A picture paints a thousand et ceteras
May. 13th, 2011 11:55 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
crazyjaneI went back to the surgeon yesterday to have my stitches taken out. He's pretty pleased with the way I'm healing - although there was one awkward moment. I asked him if I could have some more painkillers, and started to explain that I wouldn't abuse them, would only take them if necessary, etc. He was already reaching for the prescription pad, and looked up, startled.
'It's not a pain competition! If you need pain relief, you should have it,' he said - at which point I nearly burst into tears. I'm so used to begging for them that I guess I just hadn't considered the idea that maybe it was not normal or acceptable behaviour from a GP.
He also showed me some 'snapshots' from the camera that had been inside my knee. Suddenly, everything got a lot clearer - and not in a good way.
This is the lateral (outside) of my knee joint. This is what a knee joint is supposed to look like. See the smooth yellow-white bone with the whitish cartilage in place? Yeah. The cartilage is low, but still there.
This is the medial side of the joint. That red stuff? Raw, abraded bone. No cartilage, nothing to stop the bone ends from grinding together every time I take a step or flex my joint. You know how if you don't oil your bike properly it seizes up, the metal grinds against itself and damages the bearings? Uh-huh.
This is the bit where the patella (kneecap) meets the femur (thighbone). All that filmy white stuff? Damaged cartilage on jagged bone. And the reddish black thing in the background is a tear in the meniscus.
Finally, this is a bone spur, surrounded by damaged cartilage, in the process of being cut off.. The tiny glint of silver in the bottom of the picture is the miniature angle grinder the surgeon used to get rid of it.
'Horrified' is a good word to describe my reaction. The phrase, 'Holy crap I'm never going to walk again without seeing those pictures in my head', is another.
And that's just my left knee. Goodness only knows what things are like inside my right one.
The surgeon did what he could, but he can't work miracles. This whole course of treatment is aimed at one thing only - keeping me as mobile and pain-free as possible until such time as (a) my health insurance kicks in and (b) knee replacements can't be delayed any longer.
Sigh. Gotta be grateful for what I can get, I suppose ... and at least I have a surgeon who is a decent human being - and who treats me like one.
'It's not a pain competition! If you need pain relief, you should have it,' he said - at which point I nearly burst into tears. I'm so used to begging for them that I guess I just hadn't considered the idea that maybe it was not normal or acceptable behaviour from a GP.
He also showed me some 'snapshots' from the camera that had been inside my knee. Suddenly, everything got a lot clearer - and not in a good way.
This is the lateral (outside) of my knee joint. This is what a knee joint is supposed to look like. See the smooth yellow-white bone with the whitish cartilage in place? Yeah. The cartilage is low, but still there.
This is the medial side of the joint. That red stuff? Raw, abraded bone. No cartilage, nothing to stop the bone ends from grinding together every time I take a step or flex my joint. You know how if you don't oil your bike properly it seizes up, the metal grinds against itself and damages the bearings? Uh-huh.
This is the bit where the patella (kneecap) meets the femur (thighbone). All that filmy white stuff? Damaged cartilage on jagged bone. And the reddish black thing in the background is a tear in the meniscus.
Finally, this is a bone spur, surrounded by damaged cartilage, in the process of being cut off.. The tiny glint of silver in the bottom of the picture is the miniature angle grinder the surgeon used to get rid of it.
'Horrified' is a good word to describe my reaction. The phrase, 'Holy crap I'm never going to walk again without seeing those pictures in my head', is another.
And that's just my left knee. Goodness only knows what things are like inside my right one.
The surgeon did what he could, but he can't work miracles. This whole course of treatment is aimed at one thing only - keeping me as mobile and pain-free as possible until such time as (a) my health insurance kicks in and (b) knee replacements can't be delayed any longer.
Sigh. Gotta be grateful for what I can get, I suppose ... and at least I have a surgeon who is a decent human being - and who treats me like one.
(no subject)
Date: 2011-05-13 06:09 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2011-05-13 10:04 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2011-05-14 11:07 am (UTC)I'm so glad you're being looked after.