Thursday, April 16, 2009

The S Word

I mentioned in my last post that I'm having knee surgery. Many of you have sent warm, kind and concerned thoughts which are so much appreciated. I thought I'd take a second and give you the 411. "That means information, people." (Any Monk fans in the house?)

At the end of January, I slipped and fell on a rubber mat that was turned upside down. Luckily, this happened at work. This means I don't have to pay for anything and I'll ultimately get reimbursed for my time. It also means this whole process has been dragged out 17 times longer than if I had to pay for this. All I'll say about that is...if you have to get hurt at work, don't do it in North Carolina.

It turns out that when I fell I tore my medial meniscus. I've had ice, compression, heat, NSAIDS, a cortisone injection, yoga, physical therapy, x-rays, an MRI and a glucosamine/condrointon supplement (when I can remember to take it). You name it, I've tried it. No dice. Nothing has worked. I'm still in a lot of pain, can't walk far, biking and running are out of the question, and I'm still wearing a knee brace. Without the brace, I feel things moving in ways most unnatural.

At my last doctor's appointment, it was decided that surgery was the next step. It will be arthroscopic surgery and should take about 20 minutes or so. They will go in and look around, take pictures and cut out the torn piece of cartilage. I'll be laid up for a few days and on crutches for a few more. They expect me to be as good as new in 4-5 months. Sadly, my hopes of a robotic knee transplant have been crushed. Perhaps next time. I do however get souvenir photos of the inside of my knee, which is a nice touch. I wonder if they do t-shirts too? "I went to Blue Ridge Surgical Center and all I got was this lousy t-shirt."

The surgery is scheduled for May 7. My mom will come stay for a few days. It will then be up to Elvis to care for me. I have three weeks to teach him how to open the fridge and turn on the oven. If that fails, I am certain a few friends will come over to feed me if absolutely necessary.

I appreciate the well wishes. I assure you I will be fine. My 89 year old grandmother always says, "you just don't die as easily as you think you do." In the past 9 years, she's had breast cancer and mastectomy, a broken hip and replacement, an exploding gall bladder, and recently 5 staples in the back of her noggin from a fall. She's never been in the hospital for more than 3 weeks. So, I think she'd know.

8 comments:

Linda said...

My mom had that surgery. I remember she was in some pain for a while but she was able to move her knee so much better after the surgery. I hope it works out for you too!

Meg said...

Thanks, Linda!

noone said...

I'm sure that you're a tough cookie and it will work out for you! Good luck :)

FoxyMoron said...

Best of luck Meg. What a nice mum you have to come help you.

I'll be thinking of you on May 7th.

Debbie said...

I love that comment from your grandmother! That is priceless. And good luck with the surgery.

Meg said...

Thanks a bunch, everyone.

Debbie, Grami is full of 'em. Her cure for everything is fresh air. "Go outside and get some fresh air, it'll do you good." When she was diagnosed with breast cancer and the mastectomy came up, she told her doctor...are you ready for this..."You can take it. My husband is dead. I don't need it anymore." Grami is just wacky. And I'm just like her!

Shoshanah Marohn said...

I think my dad had that surgery, too. He got in a ping pong accident, of all things! Hit his knee on the edge of the table. He found that he really, really liked morphine afterwards. Really. A lot. His knee still hurts a little when it's going to rain.

Meg said...

Ping pong? That's too funny! Poor b0b! It does seem to be a very common surgery.