I had the appointment today.
I arrived about 30 minutes early because I overestimated the time to get there and park the bike. I'd just sat down in the waiting area when the surgeon called me through
.
After I'd apologised to him for my grumpy response to his "Wait" advice last time (he hadn't remembered that I'd been like that) he pushed and prodded the knee again and then we had a chat.
Basically I'm in the same place except that the knee pain has gone (as he'd forecast), the range of movement has increased slightly and there hasn't been any instability.
I was complemented on the definition and apparent strength of my quads and hamstrings. Which was nice. He said that, for now, he still wouldn't recommend surgery.
Instead, I should do some running and try football again to see what happens. If the muscles that control the knee are strong enough then I might be OK. If not then I have to decide whether to give up football (I'll have to at some stage anyway
) or go for an op.
Surprisingly, he said that skiing shouldn't be an issue.
What does the learned panel think ?
I'd imagined that having a long
plank lever on my foot could, potentially, put some real force through the joint. I understand that the cruciates control fore and aft movement of the joint and that a good skier (at best I'm near the top end of the "intermediate plateau") would minimise those forces through the knee by unweighting, but I'm still worried about the times that an edge catches and only balance and leg strength keeps you upright.
The appointment was over before I was due to be examined. I'm quietly impressed by that.