Sandy Supposes....

2017 challenge?

PROMPT: War Chest Wednesday! What's the biggest challenge you've overcome so far this year?

          Oh, the year is still marching forward.... I'm sure it hasn't finished with me yet. As usual, the ride has been akin to a rollercoaster. I'm swept up whether I'm grinning, or kicking and screaming.

         I'm still working on managing my expectations. For a few years, I've been exploring the field of orthopedics with the end result of obtaining a knee replacement. Surgeons and doctors agree that I need one, but they are delaying its inevitability. I'm told "You're not too young but." "We want to buy you a couple more years." "Most of our patients are seniors." It's frustrating to say the least.

         I live in constant pain that impairs my mobility, my quality of life, and my sleep, ( technically, it's lacking, and illusory). I've been told that I don't really want this drastic surgery yet. Also, I'm informed that it is a life-altering procedure. Ah, yes, I know it is, and that's why I'm requesting it. How much worse must it become?

         I've been offered other treatments and procedures, and not one has brought relief, or a lasting solution. Two surgeries to remove damaged cartilage have left me limping. It takes its time to regenerate, and then it's cut away. Cortisone injections temporarily intensify the pain, and then nothing; no relief at all. Artificial cartilage shots do not help at all. Anti-inflammatories are useless. This knee has survived countless injuries, and it's worn out.

         All I can do is tolerate it, live with it, carry on. I joke that I might purchase a do-it -yourself surgical kit/knee removal kit, and solve my own problem. Maybe I'll soon be without a leg to stand on. At least my brain is still functioning, and it carries me, sustains me. There's more than one way to be mobile.