A Recap of My Kneecap...

First and foremost, thank you to all of my friends and family who have reached out to me today. Wow... what a support group! In times like this, you really REALLY know who cares about you... I truly am blessed.

Last night was pretty miserable - not used to being immobilized while trying to sleep. I slept for about 2 hours and then would be reminded of what had happened. Percocet is really good, but man oh man does it give you some crazy dreams!

I started calling the Orthopedic Surgeon at 8:30 AM... and I was fortunate to get an appointment at 11:00. Chandra and I hit the road about 10:15... and headed toward Medical City Dallas Hospital.

I assumed this would be like most doctor's offices... sign in, wait for 45 minutes, etc etc etc. Not this place... I signed in and within 3 minutes the Dr. came out and asked to see me.

He and his assistant asked me a bunch of questions, then set up the X-Ray. To do that, they took off the brace and ace bandage... so now I got to see my knee, in all its glory, for the first time since yesterday morning.

The first thing you would notice is the swelling. It's about the size of a softball. Then there are the scrapes and scratches (abrasions) from when I hit the curb... and then the bruising.

But what struck me immediately was the lack of support I had - it literally felt like my foot was pulling my leg apart when I stood up. Meandering down the hallway on the crutches, I think the technician was losing her patience a tad. Like, "Hey buddy... hurry it up!" She didn't say that, but that's kinda how I felt. Well, I was going as fast as I could, about a hair over a snail's pace, due to the crazy streaks of pain shooting up through the entire leg!

After she got me on the table, and I informed her that I literally could not pick up my leg and would require her assistance, she took the photographs. Well, I knew it must be bad from her reaction - she had made a 180 in her attitude. "Oh my gosh we are NOT moving that knee!" I said, "So the pictures were pretty good, eh?" On my return back to the room, she helped me all the way...

So, that's what you're seeing up there... a picture of my knee. Basically, your Patella is supposed to be one bone. It connects your thigh muscles to your lower leg and acts as a fulcrum to pull up the lower leg when one needs to bend that knee. Notice the gap? Well, there's no connection... so I can't lift my leg.

The surgery is scheduled for this Wednesday morning at Medical City. Should take 2 hours, and then 1 hour in Recovery. They are going to hold me overnight, and hopefully I'll be discharged on Thursday.

The rest of the day was spent gallivanting around the hospital... or just hobbling really really slowly. I can't tell you how many nice people I met today. You see, Chandra had to leave to go to a presentation. I had to get admitted for Wednesday. So, being on my own, I guess people just took a little pity in me.

I'm pretty sore tonight. The time at the hospital went a lot longer than I expected, so I was away from my pain meds. I plan to just sit on this couch with my leg propped up... and enjoy the meds.

So, how does the rest of my year look? After the surgery, in 2 weeks I'll come back to get the stitches out. I'll then receive a knee brace that has hinges. I think every 2 weeks they'll unlock a hinge so I'll slowly but surely get more mobility.

Recovery is supposed to take 4-5 months. In 9 months, I return for another surgery. This one will remove the wires. Oh boy...

Thanks again for those who have been supporting me. It really means a lot...

I think I need to start a new blog: RecoveringToBlog.com.

Oh, and my parents still don't know... they will get home Wednesday night, after my surgery. We think we'll tell them Thursday morning.