Whit's Knee - an update
I had my appointment with the orthopedic surgeon yesterday. A very sweet older gentlemen with a real bow tie and suspenders named Dr Pugh. His PA came and looked me first and moved my leg in ways no one else would dare try. For the record, it is NOT supposed to bend that way. Once he came in and she showed up the hyper-mobility of my both laterally and vertically, he said there was no need for an MRI cuz the damage is so overt. The reason my knee didn't hurt despite it's huge size and discoloration (I have a hematoma the size of a medium dinner plate) was because I didn't just get a tear in the medial collateral ligament, I popped the damn thing off. It's also fairly likely that I have a full anterior cruciate ligament tear and some serious Meniscus damage to go along with.
They basically said that I have one of the most unstable knees they've ever seen in that office and that I'm now their priority patient.
In an ideal situation (ie, good insurance) I'd be getting two surgeries. One to repair the MCL and one for the ACL separately and in that order. But given my lack of insurance, he wants to see about getting me the surgery all at once. Right now we're in the research phase of figuring out how to pay for this and where to get it done. According to Dr Pugh (who was also a rock climber and super frank with me), I need surgery asap because of just how unstable my knee is. He said I should expect about 6 months of recovery time.
I mentioned to him that the friend who's house it is as home owners insurance and that they'll cover up to $5,000 of my medical needs. His response? "Well, that's a start."
This is about the time when my face went hot and my ears started to burn and my body disappeared.
I really don't know how this is going to work.
Right now we're in the research phase. Dr Pugh said I'm now bumped to the front of the list as their #1 priority patient. He has his staff doing some research, and I'm doing some research and we're going to figure out where I can get this surgery the soonest, cheapest, and best.
He said he'd rather have an athletic, strong patient get a really bad injury than a wimp get a small injury, because he knows I'll recover faster and well because I'll work for it, and my body knows how to get there. I'm going to do my damnedest to focus on that right now.
They basically said that I have one of the most unstable knees they've ever seen in that office and that I'm now their priority patient.
In an ideal situation (ie, good insurance) I'd be getting two surgeries. One to repair the MCL and one for the ACL separately and in that order. But given my lack of insurance, he wants to see about getting me the surgery all at once. Right now we're in the research phase of figuring out how to pay for this and where to get it done. According to Dr Pugh (who was also a rock climber and super frank with me), I need surgery asap because of just how unstable my knee is. He said I should expect about 6 months of recovery time.
I mentioned to him that the friend who's house it is as home owners insurance and that they'll cover up to $5,000 of my medical needs. His response? "Well, that's a start."
This is about the time when my face went hot and my ears started to burn and my body disappeared.
I really don't know how this is going to work.
Right now we're in the research phase. Dr Pugh said I'm now bumped to the front of the list as their #1 priority patient. He has his staff doing some research, and I'm doing some research and we're going to figure out where I can get this surgery the soonest, cheapest, and best.
He said he'd rather have an athletic, strong patient get a really bad injury than a wimp get a small injury, because he knows I'll recover faster and well because I'll work for it, and my body knows how to get there. I'm going to do my damnedest to focus on that right now.