Knee Surgery and Dad Visits

I am a clumsy person. I have always wanted to be like Audrey Hepburn or Grace Kelly, who with every movement exuded grace and dignity. It has only taken me 33 years to figure this out, but I am no Grace Kelly. I am more like a Weeble who wobbles and still falls down. I am a defective Weeble.

In January 2009 I was exercising in a gym. I know that this is hard to believe, but it is true. I was going to do leg curls in one of the leg curling machines when I realized that I didn’t know how to actually get onto the machine. So I decided to improvise – and that proved to be a huge mistake. I whacked my knee pretty hard on the leg curl thing. And being the idiot that I am, I didn’t want people to think I was weak so I kept working out although my knee hurt like crazy.

Now my knee continued to hurt severely for the next week and then the pain went away. I thought all was back to normal. I have prided myself on having good knees and I was glad to be able to gloat again about the awesome bending capabilities of my knees.

Well, during the summer I noticed a bit of knee pain when going up and down stairs. I naturally ignored it. It wasn’t until I couldn’t play tennis because of the pain that I decided the knee pain might be cause for concern. By October I couldn’t take it any more. After 3 doctors appointments, X-rays, and an MRI it was determined that I damaged my cartilage and I needed to get my knee scoped.

My dad decided to take an early retirement package in the fall of 2009. I scheduled my surgery for early January 2010 (which is the slow season at work). Since I was going to be out of it for about a week, my dad offered to come and take care of me since he wasn’t working. Isn’t he the cutest thing? It was especially good, because I had been laying the guilt on pretty thick so he would come visit me. I mean, I had to injure myself and have surgery to have him visit (meaning my plan worked perfectly).

My dad came to stay with me for two weeks and it was a good thing he stayed as long as he did. While the scoping procedure went off without a hitch, I ended up having a severe asthma attack a few days after the surgery. I honestly can’t think of a time when my asthma was that bad (except for when I had pneumonia). I ended up being on steroids and breathing treatments for 5 weeks. The doctor thought the attack was due to knocking me out for the surgery. Sometimes the tubes they stuff down your throat can irritate the lungs.

I was really bummed that I wasn’t feeling well during my dad’s visit. I had all these amazing, if unrealistic, plans to do with my dad. We ended up going for car rides so I could get out of the house (just like we used to do with our dog Chucky), watching Glee, Law and Order, NCIS and Bones, getting my dad a super sweet haircut by Carmen, and eating the best cake in the world from Edibles Incredible. We are people of simple pleasures.

It was great to spend so much time with my “D.” He even used his words and we had long talks about feelings and relationships. I would have to say that my dad is probably the cutest and sweetest dad around. I will fight you if you disagree.