The good news: the orthopedist seems really unconcerned about the bone bruise. "Oh yeah," he said "those are very common. Just keep icing as you need to, and you can do whatever activities your pain will tolerate"
The bad news: the damage to the meniscus is such that he thinks I would be better served by having a little chunk shaved off it BUT I can wait until summer (I kind of freaked out, and then I said I really wanted the bone bruise to be more healed - I don't like the idea of there being blood pooled in the bones and stressing them and have a doctor digging around them). He was totally fine with that, and in fact, thought waiting for more bone-bruise healing was probably good.
So I have their direct number, and when (if) I'm ready, I can set it up.
I do want to wait for the bone bruise to heal more, but also: If I do it I want to do it in the summer when I can just take a couple days totally off.
He assured me that (a) they use minimal anesthetic, it's like what they do for a wisdom-tooth extraction (I had that, the so-called twilight sleep, and I didn't die, though I was 30 years younger and didn't have hypertension then) and (b) you can put weight on it just a couple days later, not having the 4-6 weeks on crutches I was thinking. But I will have to ask how long before I could drive (it's my right leg, so). If I can't drive for an extended time, I will have to line up rides. Church would be no problem, and if it's in the summer, I could maybe just NOT do work, or do research-reading at home. But getting out for checks of the incision and stitch removal would be a thing, and groceries would be a thing (we don't have delivery here in town). I could probably get someone to pick up for me if I did "order online and pick up at the curb," especially if I paid them for their time investment and gas. (And I could lay in a big supply of nonperishables before the surgery)
But still....I'm hoping that when the bone bruise heals I have minimal pain and dysfunction from the meniscus, and I can just skip the surgery. But I won't know until a while later.
So, I'm not deeply depressed about it but not as happy as I might have been. I figure I can take it easy Friday (I just give an exam, and so can mostly sit) and hopefully will feel fine Saturday for the yarn shop.
My mom sent me a $100 birthday check, and I know what I want to use that for....
2 comments:
Sounds like not terrible news….that’s good! It does seem though that the older we get, the more medical “surprises” pop up….might be good to think on what you would do if you needed help suddenly. Does your church have a group that would step up and help you with meals/rides? — Grace in MA
IDK what "normal" is anymore for me...
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