Chop Chop

Like I said, I finally got tired of my knee hurting me.

Got tired of not being able to do anything without pain.

It was affecting so much more than my sleep.

Because of the year of limping, my feet got horribly painful.

The podiatrist I saw because of that pain told me that the limping and listing had affected the tendons 'pretty seriously'.
Yeah.
Pretty seriously indeed.
Is but isn't a separate issue. Slowly resolving.

So after getting a few recommendations, I made an appointment with a hotshot Orthopedic surgeon. I did not take the MRI with me, or bring along any records. I wanted someone to look at everything with fresh eyes after I had a chance to explain everything that had gone on. I did not want some other asshole to dismiss me without listening.

And after the exam and an explanation of what had been going on for a year, they ordered copies of the MRI films and told me to come back in a week.

Went back in a week later, they said, "Well if you look right here," and pointed at a spot on the MRI for me, "You can clearly see the meniscus is torn. It looks like it might be torn on this side over here, too. No wonder your knee hurts! Now, what to do about it?"

And after they checked with my insurer, they found out that due to a changeover in the system, if I wanted to get the knee fixed, it had to be either right away or after the first of the year.
 
I think that was a Thursday.

And the following Wednesday, I was once again sliced and diced. Things moved pretty fast for a person who likes to plan way ahead, adding to my already extreme levels of stress, but you know what?

I was just DONE with the knee pain.

I'm really reluctant to miss work, but sadly I know from experience that recovering from knee surgery is not a two day process.

I ended up missing eight days of work with my kids, but had the customary four week knee surgery recovery period because of the school closure during most of December.
I wanted to minimize the time I'd be away from my kids and my job, so I chose to spend the holidaze laid up and hurting.

Home with my family while they helped take care of me yet again after a surgical procedure.
I was able to return to work when school reopened in January.

I had to use up all my vacation time so that I'd be able to keep my health benefits and help with keeping some groceries on the table, too.

Pisses me off that I had use up all my time off when I got hurt at work, but by now we all know that work comp arbitrarily decided nothing was wrong with the knee and certainly wasn't going to pay for any disability, time off or surgery.

Things could be worse. I may have had to take care of things myself, but I can now sleep through most nights.