My leg that was almost chopped off

Okay, so maybe I had a slim but more like none chance of my leg being amputated, but that doesn't mean I didn't have the desire to break the machete out of the 72 hour kit and live one legged for the rest of my life.

My Valentines day consisted of taking a nice hour long nap while my surgeon, Dr. Young You, (that is absolutely his name. I did not make that up) shoved a camera and 2 instruments inside my knee joint with hopes of shaving out some damaged cartilage. I was home by lunch time, and stayed put on the couch 99% of the time for 3 days.

The night before surgery I wanted to make sure Dr You and I were on the same page as far as which knee was to be operated on. 

The couch wasn't so bad. I was the neighborhood watch for a few days being able to see everyone who was going or coming, who was getting a package, and who was having pizza for dinner. When there is not much else to do it is quite entertaining.

Three days post surgery, I was instructed to remove all bandages and do simple exercises such as bending and lifting my leg, which turned out to be not so simple. Here, for your enjoyment, is the unveiling as seen through my eyes.

Swollen, slightly bruised, but not as bad as I thought.

Nine days post surgery I went to see Dr. You to have stitches removed, get a run down of everything he found while creeping around my knee joint, and hopes to get the okay to take an actual shower, and drive. Turns out I had two small meniscus tears which weren't very bad, and Dr. You says they were only causing about 10% of the pain and swelling I was feeling. The other 90% came from behind my knee cap where once smooth cartilage morphed into a jellyfish looking creature.


This is what the cartilage behind the knee cap is supposed to look like:

smooth

And, this is what mine looked like:

Turns out that is a big problem. Dr You did his best work to shave the cartilage down to this:

Unfortunately, this is a common problem in women, and this cartilage actually begins to deteriorate after age 15. It can not be repaired, bummer, but I can resume normal activities in a couple months, and I assume my knee will tell me when to slow down. For now, I am happy to sleep in my own bed, shower regularly, drive Chappie, and surprisingly, wear normal pants.

9 days post surgery. Stitches out, and only a small amount of swelling.  Not too shabby Dr. You.