As many of you know Jo has been struggling with torn meniscus in both knees and finally decided that her right knee had become too painful to continue managing it with physical therapy and cold packs. So the day after New Years she went under the knife for the first time since she had her tonsils out as a kid. The good news was she came out the surgery without any difficulties and is currently recuperating. The bad news was the damage inside her knee was more extensive than expected. Not only is the meniscus on the lower portion of her knee more worn than just two years ago, she also had damage to her articular cartilage on the outside of her knee (the doctor described it as a pothole in her cartilage that would keep growing if not fixed). The doctor performed microfracture surgery which will help rebuild some the damage, but her running days may be behind her. The other bad news was she was expecting to be on crutches for a couple of days with the meniscus repairs, but the microfracture work means 4 to 6 weeks on crutches as the bone needs time to heal.
To help the healing process she has a machine to mechanically move her knee through a small range of motion. She has to strap herself in for 6 to 8 hours a day. We haven't completely figured out how she will do this while going to work. Also, she is learning how to walk with crutches and my analysis is she needs a lot more practice. For now, I'm walking behind since she looks a little wobbly. It does give one an appreciation for what it means to be handicapped in your standard home. We have been rearranging furniture and items to make it work with Jo navigational skills. Also, gives me a small appreciation of home health care since I'm having to carry all the load around the house - leaves one exhausted at the end of the day. But she'll be back on her feet by the end of the month. Then we have to figure out the whole exercising thing.
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