I Forgot to Keep Quiet

Everytime you go to the doctor they ask if you have fallen recently. Do you know why they ask you this? Its not because they want to check if you have skinned your knees or ask if you want an ice pack. They want to know if you are at risk of injuring yourself by falling. Or really are you a fall risk…. Which is very bad.

But you say its only a little yellow bracelet. But no it’s not. It means they label you as a fall risk until you can balance on your toes on a paddleboard, a million hours of PT, or something. Its hard to get rid of that label on your medical chart.

Yesterday afternoon, I ran into a particularly slippery section of grass in our yard and fell. I didn’t land on my bad knee (the one slated for arthroscopic surgery because it keeps locking up) but on my slightly less bad knee (the one with a torn ACL that can’t be operated on). No I am not further damaged other than some sore muscles and jolted body parts.

I had a nicely timed appointment with my knee surgery this morning. I showed up and STUPIDLY told the nurse that I fell on my knee yesterday afternoon. I only did that because I knew they would notice it was swollen…. But I clearly wasn’t thinking. I forgot to keep quiet.

The main topic of conversation with the doctor was scheduling arthroscopic knee surgery. I will need crutches for a week or so. I won’t be a fall risk (note sarcasm) while on crutches. I will then be teetering around, but not a fall risk.

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