I'm trying really hard to stay positive, but pain does weird things to a person. I'm sharing this photo again to show you at least one of my knees. It's swollen, and that's the good one. The more recently injured one is much more swollen and red.
The knee that you can see is the knee that's bone-on-bone, meaning there is no cartilage left in the knee joint. I favored it for a few years until I had my silly accident in February. February 7th, to be exact. That's the day the new dog bed arrived from Amazon, and the day I severely twisted my knee trying to place the bed just right in the living room for the dogs. The dogs never used the bed in the living room, by the way. When I finally took it away because it was just taking up useless space, it went into the back seat area of Handsome's truck where the girls love it! Anyway, that's how I know the exact date.
I kept thinking my twisted knee would heal and feel better, but it hasn't. My "bad" knee became my "good" knee, and it's been the stronger of the two for getting me up and down stairs, or for anything else I needed to do. We do what we have to when we need to. (Hmmmm. Perhaps I should embroider that on a shirt?)
After Handsome got back from Florida, I made the first appointment with an orthopedist. He suspected a torn meniscus because of the way it was injured. I was sent home with meds and an appointment for an MRI. That appointment had to be cancelled because I had a device in my hip that precluded the test. My most recent surgical procedure was to remove that device because it was causing its own set of issues, so I was then able to reschedule the MRI. As you know, that happened on Monday.
I decided to check my health care "portal" last night, to find that the MRI results are back. I'm not doctor, but I can understand enough to know that there's no way I'm going to be able to avoid surgery on the knee I injured. The report also completely explains why I've been in such terrible pain since the accident. I did purchase a set of bamboo fabric compression sleeves, which have been an immense help when I'm working or know I'll be on my feet for a longer period of time, but the pain never really goes away. No medicine helps either, by the way, so I take Tylenol when it's nearly unbearable to bring it back to a bearable level.
Handsome and I meet with the doctor this afternoon, and then I'll get all of this explained in layman's terms. I know I'm not going to be happy, but I also know something needs to be done soon. Pain can make a person ugly (at least on the inside), and I fear it will make me ugly on the outside if it's not handled. So, once again, we'll do what's required. I'll let you know the details after I hear them today.
I hope whatever is wrong will be an easy fix. I suspect you'll be facing some sort of surgery, but if it's a torn meniscus my Resident Chef will tell you that the surgery is really easy (as surgeries go). He had three tears in his knee (one of which nearly reached across to the other side) and when he had the surgery, it was only three tiny little incisions that healed up really quickly. He used a cane for a few weeks and if I remember correctly the surgery itself was done on an out-patient basis.
ReplyDeleteHi MA:
DeleteThat's awesome news! I'll pray for a comparable recuperation. Thanks for the uplifting comment today. I could use it.
xoxo
Donna