Coles Notes for the medial meniscus

here is a simple video that does an overview of the surgery I had

Inside my knee!

So I had my 1 month follow up with my surgeon following my meniscectomy, and here are the pictures!

bucket handle tear

this is what was causing my knee so much trouble for the last few years. so outlined in blue is the portion of the medial meniscus (inside portion of the knee) of my left knee that kept jamming up the joint. normally the meniscus sits nice and flat and allows the femur and tibia to slide over each other nice and smoothly, the meniscus acting like a bowl for the femur to sit in so it doesn't move around. Well the lip of my bowl was torn and flipped back on itself, sitting inside the bowl. you can imagine that this doesn't allow the knee to work the way it should.

this kind of tear is called a bucket handle tear because it flips back and forth, sometimes sitting where it should, other times jamming the joint. in this picture it is flipped back. also in this picture the black, empty space is the notch between the two heads of the distal femur. in this notch are the ACL and PCL ligaments.

this is the actual surgery taking place. they used two different tools to take out the torn meniscus. this one is called the "biter" and as you can see, it bites the tissue and snips away large chunks. they also use a tool called the "chewer" but I don't have a picture of that. it is in the video though!

so you can see my femur on the top, my tibia (shin) on the bottom, and the yellow bit is the flap of torn meniscus.

kneecap

so in this picture you can see the joint surfaces between my femur and patella (kneecap). Normally these two bones would be in contact with each other but my knee was pumped full of fluid to allow the surgery so with all that swelling the kneecap is pushed up out of the way. The red arrow shows the direction that the patella glides when you flex your knee. Again, the surfaces look nice and smooth so no damage there.

my ACL

ok, so I did a little side by side of this shot and I outlined some of the important parts. This view is kinda looking from the front if you could take my kneecap off.

The portion in red is my anterior cruciate ligament (the part that Marlito tore in her knees) and it is good and solid. The portion outlined in blue are the two portions of the end of the femur (thigh bone). Nice smooth cartilage on those. You can't really see it so I put it in yellow, but that is about where my posterior cruciate ligament would be. It is also ok.

I want a bouncy castle!

When I was younger I saw those bouncy castles at the fair or at a party and wished that I too could go inside and have a good time. But alas, I never got the opportunity.
Now that I'm older I have the craving again to slip my shoes off and go for a jumping frolic.
But that isn't going to happen ever.
Nevermore.
Nevermore.

Bouncy Bouncy

Oh such a good time

Bouncy Bouncy

Shoes all in a line

Bouncy Bouncy

Everybody summersault,

summersault

Summertime

Everybody sing along

Bouncy Bouncy

oh such a good time

Bouncy Bouncy

White socks slipping down

Bouncy Bouncy

Styletos are a no no

Bouncy Bouncy oh

Bouncy Bouncy oh

Everytime i bounce i feel i touch the skyeeeeee

Weight limits are so cruel

The Mighty Boosh on DVD

so to celebrate the news of a Might Boosh DVD coming soon I wanted to reflect on two food themed songs that I really love

eggs, milk and flour, pancake power,

look at his milky yellow sunshine face

flip it now flip it good oo

flip it now flip it good oo

some are salt

some are sweet

some are fruit

some are meat

the time we used the chive

it really came alive!

edible frisbies

springtime tuesday

i like to boogie.

Soup Soup

Tasty Soup Soup

Spicy carrot and corriander

Chilli chowder

Crouton Crouton

Crunchy friends in a liquid broth

I am gespatchio Oh!

I am a summer soup Mmmm!

Miso Miso

Fighting in the dojo

Miso Miso

Oriental Prince in the land of soup

last bit of wisdom from Pathology

so today marked the end of my Pathology classes. I will miss the fun I had in that class. I have a few last comments to remind me of the good times, the special times we shared.


After talking about the process of aging - "Did anyone ask if we wanted to be born? No, they were just having fun and here you are."

Trying to elicite the idea that young people are always having sex - "Students are like bunny rabbits, they don't do anything but......"

On saying that postmenopausal women have the same risk of developing heart disease as men - "The moment we dry up, the risk is the same."

On why women have such a decreased rate of various diseases until after menopause - "God in his infinite wisdom knew that women had to hold the house together. But once that is over we can be kicked out and replaced."

An interesting conversation in class -
PROF: "How do you know an onion is a vegetable?"
ME: "Because it is a root and that makes it a vegetable not a fruit."
OTHER STUDENT: "Actually it is a modified leaf, not a root. Onions are modified leaves and are vegetables because it is the vegetative part of the plant. Fruits are the reproductive part of the plant."
CLASS: "OHHHHHH! BURN!"

a new dog

so Marlito and I are thinking of getting a dog. we have debated about what sort of dog to get and we have narrowed it down to a few choices. would you be so kind as to choose from among the finalists and help us bring a bundle of joy into our lives.