Went today armed with my MRI images for my knee, a bit worried that somehow things had been mis-communicated and I would not see the doc at all or something. All for naught, though.
He said my knee is not that bad, but that he did think that it is a good idea to go ahead and clean up some rough areas on the joint and remove any pieces of meniscus floating around. So again, a two-fer, of sorts.
I also talked to Dr Cullen to make sure that he knows that I want him to do all he needs to do to fix this ankle THIS go-round. No leaving tougher procedures for later if necessary. He still maintains that I do not need the osteotomy, even though he said back in the fall that I did. The recovery without the osteotomy is WAY easier, and that is cool. But, again, I think I have things in place as well as I ever will to be off for an extended time if needed. I don't' want to have to do this again! I am, however, very good with the idea of not having him cut into the bones of my leg, so that is all to the good. Kind of funny, though: I asked him if I will be able to return to playing tennis without the osteotomy, and he said "yes, nobody sprains their ankle playing tennis". Which, of course, I did. But I will be wearing this brace, so that should be ok.
So, Doug and I will head out bright and early on Thursday Feb 3rd with a grumpy (no coffee) and nervous and probably sleep-deprived me to head to the surgery center by 6:00 am. They will get IV started and draw pictures on my R leg and talk to us and I should be in the OR by 7:15 to start at 7:30---the first procedure of the day! Yay! I forgot to ask how long it would take, but I imagine less than a couple of hours. Probably closer to 1??
Dr Cullen will scope my knee as described above. Then he will scope my ankle to see if any areas need to be cleaned or scraped and, I imagine, to see the full extent of damage. Then he will make an incision on the outside of the ankle and proceed to cut and then shorten the two lateral ligaments. He'll staple me up and put me in a split and wrap me up. An hour of recovery and then off to home!
My appointment to remove the staples and then place my leg in a cast is on Feb 18th. That is a bit longer than he first said, 15 days. Then in a cast for about 4 weeks. I am thinking that being NWB (non-weight bearing) for 3-4 weeks will be problematic for work, mostly for leading services. There are stairs all over the place and going down, in particular, will be a challenge. Much less going down them without being very disruptive. I will see how recovery is going with regard to the weight-bearing issue and see how nifty I am doing with the crutches before deciding if I should take an additional Sunday off besides the two I had planned for. Leading rehearsal should be way easier since there are no stairs involved.
The other thing I am concerned about is how Jackson will deal with this. We had a wonderful time this past weekend...I had him by myself all day on Friday and Friday evening and then we were together Saturday and some last night. I have so much fun running around with him and playing on the floor, etc. He loves grabbing my hand (not just me, but you know what I mean!) to take me where ever he wants to go. I am afraid he will be pretty frustrated with me when I cannot get up and go with him. Or, worse, afraid of the big splint and bandage and such. I just hope that does not happen! At least I am getting to spend lots of time with him this week.
So, just a few things to take care of in the 9 days or so remaining before surgery: stock up on foods Doug is comfy with cooking; clean up the house really well, get play lists ready for church, pick up my meds (pain and nausea), and get my crutches from Jennifer. I am also excited about the fact that the praise team is coming over here for calzones this Friday night! That will be fun! Then I think we are working at Daniel and Mackenzie's house on Saturday.
Adventures ahead!
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