Knee Update

Ok. So a few people have asked about how Joshua's doing with his knee. He's been home from deployment for over a year and the VA has just this month given him an official diagnosis. He tore his medial collateral ligament/MCL (no surprise there) and has early signs of osteo-arthritis in his knee (ugh, something to look forward to). 

We've decided to go with a more conservative route of treatment because right now he has full range of movement-he just has a ton of pain with that movement. Conversely, if we have them go in and replace the MCL (with a cadaver piece-didn't know that was what they used until we saw the surgeon), his range of movement could be drastically effected based on how tight or loose the new MCL is and there's really no way of telling until after the surgery.

They've outfitted him with what I affectionately call his "Terminator" knee brace...it's a huge metal hinged thing that goes from mid-calf to mid-thigh and looks rather daunting. He says it's helping. Anything would be better the the itty-bitty, useless neoprene thing they gave him "over there" but hey, they also threw a few ibuprofen at him so I guess he was fine. He's also finally been set up with weekly physical therapy appointments and scheduled steroid shots. The surgeon has recommended going in and "scraping everything out" (doesn't that sound fun?!). Not sure when that will be scheduled but it's the best they can do short of replacing the MCL. 

So our journey continues.

My Dysfunctional Veteran

It's been a couple weeks since I somewhat mysteriously disappeared. I mentioned that we had some medical issues to deal with and to be honest, as much as blogging saves my sanity, I just didn't have the energy for it. 

I need to back up.

During the deployment, Joshua's knee crapped out (that's a medical term you may not be aware of but it's totally scientific). So, around the end of July, Joshua went to the VA and the first thing they did was a basic check up including blood tests. Well, that first set of tests came back a little off so they took some more blood and when those results came back, they ordered an abdominal ultrasound which showed some irregularities with his liver.

More blood tests...those were especially fun because when the nurse took them, she was kind enough to share with us that she'd worked as a nurse for 15 years and had never run that particular blood test. 

So reassuring.

The next step, two weeks ago, was a liver biopsy. 

My husband is 31. He's too young to need a biopsy of anything and it was nerve wracking. The results came back (two days after they were supposed to be in but that's another story that ends with me rolling my eyes at the VA) and thankfully it doesn't look like the worst case scenario. We still don't technically have a diagnosis but we're hopeful that the abdominal CT scan Joshua had on Friday will give the doctors enough information to go forward. He has a consultation with the liver specialist next week to go over everything and it can't get here soon enough. 

Meanwhile, all this came from a simple blood test because his knee was hurting. Last week also brought a diagnosis on that front. Patellofemoral with a tear in the medial meniscus. After a quick Google search when Joshua texted me the diagnosis, I was able to translate that to mean torn cartilage and bone on bone pain. He's scheduled to see the ortho specialist in early December. 

Knowing is such a relief. Yes, Joshua will probably have surgery on his knee and possibly on his liver but we have direction. We have some answers so I'm thankful.

Even without answers, I'd be thankful...I have these three hooligans...

(cell phone pic...he saw this hat at the VA while waiting for his liver biopsy and HAD to have it...the print is small but reads "Dysfunctional Veteran Leave Me Alone"...he's classy like that)