Sunday, March 14, 2010

Screaming Knee

Yesterday evening and into the night, I took on re-organizing the garage. This plan had been in the works for awhile, but with Breezy gone from the garage, I took action.

I'd had trouble with the furnace making loud water noises along the vent pipe. This was way more water than should be flowing from a vent pipe. I finally had to cut the pipe, that runs out from the furnace right angling straight down against the wall, the right angling again, to head out through the garage wall, a distance of almost 12 feet. Someone had installed that pipe at an angle, the wrong angle. Water doesn't run uphill.

So, over time, the water accumulated in the pipe, unable to make the grade and actually vent out through the wall of the garage, due to the grade. It was stupidity of whomever put that in that way.

I had to remove the dryer vent piping also and saw it was clogged in lint. It's too far, to vent lent. It's 8 feet from where the vent hole comes through the wall from the bathroom, to where it exits the house, right beside the heat pump, which is also a stupid place to vent lint from a dryer, right into the heat pump.

It's an electric dryer. There's no Carbone monoxide from an electric dryer running. For now, I am venting the lint into a fine meshed wire "bag" and into the garage, which actually helps heat it. That heat will be unwanted in the scorching summer, however, so I'll figure something else out then. I don't dry much during the summer. I hang out clothes and towels.

But these two little projects were really picky wicky things. I don't have battery tools that function more than a few moments, due to battery life exhausted. Makes it tougher.

Now that Breezy is gone, I decided to move the shelves, there when I came, heavy and poorly built, into the corner. To do so I had to move everything off them first. Most of its junk and needs to be tossed. So I tossed it.

Then I tried moving those junky shelves. I ripped something in my knee while doing so.

I kept at it though, because I had no choice. No strong young people are going to swoop in to help. I have no family, no friends around here. When work needs done, it has to be me doing it, in pain or not.

But, after getting the shelves where I wanted them, then putting the suff I was keeping back on the shelves, my knee was screaming. I quit then but my knee didn't quit. It only worsened until, when I went to bed, I was shreiking in pain. It was terribly painful to touch my knee on the inside or below it. When I would roll on my back the pain migrated to the underneath, the backside of my knee and down below my knee on the top. It was terrible pain.

I tried ice, lots of it. I couldn't walk. My mind was racing, wondering how I was going to take care of the cats and shop for what I needed with my knee in such shape. I thought maybe I had actually broken my leg somehow.

Then I turned a certain direction. The result produced loud cracking, snapping and popping. I was shrieking, I tell you. But after that, no more pain. Oh there, was a small amount, but I could suddenly walk again, and the pain subsided enough so I went directly to sleep. This morning its like nothing happened, just a little soreness.

I think I must have dislocated something that suddenly snapped or popped back into its rightful place. That is the only explanation I can think of.

Wasn't an easy night, but after the sudden popping snapping cracking event, it was ok, I could sleep, and I slept in late to make up.

8 comments:

  1. Wow, I hope you really fixed your knee that easily. Maybe you should set up shop as a knee fixer-upper.

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  2. If your knee does not improve, ask your doctor for an MRI or some kind of diagnostic procedure. You could have a torn meniscus though that is just a guess from someone reading from afar so do not take it as verbatum. It could be many things and I am not an orthopedic surgeon though I have had enough ortho surgery that I sometimes feel like I at least have the course, lol

    A torn or otherwise injured meniscus is one of the most seen injuries to knees. It is essentially the cartilage. We have 2 of them in our knees and they help to with such things as the weight of the body and reduce friction during movement.

    My observation comes b/c they usually occur when one is physically exerting oneself though some people , esp women, develop it as we age. Is it swollen? The other symptom is pain which you said you have. Was yuor knee bent when it happened? That is another indicator, tho that can also mean other problems too.There are ways a doc can ascertain this even sans a diagnostic test, by moving the knee in procedures called the Steinmann and Applebey tests.

    Arthroscopy used to be the gold standard in determining this tho it has been replaced by the MRI tho I rather prefer the arthroscope since a good surgeon can fix the problem there and then and it's all done. (I am biased tho since with so much metal in my spine, I do not ever have MRI's). There are MRI's that can handle metal but I am not willing to take the chance.

    Quadricpes - which can look up online, also known in PT as quads, are helpful. For pain, anti inflammatory meds like ASA and the like are best (unless you have an ulcer or a stomach that will not handle them.)

    Do not listen to me alone tho - see your doctor if it continues to hurt!!!!! I am only going by what you wrote and it would not be good to take the advice of someone only guessing based on what she reads. Ice or heat is also good, I have found for my own knees when they ache. (It beats taking meds imho).

    Take care!! I hope you did not do any damage to your knee. It could be something minor, hopefully!!

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  3. Well, it does not even hurt today, Siobhan, and it didn't hurt after something popped or snapped back into place, so whatever happened, was a dislocation of something. Now that it's back in place, no pain, nothing. I don't have normal medical care, Siobhan. An MRI would be out of the question. Even a doctor that would actually examine my knee I don't think I'd find where I go. They don't seem to like to touch people, where I go. So the examines have been lately what I call "psychic medicine", where they decide what it could be without even looking or, god forbid, touching. It's quite a skill I suppose, wish I possessed it. I don't know, maybe it's some new form of practise or because of the person's religion, I don't know. Or maybe its cost adjustments.

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  4. Snow, it was like a miracle, the most bizarre thing. I'd been rolling around in such severe pain for hours I thought my leg must be broken it hurt so badly. I couldn't put any weight on it. I was just in a horrible state, then began to think of my future and how in the world would I take care of myself with a bum leg, even get to a doctor, or, most importantly, care of the cats and house. That's when I rolled again, and all that cracking and popping after which it was just fine. I thought later, "Did I just get some divine hands reaching in from another dimension to fix my knee and leg?" I've never in my life had something happen like this, a sudden cracking snapping popping terribly painful relief from hours of agony. I don't know knee and leg anatomy very well, but there's probably an explanation.

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  5. Maybe you should take it easy for awhile because you might very well have some instability that could rare back up again. I know this would be a hard job for you--taking it easy--but think how much harder it would be if your knee should go out and stay out.

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  6. It's actually impossible for me to stay still, because I have to at least take care of all these darn cats. I have overdone things lately. I got a heavy old bedframe, that came in its original box, a discontinued line, and that is one reason I tried to clean out the garage somewhat, so I could paint that and try to install it, so I wouldn't be on a mattress on the floor anymore, because it's stinky and yukky to be on the floor, with cats who pee on anything that falls of the bed, even breifly. I really really need to have my mattress on a frame. I asked my brother to see if my niece or nephew could come up to help me a day with these projects, including fixing the dryer vent problem, a leaking gutter, getting the bed frame into the house and put together, etc, from Eugene but that never happened and probably won't. Young people, you know, not really interested in helping an aunt.

    It is tough to be alone and have to do everything myself.

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  7. Jody-I so <3 you! Please ask the niece and nephew yourself. If they have any family values then they will come and help you. And check if you are covered for a chiropractor-that may help some of your problems. IT IS AMAZING how the body can adjust its self when you least expect it!

    Take care,

    Judith

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  8. The niece and nephew do not respond to my e-mails and I don't have their cell numbers. I'm the crazy aunt! I never knew them as they were growing up, as I was in the mental system and just never got to see them, or my other brothers' daughter. Kind of sad.

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