The night before (May 13) + The Appointment

  I'm scheduled for the first anniversary visit of my knee surgery tomorrow.  Last May 21 was the date of surgery on the right knee.  I've not made  a single call to the orthopedist's office, no questions, no requests for pain management, no complaints.  The initial  diagnosis cited the need for bilateral total knee replacement, but the unoperated knee stayed under the radar from the time of surgery, pain free. Until this spring.   This morning when I brought the garbage cans from the roadside to the back of the house, my knee twinged, painful to walk.  But later when I pushed the vacuum around the living room, it was fine.  Then when I tried to clean the area outside the kitchen, where we keep the cat food, it acted up again.  I don't know what I'll do or say at tomorrow's visit----just keep my mouth shut, I guess.  I sure don't relish spending the summer recovering from another surgery.  Especially since summers are at a premium now.......
                                   The Appointment----May 14, 2014
    I had X-rays of both knees.  Dr. Congiusta said, "Right knee good; left knee not good."  There is no cartilage, so bone on bone.  It is the same as the other one was.  "I'm surprised that you're not having more pain." I told him that I wouldn't expect the same results as before, since consensus seems that it was unusually successful.  I told him the only issue was the discrepancy in leg length.  The right leg had become very crooked when the cartilage wore away in the knee, and after surgery straightened the leg, it was almost half an inch longer than the other. He said the left leg is also crooked, and that the surgery would make them the same.  He said he would expect the same results as before, assuming all is in order for the surgery, and he thought it would be.
     It's up to me, as I knew it would be. There is absolutely no pressure to make a decision.  All the risks involved with surgery are made clear.  He did say he saw no reason why this surgery would be any different from the last.  He said he would do it exactly the same way, using the Signature model.  When he said it usually takes up to a year to get the full results of the operation, and I said I saw no difference after 2 months, he said that was very unusual. 

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