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Goodbye Right Knee

I guess I should be glad to have outlived the cartilage in my knees; it would be sad if it outlived me.

I had my left knee replaced in 2021. The arthritis crossed a threshold where I could no longer ignore it and limped painfully, eventually swallowing my vanity and using a cane. This happened in the Fall of 2020 and I had no desire to enter a hospital during the pandemic until there was a vaccine to provide me with some kind of immunity. I received the vaccine during the 2020-2021 academic year and then it was a matter of deferring the surgery until classes ended for the year and my grades were in.

The phrase "bone saw" kept running through my mind but I knew that knee replacement surgery was a well-established procedure and had many friends who had had the surgery so I knew my odds were extremely good. It was unknown but made sense on some level.

Now that threshold has crossed for my right knee; in September 2024 I was stepping off of a curb and my knee went ping, audibly. I landed my foot well, there was no particular torsion, but I heard as well as felt the ping and from that moment the pain escalated to where I needed a cane again. This time the combination of draining fluid from the knee and cortisone shots relieved the pain (much better than with my left knee) and I could stow the cane for most of the year.

But May 22 has been on my calendar for a while. I've got closure at work---my grades are in. My wife has long ago done the paperwork for Family Medical Leave to be my caregiver as she was before. Same surgeon, same hospital as four years ago.

I am so impatient. The rehab will be hard, painful work and I want to get to the end of it. Until then I am in limbo. I did a Zoom committee meeting yesterday, and I have a Zoom ombuds meeting scheduled next week. But otherwise, relaxing and reading, which I enjoy but am not used to doing.

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