Knee Surgery

I had arthoscopic knee debridement on Friday. It’s not a guaranteed fix for the 18 months of knee pain I’ve had, but after six months of physical therapy that wouldn’t progress past the mechanical sticking point of frayed cartilage, I was willing to give it a try. I had trauma to my knees 15-20 years ago (so they say) and I’m missing a whole “pothole” of cartilage from under my knee cap. I had two different surgeons explain to me that it’s like a paint chip from a wall, that gets brushed every time I bend my knee. Eventually, the paint chip gets bigger and flakes more off onto the floor. Except the paint chip is a pothole under my knee cap, causing “irreparable, significant damage.” I had bruising in my patella from the impact, and it hurt to do anything, including sleep and wear skinny jeans. Ugh.

The odds of a surgery fixing this problem are not 100% by a stretch, because I will always be missing that cartilage. But at least the edges of the pothole will be clean and smooth, and the “paint chip” will stop flaking off everytime I bend my knee. I’m hoping to be able to ski, bike, and even run without significant pain (all three of which brought me to tears over the summer). In the meantime, swimming is a great outlet and I’m thankful for a beautiful YMCA pool so close to home. 

After throwing up because they PUT AN IV IN MY WRIST, I was ready to go.

Friday: on the couch

See the problem here? Cool photos from inside my right knee.

All clean! Except you can see the little half-moon shadow where there should be cartilage, and there just isn’t.

 

Jim and JT did errands on Saturday and came home with a new hitting helmet and a backpack to keep it in. 

The kids and I worked on their flashlight kits that I brought home from E2.

Sunday, Jim ran a half-marathon with a friend and the whole family went to an Easter egg hunt in the neighborhood, hosted by someone I’ve known most of my life (think over 30 years).

Monday, Jim had to go into work for awhile in the evening and baseball was rained out, so the kids and I made an easy dinner and watched the first half of Free Willy. Today was our first “real” day back in action, with Jim at work and a regular schedule. I got to take off my wrap this morning – hooray!

Haley and I worked on some projects today. She sewed a pillow and measured lots of things around the house.