Surgery Update

So I had to have knee surgery yesterday. Yeah, no fun at all. About ten years ago I had a sports accident and tore "The Terrible Triad" - my ACL, MCL, and meniscus cartilage. I had to have a full reconstructive surgery then, and I honestly thought that would be the last time that I would have any knee issues. Wrong. Back in December I noticed some pain in my knee, and some locking of it fairly regularly. I had an MRI, and while my ACL/MCL are holding up just fine, I did manage to do some damage to my meniscus again. The doctor thinks that it never really healed from the first operation, and that's why it tore so easily. He described it like a pillowcase. If you just try to tear a pillowcase it is really, really difficult, but if you start off with a small tear, then it doesn't take much effort to pull it apart even further.

I was SO nervous before surgery - kindof giggling uncontrollably (that's typically how I deal with nervousness, haha) After they got me into my gown and got my IV in, they let Josh come and sit with me, which helped me calm down a little. Then Dr.Thomas came in. He could tell I was uneasy, and so he started kindof rubbing my forehead, and then he put his hand over Josh's and said, "Let's pray". I was SO amazed. I didn't expect that at all, but he prayed this marvelous prayer. He asked that God would keep me safe from any complications, and asked that God would guide his hands, and was just very sincere. I heart him. I think I'll definitely be sending a card and maybe some goodies to his office.

So the plan was, that during the surgery he was just going to trim out the cartilage that was torn, and I would be back at work on Monday. No such luck. Once he got in, he realized that I had excessive scar tissue from the original surgery that had pushed my knee cap out of alignment, so he decided to clean all of that out. Because of all the extra work, he told me that he wants me out of work for at least a week, and also that I'll have to do 4-6 weeks of physical therapy. I am NOT excited about that; hopefully this will be the last time I have any issues though. As soon as we got into the car, I just kept saying over and over, "I have to call Beth, I have to call Beth" (Beth is my boss) and I think Josh was trying to talk me out of it because I was still ridiculously groggy from the anethesia, but I called her anyway. I just feel terrible about work. I didn't anticipate missing, and I hate having to leave everyone to do my work with no notice at all, ya know? But I really didn't have much of a choice. In order to miss, I guess I have to call Metlife and file a claim, and I have no idea how that works because I've never had any kind of claim before. This should be fun.

For now, I'm permanantly parked on the couch (sleeping here, too) and stuck in an immobilizer that goes from my ankle to the very top of my leg. I can't take a shower yet, so Josh helped me wash my hair this morning. He's also been doing a marvelous job at feeding me and making sure my knee gets iced every half hour. I'm a pretty lucky gal ;-)

I'm sure I'll be posting some pictures of the knee a little later, maybe even tomorrow. I'll keep everyone updated though, promise.