January 2018
The treatment
Mandy and Ken kept me company until I was admitted. Their drowsy eyes
told me they were very tired. They even brought my helper from home to get me a
change of clothes. I felt so indebted.
My knee was x-rayed right after. Luckily, no bones were broken or
dislocated but the kneecap was very swollen. I had to wait till morning to be
examined by the orthopedist. At about 11, I was wheeled to the room of Dr.
Chang, the Resident Consultant in Orthopaedics and Traumatology. He suggested magnetic resonance imaging of the injury to
evaluate the situation of the ligaments and cartilage within the knee joint.
That took place after another hour. Later in the
afternoon, Dr. Chang showed me the images taken earlier. Fortunately, there was
only a slight bone fracture but the joint was surrounded by fluid causing the
swelling and the pain. He suggested arthrocentesis or using a
syringe to draw out the fluid so as to reduce the swelling and therefore, the
pain. However, l had to endure twinges during the process. Arthrocentesis was a treatment I had
never heard of but I did not think I had a choice. So I agreed.
With the needle inserted and the doctor’s hands pressing hard on the
swelling, three syringes of dark red blood were drawn. To distract me from the
pain, Dr. Chang joked with me saying that the process was like milking a cow.
And I replied saying that too bad, the blood was not good enough for donation.
Here was one good doctor with a heart!
I was discharged the next day, 22nd of December, winter
solstice, carrying a heavy knee brace to actually immobilize the right knee
joint for it to heal itself! But home is on the third floor of a building with
no lift!
