Drainage

I went to the orthopedist again today. My knee was swollen and has been hurting.

I was told when I got to leave my crutches behind a little over a week ago, that I would know within ten days if the surgery had been successful. If not, my knee would be 'swollen and hurting'. Today was day nine, but I couldn't wait until day twelve (Saturday and Sunday being days ten and eleven) to go in because that would have been torture!

After a quick exam and some x-rays the doctor went over everything. Things are not perfect, but they look good. Obviously I was THRILLED to hear that he doesn't think a carticel procedure is necessary! Yippee! (I doubt I could have lasted through another six weeks on crutches.)

I was also told that the pain has apparently been due to the fact that there is fluid on my knee again. The good doctor therefore drained it again. 45 cc's of drainage this time.

I half joked with the man saying I was just going to schedule appointments every other month in order to keep it drained. He laughed, and must have gotten a little side tracked, because the next thing we noticed blood was running down my leg. I think I bent it too quickly after he gave me the cortisone shot. Anyway, we both laughed and after ripping the saturated band-aid off, he replaced it with two -- crisscrossed! (Something he said he'd never done before.) It was pretty funny.

Lastly, I was given a prescription for a fancy knee brace and advised to call if I had any more problems. Could he really not have thought I'd be back? We'll see after I pick up the new apparatus on Monday and give it a go for a while. I can tell you now though, he'll be seeing me again...