{"id":123952,"date":"2022-11-21T06:08:48","date_gmt":"2022-11-21T13:08:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/?p=123952"},"modified":"2022-11-21T07:05:28","modified_gmt":"2022-11-21T14:05:28","slug":"a-new-chapter-in-my-book-of-recent-medical-misadventures","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/2022\/11\/21\/a-new-chapter-in-my-book-of-recent-medical-misadventures\/","title":{"rendered":"A New Chapter In My Book Of Recent Medical Misadventures"},"content":{"rendered":"

Subtitled My Annus Horribilus.<\/p>\n

In a blog post two days ago I hinted at some recent bad luck I’ve had but didn’t explain. That was a mistake because apparently some readers aren’t fond of “cliffhangers” so I figured providing the details was overdue. Thus today’s post.<\/p>\n

A week ago yesterday while I was working in my kitchen I was facing the stove when I turned 90\u00b0 to my right toward the kitchen sink – a simple maneuver I’ve probably performed hundreds of thousand times over the last 30 years. But this time apparently all of my body made the turn except for my right leg from the knee down, which somehow stayed in place. I felt a distinct pop in my right knee and immediately knew I was in deep shit. Suddenly I couldn’t put any weight on that leg without some pretty intense pain in my knee. I’ve mostly been walking with a cane since that moment.<\/p>\n

The next day, Monday, a nonsurgical orthopedist told me that he suspected I’d torn or strained the medial collateral ligament in that knee and possibly did some damage to the meniscus, so he ordered an MRI which I had on Tuesday. He said that the ligament would likely heal on its own within two weeks but if there was damage to the meniscus, and if it was significant, surgery would likely be in the cards.<\/p>\n

All of my doctors use MyChart<\/a><\/span><\/span> for medical records and they’re available to patients online, so at 9:05 the next morning (Wednesday) I was able to read my MRI report in its entirety. The news wasn’t good.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Human knee anatomy – image in the Public Domain<\/em><\/p>\n

Here’s the MRI summary without the details:<\/p>\n

“Study Result<\/em><\/p>\n

Impression<\/em><\/p>\n

1. Complex tear of the peripheral body and posterior horn medial meniscus.<\/em>
\n2. Grade 2 MCL sprain”<\/em><\/p>\n

I now have an appointment this coming Monday with an orthopedic surgeon (not the orthopedic surgeon who performed my recent back fusion – he specializes in backs) to determine a course of action. But since the damage to my meniscus is a “complex tear” I suspect another surgery is in my near future. I’m still recovering from my 4 level back fusion, and will be for months, so recovery from two surgeries at the same time should be… interesting. I can hardly wait.<\/span><\/p>\n

If I do have another surgery, that will be two back surgeries and one knee surgery in 2022, not counting another back surgery and a thyroid surgery the previous year. Surgeons say “ka-ching” whenever they see me coming.<\/p>\n

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Readers know that my Dudley family history includes multiple connections to English royalty and nobility, including the Barons Dudley<\/a><\/span><\/span> of Dudley Castle<\/a><\/span><\/span>, two of my g. grandfathers, Sir Edmond Dudley<\/a><\/span><\/span> who was beheaded at the Tower of London in 1510 by King Henry VIII and Edmond’s son John Dudley, Duke of Northumberland<\/a><\/span><\/span>, who was beheaded in 1553 by King Edward VI. Then of course there was Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester<\/a><\/span><\/span>, who very nearly married Queen Elizabeth I. Robert was the grandson of Sir Edmund.<\/p>\n

So in some ways my 2022 reminds me of Queen Elizabeth II’s unfortunate 1992 when she gave her famous Annus Horribilus Speech<\/a><\/span><\/span>, saying that “1992 is not a year on which I shall look back with undiluted pleasure”.<\/p>\n

2022 is not a year on which I shall look back with undiluted pleasure.<\/p>\n

Ron<\/p>\n

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Notes:<\/em><\/p>\n