Going Under The Knife

Knee surgery tomorrow.

Not really all that dramatic; I just like the sound of those words.

Although if I pay attention to the "Preadmission Instructions for Patients Having Anesthesia", maybe it is dramatic. After listing what I should and should not do, comes the following admonition:

IMPORTANT! Failure to follow the above instructions for any patient having anesthesia can result in potentially deadly complications or your surgery being cancelled.

The medical profession today thrives on intimidation and negativity.

Arthroscopic surgery with the bonus feature of a camera. Very cool.

I have climbed the ladder of significance. Been having trouble with this knee for years. Not enough pain to prevent me from doing anything so I just fucking dealt with it. At my age if I visited the doctor every time something hurt, I would have to keep a sleeping bag in the office.

When the pain became significant I'd visit Dr. Feelgood, he'd take x-rays and give me a cortisone shot.

Good to go. But this year it all went south, now I can't do shit. I even had to give up dancing the Tarantella, my favorite.

I climbed another rung on the ladder. MRI. Hey, look at that - torn meniscus with a free-floating chunk sailing around the knee. Maybe this guy is not lying about the pain. Let's operate.

Top rung on the ladder. A camera inserted into my knee during surgery. Now they will find out exactly what is going on - hey this guy really is experiencing a significant level of pain. Who knew?

That's the way the medical profession works in this fucking country. They never immediately go to the definitive step that can provide the best information. Nope. Gotta climb the ladder. Which involves multiple visits over many months (or years) and - most importantly - allows them to rack up those charges, baby.

High drama - I don't even know what time the fucking surgery is taking place tomorrow morning. "Arrival time will be given after 2:00 pm the business day before surgery", meaning today.

The party line is that it gives the hospital flexibility to deal with last minute emergency surgeries. I believe it falls in line with the overall atmosphere within the medical community of exerting total control spiced with intimidation, fear, negativity - the ultimate goal to keep the patient off balance, on their knees, worshipping the supposed omniscience of these ego-bloated poseurs.

I'm not too worried about the surgery. Everything I have read indicates that it seems pretty routine. And it's getting me out of work for a minimum of 4 days, which I sorely, sorely need.

I am worried that they might unearth something more frightening than a torn meniscus. I am also concerned about recovery time. I will be on crutches. The stuff I have read places the timeline somewhere between a week to 2 or 3 months.

We are talking about inconvenience here so it is not really a big deal, no matter which way it goes. But a 68 year old fat man on crutches does not sound pretty to me.

So here I go. Knee surgery. Something new.

Very exciting.