Well…tomorrow is the big day!

Arthroscopic surgery on my left knee.

It isn’t a life-changing event, but this surgery gives me hope of getting back to running once again in 2023. Something that I love doing and have missed so much over the past seven months.

May 9th — the day when my Mantis rototiller bucked and I hyperextended my knee and finished things off with a wonderful twist, which resulted in a pop and pain. Excruciating pain. I knew when it happened that I had screwed up the inside of the knee – badly.

It was just a question of how badly.

It seems that the official diagnosis was a probable torn meniscus and sprained MCL. Neither of which, in the overall scheme of things, are that big of a deal to anyone but the person dealing with it. No, I ain’t gonna die, knee replacement surgery isn’t forthcoming and I can still do many things. It just becomes a question of how much discomfort or pain I am willing to accept to do whatever.

However, there is a process that the medical establishment forces relatively minor injuries like this need to go through, just to make sure that all other healing possibilities are exhausted before you get to where surgery happens. This was frustrating at many points because it meant that I had to deal with the discomfort, pain, and subsequent lifestyle changes longer than I wanted to.

Frustrating, but the way it is.

Surgery Tomorrow

So am I all wound up, nervous or worried about the surgery tomorrow?

Not as much as I thought I would be and definitely not as nervous as I was the night before I had my right knee scoped.

It is quite evident that if I don’t have the surgery, whatever I did to the knee is not going to heal any more than it has already. Which would mean that the discomfort and pain that I deal with on a day-to-day basis now, when I attempt to do stuff, is what I would deal with going forward.

Which is not how I want to live the rest of my life.

So surgery ain’t really an option and I know that I am lucky to have it scheduled as quickly as I did.

Now I have to suck it up, walk into the surgical unit tomorrow with a positive attitude, be thankful that it is happening, and accept that for the first couple of weeks after it is done, are going to suck. Needless to say, I am also very lucky that I have a wife and family that are helping me through this and will help me get back on my feet quickly. For that I am ever so thankful.

If everything works out the way I expect it to, in a few weeks the knee will get start better and the rehab process will begin. Then I will get back to living the life that I want without it being limited by a knee that isn’t healing on its own. I’ve done this before with my other knee and know that I will be back.

The trial of miles and the adventures of Harold being Harold will continue, and yes, I will keep smiling no matter what.