I'm not Evel Knieval, but I've had my fair share of bone maladies!
I owe many thanks to my doctors.
In the past I've described my benign tumor on my right hip. A couple of doctors have said I'm wrong for saying I can feel the benign tumor at all, but anyway, my posture and gait problems basically from a 1996 Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) knee repair, were compounded a bit by the big boney island there. Physical therapy has that spot asymptomatic now. That ACL repair involved a 'Femoral Notch' cut into my bone, basically clearing the inside edges of the femoral hole so the graft can't touch them. I believe that created a lot of exposed inner bone that would produce excess synovial fluid, at every placing of weight on that leg. Trying to stand still, I'd need to rock off the knee constantly (now I know the term is unloading), like an hydraulic pump pushing me off with the pressure.Eventually my trouble translated into my sacroiliac joints, requiring a couple of years of nerve block procedures. The knee pain started around 2011, and we also discovered a 'bioscrew' on my tibia had never fully dissolved from the initial ACL repair. I wore a leg brace for about a year and the heat and/or rest on the joint caused additional bone replacement for the screw, although I now have a pesky bulge over the spot. I went through radio-frequency ablations on one or both of my SI joints, I forget, and I had my last in April 2018. The pain finally become somewhat manageable after that, with additional medications, just fluctuating a bit with the weather.
Update 2019 - After a trial genicular nerve block in late 2018, I had an ablation on this knee, with great relief.
Update 10/2020 - I've got new hardware! When my Orthopedic surgeon told me I'd qualified for knee replacement, my physiologist then told me she was worried I would've curved my spine if that got delayed much more.
Update 11/2021 - I'm doing well. They say true recovery from this operation will still take another year.
I had a septoplasty and turbinate reduction on my nose in September of 2016 (MRI on the right before the procedure). I had some form of gastric seizure from undiagnosed diabetes the year before, and when the emergency room physician tried to insert a tube in my nostril, he found he couldn't in the left. He told me to have my nose checked by a specialist after finishing with my gastric trouble. The nose operation vastly improved my mouth-open sleeping, among other improvements.
Update - In April of 2021 I needed a second operation, although I don't have any xrays. I had a functional rhinoplasty, due to collapsed nasal valves. Although my appearance will suffer, I'm amazed at my clear breathing.
If you look at the supporting bone of the ring finger (metacarpal) in this xray, the bubbles you see inside are called an Enchondroma. In 2011 that benign form of soft tumor was discovered by accident when I was complaining about a different problem, and surgically repaired shortly after. We were extremely lucky to find that tumor, because there are no symptoms, and typically they are discovered too late when the bone has broken spontaneously. If that occurs, the break can be extremely jagged. I've read that many abscesses can occur, and complicated reconstructive surgery is usually needed.
In May of 2024, I had an Anterior Cervical Disc Fusion (ACDF) of my levels 5-6-7 of my neck. I'm feeling that with a new scar on the front of my neck, adding xrays here would be too painful a memory on top of that, but maybe one day I'll post them.
Update of May 2025 - One year out of this operation, my fusion looks great. The plate and screws have been delegated to fashion duty only (sort of). I'm active hiking and biking, but I have specific exercises for the neck I wish I was doing more.
Update of May 2025 - One year out of this operation, my fusion looks great. The plate and screws have been delegated to fashion duty only (sort of). I'm active hiking and biking, but I have specific exercises for the neck I wish I was doing more.
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