Another Knee Update

Hi everyone,

Just thought I’d update you all on my knee situation.  This whole experience has been…well…an experience!

Something happened in the medical world on July 1st, something so scandalous that most of us were completely unaware.  Our attention was focused on a little girl in a trash bag with duct tape in a Florida Swamp while somewhere deep in the bowels of some of the largest insurance companies  strategy commissions were unveiling their latest profit programs.

Unbeknownst to me, my follow-up appointment occurred just after the latest strategy ribbon cutting.  I showed up at check-in and discovered that my insurance was no longer welcome.  Somehow, due to following directions from my main office, I was no longer part of my Orthopedic Doc’s clique, that little circle of doctor friends that send patients back and forth to each other!

Short of being on food stamps I think being told your insurance isn’t welcome is probably about one of the most embarrassing situations, if not one of the most frustrating, things a limping middle aged woman could possibly experience!  The NERVE!

So what happened and how did this resolve?  The short version is this; there was a split within the doctor’s networks  – those cliques I was talking about.  Apparently, the doctor’s that have the really cool, nearly paperless, systems didn’t want to play anymore with the doctor’s still using the 286 processors and dot matrix printers.  So on July 1st it became official and my dot matrix doctor was no longer cool.

I think maybe it happened for the better, because what I did was drive back to my primary physician’s office and show up at the referral desk to ask for a new Orthopedic doctor.  Surprisingly, within about a minute, I had in my hand a referral to see Dr. Kim.  Not knowing Dr. Kim came with some serious street creds (Harvard Medical) I was thrilled to be whisked quite efficiently into a new program designed to get me back on my feet again.  My new appointment was on Wednesday with a new round of x-rays and a new diagnosis.

Dr. Kim declared a torn MCL with a very severe sprain to the surrounding area of my knee.  He ordered up a MRI to see how bad the tears were and was shocked that I wasn’t given a complete diagnosis.  Not so shocking to me though as I guess I’ve just been used to dot matrix medicine.  The ‘Let’s Wait And See’ approach is part of dot matrix medicine.  Harvard apparently has a different method…thank goodness!

So I have an appointment with the MRI tube next Tuesday and Harvard told me if I want a sedative I can have one.  LOVE THAT!

Still hobbling…but on the mend.

Talk to you all later~

~Cathy