Surgery

Well, this is going to be about me this time. I went to the doctor Tuesday afternoon. He did all sorts of fun tests (rotating my knee to see when it hurt) and had me set up an appointment for an MRI. He said that it sounded like a cartilage problem like I said I thought it was too and if it's not bad then we could do some physical therapy type of things as well as something for pain if I felt like I needed it but worse case I would need surgery. I called Wednesday morning to set up the MRI appointment. They were very nice on the phone and helpful as to what I needed and did not need to bring. The MRI was a new experience for me. I guess the machine was loud (I had ear plugs in) and it felt weird (I almost think I felt the waves going threw my knee). After it was done, they asked if I had a follow up appointment set and I said the doctor was going to call me to set something up as soon as he had the results. They said he should get the disc by Friday afternoon. So, to my surprise, the doctor's office called today to see when I could come in- today, tomorrow, or Monday. I said I was free today so they said come in at 330p. Someone was kind enough to watch Penelope for me while I went. The doctor got straight to the point:
I need surgery. I have 2 (count 'um 2) pieces of cartilage floating behind my knee (dims of 7x5x4mm and 13x6x2mm). Also, it looks like I have very little cartilage between my knee cap and the other bones. He said different surgeons have different methods of dealing with the latter- either scraping the bone to create a different cartilage or many other methods that are out there. (Well, that explains the BEAUTIFUL grinding noise my knee makes). I told him that it wasn't that I was a baby for the pain I was feeling. That was my biggest fear. He says it's hard to say when it happened but I think I should have done an MRI 4 years ago when I got home from my mission (when I had it X-rayed because of pain).
I learned from a couple friends here that x-rays don't show cartilage damage, just bone. Had I known that then... well, we'd be in a different situation.
The doctor has given me 3 referrals for surgeons of my choosing- one in Los Gatos, one it Campbell, and one in Sunnyvale. I'm going to be checking which ones are covered under my insurance and then setting up an appointment. As soon as the doctor has the CD/film of my MRI, I'll need to pick that up so the surgeon has it. The doctor also wants me to take it easy on my knee (meaning no more 90+ mins of mall walking). This means I need to just focus on my diet and just go for a short walk around the block.

I will add pictures from the MRI as soon as I get the CD and I will keep you all posted as things progress.