2008 – 25% done.

So, it’s April. Somehow.

Wasn’t it just Christmas? Wasn’t the Big Day Out yesterday?

I had an MRI on my knee yesterday. Goddamn those machines are noisy. Especially seeing as though there are no moving parts in it. Lucky the attendant gave me ear muffs cause it was like a jack-hammer in your ear for 20 minutes.

Yes. 20 minutes of having to lie as still as possible. The problem was, when I thought about lying still I would tense up and that’s no good for anyone. I ended up trying to think about beaches, nice food and football.

I couldn’t think about anything racey being in a hospital gown and all. Absolutely NO privacy in those things.

I will have to go and pick up the films now and see what my knee looks like on the inside. Maybe I’ll try and scan it in…

He seemed nice enough…

“So, do you ever want to run a marathon again?”, he asked.

“Well, no…not really. Once is enough”, I said.

He was younger than I thought he would be. Seemed very mobile and active and asked lots of questions.

“Well, after you have surgery, you should feel fine with a bit of physio”, he added nonchalantly.

“Right. Ummm. Surgery?”

“Well, there’s something wrong with your knee so we’ll have to fix it.”

And so it is, that I am booked in for arthroscopic knee surgery next Thursday.

…

My knee has been better. Still not 100%, but I can walk without limping. I can even run, but have not done so very much. So much for self-diagnosis, or even doctor diagnosis. It seems that it is cartilage damage to my knee. I cannot quite straighten the leg out completely without pain, and I occasionally get the feeling that my knee is giving way.

The surgery will cost $1800. I get $450 back from medicare, but then I have to add on anesthetists fees, assistant surgeons and hospital fees, plus an MRI. I dare say it will end up being $2000 at least.

Having thought about it overnight, I am inclined to get the MRI and hold off on the surgery. I really cannot afford it right now and it seems overly presumptuous that surgery is the only way to fix the problem.

Not that I’m a knee specialist, but hey…

I know knee injuries are common, but I’ve never had a problem with mine. Does anyone have any stories or wisdom to share in regards to these sorts of things?

Should I postpone the surgery?
Should I seek a second opinion?
Should I live with it?

MRI is booked in for Wednesday. Thursday for Surgery. Wouldn’t most doctors look at the MRI and then decide what to do from there? He said that the MRI would not determine whether or not he did surgery at all.

I am hopeless when talking to doctors. I never ask the right questions. I get flustered and not know what to ask. My mind races and I just accept what they say.

Help?

Poke, Zap, Stab.

250 minutes of my life were spent in an Emergency Room tonight.

Why?

No Doc appointment till Thursday and Mr. McLimpy was getting close to being called Mr. McChainsawOffMyLeg.

So I took the plunge and went to the ER to get an opinion on this stupid knee pain.

Examination? Nothing.

X-ray? Nothing.

Blood Test? Nothing.

Which I spose is good, but dammit, I’d like to know what’s wrong with it.

So I keep taking Indomethacin and hope that it fixes it well enough by Friday.

But I read a lot of my Andrew Johns Autobiography I got for Christmas (man..and I complain about my injury. He was a walking cripple for 13 years) and listened to 250 minutes of Bjork in preperation for Friday, although I think Enny wins in the Bjork adoration stakes!

See you there Ms. Enny!