A Much Overdue Update

First, to catch up on the situation with my insurance and my County Assistance caseworker. When last we spoke, I was told that if I sent in my paperwork again on May 18 there would be no problem. We faxed it all over again on the 18th as instructed, then called every day to see if she had received it. She finally called my wife again on the 21st, and said that just got it and I'd get a letter in 7-10 days telling me if I still had insurance. Keep in mind my insurance was due to run out on the 24th. I called her back several times that day, and never got through. I also left some very rude messages that in retrospect I probably should not have left. Though to be fair, I had done everything I was supposed to do, and there is no reason for me to be penalized for the inefficiency of their office.

So the next day, since I never got to speak to my caseworker, I went down to visit after my appointment with my orthopedic surgeon (more on that in a minute). When I got there I spoke to a Very Nice Girl at the front desk who could not figure out at all why there was a problem with my account. My caseworker, however, was not there. Very Nice Girl told me to wait while she found out what was going on. She eventually got back to me and told me that was all handled and I had nothing to worry about. I never saw my caseworker.

I never heard anything back from Septa.

As I said earlier, I had an appointment on May 22 with my orthopedic surgeon. We discussed the surgical options for my left knee. He told me that he'd be scoping my knee, and once in he'd decide if he'd be doing a lateral release or microfracture surgery. Lateral release has a 80% success rate, while microfracture has a 67-70% success rate. The recovery is about three months of very intense physical therapy.

Apparently, however, when the surgery fails, it fails bad. In those cases, people frequently come out worse than when they went in. But since my knee has been getting worse to the point where I had pretty much accepted the fact that I'd be using a wheelchair almost full-time within a year or so, and the worst case scenario is the CRPS I'm already in the early stages of, there's really no reason not to get it. I just have to decide when it will be and set up the appointment. I'm looking at either late August or late December.

If anyone has had this surgery, or knows anyone that has, please tell me about the experience in the comments.



Right now my bipolar is Kinda Manic.
Right now my pain level is 5.