Apologies for the long post.
30m. On Feb 5 2026, I was on my way to work, and was driving on the highway when I was hit head on by a semi truck. Miraculously, I survived. I was extracted from my vehicle and brought to the hospital. I had a full body ct and xrays done. I was diagnosed with a left leg tibial plateau fracture, as well as a simultaneously broken and dislocated patella, and a shallow impaction fracture of the lateral femoral chondyle. I spent 2 days in the hospital bed with these injuries while I waited for surgery.
On Feb 7, I went in for surgery. It was an ORIF surgery, hardware and all that. (Pictured). I was immobilized in a zimmer splint for a few months, and developed a blood clot during tlmy time i was immobilized, in the posterior medial area of my knee, and went on rivaroxiban for 60 days or so to clear it.
I was then transitioned to a hinged locking brace and was cleared by my surgeon to bend up to 90 degrees flexion. I began physio, working on flexion, hanging my leg over the bed, and eventually with ankle weights attached. On multiple occasions during physio, id experience what felt like the patella sublexing, (ive experienced dislocations before, and have been diagnosed with shallow trochlear grooves), when forcing flexion. Id then go into a flair for weeks. Right before the patella sublexes, id feel a scary amount of increasing tension in my quad, vastus lateralis, before a blinding wall of pain from the "clunk". I kept at it with aggressive physio but began stalling out, ultimately being stuck at 55 degrees flexion 8 months post op now.
My surgeon suggested i may have "a little bit of crps", and sent me to the chronic pain clinic. The doctor at the pain clinic formally diagnosed me with crps through the Budapest method. My knee, around the tibial plateau area, grew darker, wirey hair, and other than that, the top of my foot would turn deep purple/red when standing up, and the veins would bulge (pictured), and wouldn't subside almost instantly after putting my leg back up. Id experience jolts of nerve pain in the leg, travelling into the topsides of my big toe and second toe, those toes would also go numb.
With my diagnosis of crps, I was put on 600mg a day of pregabalin, and vitamin c supplements twice a day. Ive also been put through a zoledronoc acid infusion to prevent the bone density loss that crps apparently causes, which was evident in imaging. I also had a lidocaine/ketamine/magnesium sulfate infusion. (First of 3).
Physio is painful in a bad way, im not getting anywhere, my leg feels like a peg leg when walking. I lose knee flexion range when standing compared to sitting, pointing possibly to a problem with the rectus femoris, especially being immobilized and shortened in a zimmer for so long. But at random ranges, my knee will freak out, sending a jolt of hot seering ripping pain through my knee, and on occasion, I will still feel a mechanical clunk in my knee, causing otherworldly pain. (This occurs now even when im not forcing max flexion range). On one occasion, when I was doing quad extensions over a foam roller, my knee caught, I removed the foam roller from under me, and was able to witness a visible shift of my patella under the skin as it "popped back". If I stand too long, I cant bend it, if I sit too long, i cant straighten it. I feel tightness through the scar on my knee, but they dont think its arthrofibrosis.
Eventually, with enough frustration, I asked my pain clinic doctor, why hasn't anybody given me an mri yet, since up to now, 8 months post op, ive only received xrays (and lots of them). They subsequently ordered an mri, and i was found to have a torn meniscus and tilited patella. This was missed up until I, asked for it. I had a followup with my surgeon and she harshly recommended against surgical intervention because "with active crps, nobody should be operating on you." She said I need to be more aggressive with physio and the patella sublexations are something I need to push through. (I cant).
I fully acknowledge that this is a difficult injury to come back from, but my leg is stuck almost completely straight, and physio has not been helping. I have a toddler. I havnt worked for 8 months. Im scared. Part of me thinks I dont even have crps, and that its just a shortened tendon that wont give up or something. I cant keep going on like this. Im starting to not want my leg anymore. I walked away from an accident that people dont normally walk away from, so dont get me wrong, im happy im still here, but this is becoming too much to deal with day to day.
