Odorless&Transparent

"the deadliest bullshit is odorless and transparent" - William Gibson

Monday, April 12, 2004

In the summer of 2000, I tore my ACL and meniscus during a girls vs. boys soccer game. I was trying to juke this woman and i went left-right-left-down. They carried me off the field and I drank beer from a sideline keg and got a lot of sympathy. Everyone but me knew my leg had done something really bad. It was a beautiful day. My sister graduated from High School the next evening, which made me feel "old". I was 21.
After a few months of hobbling and various tests, they cut me open and recruited part of my patella tendon to become my new right ACL. They also put 7 stitches in my meniscus. In the hospital and later at my parents house I passed the bed ridden initial recovery time reading William Gibson's
Neuromancer
. I'm not a big Sci-Fi reader, but with the painkillers, tubes, stitches, bandages, and the knowledge that two metal screws were now a part of me forever, it was perfect, and I remember those couple of days fondly.

Now its April 2004. I'm 25, and i'm having my third knee surgery in a few days. My knee hurts constantly, especially when sitting. I stand up at movies and I stand up or put my feet on my desk at work. I had to fly on a packed southwest flight for 5 hours in the center seat. I attempted old school Dr. Strange style astral projection to escape the sharp pain. My leg from the knee down will frequently go numb and i will trip over my own foot. Apparently this condition is usually found in stroke victims and elderly. This makes me feel "old".

So, now in a few days, the top knee docs in the South East will be arthroscopicly removing scar tissue, rotten cartiledge, and anything else suspect in my knee. Upon the recommendation of my wise and beautiful sister Anna, I have named my troublesome knee "Carson", after MTV's annoying Carson Daily. This way a can direct my anger at a third-party instead of myself.

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