After an x-ray, CT scan and two MRIs this week, I think I probably glow in the dark. At least I wont bump into anything when I have to get up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom. My knee has been hurting and swollen for months… so I finally decided to go see an orthopedic guy, thinking maybe hed be able to do something to make it feel better. Um, yeah. First he tortured me for a while (the man is a former football player, weighs 340 pounds and has hands like hams) by seeing how much play there is in my knee joint between my upper and lower leg, then grabbed my patella (which is my kneecap, not something naughty) and whipped it around like the mallet on an air hockey table. After that he stuck a needle deep into the joint to drain the fluid, which turned out to be mostly blood. That seemed to concern him, so he had them strap me into a leg brace that looks like something dreamed up by Hannibal Lecter. He thought maybe my patella was cracked, or maybe a ligament was torn. He kept asking if Id fallen on it or smacked it on something, but there wasnt an initial injury, per se, it just started swelling up one day while I was teaching an exercise class at the Y. So he sent me to get an MRI and a CT scan. The results didnt reflect a fracture or tear, but I guess theres a lot of debris in my knee and scar tissue and a bone spur. It still didnt explain the blood, but he suggested that I get arthroscopic surgery to clean up the area and debride the rough spots. At least I dont have to wear the brace any more, but I wonder if hes any gentler with a rasp or sharp tools than he is with his bare hands. By the time I left his office, I was sore and weary and anxious… but Im finally feeling better. Probably will schedule the procedure for later this month. Today I had another MRI to check on my brain to see if the neuro doc got all the adenoma out a few months ago. They gave me a copy of the disk to take to my followup appointment next week. I tried looking at it on my computer, but its hard to tell if theres anything there or not. Well, there IS a brain there, believe it or not, but theres nothing thats waving its little hands saying Im a tumor! Its a bit creepy going through the visuals in cross-sections, especially looking at the eyeballs. Maybe we can rig up a way to project the pictures onto the front porch wall on Halloween for extra fun for the kiddies. I feel like a car that just passed its warranty period and now everything is falling apart. Little springs and cogs just wearing out and rusting and leaving a trail of small broken parts in my wake. I need to stock up on duct tape, baling wire and bag balm (heres thinking of you, Dad) to keep this ol machine limping along. Im feeling pretty durn cheerful, though, and count among my blessings my access to health insurance, a husband who supports me in so many ways, kids who hug me, a mother who scolds me, and friends who care. All in all, I wouldnt trade places with anyone else, even someone with good knees. So, thats more than anyone really wanted to know about me. Guess Im good on the personal FB postings for a while. Hope yall have a GREAT weekend.
Posted on: Sat, 19 Oct 2013 02:04:03 +0000
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