Fluid Gone

Here is a confession: I don't like my primary doctor. So why do I stick with her? I live in a little isolated town and the nearest town is over a pass. There is not a lot of choice. If I need to see a doctor for a cut or infection or a UTI, I can get a same day appointment and it is done. For anything else, I see the specialists at my university hospital. I guess convenience would be the simple answer.

I saw her yesterday morning to have the fluid drain from my knee. Last time I saw her, she didn't remove the fluid from my knee from the first injury in January because she said that any poke of a needle could cause an infection and the fluid would eventually be absorbed into my body. Well, at my university hospital's urgent care after the second injury last month, the doctor drained 12ccs of bloody fluid from it. When I told her my bowling injury story and showed her my huge knee that I was asking to have drained, she went through the same routine about a possible infection due to any needle introduced to the knee. It then occurred to me:

DO AS LITTLE AS POSSIBLE.

There is was. What my friend and I realized was the newest treatment plans for patients and I fell for it the first time around. I was not going to fall for it again. Making a very clear statement about how the knee gets hot even with constant icing and elevation and how there was much more fluid in it than the first time, she brusquely gathered her needed tools and tried to numb my knee. She was frustrated that it took two shots to make it numb before she began to remove the fluid.

She was shocked that it was so bloody, she removed a full 12ccs vial and had to remove an additional 4ccs. I think she felt a bit guilty about trying to talk me out of having it removed once she saw its color and amount. She calmed down a bit. Slowed down. Kinder.

It feels so much better. I can walk with just a bit of a limp. The only problem now is that I am still so sore near my kidneys and around the side of my body from putting my weight on the cane last week. I must have strained the muscles and they are still sore, especially when I cough!