Have you ever had surgery? What for?

My first major surgery was on my right tibial plateau. That’s the part of your tibia directly below your knee. I had a plate drilled into it.

I broke it in the stupidest way ever. I slipped stepping into my apartment’s safety hazard of a shower tub that was below ground level, and I didn’t even fall. I slipped slightly and caught myself. In doing so, I heard a pop I’ve never heard before and felt a pain unlike any other.

I then got dressed, walked myself up from my basement apartment, and then down two flights of stairs to the below ground parking lot (with the assistance of my partner) and into the ER.

The ER doctor seemed to think I sprained my knee, but because I was insisting that wasn’t it, she ran a CT scan. A little while later, she sat next to me and said, “You were right. It’s broken. I have some pain medication for you.”

I then had my leg placed in an immobilizer until I could see an orthopedic surgeon who recommended surgery because chances were 50/50 that if I didn’t, it wouldn’t heal properly.

FYI, if it doesn’t heal properly, they may have to re-break it. So, I opted for surgery.

This was nearly two years to the day after I had an accident while hiking and slipped off the edge of a cliff and fell/rolled 35 feet.

These two incidents are seen by my pain management team as the primary triggers for my chronic illnesses and the accompanying pain, and my neurologist believes the severe concussion I sustained during the fall may have been a factor in my unknown neurological problems.

Obviously, some have a genetic or psychological component (being they are linked to ACEs or adverse childhood experiences/trauma). These two events don’t explain it all.

Still, I’m guessing even an otherwise healthy person wouldn’t be feeling great after both in less than two years.

This surgery also gave my right knee post-traumatic osteoarthritis that causes me grief to this day.

That was my first and hopefully last major surgery!