Monday, April 20, 2009

My New Traveling Companions...

..are a big, honking knee brace and a small blue handicapped parking placard, courtesy of my visit to the orthopedist today. I'll post picture of both at some point.

So what's the word? Well, oddly enough, the torn material in the knee doesn't seem to be as big of a problem as its counterpart in my quadriceps; the latter is what's keeping me from being able to raise my leg very far off the floor. They want a second MRI (which isn't likely to take place before my trip to Colorado in two days) to zero in on that area and see how badly the quad tendon is torn, so they can figure out whether surgery is needed or not.

In the meantime, the brace, which hurt bigtime while I was using it today, actually made me feel quite a bit better upon taking it off just a little bit ago, so I guess it's a matter of short-term pain for long-term gain. And being able to get close-in parking has already come in handy, especially at the college. I've often thought there were too many of those parking spaces, because they never seemed to be full, but when it came down to it, I was glad there was one for me today.

And with the rental car due back tomorrow, I had to take the plunge tonight: Could I really drive my car again? The doctor seemed to think so, with the brace dialed down a bit to let my leg move enough to engage the clutch. A few trips around the block told me that it was doable.

But my participation in the upcoming college jazz trip was never in doubt after talking to the doctor, and I'm thankful for that. I know I'll have to take it easier than usual, but that's small potatoes compared to what would have happened if I had somehow not been allowed to go.

That's all for now; I'm still working on the project that ate my weekend. Can't wait to actually talk about that one...

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