stuff I read on the Internet about this type of surgery kind of knocked the wind out of me in a way...as I hate being immobile, or not being able to walk, or work on my cars, doing repair work to take care of them.

No, Dan, I'm not self-employed.....retired mechanical engineer years ago, but did work on the side in my garage for friends, relatives and so forth....rebuilding carburetors, oil changes for those who can't do it, installation of shocks, brake repair, wheel bearing replacement, all kinds of stuff like that...but it required a lot of physical activity which I have found out that I can't do anymore......kind of sucks......I just like a mechanical challenge so much......very relaxing and I like learning about the mechanics of everything. Sort of an addition, if you will. Just like the tech section on this site is an absolute gold mind to me....always a great read on how you fellas solve all these perplexing problems that come up,not only with our Turbo Buicks, but all kinds of cars.

Was even getting so hard to just use a jack on cars and SUVs, so I finally bought a real nice air powered floor jack....was going to go the route of a lift, and considered one of the guys here on preparing the concrete floor with cracks, but it would have been more expensive, more time and effort that I didn't have.

Losing the ability to do mechanical work, take care of our home, etc. was greatly worrying me, that's why I came to you guys for some guidance....I sorely needed that. As I've already lost most of my hearing in both ears, have to wear two hearing aids to hear, I didn't want to lose mobility.....I did think about how lucky I am to just be alive....so many others in this world are not, or crippled in some way, and have it way, way worst than I'll ever have, so I really have no reason to complain......I'm very grateful that I can play my guitars, drums,keyboards every day...(well, for now, the drums will be out) (no overdoing it as you guys have advised me, and I sure will take it to heart)

You fellas here are just like a band of brothers to me...always remember that....as I'm just an ordinary dweeb, I'm so happy to have you as my brothers.....as I've said, I knew I could count on your help and suggestions.....I will follow every one of them, I promise.

Plus, some great laughs I got from you....which I really needed and dwell on.....nothing feels better to me that I good, funny remark to lighten up the mood.....to which you guys are EXPERTS at!

Chuck's comment about his ex girlfriend knocked me on the floor....the "bee insurance" thing just killed me. Such an uplifting group of caring guys......so proud to call you all my buddies......all in all, in this respect, I'm one hell of a lucky guy.

I got the much needed confidence from all of you.....I needed it.

I'll let you know how the operation went and if I can find a prosthetic leg and Home Depot on sale. If not, I'l check the area mortuaries for a donor leg. Will have to make sure I get the right one,not a left one. If I had the leg put on backwards, then no one would know if I'm coming or going......ah, jeez, such a bad joke there.

Thanks, to all of you, and seriously, from my heart. I love you all! And may the Lord bless each of you.

Bruce '87 Grand National

PS: Nick, once again, I'm so glad you survived that horrible wreck you had.....close call.....you are blessed.

Dynoman, I was told I will need a hip replacement also, on my right hip......I just don't know what to do about it. Fricken arthritis, bone against bone there....hurts all of the time. And you had TWO? I don't know how you did it! I've been told that there are great limitations after a hip replacement.....a lot of them.....man, getting old sucks an egg! How are you making out with two new hips? Awesome! You are brave.

J/k Bruce, good luck & keep on truckin..

 

[Reapersgbodys]

Bruce, just had the same procedure 3 yrs ago, surgery on Thursday, back in the shop on Saturday, not in the same capacity mind you, but still back on my feet none the less.
PT,PT,PT Do it religiously, and you will be back to your pre surgery self in no time minus the pain!!!!!
Good luck and hope all goes well, and you are back on your feet in no time, pain free!!!!

 

[Grumpy]

I asked because self employed people heal faster

 

[dynoman]

Dynoman, I was told I will need a hip replacement also, on my right hip......I just don't know what to do about it. Fricken arthritis, bone against bone there....hurts all of the time. And you had TWO? I don't know how you did it! I've been told that there are great limitations after a hip replacement.....a lot of them.....man, getting old sucks an egg! How are you making out with two new hips? Awesome! You are brave.

Bruce , the first hip surgery went so well that I didn't hesitate when the other started to give me pain . The doctor said it wasn't going to get any better , so scheduled surgery right then . The second was just like the first , and I don't have any loss of motion and NO PAIN any more . What I do have is two sweet scars about 8" long on the side of each hip .