The Saga of the Blown Knee

I accompanied Susan to see the orthopedist this morning. I am pretty sure that we are single-handedly funding either his retirement or the education of his children. This fellow has done both of her prior reconstructions, he did the arthroscopic procedure on my left shoulder, and treated my achilles tendinitis, among other things. I often wonder whether he cringes or smiles when he sees one of us coming.

Today, there was good news, bad news, and unwelcome news.

The good news: The MCL, LCL, and PCL are intact and undamaged. There was much less damage than any of us expected, which is a very good thing.

The bad news: The ACL is toast. She also has a torn meniscus. She will require reconstructive surgery to repair the ACL again.

The unwelcome news: He wants to wait two to four weeks to do the surgery. Rationally, the reason makes sense, which is to permit the rest of the swelling to go down and to allow the inflammation in the joint to go down. However, it means two to four weeks of more atrophy to her leg and delays the rehab process by that much longer. We’d both prefer to just get it over with and start moving back toward some semblance of normalcy in our lives and routines.

She sees him again in two weeks. Hopefully, the surgery will be scheduled then.

Stay tuned.