It has now been five weeks since I first injured my right knee. I have been in physical therapy for four weeks. Although much better than it was at the very beginning, I still cannot straighten my leg or bend it all the way. I still limp when I walk, and I am still feeling pain.
	It has become obvious that my injury is more severe than originally suspected. No one, especially me, expected me to be out of work for such an extended amount of time. My physical therapist has suggested that perhaps I did damage to my medial meniscus, the cartilage in my knee.
Once a week, I have been visiting the doctor's office where a nurse practitioner has been monitoring my progress. After two weeks of seeing no discernible improvement in my knee, I was finally sent to have an MRI. Hopefully an MRI would reveal what the damage to my knee is and determine how best to rehabilitate it.
I have never had an MRI before and didn't know what to expect. For twenty minutes, I had to lay with my knee perfectly motionless so the MRI could capture images of my injured joint.
The first ten minutes were easy. I relaxed with my eyes shut while the MRI clicked and whirred and did its job. But as the time progressed, it became more difficult to keep my injured leg from moving. My knee was being forced into an uncomfortable position. I was in pain and my muscles wanted to spasm. I tried keeping my eyes shut, but doing so made the room seem to spin and spin. Finally, when I didn't think I could bear it anymore, the technician informed me that I was finished. I was so relieved. All that was left was waiting for the MRI results to arrive in a few days. Hopefully, the MRI will allow a clear diagnosis of what damage has been done to my knee and recovery will be not too far in the distant future. Stay tuned!
Posted: 6/13/2004

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