Good, Bad & Ugly

The Bad
A couple posts back I reported on Trish's arthroscopic knee surgery.  She had her follow up appointment with the surgeon this week to review findings, results and what comes next.  Findings: as the doc suspected, the cartilage is gone, it's bone on bone and there's damage from arthritis.  On both knees, not just the one.  Results: some decrease in pain level but not enough.  What comes next: full replacement surgery on both knees ASAP.

The Good
It's a freebie!  The health insurance deductible has been met so it's on the house if done this calendar year.  More importantly, after several years of living with ever-increasing levels of pain, she can finally look forward to full function, pain-free.  And, I get the fringe benefit of having my very own bionic woman to play with.

The Ugly
Invasive!  Two bones in each knee will be cut off just before the joint and replaced with metal.  Where the metal parts meet, there will be synthetic cartilage-replacement material to provide the necessary cushioning/lubricating - a Frisbee-shaped spacer coated with WD40 or Liquid Wrench I believe.

Due to the invasive nature, the healing period will take several months, maybe an entire year.  During that period, of course, Trish will need to severely limit her activities.  As the healing period winds down, Trish will be winding up: get the hell out of the way or get run over!  Don't say I didn't give you fair warning.