A visit with the surgeon

So I will start off by saying that I have never met a happier doctor in my life!  It was more like visiting a kid who was excited to tell me about his trip to the amusement park or his new game system rather than a surgeon who was telling me that he was going to stick a huge hollow needle in me and scrape the inside of my knee while sucking out pieces of cartilage.

As much as it is a first impression, I really like this doctor ... as much as I can like somebody who is going to stick a huge hollow needle in me.  He is very informative, he actually listened to me and talked to me with thorough explanations about the 5 different issues with my knee.  He even found a nice way to tell me that one of the issues is that I'm just getting old and my knees are wearing out.

The biggest and worst issue is the torn meniscus ... thus the surgery.  The torn MCL is low grade and should heal by itself.  The patellar tendinosis (which is known as jumoers knee ... like I've done any jumping in the last 10 years) is aggravated by the meniscus and MCL injuries, and will likely correct itself once my knee is back to near normal.

If the surgery will relieve the pain even just partially, then I'm looking forward to getting this procedure.  I will definitely have to ask specific questions about how quickly the incisions will heal so I can get back in the pool (not that I've been eagerly awaiting any swimming, but it is less stressful on the knees than running), how soon I can return to spin class and how much tension I can use, and most importantly how soon I can go back to the all you can eat sushi place ... oh, and maybe what exercises or therapy will help strengthen the knee and how soon I will be able to run.

The doctor says 4 days of taking it easy (not stay in bed, but not get up and around too much eother) and on day 5 I start walking to rehab the knee.  I am relieved how simple this sounds.

Pics of my knee ... or at least the MRI.

Ummm ... The bagel is not part of my knee. It was my treat to myself :-)

An update on my knee

So I had a nice day off from work ... relaxed, had a nice dinner with Pam and Timmy, took a few pictures ... but ... there's always a but ...

In the mail was my referral to the orthopedic surgeon.  Strange ... I knew it was coming ... I knew I would eventually see the specialist ... but when I saw the paper in my hand with the description of the injury it was like being hit with a brick.

Then I made the mistake of checking out the injury online ... I don't just have a little tear of the meniscus, I have a "bucket handle" tear ... a large traumatic tear around the edge of the cartilage causing the rest of the meniscus to bunch up into the joint.

Ow

It is a heck of a reality check ... I messed myself up pretty good this time.  Funny thing is the articles I read said it tends to be suffered by young people who don't have excessive wear to the knee joint.

I do want to get this over with quickly.  The pain is getting worse every day and I'm getting to the point where there is no comfortable position even if I'm lying down.  I haven't iced it today.  Icing it reduces the inflammation and lets me move it a bit more, but it hurts a lot while I'm icing.

I guess the silver lining is I'll have a few days off work so I can take a lot of photos ... or maybe learn to make fractal art.

Hey wait!!

Maybe the surgeon will give me some images from inside my knee!!