Paraskavedekatriaphobia
Day 10: Alas, these rules for use of the temperamental photocopier (click through for larger) might also apply to parts of the body. I'm not the superstitious type at all, but yesterday one of my course tutors pointed out to me that it was Friday the 13th.
Over the last three days my dodgy right knee has flared up again after what at first felt like a minor slip on Tuesday evening, but to the point now that it has sometimes been impossible to walk for more than two minutes at a time, let alone concentrate on such a thing as an intensive training course. My knee had been clicking and cracking very loudly all last week, and sometimes painfully, but what had been nothing more than an uncomfortable irritation for the last couple of years has chosen this week to become a more immediate medical issue.
So on Thursday evening I went to the same hospital where I was treated for a fractured femur in 2006 and fortunately saw the same knee specialist. After an MRI scan he said my knee was a mess inside, and this time it's the meniscus that has either slipped or has a large tear, because the MRI images were showing no meniscus where it should normally be seen. His recommendation was that I will need another arthroscopy to put it right, preferably sooner rather than later.
Unfortunately, the thought of two more weeks of the course (which has been going well, mostly, but is indeed very hard work) and having this to deal with as well is more than my 'capacity bucket' will allow. So I'm having to defer on the rest of the course and finish at a later date, time and space permitting. Steve and Robin, the course tutors, have agreed that is probably the wisest thing to do, given that our attention really needs to be focussed completely on what we're doing in the classrooms and our work at home in the evenings.
So I'll probably be having my third arthroscopy some time next week. I should be back on my feet properly after a couple of weeks, if all goes well.
I'll miss the other eleven people on this course as we seem to have gelled particularly well, and I'll see everyone at the end-of-course party. But right now I'm still pretty frustrated about it.