I felt uncharacteristically chipper this morning, rolled out of bed when my watch beeped my 5 am wake-up, fired up my laptop, opened my Word file, typed in 540 words, and trundled off to the gym, where I had a good workout, but a nagging knee most of the day afterward. Funny how that works.

Speaking of knee, the arthroscopy is scheduled for February 10. I pick up my crutches tomorrow. The pre-op nurse suggested I practice on them. I have someone to drive me to and from and babysit until the anesthesia wears off (whatever kind they decide to use, but the doc assures me I’ll be groggy enough that I can’t get away from him while he works). He told me I’m free to watch if I like, but I probably won’t remember much. He promised to give me pictures.

I’m particularly interested in seeing what arthritis as bad as mine looks like (probable Grade III or IV, which I verified today is on the worse end of the scale). He said he’d repair the meniscus if possible, but he doubted it would be possible, since I’m so old (he didn’t say it exactly that way). He’ll do what he needs to do when he gets in there, but for now, the plan is to clean out the loose chunks, trim the rough edges, and send me on my way. After talking with him today, I suspect I won’t return home to lounge on the couch, wield the remote, answer work email (Note to Self: This is particularly unwise–don’t do it. Don’t even consider it! Wait at least until Monday for the anesthesia to get completely out of your system; you’re likely to say something you’ll really regret.), and read books. I should probably plan on sleeping with my leg up and iced.