Saturday, December 04, 2010

Coal in my Stocking

Some days you can't win.  I injured my left knee a year ago and have been trying to get it to heal ever since; every time I thought it was OK, another weird little pain would crop up.  In early October I saw a physical therapist, who gave me some exercises and told me, if you do those for 4-6 weeks and it's not better, see your doctor.  This week I saw my doctor, who referred me to my orthopedic surgeon.

Five years ago, I had my left knee replaced.  The orthopedic surgeon tells me that the left prosthesis has shifted, and we have to do it over.  (Side note:  the guy I'm seeing now did not do the operation 5 years ago.)  One knows these things aren't eternal, but I certainly expected to get more than 5 years out of it - the one in the right knee is coming up on 10 with no problems.  And I really don't look forward to this:  I've done it twice, it isn't fun, and the rehab is very painful.  Not to mention that I've now built up a tolerance for everybody's favorite pain drug, Vicodin:  it takes more than they like to give me to have a real effect.

To make this even more amusing, my husband and I have just booked passage, through Cal Discoveries, on the cruise of a lifetime - a Mediterranean music cruise, with Sir James Galway on board!  Our plane leaves May 1 for Venice; the boat leaves Venice May 4 for various fascinating places.

I'm waiting to hear when my surgery can be scheduled.  Post-surgery rehab takes three months.  If we can get it done before early February, I can be out of rehab in time to walk on that plane. I won't be able to sit with my left knee bent for any length of time (much less 11 hours to Frankfurt), but I have an aisle seat, and I'll be able to get up and walk around.

I don't like to plan things that depend on everything going perfectly, because so often everything doesn't.  But I will go on that cruise if it's humanly possible.  If it isn't, well, we did buy trip insurance; but I so don't want to use it.

Bah.  Humbug.

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