Post-Op Follow Up

Ah, what a morning! We all got up and around this morning in order to make it to my 9:10am post-operation follow up appointment with my orthopedic surgeon, Dr. Bret Miller. After a few minutes of waiting, Dr. Miller's assistant, Ronnie, came in and removed the dressing from yesterdays surgery. After removing the enormous ace bandage wrapping, the 2.5" thick layer of cotton gauze, the large, folded gauze pads, and the two small pieces of yellow gauze, what remained was a slightly swollen knee with two, 2 cm incisions. Ronnie proceeded to clean up my leg (it was yellow with iodine, or some other substance) and then gave me some basic care instructions.

After a few minutes of waiting while propped up reading in the room, Dr. Miller arrived, explained what he did during the surgery, and set some future options for me. Turns out that I had one major tear on the medial meniscus that actually went in two different directions. Also, the medial meniscus showed some horizontal fissures, some of which he was able to remove, but some of which was damaged, but strong enough to leave in place. On the lateral meniscus I had some wear that he removed, but not a tear, per se. So, he believes that my knee will heal well and that I will not experience the same discomfort I felt prior to surgery.

Then he told me the good news. He explained to me that I had what he would consider a Grade 1 degradation in the left knee. One a scale of 1 to 4, Grade 1 degradation is mild, but, if I am not careful, I can graduate to fourth grade pretty quickly and end up back in his office. So, basically he counseled me to move away from weight-bearing sports altogether, or, if I just can't live without at one of them, pick one and then supplement my exercise with non-weight bearing activities (cycling, swimming, etc.). So, I guess I've got some soul searching to do here, since my two sporting loves - basketball and volleyball - are both on the "bad" list.

So, today I will remain at home, elevating, icing, and regaining some mobility. Tomorrow I will just have to see how I'm feeling as to whether I go in for a half day or whatever. All in all, I feel well. Have little to no pain, and am simply grateful that this knee will heal and will return to some sense of normal. Again, I appreciate your prayers and look forward to be among the walking soon :).