Nothing to talk about except my upcoming knee repair

It is no shocking news. But it is also news that does not cause one, especially me, to jump for joy.

I speak of knee surgery. I expected that my knee would need surgical repair given the kind of pain I’ve experienced along with the “popping” sound and often swelling seen. The time and date has yet to be determined yet my surgeon said that it needs to be done right away.

My problems aren’t a full-blown “blown knee” as you hear of in reference to some athletes. I do have both medial and lateral tears to the meniscus cartilage, the menisci being two crescent-shaped pads of tissue that disperse friction between the femur and tibia (a.k.a. leg bone and shin bone.) These type of cartilage can also be found in other areas of the body including the acromioclavicular joint or AC Joint, in the shoulder. My MRI likewise showed that a bone bruise is present in the medial tibial plateau. Although that plateau seems like it might be located somewhere in the highlands of Nevada, the medial tibial plateau is the area at the top of the shin bone, where that bone intersects with the femur. The bruise, the doctor explained, happens due to the wear and tear — no pun intended — of the menisci.

The MRI also showed a grade 1 strain of the medial collateral ligament, or MCL, the inner ligament in the knee that you hear so much about when used in relation to a hurt football or basketball player. Fortunately, a grade 1 strain is the mildest of three injury grades of the ligament.

There are a number of different arthroscopic techniques that orthopedic surgeons may use to make such repairs to the knee. It is usually a fairly short-in-duration surgery, relatively speaking, and is done in an outpatient setting. I will be under general anesthetic during the surgery and in recovery for a couple of hours. The first week afterwards will hopefully be spent laying in bed and not crying out in pain too much. I will be doing phone work during weeks 2 to 4. And, hopefully, I will be back up on my feet for more than just two hours in late March. I plan to keep writing so do not fear, EFD will (I hope) will be here.