Debbie update...

Debbie update...  We just heard back from her orthopedist after he had a chance to review her knee MRI.  There's a clear diagnosis: a posterior horn medial meniscus tear.  The orthopedist unequivocally recommended surgery for her tear (they vary quite a bit).  We're in the process of getting that set up right now.

This is actually a bit of a relief for us.  The meniscus tear, in the grand scheme of things, is far from the worst sorts of injury that can happen to a knee.  Debbie's already experienced one of the worst: a tibial plateau fracture, and a bad one at that.  Generally surgery to repair meniscus tears is arthroscopic, low risk, and fast recovery.  We're hoping that hers will fall into that category. 

Also, there's quite likely a bit of a bonus for Debbie in this surgery.  When she had her tibial plateau fracture surgery (two and a half years ago), the surgeon “installed” a significant quantity of very expensive hardware – a fancy plate and a half dozen or so titanium screws.  She could never bring herself to schedule a surgery just to remove that hardware, so she's been clanking around with it (well, it doesn't really clank) ever since.  We're going to see if it can be removed at the same time the meniscus repair is done.

Phone just rang, and she has an appointment with a knee specialist next Thursday...