counting my blessings
I don't have to have surgery! WOOHOO!!!I went & saw the "real" knee doctor this afternoon, and he said he didn't think I tore my Meniscus at all, but that instead it was just a "MCL strain"
{update: The medial collateral ligament (MCL) connects the thighbone to the shinbone on the inner side of your knee}
And that even if the MCL were "torn", apparently they don't do surgery for that anyway. (something like that, I think it's only if you hurt your ACL along w/ it do they go in for surgery.) So the good news is no surgery... but the bad news is I have to wear a stupid brace for 4-6 weeks.
I know, I know - no big deal, it'll be a blip of time and it'll be over - it could be worse, yadda yadda yadda. And one would think positive Willo would be handling this all in stride... thinking glass is 1/2 full, finding ways to make my brace the crafty, coolest one on the block.
But actually, I'm just a big, huge cry baby.
By the end of the appointment, after the doctor had me wait in one of those assless napkins for what felt like 45 minutes, and then finally came in & moved my knee/leg around for maybe 5 minutes - and then the foreign nurse (with the big fat diamond ring) came in to fit me for a big old knee brace.... next thing I know my tear ducts turned on and I couldn't get em to stop. I know it's no big deal and that I'm really lucky and all... maybe it was emotional release that I *don't* have to get surgery - and that this whole ordeal *won't* cost me a gazillion dollars after all. But it was a sad cry. I'm such a baby!!!
Some more good news is that I thought to ask how much their brace was going to cost me. $200! So, considering I'll have my fair share of hundreds of dollars here & there w/ physical therapy & what not, I opted out & told em I'd buy my own, elsewhere. Good move on my part cuz I found one at a medical supply store around the corner for $19!! Who knows if it's the best one - but it's pretty damn close to the one they fit me for... and even less humongous and akward. Hopefully my Physical Therapist/Chiro will be able to tell me if it's good enough - and then I have another appt w/ this real doc in early Feb.
So ya.... All this talk of doctors, and buying braces and the parking and limping to and fro - and of course my big fat crocodile "poor me" tears has just worn me out today. I'm ready for a stiff drink.
