June 8, 2010

The Franken-Knee Strikes Back

It is safe to say that I seriously overdid it on the slant board this weekend. I am walking like a primate. So much for exercise being good for your posture.

Yesterday, while feeling the pain of my two weekend work-outs, I lightly bumped my leg, right on the screw sticking out of my tibia, against one of my counter stools. I didn't think anything of it, other than "Ugh, not again!" and went on responding to emails and cooking my dinner. But after about 10 minutes, I realized that my leg was hurting pretty badly and I took a look down. A line of thick blood was oozing out of my leg, right where the screw is protruding. I'm fine with most medical stuff after having been through two childbirths and two knee surgeries and multiple kid boo-boo's, but I had to seriously consider whether or not I needed to sit down and put my head between my knees for a minute.

Instead I gutted it out and got a paper towel and started dabbing away the blood. There was a little slit, right at the top of the screw area, slowly oozing blood. The area surrounding it, the size of a quarter, was already reddish-purple underneath the skin and directly above the protruding screw head, deep purplish-black.

When I realized that it was the screw, cutting me from the inside out, not the actual bump on the smooth stool that cut me open, my stomach started to turn. I've just had it with these issues. If the screw doesn't get taken out soon, I fear it's going to come completely out all by itself which sounds like a boatload of fun, doesn't it?

I spent last night in bed, unable to have anything touching it because it was throbbing so badly. This morning I called my surgeon's secretary and told her that I really need to have this surgery scheduled now. I asked her to please call the plastic surgeon's office so that the two of them can work things out and get this on the schedule once and for all. If I could just get them both in the same room for five minutes, I'd have it all worked out and I would be on my way to getting rid of my Franken-knee problems once and for all.

Right now I'm looking at a surgery date that is over a month away and I am frustrated beyond belief.