Relative Something

We often wonder about various parts of our bodies, for many different reasons. “My stomach hurts… what did I just eat?”  How often have you ever contemplated your tibial plateau? Maybe, if you’ve suffered a bit of particularly bad luck.

A side note: Whenever Cyndie returns from a visit to the stables, I ask if she conversed with the horses. On a recent occasion, she reported that one of the horses told her that his left front foot hurt. His trainer said she had just checked his hoof and it looked fine. When the vet visited a few days later, they discovered the horse had laminitis!

Initially, Cyndie told me she “bumped” her knee. I could tell by the extreme swelling that it was not simply the result of what I know of as a ‘bump’. As more detail emerged, I learned that she was walking a horse back to the stable after having ridden it, and the horse suddenly reacted to a couple of stallions in the vicinity. This forced Cyndie in a direction which caused her to strike the base of her knee into the dressage tack trunk.

This occurred late in the day on Monday, and no one else was around at the time. She still had to remove the saddle from the horse and get him put away. Then she decided to drive her manual transmission Mustang the 20-some miles home. I expect she was able to do it because of a mighty dose of adrenalin. I asked her if she told the horse she hurt her knee. Cyndie described that when she reacted to her injury and doubled over in pain, he put his head by her knee and stood still beside her while she composed herself. She said he was Mr. Mega-Gentleman while she struggled to get the saddle off and things put away. I think he knew she was hurting.

Yesterday morning, Cyndie visited the orthopedic center where she had knee surgery last November. At that time, they had discovered arthritis symptoms, and now surmised a possibility that the bump had exacerbated that condition. The doctor aspirated the knee. If the fluid was clear of blood, they could give her a cortisone shot and see if that soothed her problem. The syringe filled with a deep maroon-red color. Marrow colored.

They sent her for an MRI. That revealed a fracture of the tibial plateau. Her knee must be immobilized. She cannot put any weight on it and will be on crutches for we don’t know how long. She is scheduled for an appointment with a surgeon on Friday to find out if it will need to be pinned (screwed). That will be the determining factor in the prognosis for recovery time to normal function.

Cyndie remains ever hopeful and blessedly optimistic. I’m going to need to work on achieving that mental state.