I kept the appointment, in East Greenbush, driving myself there without giving anyone advance notice. As I've indicated, I need to husband my resources for as long as possible. I filled out the paperwork, underwent a series of X-rays, and then met with Dr. C. Since I tend to put myself into a catatonic state when I'm a patient, I honestly am unable to describe his appearance. I recognized him from his picture, but that's all I could say about what he looked like. He did appear to be one of those larger than life individuals, not just in his physical stature; his bio mentioned he played football for 4 years at Columbia University. He seemed to possess an incredible energy and presence, in a low key way, an unusual descriptor for a doctor, at least in my personal experience. He spoke for a while and then asked me into the viewing area to see the x-rays. I always hate that; I don't like to see pictures of any part of my body, especially knowing of the defects that were found. Not much cartilage there, he pointed out, nor there, bone spurs here and here and there, worn knee puts strain on leg, etc. etc. Back in the office, he went over the findings, and courteously, it seemed to me, suggested that I talk it over with my family, and then advise what I wanted to do. At this point, I said I knew what I wanted to do; if I left without coming to a decision, I figured I would not go back. That's been my history, unfortunately. "You can make the necessary appointments at the front desk," he said, and then in a nice touch, if I needed to contact him, wrote his secretary's number on his card, so as to "avoid the hell that is our telephone system."
I have the date set for the surgery so all that remains is to overcome about 20 hurdles before that that can happen. TBC
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