Faithful readers, if I have any, will recall how I blew out my knee upgrading my PC to Windows 7 about three months ago. You probably think I’m joking but I’m not really. I can promise you, the pain was definitely not a joke.

Finally on last December 4 I had orthoscopic surgery on my right knee to repair the torn medial meniscus. When the nurse handed me the pictures after I woke up from surgery, it was pretty obvious why it hurt so bad. See how that piece in the middle is folded over on top of itself? Wedged there between the end of those two bones on the top and bottom? Yeah, it is not supposed to do that.

Right Medial Meniscus Tear

My right knee never hurt as bad post-surgery as it did pre-surgery, even right after I woke up from surgery. It was certainly stiffer and more swollen and not as stable or strong, but it certainly hurt less. Plus, narcotics. This is one of the greatest advantages of surgery.

After a good month or so of limping around on a bad knee (before and after surgery), I started to notice some pain in my other knee. Not even “some” pain. A very specific pain. It didn’t hurt very much but I knew the feeling — it was the exact same type of pain I felt in my right knee right before it blew out.

So when I went to see my doctor for the post-op follow-up visit, I mentioned this pain to him. “Is it possible to injure your other knee just because you are compensating for an injured one?”

“Yeah; in fact, that happens a lot,” he replied.

“Well, I’m thinking my other knee is having the same problem.”

He checked it out and, yep, torn medial meniscus in my left knee. So, exactly two months after my previous surgery, I had orthoscopic surgery on my left knee on February 4, 2010. It’s a good thing, too; you can easily see here that the meniscus is torn. It was just a matter of time before that loose stuff caused a real problem.

Left Medial Meniscus Tear

I’m pretty much a pro at this by now, and me and my orthoscopic surgeon, Dr. Kimball, are pretty good friends by now. He’s a good doctor and a good person. I don’t think he killed his wife. He says the one-armed man did it, and I believe him.