Under the Knife

I’m healed! 

I saw the Dr. Wednesday morning, and he confirmed what the urgent care Doc and my GP has suspected – I tore my meniscus, and had a chunk of it stuck in my joint, preventing me from straightening my leg or being comfortable in pretty much any position.

And, miraculously, he said these magic words to the nurse – “See if you can get her on my schedule for an arthroscopy for tomorrow.”  Tomorrow?  That never happens! 

I immediately freaked out – my parents are out of town (on that ski vacation I was supposed to be on…) and my mind went into a whirl of “who will take care of the kids? How will we manage…”  The problem being – I am worthless after surgery.  The anesthetic makes me sick as a dog, I’m not awesome with pain OR pain pills, and I generally turn into a weepy heap.  Sad but true.  I am not tough when it comes to surgery.  C’est La Vie.

But I made an active decision to look at this differently – we have plenty of folks we can call on for help, plenty of folks who would be glad to lend a hand if asked…so I asked.  This was a quick road to recovery, so why not jump on it.  Waiting till my parents were back in town just meant at least another week of crutching around and being in limbo, not being able to play with the boys, and generally feeling sorry for myself. 

Rather than being nervous yesterday, I was relieved.  The facility was an outpatient surgery center, and it was brand new and beautiful.  Everyone was incredibly friendly and obviously loved their jobs.  They were more than helpful, smiley, just generally pleasant.  I couldn’t have asked for more.  The Dr. was on time, everything went smoothly, and the anesthesiologist listened to my nausea issues…and managed it well.

I didn’t get sick once – quite the feat for me, and made it home to happy boys who had been picked up by a friend, who also dropped off dinner.  I gave them a cuddle and went to bed…and woke up feeling amazing!  I can limp – without crutches, and it feels great.  The road to recovery is a happy one.

All that said…I still have grand plans to milk this for all it is worth.  I have two weeks off work, if I want it.  I don’t think I’ll end up needing it, but I am open to exercising the option of getting truly rested.  I think that Lyndon can manage a few more days of doing laundry and being on kitchen duty.  It is good for him.  And I will embrace the chance to comfortably rest and catch up on a few books and cuddle time with the boys.  It is fantastic to be pain free. 

About these ads