A Knee Story

January 27, 2013 8:13 AM

On surgery and healing, illustrated on Post-it notes
posted by rockindata (11 comments total)

Thanks for posting this! It's exactly what I needed right now -- I just had knee surgery myself last week. Mine was mercifully milder than an ACL repair (just a meniscus snip), but this:

I can think about my knee, uninterrupted, for like half an hour. Like a zen master. I practice bending it and straightening it and strengthening the muscles and I think about whether it's more or less puffy or hot or painful or if the scar looks weird or better or what my knee will be like in a year or tomorrow.

is precisely how I'm feeling at the moment. Really beautifully illustrated & relatable post -- thanks!

(And she's right about hanging on to the crutch for a while, b/c looking 100% able-bodied when in fact you have a half-healed leg that would never support you standing on a lurching train/bus makes for some very uncomfortable situations.)
posted by Westringia F. at 12:14 PM on January 27, 2013

I really liked this but I forgot to comment because I spent quite a lot of time going through the rest of her blog, which I also really liked. I particularly liked the bone genies, and will think of them next time I read a journal paper about osteoclasts.
posted by shelleycat at 1:22 PM on January 27, 2013

That was delightedly cheery for such a painful topic. I enjoyed it. Thanks for posting!
posted by librarylis at 1:23 PM on January 27, 2013

A lovely post. Thank you!
posted by daisyk at 2:08 PM on January 27, 2013

I had no idea what to expect from this post, but it was fantastic, thanks! It does make me feel as though I should have chronicled my own ACL reconstruction and recovery more thoroughly, though. Possibly on post-its. Opportunity missed.
posted by six-or-six-thirty at 3:42 PM on January 27, 2013

My golden retriever will enjoy this (or I did on his behalf). He had his right ACL repaired in mid-December and will likely have the left one done within a week or two. At least humans usually don't have to wear the Comfy Cone during recovery.
posted by FelliniBlank at 4:42 PM on January 27, 2013

Super cute, thanks for the post.
posted by salvia at 5:33 PM on January 27, 2013

(Hmm, "cute" is maybe not the right word. More like "endearing.")
posted by salvia at 5:35 PM on January 27, 2013

I thought that she actually covered a lot of emotional and psychological ground in few words and pictures. Thank you.
posted by WorkingMyWayHome at 5:45 PM on January 27, 2013

I broke my knee a few years ago, and this is bang on. Stuff like:

Still, to do anything--like, get the TV remote from a few feet away--took concentration and planning and some pain. I would plan my trip to a new room like I was entering a foreign and possibly hostile country.

Boy, is it ever right. Nevermind dealing with a new, total lack of independence, but having to plan every single movement involved in ordinary everyday life? My disability may have been temporary*, but it gave me appreciation for the barriers faced by those whose disabilities permanently restrict their movement. This little story gives light to that as well, only without surgery and a months-long recovery process.

Well done, internet stranger!

*While it still lingers, always will, and will come back with a vengeance one day.
posted by Capt. Renault at 6:51 AM on January 28, 2013

FelliniBlank: " At least humans usually don't have to wear the Comfy Cone during recovery."

You mean the Cone of Happiness.
posted by IndigoRain at 2:16 AM on January 29, 2013