Okay, yesterday I went to the Doctor's office to see what was going on with my knee, and he told me it looks like I tore my meniscus muscle, which is located between the joints of your knee, and leg bones. The Doctor took some x-rays, and the x-rays showed a distinct white area where the meniscus is located, and that is not good, a healthy fully attached meniscus is black on an x-ray. So, next week I will have an M.R.I to see how bad the tear is, and if I need surgery to clean the area out and fix it, and if it's a small tear it will heal on it's own, that's what I'm hoping for!
Yesterday, I was so relieved to just know what was going on, and today the seriousness has kicked into high gear! I'm so freaked out that I will need surgery, it is keeping me restless at night, and when I finally do fall asleep, I keep having nightmares of surgery gone wrong! I guess that's something everyone experiences when faced with surgery, right? If anything, I'm pretty sure that I don't want to stay here, in Elko to have any medical procedure done! I've had to many medical nightmares to last me, and my family a life time!
When something like this tests you, and your family, it truly weeds out your "true" friends from the rest of your friends. You might find a friend in the least expecting place, and might be suprised by the very friend that you thought would always be by your side. I'm so thankful to all my "true" friends, and my family, they truly have been so kind and caring! I wouldn't expect anything less from them though... they truly are amazing!
2 comments:
Cheri,
Don't rush to surgery. Quite a few arthroscopies go wrong and folks need 2 or 3 more. Plus, if you do remove a part of your meniscus ("partial meniscectomy") you will have less cartilage between your bones and you will thus be more likely to develop osteoarthritis (i.e. wear and tear) which translates to permanent walking problems.
Some times physical therapy can work wonders. If you manage to build up your quadriceps, much of the load that is taken up by the meniscus will be taken up by muscles and you may not have to undergo surgery.
Check our www.knee1.com (make sure you type "1" at the end of "knee") as well as www.cartilagerestoration.org for more and -by all means- get a second and a third opinion.
Best,
John Paravantis
University of Piraeus
Greece
Addendum: if you DO need to have your knee operated, don't dare to spend one second worrying about it! It's a very silly operation that lasts about 20 minutes and you walk out of the hospital the same day.
One piece of advice. If you are presented with a choice, opt for general anesthesia so that you don't kick your doctor while repairing your meniscus...
Yet again,
John Paravantis
paravantis@hol.gr
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