I Want My Knee Surgery!!!

If you've been watching the national weather for the Northeastern US, or if you live in Upstate New York, you know it's snowing. In fact it's been snowing almost continually since Thursday (12/12/2013) and it looks like it's going to continue until maybe Wednesday. A full week. Cool!! It looks like we will be having a White Christmas this year.

If my knees were less worrying I'd be out in it like a kid. I love snow. I want to go out and make snow angels and have snowball fights and build a snow fort and just have fun. But I can't because if I fell on my knees I'd never get up, at least not without a hoist. So I sit inside and watch the snow fall and am envious of everyone who can go outside. I'm angry that my body won't allow me to be the person I want to be. I'm also angry that various doctors have decided that I am the average patient and that I cannot get surgery that I need in order to be able to move around like a person without arthritis!

Supposedly I am too much of a risk. Mostly because of my weight. According to a WebMD article, "Obese people have a much higher risk of potentially deadly complications following surgery, a new study shows." And an article in the Orlando Sentinel explains the reasoning.

"Morbidly obese patients also have a harder time breathing when sedated. Because their airways tend to close when they're under sedation, they need breathing tubes inserted more often. Getting a tube into their airways is more challenging. Their necks are bigger, so it's harder for anesthesiologist to see their vocal cords. The intubation often requires video assistance. By comparison, intubation on a very obese patient can take 30 to 45 minutes, whereas for a normal-weight person, it takes only a few minutes."

It also tells of a possible solution.

"Sometimes the anesthesiologist can't intubate the patient at all, and we have to call off the surgery. To address the airway problem, bioengineering students at Rice University in Houston recently invented a suction device that hoists the abdomens of obese patients up and out of the way while surgeons operate. The respiratory assist device uses suction cups attached to horizontal bars to lift the bellies of the obese to help them breathe."

That would make for some unusual bruising, but what the hell.

And then there's the study done by the Hospital for Special Surgery that seems to say differently. Though they are mostly talking about pain after knee replacement.

Besides, I'm not going for belly surgery, I want my damn left knee replaced. And maybe my right knee if it gets any worse. I need to be able to walk normally again. Maybe not like when I was a kid, or even a teenager, but like I did 20 years ago. Most of the studies out there are showing that folks who have a maximum Body Mass Index (BMI) of 40 are best cases.

The problem with a lot of surgeons is that they've made their decision before they even walk into the exam room to talk to you. If you're obese and have a BMI of over 40 then they want nothing to do with you. The last time I talked with an orthopedic surgeon he all but kicked me out of his office and told me that I was a malpractice lawsuit waiting to happen. Never mind that I told him I would be able to lose weight after the surgery because then I'd be able to move without pain and would be able to get back into my belly dancing. Ignorant Sod!!

I didn't use to be afraid of walking. But now I am because it's gotten extremely hazardous for me, especially this time of year with all the snow and the ice. And I want to stop being afraid of going up or down stairs. I live in fear of tripping and landing on my left knee because if I did I would be totally unable to walk anywhere. We'd have to move into a completely handicap accessible apartment because there's no way I could have a wheelchair here. Hell, there's hardly room enough for our little shopping cart to get through the front door. I simply want an orthopedic surgeon to listen to me, not make a snap judgement before even coming in the room. I tell everyone I meet in social organizations that if I should ever fall and land on my left knee to just call 911. That will be the only way I will get off the ground.

One time in Kansas, when I was taking classes, I was on my way to the bus stop to catch the bus to school and I slipped in the mud under the hole in the fence I went through to get to the bus. My ex-husband was the only family member home and the maintenance man was replacing our roof. My ex has health problems of his own and can't life very much. At the time I was between 400 and 425 lbs so the ex wasn't lifting me, no way, no how. (The ex is 5'2" and about 110 lbs.... maybe.) So the maintenance man starts to lift me. I warned him I was over 400 lbs and he just kept telling me to put my arm over his shoulder. I did and he helped me get up off the ground. Don't remember if I went to school that day, though I found out later from one of the landlords that the maintenance man had thrown his back out because of me. He's tall and skinny, but muscular, and probably weighs about 120... maybe.

But I digress.

I will concede that getting any surgery can and will put stress on my body. After all, it is an invasion of the body. And having an over abundance of fat will cause even more stress. So guess I will start a fat loss regimen to at least get me to the 40 BMI max. As of my last visit my BMI was 68.54 so it looks like I have a ways to go. There is an exercise room in the office building of our apartment complex with all sorts of machines,including a weight machine, and I need to get my fat ass over there. Tough with all the snow we've gotten so far this week I may delay that till I get my new boots.