#1042 I'm thinking...

There has been one thought that has been consuming my mind all day. I'm considering having my left knee joint replaced before the end of the year. What is bringing on this serious thought is the fact that my insurance coverage will be changing after the first of the year, and the out-of-pocket cost for the surgery will increase dramatically if I wait.

My left knee is bone-on-bone right now. I have a high tolerance for the pain because I have lived with it for so long, especially in my right knee. I finally couldn't take the pain any longer in my right knee last summer and had that joint replaced in August 2012. I have vowed to myself not to wait until I was limping so much and having so much pain before I got the left knee done. When I had the year follow-up with the surgeon this past August, he told me that I could have the joint replacement on the left knee whenever I was ready.

So the question is: Am I ready?

The memory of the recovery from the first surgery is still pretty vivid. Mostly, I guess, it wasn't too bad, but there were moments, certainly, when it wasn't good at all.

Am I glad I have a new knee now? Yes.

There are other reasons that I can think of to get the surgery done this year. MT is home and he could hang out with me for the first couple of weeks to take care of my needs. When you are on crutches, you can't really get stuff for yourself, like the ice bucket machine that pumps ice cold water all around your swollen knee.

Another positive reason is that my work will be more slow in late November and December, so I won't miss out on as many important things. Last time I had the surgery at what may have been the absolute worst time of year to be gone from a busy construction office. I'm planning to take some time off during the holidays anyway and the office will be closed, so that would be good.

I spent some time talking to my mom about it tonight. I also talked to T, just to let him know what I was thinking. I will talk to MT about it tonight or tomorrow and I'm sure it will continue to be on my mind until I make my peace with a decision.