Initial doctor visits

When I got home, Kiron looked after me by getting me ibuprophen and ice.  I don't remember much of the rest of the day.  I didn't go to the doctor on Sunday, figuring it would not be needed.

However, Monday morning, the pain wasn't going away and I couldn't bend my knee much (enough to still walk around), so Kiron took me to my GP (Tremont). They took xrays and made me an appointment to see an orthopedic doctor that afternoon, at Raleigh Orthopedic's offices in Garner.

The practicing assistant I met with in Garner said that I may have injured my MCL -- medial collateral ligament. (That later proved to be incorrect after reviewing the results of the MRI scan). He said to leave it for a couple of weeks to see how it improved.  He said that is wasn't worth spending the money (approx $US 2000) to do the MRI scan just yet. He perscribed my pain killers and anti imflamatories and gave me one of those flexible sports braces to wear.

He said not to drive for that 2 weeks, until the next appointment, but I was able to drive (including hitting the brake pedal hard) after about a week.

My second visit was with Dr Jeffrey Kobs (pronounced "kobes") at the Raleigh office of Raleigh Orthopedic (Dr Kobs is the one that is performing the surgery). Dr Kobs said that it was now worth doing the MRI (magneto-resonance imaging) scan to find out what the story was in my knee.

The MRI scan was conducted at the Raleigh office, in a portable unit.  The unit is actually a semi trailer (minus the cab). Two people were running the show. I had to lie in the unit with my shoulders and head sticking out. The unit was one of those tunnel-looking devices and I was lying on a bed that moved slightly every few minutes.  I had to keep my legs as still as possible for about half an hour.  I was a bit concerned that I couldn't do this, but it worked out OK.  They have a groovy computer system (Sun based) that lets them see all the images the unit took.  Pretty impressive.

[To be continued...]