In sept I had a fall outside my home broke my nose and bump on forehead. Went to ER referred to plastic surgeon. Had surgery to move back in place two weeks ago. Also broken septum.. they removed plugs Monday so now I can sleep and hopefully gain my strength back.
My problem is weak knees! They both hurt so bad in front below knee cap and some swelling. Is this caused by meds during surgery? Very weak and afraid to fall again. Has anyone had weak knees after surgery? How long will it last? Want my mojo back!
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Tam-56
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I would definitely talk to your primary care physician or oncologist to ask for a pallative pain medicine doctor. They can prescribe you pain pills for your aches and pains - godsend ! Don’t go thru pain in addition to everything else !
Thank you Adele ....I will call my primary and hope she has a suggestion.
I'd like to discover if this new pain is related to meds I have taken or the cancer. It came on so suddenly; this weakness puzzles me. I would be more patient if I knew it was a temporary setback from the surgery.
So sorry for your fall and injuries.I have not yep fallen,but have come very close.My meds and neuropathy make me weak and unstable.I bought a HurryCane to use .It is pretty cool to use and folds up when you are seated. Hope things improve for you❤️🙏🙏🙏
I too havve had a few falls but fortunately did not break anything. I think it is a combination of weak knees, poor balance and peripheral neuropathy.
I cannot do anything aboutg the neuropathy, but I have been doing balance and knee strengthening exercises 5 - 10 min a day - 5 x a week. There is a few people I follow on instagram who give great easy exercises to address both balance and strengthening, I have not doing it long enough to say it helps - but it cannot hurt
Thank you for your good advice. I miss not exercising!
I need to begin walking again. Have not walked since accident in late September. Could be why my knees are weak...recovering on the couch with TV.. not good for my mood either. need to get moving..
There are many short and free balance and strengthening videos via SilverSneakers on YouTube. They provide a demo and suggest equipment, such as a sturdy chair to help with balance as you do the exercises.
I'm glad you were not injured seriously during your falls. This disease gets progressively harder over time for me.
Thank you, I will look for knee strengthening exercises and see if it helps. It is so painful to get up from a sitting position, getting in and out of my car and trying to do housework is difficult as well. Being fiercely independent, I find this hard to cope with as I live alone. I ordered a HurryCane on line ...hope that helps.
Hi Tam-56. First of all so sorry that you had a fall that broke your nose and septum....sounds very unpleasant and I know those nose plugs are horrible...glad they are now out.
As for the weak knees following anesthesia, I have not heard of any drugs given during that time that would cause this. If this weakness is new to you and you didn't have it before surgery I would definitely talk to your medical provider. Knees may be weak or shaky due to inflammatory conditions or vascular issues due to poor circulation. This can result in blood clots or deep vein thrombosis. It may not be this at all but it should be ruled out ....having cancer in itself is a risk factor for developing blood clots and add in an anesthetic and immobility creates a bigger risk.
I'm not saying this to scare you...but it is always best to err on the side of caution when you have cancer. Please keep us updated. Take care.
Thank you for your warning...I will take your advice and get checked out. I have been wearing compression socks around the house...just because I feel like it is supporting my legs. The cane is helping too. Also the swelling has gone down since I stopped taking the Tylenol. I was taking 3 every 6 hours for two weeks. I'm not sure if that is related to inflammation.
See your primary doctor, then see an othopedicdoc even if the primary doesn't advise you to see one. You could have injured your knees and not realized it or maybe have a huge arthritis flare.
I can relate to this. I too had a terrible fall affecting my forehead (big bump now a dent!)
Massive black eyes and full on bruising to my cheek bones.
It took over six months for the pain to stop.
In this time I contacted my doctor several times to get assurance.
My advice would be to see your doctor and get guidance on what you can do to help the healing process and to ask them to check the areas of pain to ensure there's no damage to eg bones. I'm guessing you've had an xray or scan on your knees? If not that might be something you can pursue.
Oh.... I feel your pain! I'm sorry you fell. It takes so long to heal. I had the two black eyes too.
Thank you for your suggestions. Majority is saying get checked out...
When I fell I did wrench my right hip, but compared to the injuries to my hand, forehead and nose, I didn't complain too much because everything else hurt so much more. The ER only did a brain scan and X-ray of my right hand. I am due for my 6 month scan in December for my cancer in Boston..thought I would wait until then. They usually scan from pelvis to chest.
It's been three days since I have taken Tylenol and the swelling is less but I feel unsteady walking ....getting up, the first few steps are painful.
This lousy cancer gives us so much to deal with! I'm a long timer (19+ years with MBC) and one of the best"rules" I made for myself early on was to call if I even think of calling one of my docs, go if I even think of going to the ER or a doc's office. Better to do it abit too often than not quite often enough. I agree that calling an orthopedic surgeon makes since. I've had foot issues for a longtime--balance, curled toes, etc, with some pain. I've seen a podiatrist but never an MD/DO foot specialist. The guy I saw said my feet have several different things going on and he referred me to a group that asses feet and makes braces and shoes designed and built for individuals. I can hardly wait to get them! Your shoe could be effecting your knees but so could alotof other otherthings. A walker might help youget around and feel safer! I have one of the simpler versions,with out a seat or storage built in. If I were goingto be using it longer, I would probably get one of thehigher end models. With an Rx from your doc,you can pay alotless! Goodluckto you!beingable to getaroundsafelysure makes a difference.
Thank you for your information filled response! 19 and going strong is wonderful but difficult days, I know. I'm at 5 years Ibrance/Letrozole...just recently reduced to 100mg...hoping to give me more energy and then, I fell on my face, so starting at square 1 again! I do have neuropathy on both feet from meds...but the knee weakness is new. I do feel insecure when I walk. I ordered a cane from Amazon. Wait and see a few days.
What meds are you on? The AIs can cause painful joints/muscles/bones, and I find side effects come and go. Sounds like you have inflammation, so need to be careful about strengthening exercises.
I'm on Ibrance and Letrozole 5 years. What is AIS? I was taking 3 tynelol every 6 hours for 2 weeks after surgery. I stopped taking the Tylenol...third day now and swelling and pain in my knees seems to be subsiding but weakness continues. Three weeks ago I began doing some balance exercises from utube and think I must have hurt my knees with the side-swing exercises... sort of when it started but not pain/weakness right away.
Yes, PT! They are so good at analyzing what is what, and giving appropriate exercises that won't exacerbate injuries.
We get any of three aromatase inhibitors (AI's): letrozole, anastrazole and exemastane. They decrease the amount of estrogen in the body.
SERMs (e.g., Tamoxifen) and SERDs (fulvesterant, Orserdu) use a different mechanism, blocking estrogen receptors and have different side effects.
The main side effect of the AIs (at least in my experience) is pain in joints, muscles, bones. People get pain in different places. Mine is in shoulders and groin. AIs can cause carpal tunnel.
I have heard different explanations of that pain. One person here said these meds dry up synovial fluid. That made sense to me since it seemed like joints and fascia hurt, so I looked into what increases synovial fluid (the fluid from synovial membranes that line your joints and keep them moving smoothly) and everything that did that was also favored by cancer cells. Most recently, I saw a rehabilitative medicine doctor and he said my muscles are weak (surprise to me!) and therefore painful? It doesn't explain the inflammation, though.
It sounds to me like you injured your knee, maybe, but that may not fit with the sequence of events. An actual expert (unlike me) who can actually take a look probably can figure that out and what to do about it.
I take Advil/ibuprophen. It is an anti-inflammatory, unlike Tylenol (so a nurse practitioner told me) and it seems to work better than Tylenol for the aches and pains from anastrozole.
Well,now I too have fallen😏I fell getting out of our bathtub.My ankle caught on the faucet as my weak legs just didn't clear it.I went flying onto the bathroom tile hitting my nose and scraping my under eye.
At first I believed I had broken my nose but thank God I had not.
I think I will now take my HurryCane into the bathroom to raise myself out of the tub👍
Greetings Sister/Warrior😌 I am sooooo sorry for the late response, and that you went through a fall in addition to everything else😏. My old laptop was malfunctioning, and I couldn't respond to post'), or like post' for almost 2 months. I thank GOD I was able to purchase a new Laptop. I hope/pray you are over any injury you had from the fall😊. My aunt fell when she was 88 years old, 5 years ago. She broke her cheek bone, and fractured her top eye socket. The hospital had to refer my auntie to a Plastic Surgeon to repair her face. She is now 93, and you can't tell which side of her face was injured. I pray the same for you. I pray C gets the eviction notice from your body/temple Amen! GOD bless you Sister, and yessssss Warrio, and yessss Over-comer😇
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Good scan results - thank you!
Who else was shocked!!
A fall, an MRI gone wrong and clean PET Scan 
Pain in bones? & Budwig protocol?
