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Back in 2017, Alex had to have knee surgery. The meniscus in his right knee got a "bucket handle" tear, and the "handle" flipped up into the joint. Stuck in the joint, it meant he couldn't bend the knee at all.
It took way too long - a couple of months - to get surgery, by the time all the proper referrals happened.
Yesterday, his knee - the same one - started slightly bothering him. Nothing seemed to "happen." We ran some errands, went to the store, came home. Laying down for a bit he said it was hurting some, but we just chalked it up to the weather, maybe. Until it got worse throughout the afternoon, swelling and causing a ton of pain.
He said it felt basically exactly like it did pre-surgery, including being unable to bend the joint. Taking a look at info about meniscus tears... there's something like a 30% chance of having it re-tear and just do the same thing again. Rolled a bummer on that.
So fuck. He can get around slowly and suckily with a cane, but that's not sustainable. So... probably looking at ~surgery~ again. Also sucky, because this time he didn't even feel the tear itself happen, just the after-effects.
He's still sort of deciding what to do. The clinic he goes to no longer allows you to make appointments, and instead operates on a walk-in basis, where you see whoever is available. The process of waiting to get in with a doctor, waiting for a referral for imaging, getting the imaging appointment, getting back in to a (possibly different) doctor, waiting for a surgery referral, doing surgery consultation, getting the actual surgery date...
He's also considering going to the ER in the hopes that they will simply do the needed imaging there, and that it will cut out one set of appointments and referrals.
Of course, there's really no avoiding that it needs surgery, and putting off the first step isn't getting it dealt with faster.
At least his knee had the courtesy of waiting until I was mostly recovered and mobile before exploding.
This year is not getting any less fuck off worthy.
It took way too long - a couple of months - to get surgery, by the time all the proper referrals happened.
Yesterday, his knee - the same one - started slightly bothering him. Nothing seemed to "happen." We ran some errands, went to the store, came home. Laying down for a bit he said it was hurting some, but we just chalked it up to the weather, maybe. Until it got worse throughout the afternoon, swelling and causing a ton of pain.
He said it felt basically exactly like it did pre-surgery, including being unable to bend the joint. Taking a look at info about meniscus tears... there's something like a 30% chance of having it re-tear and just do the same thing again. Rolled a bummer on that.
So fuck. He can get around slowly and suckily with a cane, but that's not sustainable. So... probably looking at ~surgery~ again. Also sucky, because this time he didn't even feel the tear itself happen, just the after-effects.
He's still sort of deciding what to do. The clinic he goes to no longer allows you to make appointments, and instead operates on a walk-in basis, where you see whoever is available. The process of waiting to get in with a doctor, waiting for a referral for imaging, getting the imaging appointment, getting back in to a (possibly different) doctor, waiting for a surgery referral, doing surgery consultation, getting the actual surgery date...
He's also considering going to the ER in the hopes that they will simply do the needed imaging there, and that it will cut out one set of appointments and referrals.
Of course, there's really no avoiding that it needs surgery, and putting off the first step isn't getting it dealt with faster.
At least his knee had the courtesy of waiting until I was mostly recovered and mobile before exploding.
This year is not getting any less fuck off worthy.
