Feeling no pain...

I have realized, after several emails. that i haven't described what exactly i have here. My regular peops and family have been keeping up from the beginning, but i'm sorry i haven't backtracked to fill the rest of you in...here goes:

Mainly, you should know that there isn't any pain at all! In fact, i've been more active in the last year 1/2 than i ever have ( thanks to Roller Derby and my lively little offspring). The use of my knee has not been impaired in the least; I just had a bump that stayed over a year.

The first time i noticed it was early in 2006. I had fallen while skating and had a big bruise with swelling; the works. Once it had healed, this small bump remained. I watched it for a few months and continued business as usual, thinking that it was still healing (?). Since it didn't bother me at all, i didn't go see the doctor about it for several months.

Honestly, my concern for skating got me to the doctor. DID ROLLER DERBY SAVE MY LIFE? Doc said that it was likely a ganglion cyst, a.k.a "Bible Bump". (here's where i wish i knew how to highlight this so that you could link to a defintion, but i'll describe it until i figure that feature out. Madame assures me that its easy;)

Ganglion cysts, from what i understand, are similar to blisters but formed under the skin when there is an injury from impact. They cushion the joint and are filled with a fluid. Doc said they are harmless and, unless it bothered me cosmetically, i could just let it be.

The "Bible Bump" thing is an old school remedy used back when the Bible might have been the only book people had in the home...and folks would just SMACK the bump, causing it to burst and go away >pop< Glad i never tried that. I thought about it...and i know someone who has done it.

Actually, after Roller Derby Boot Camp in Austin last year, i thought i had popped it. I had a fall where my knee pad slipped and my knee was pretty banged up. Turns out that it was just so swollen that i couldn't see the Knee Bunion anymore. Once the swelling went down, there it was again.....why does that make me think of the Princess and the Pea? Hmmm.

Let's see: Doc drained it using an unexpectedly large needle. I remember distinctly when he was squirting out what he extracted into the sink, he seemed surprised that it was goopy rather than liquidy. (like my use of medical terminology?) I recall it vividly because i was surprised at how nauseous i got and had just told him that i felt faint. Then he said "Look at this" and squirted this goop from the syringe.

I've been told that i should have gotten a second opinion then. How was i to know? I was certainly at ease thinking that i'd have a Roller Derby "battle scar" that didn't impede my activity in the least.

It was fate that i was in the docs office this past April. On a completely unrelated visit, i asked him to check out the Bunion because it was bigger than before he drained it. I should have seen this coming, but i had forgotten the old "Lets-just-drain-it-with-this-big-ass-syringe" routine. This time, however, nothing came out. Doc scheduled me for a "simple incision" that afternoon.

I was almost to my car when I realized that it was Monday and i had Derby practice, so i went back into the office to rescheule. ( Here's where i should've picked up on Doc's possible suspicion that it was something besides a Bible Bump, but i was more concerned with getting to practice that night.) The receptionist said that it was rare for doc to schedule an incision that late in the day and that he seemed like he was anxious to take a look.

What ensued is worthy of its own blog.