January 4, 2025
In October, I had knee surgery. Lisa and I were taking salsa dance classes, and one night while being spun by my partner, I heard a familiar snap. (Familiar because I have heard that snap before while jumping on a trampoline, and it signaled a torn ACL and meniscus.) My instincts were right; after a few weeks of some hobbling and significant pain, I went to the orthopedist who diagnosed a torn meniscus. I was thankful it wasn't the ACL, since that would have been a more intense recovery. I scheduled surgery and let my school know I'd be out for a few weeks. Little did I know! When in surgery, the doctor found cartilege that was torn all the way through. He opted to not only repair the meniscus, but to perform micro-fracturing, which is a process by which drilled holes in the kneecap down to the marrow are done in order to promote healing and rebuilding of the damaged cartilege. I'm glad he did it while he was there, but the repercussions of that procedure were that I was to be completely non-weight-bearing on that knee for a full six weeks while it healed. Far longer than I anticipated, for sure, and after that there was physical therapy to rebuild strenghth and stability in those muscules. That's what I've been doing for the past several weeks; I finally got off crutches (falling twice after I could finally start to put weight on that leg!) and have been trying to rebuild stamina and reduce my limp. Here's where the limbo starts: The doctor recommended 24 physical therapy sessions. My insurance will only approve ten at a time. The doctor's note for disability has me off until February 2, but I was hoping to come back early, when the new semester begins. The physical therapist said when my first 10 P.T. sessions were done that she wasn't inclined to recommend me going back yet, but since we still had a couple of weeks of P.T. during the Christmas break, she'd be open to seeing what my progress was like. In order for my insurance to approve of the next set of 10 P.T. visits, my doctor had to review my 10 visit report and agree that yes, he still recommended a total of 24 sessions and would like for me to continue. Apparently, however, communication among Doctor, P.T., and Insurance is something akin to the Bermuda Triangle. P.T. has said they have faxed the doctor with the report three times, and the doctor's office has said that they have never received anything, despite reaching out to the P.T. office. P.T. can't schedule anything without an okay from Insurance, and Insurance says they won't approve anything until the paperwork from Doc to P.T. has been submitted to them. In the meantime, I have been attempting to play middleman to no avail and haven't been able to get phyical therapy for two weeks, let alone clearance to go back to work. And so, although students return from Christmas break on Tuesday, I will be out at least for another week while waiting for everyone to figure out how to get me back on track.