I GOT MY KNEE FIXED

So I’ve been struggling with a sore knee all winter and have finally been able to get the situation resolved.  It had been getting worse as time progressed, so in early January I contacted my doctor in Grand Forks to get a referral to an orthopaedic surgeon and he was able to do that for me.  However, the orthopaedic surgeon required x-rays that were no more than 6 months old in order to accept the referral and then advised me that it could take a minimum of 3 months on the wait list if my case was deemed “urgent”; otherwise, the wait would be 1 or 2 years.  Yes, years!!!

Stuart took the lead on all the research to see what the best course of action would be.  At the very least, we needed new x-rays and were quoted a price of $45 to get them done in Surprise.  That seemed reasonable so he asked about the cost of an MRI (which is usually the next step in diagnosing knee problems) and was quoted $477 which again seemed reasonable compared to the $1000 that we thought it might be.  Because we were “self-pay” (no insurance involved) the fee was discounted.  Next step was to find out how much an orthopaedic surgeon would cost, if he would take me as a self-pay patient and if he could do the surgery and follow up before we headed home at the end of March.

Stuart found a doctor in Peoria (near Surprise) who met all the criteria so we booked an appointment with him on Feb 2.  We had just gotten back from Escondido on January 31, so the next day (Sunday), we had to pick up a referral for the x-rays from the Urgent Care doctor that I had seen earlier that month.  First thing on Monday morning, we drove to the imaging place which is a walk-in facility for standard x-rays and they were done in about 45 minutes including copies of the files on CD.  Off we went to meet with the orthopaedic surgeon at 10:00 a.m. and his initial exam and diagnosis indicated that I’d need an MRI to be sure that he could properly diagnose my condition.

We went back to the imaging place and they were able to make an appointment for an MRI at 11:30 a.m. that day at the location in Surprise.  Off we went again for the MRI and it was all done by about 12:30.  The images would be processed in 24 to 48 hours and the report available at the same time.  Can you believe how fast that service is??

The surgeon has 2 office locations and is only in Peoria on Mondays and every second Friday but Feb 6 happened to be one of his Friday office days.  We pushed to get an appointment and met with him that morning.  He advised that I had a “DERANGEMENT OF POSTERIOR HORN OF MEDIAL MENISCUS” also known as a torn meniscus and would benefit from arthroscopic knee surgery to remove the damaged section and clean up the cartilage.  This surgery is where they insert a camera and instruments into the knee and do the work but it is not very invasive.  He also noted that my ACL sustained some damage and that he would have a look at it during the surgery.  However, he did not recommend a surgical solution for the ACL but will prescribe a hinged knee brace to protect it when I get back to playing golf and pickleball.

We agreed to get the meniscus repair done so his assistant started making arrangements for us.  The surgeon performs operations at a few hospitals and the availability and rates are different at each one.

It took a couple of days to get the quotes for the hospital cost and the anaesthesia cost.  The first quote was HIGH but we accepted it and then went ahead with getting the other pre-operative tests done.  I needed to get blood work, an EKG and chest x-ray and again, we were able to get those done at 2 locations in Surprise in one afternoon.  It is amazing to have the walk-in options here for those types of tests.  Meanwhile, the assistant contacted us about a different hospital that would charge $5000 less for the hospital fee.  Yes, $5000 less which was a saving of $6600 CDN!!

The surgery was scheduled for Feb 17 at the Phoenix Baptist Hospital at 3:00 p.m. so I had to fast from 7:00 a.m. and try to keep calm until then.  The hospital was about 50 minutes from here and we checked in before 1:00 p.m. to do all the paperwork and pay.  Next stop was the waiting room for a few minutes and then a security guard in a black suit escorted me into the pre-operating room that had 7 beds.

They weighed me, checked my vitals, hooked up the IV and had me sign all sorts of forms and then it was time to wait.  Fortunately, Stuart was allowed to come in and sit with me from then on.  The surgeon came in before 3:00 to check my knee and put his initials on it.  They don’t want to make mistakes by working on the wrong appendage!!

The surgeon was running late and had a surgery with complications so I didn’t get to the OR until just after 5:00.  By then, I was tired and hungry so the anesthesia was a good thing.  The operation took about 45 minutes and then it was wake up time in the recovery room.  I was there until almost 8:00 which was a long time.  The computers had shut down at 6:00 p.m. for some reason, so the recovery nurse had to fill out lots of paper forms instead of doing them on the computer.

VIEW FROM THE HOSPITAL WINDOW

Stuart got me loaded into the back seat of the truck and then stopped to get a pain medication prescription filled.  It’s nice to have 24 hour pharmacies nearby.  We got home around 9:30 and went straight to bed.

I rested for 2 days and then started the physiotherapy exercises here at home and I could tell right away that the surgery was successful.  I had the sutures taken out yesterday and the surgeon wants to see me one more time before we head home at the end of the month.  I am feeling improvement every day and should be in good shape by then.  Through all of this trial, God has been faithful and blessed us with “the right things at the right time.”