Knee Op and stuff

Thanks for the messages of support for my knee arthroscopy to sort out a degenerative tear to my cartilage. It was done yesterday morning and I was home just after lunch time. All went well - I am in discomfort rather than pain thankfully. Sadly no crutches to gain extra sympathy as I am allowed to put weight on the knee gently and have exercises to start today. However the good news (said with a cheeky grin) is that I am off work for a minimum of 10 days. I will however be logging on to the office via the Internet a couple of times just to make sure my work is being covered to my exacting standards :-) - the wonders of modern technology amaze me.

Skip this next bit if you don't like reading about operations...

I am one of those 'sad' people who find operations like this fascinating and once the surgeon showed me photos I asked if I could have copies!! for those of you who are interested (like me) your cartilage is made up of the lateral and medial (ie left and right) meniscus which join on the the patella and femur by the soft patella articular cartilage and the anterior cruciate ligament. As you get older the blood supply to the area lessens and small tears appear. For most people that is all - the occasional clicking knee on going up the stairs. Obviously for sports people, and for those of us who despite our youthful age are degenerating faster thanks to our genes, these areas can tear more easily. I was just walking normally down the stairs when I managed to tear mine. Any way here are two photos for you the before and after of my patella articular cartilage - my tears were worst in this area but obviously the meniscus were also a bit tatty! See how beautifully frilly I had become

and now so smooth!

Sorry if that has made you feel a bit queezy so for something much more interesting and nice....

Thanks to Vicki Welsh for her first news letter - recommended reading - click here for her blog, and for pointing us in the direction of the textile artist Amanda McCavour - her machining on water soluble fabric is just amazing check out this page in particular - click here. Now I am off to blog read for a while, then maybe a bit of sketching and loads of hand stitching.