Medical Report

[sleigh]

I managed to torque my right knee nicely at aikido on the 5th, leaving me hobbling. I went to the orthopedic doctor who operated on Megen and Devon (well, to his assistant, Gretchen), and after playing "let's see if we can make Steve say ouch!" with my leg, and succeeding, I went for an MRI on Saturday. Today it was back to Gretchen to see the MRI, which showed damage to the MCL (medial collateral ligament) as well as some tears in the meniscus, and some arthritic damage (which we already knew).

The good news is that the MCL, by being nice to it and wearing a brace for a few weeks, can repair itself. The bad news is that the meniscus isn't self-repairing. If, after the MCL is better and I'm not wearing a brace, the meniscus continues to cause pain and issues, the only solution is surgery.

So we'll see.

Comments

[slaynsoul.livejournal.com]

Bummer

[barbarienne.livejournal.com]

That does suck.

OTOH, I did pretty much the same thing to my knee when I was 19. (The sound of the meniscus tearing was a very loud "POP" noise that people heard on the other side of the gym.)

I had no surgery, no PT, nothing. Four months later I won a state fencing championship (Ace bandages on the knee). Here I am a quarter-century older and 100 lbs heavier, and still walking around just fine on it. I am aware that my knee isn't particularly stable, but if I'm going to do something athletic, I wrap it in Ace bandages and go to. (And often I don't bother with the Ace bandages anymore.)

Everyone is different of course, so you should follow your doctor's advice, but I hope this reassures you a little that it is entirely possible to rip your knee up pretty bad and still retain functionality.

[maiac.livejournal.com]

Ow. Ow ow ow ow ow ow. Sympathy.

I hope the meniscus tears are minor, and you don't need surgery for them.

[minnehaha.livejournal.com]

Oh. That doesn't sound good.

Good luck.

B