Annie's Knee Saga Comes to an End

We finally got in to see our third orthopedist since moving here just a year ago.  He is known as being the best orthopedist here and we would have chosen him as our original doctor when we first moved here, but he's near to retirement and doesn't accept new patients.  But, with a referral from our other orthopedist who did Annie's knee surgery, we were able to get in.  He was wonderful and put our minds at ease!

We went to this doctor because after Annie's last knee surgery failed, we were told to see this new doctor who would be best at performing a patellectomy to completely remove Annie's kneecap.  So we have been planning for surgery sometime this spring and dreading the thought of it all.  But once we saw this doctor today, he thought it was rather ridiculous that we were referred to him for a patellectomy!  He said a patellectomy is absolutely a last resort operation that you don't enter into lightly.  He said Annie is NOT a candidate for a patellectomy because she's not experiencing any pain from her dislocating kneecap now.  Yes, it's still dislocating, but not with the force that it was before her last surgery.  So we have abandoned the knee brace and our plans for more surgery and are getting back to our "normal" life!  Her kneecap continues to dislocate, but it's not bothersome for her, so I guess we'll leave it at that unless it starts causing her pain.  So now Annie has a left dislocated hip and a right dislocated knee!  But she's happy!  And so are we!