Well since we last posted, Ryan and I have seen my sister Amy for 2 weeks-ish, and my brother Jeff and his family for a few days. They were great times and we've played games and had lots of fun teasing and playing with our nephews/cousins.
Ryan also has been riding his dirtbike and getting it ready/getting himself ready and fit to race on August 14th. Unfortunately, last thursday he had to bail off the bike and let it go into a steep ditch while riding instead of falling in with the bike and getting hurt terribly. When he bailed off though his right leg got caught and he twisted it. Ryan is mostly okay, only a nice scratch on his left arm where he landed, but was wearing his full dirtbiking gear (which includes a chest protector, boot that go up to your knee to protect your legs and ankles when you crash, etc.) However, his knee got hurt and although he got home okay, he couldn't move it out of a 90degree angle without horrendous amounts of pain. So I asked him if he could wait until moring to go see the doctor (otherwise BYU health insurance wouldn't pay for any of the costs) and I got him an 8am appointment on Friday.
Well, I forgot to set and alarm and Ryan didn't either, but luckily he woke me up at 7:40am for his 8am appointment! Well because Ryan couldn't move well and we didn't have anything he could use for crutches besides my shoulder, we limped out of the house and got there by 8:05am. We saw the doctor and Ryan got to have me manevour him around in a wheel chair all morning. (Only a few bangs into the walls and such, although Ryan really wanted to do a wheelie) He had xrays done on his knee and all that showed was that none of his bones were broken. The doctor then said that Ryan should get a tetanus shot (for his cut), and see an orthopedic doctor.
We then went and made another appointment for 1:50pm later that day with the orthopedic doctor and got crutches for Ryan to hobble around on. Ryan and I both went to work until the next appointment after being at the doctors for 2hrs. When we got back for the 1:50pm appointment (this time on-time), they said they were running late and so we waited until 2:30pm to be seen. The orthopedic doctor then started prodding Ryan's knee and every once in a while making him yell out with pain. The doctor said all the signs lead to a torn medial meniscus (the cartiledge in your kneed joint b/n the bones). However, in order to see it better and MRI needed to be done, and to do that Ryan would have to have his leg straight. Unfortunately for Ryan the torn meniscus was probably inside his joint which was preventing him from straightening it. So the doctor said that they could inject a local anethestic and then force it straight (hopefully to fold the meniscus back where it should be). Well after writhing on the table for 10-15minutes the doctor got Ryan's leg straight (although it made me sick seeing Ryan in that much pain), and prescribed Ryan a pain killer, incase the meniscus was still in side his joint. If it was, it would really hurt after about 6hrs when the anethesia wore off, if it wasn't, there wouldn't be too much pain later. We also needed an MRI done and then to meet back with him on monday at 8:50am to look at the MRI and decide if Ryan should have surgery done.
We were squeezed in getting an MRI right after we left the orthopedic surgeon on friday and went straight to Orem Community Hospital. Finally around 5:30-6pm we got home from all the doctor's visits and only had to wait to see if Ryan would be in pain with his leg straight in a few hours.
I was so exhausted I gave Ryan 1 pain pill about 7:30pm and then went to sleep by 8:15pm, even though the house was a total mess and lots of things needed to be done. I woke up on Saturday at 12pm to Ryan playing video games on his xbox 360 and setting up his trial xbox live account. He said that his knee throbbed a little, but other than that felt fine, so he hadn't taken any more pain killers. Joe had also called to borrow our truck that morning so that he could go to home depot and rent a tiller for his lawn. (He wants to put in sprinklers) So telling Ryan it might be the only time he could get out of the house that weekend, we loaded up and went to Joe's. When we got there Ryan got out and Joe and I went to home depot. By the way, the only way Ryan fits in the truck is if he sits in the middle and angles himself in, otherwise his leg wouln't fit in straight and we'd probably have to have him dangle it out the window. ;)
Well we also went to Joe's on sunday for dinner and brought some 'soupy' frog eye salad. I think there was too much juice in it, but it tasted fine. Then this morning we headed back to the doctor's again. We got there and talked to the doctor and they said that they don't have the official MRI report back yet, but that they were going to schedule Ryan for surgery anways. They also explained more about the different layers of the meniscus and how hopefully it will be in the red (blood flowing) region so that they can sew the meniscus back together and it will heal almost on it's own. Otherwise if it is in the gray region they will have to remove it and there will be a much higher chance of having arthritis in that knee in the next 15-20 years.
So far that's all we know. We find out on Wednesday exactly when we need to go in Thursday for his surgery and we'll know on Thursday just what sort of predicament Ryan really is in. The pre-surgery should take about 1 hr, the surgery about 1 hr, and then coming out of the athetsia about 2-3hrs then we head home. We don't stay overnight in the hospital with the surgery, which I guess is good for our wallet, although that may be protesting by the end of all this.
Overall, I'm grateful he wasn't hurt worse, and am looking forward to when all this is over. In the end, Ryan will be missing his dirtbike race next month because he'll be on crutches for at least 3-6weeks and then only gradually more weight bearing after that.
Our house is now clean though, but Ryan took the camera dirtbiking last time he went with friends and he left it at a friend's house, so no pictures.
