Good-ish News

[ladysprite]

First things first - my orthopedist is excellent. Slow and overbooked, but excellent. He listens, he pays attention, and he explains things pretty darn well.

On the up side, best guess is that I won't need surgery. He doesn't think I have a torn meniscus, based on the history, the type of pain, and a few other details.

His best interpretation of what happened is that I dislocated my kneecap, then popped it back in, pinching a bunch of stuff and leading to a lot of swelling and inflammation. Not a surgical problem, since the kneecap itself is back in place right now (yay), but also not one that will heal quickly (boo).

So now I'm in a splint, and I'm supposed to wear it "until it stops hurting." Best guess is that this will take somewhere from a week to three weeks. It'll make getting to work interesting, since my right leg is now splinted in full extension, making driving a challenge, and it means no yoga and no dance, but if it'll make me heal faster, I'll do it.

(As a side note, I find it highly amusing that they had to put me in a children's splint. And cut it down.)

So. No surgery is good news. Better within weeks is goodish news, I guess. And I managed to go shopping with a friend this morning, which was more fun than I had anticipated. On the other hand, I now lurch like a drunken robot when I walk, I had to cancel another outing with a friend because I can't get anywhere on my own, and it's grey and rainy and I'm having a really hard time keeping a positive outlook.

I'm tired of being grumpy and frustrated and blue. I want to be cheerful. I want to be in a good mood. I want to laugh and look forward to stuff and be happy. I just need to figure out a way to jump-start the process, because I know once I'm there it'll be able to carry.

My husband has promised to help, tonight - we have a bunch of artwork that needs to get up onto the walls, and hanging that should make the house look more cheery and homey. I don't want to start baking, though; the last thing we need going into Thanksgiving is more dirty dishes. And my two main mood-boosters, socializing and dancing, are off the menu for the next little while.

So - any suggestions? What's your sure-fire mood booster?

Comments

[bess.livejournal.com]

Yoga might not be completely out, at least not for the whole recovery time. Many hospitals have Yoga In A Chair classes specifically for people either recovering from injuries or with disabilities. It won't be what you're used to, but it will be moving and using your body as you are able until you can get back to the real thing. At the very least, it will be stretching your upper body, which can't hurt. You can find some examples of the stretches on line.

Very glad you don't need surgery. :-)

[ladysprite.livejournal.com]

That's a really good point, actually. I usually go to my studio's Advanced Beginner classes, but she has other lower-impact classes that I've done when I was recovering from back trouble. I should check those out.... thank you!