I go back to Rothman and Peter sees me on time as usual. As I sit down he’s looking at the MRI films which are hung on a light box. He says: “Steve, you sure don’t do anything halfway.”
I have a 95%+ plus rupture of my quadriceps tendon. Even I can see this on the MRIs.
Peter immediately excuses himself, steps out, and comes right back with Rob Fredericks, a surgeon. Rob had obviously been waiting and had seen the scans. After a brief hello and a look at the actual knee he starts talking about scheduling surgery, if possible, for Friday!
Rob being there also explains the Wednesday rather than more usual Tuesday appointment with Dr. V. Rob is only in this office on Wednesdays.
It turns out, although he doesn’t tell me, that the best time to repair a blown quad tendon is within 24 to 48 hours after the injury occurs. This is day 20 after the injury. It also turns out quad tendons are fairly rare as knee injuries go, so the diagnostic miss is pretty much understandable to me. I do wish the ER had an orthopod on call and he had seen me the night of the injury, but orthopods are few and far between in PA as a result of the malpractice mess.
I agree to surgery as soon as possible. Rob operates at Methodist in SW Philly and at Lankenau up near Bala Cynwyd. I’d prefer Lankenau, but that may not be possible.
I sit down with a surgery scheduler and she gets my basic info. She promises to call no later the following morning.
In fact, she calls later that afternoon. The first available slot is at Methodist at noon next Tuesday. I also need to go down there (I have no clue where it actually is) Friday at 10:30 for pre-admit.
The surgery will actually be outpatient and won’t even need a pre-cert from the insurers!
Comments