It's Official: Torn Medial Meniscus. Surgery Next Month

Since mid-October, my right knee has had pain, swelling, and discomfort, tho not always at the same time. Initially my doctor was very patient; there's little point in performing an MRI if the problem just goes away on its own. We played 'wait and see.' We 'saw' for a long time that while the symptoms had abated a good deal, I still had some pain and discomfort depending on my recent activity level, and I've been walking with a limp for too long to remember. Finally, my doc relented and prescribed an MRI last week. The results are in, and officially I have a 'complex medial meniscal tear' as well as a slight sprain of the ACL. The 'complex' part means only that the tearing is in two planes rather than somewhat flat. It doesn't really add to the problem in a negative way, as the name seems to imply.

Although he was initially reluctant to bring out the big guns early on, the doctor had no hesitation about setting up a surgery date as soon as possible. He was ready to go this Monday! Unfortunately, my schedule is full then, but happily he's free a month from today, and the timing couldn't be better: It's a Thursday, and I have a light tutoring load that week, so I can have the operation, recover over the weekend, and get back into action the following Monday without missing any work.

Apparently the recovery time can be very fast. The doc said that I'd be walking out of the hospital on crutches and that I'd be walking without them the very next day! He anticipates that I could drive as early as that following Monday, but we agreed that a long commute might be too painful, so I'll have to decide whether just to take the bus that day. And then by the end of July, I should be able to engage in sports again. By mid-August, I should be able to unicycle around Martha's Vineyard, as I have done for many years.