Sorry it’s been quiet around here again. I wasn’t on another holiday, I’ve been on bed rest under doctor’s orders. BORING! Unless you follow me on Facebook and Instagram you may not have heard that I had to abruptly end a session two weeks ago and get taken to the ER.

My knee started to hurt some time last year and I went to the doctor who told me I’m just getting old and to stop kneeling. I was very underwhelmed by her advice and just took anti-inflammatories until the pain went away … before continuing to kneel my little heart out at session after session. It was never 100% right so when it started to get sore again a few weeks ago I figured it would be the same as last year and just come good again over time. So I kept walking the dogs every day and cramming as many sessions as possible into a week. I had no idea that I could end up not being able to walk and needing my client to help me to my car (and it was such perfect shooting weather that day too, gutted!). The doctor suspected it was a meniscal tear, gave me some strong pain killers and crutches and told me to come back to the fracture clinic in a week. I struggled with the frustration of not being able to work but I eventually accepted that this situation was completely out of my control and gave in to watching the entire Netflix catalogue through a heavy Endone fog.

I went back to the hospital and after a two hour wait (WITH NO PHONE SIGNAL, OH MY GOD, THE BOREDOM!) was told it’s probably a meniscal tear and I need to get an MRI. So, that was kind of a waste of time. I made an appointment for the following week and then took myself off to get an MRI (someone very kindly did a hit and run on my parked car while I was in there, so that pretty much sucked). It’s fair to say my mood was pretty low at this point, I don’t do boredom well and there’d been a whole lot of it in those seven days. Thankfully I have other businesses that don’t require a fully functioning knee so when I got offered some Ruthless Design work last Monday I breathed a massive sigh of relief. I even started walking the dogs again. I was craving the exercise even more than them by that stage.

I went back to the hospital yesterday and got told the wonderful news that there’s no immediate need for surgery – so I’m as happy as a baby goat in an Hawaiian shirt! (This post would’ve been totally boring without a photo, apologies for the tenuous link.)

The MRI showed an almost full tear of the medial meniscus, some bursitis and a very small amount of arthritis near the patella (and some other stuff but the report is in my car and it’s too cold to venture outside again). Since it’s not a fresh tear any surgery would just be to clean up the area, not repair the damage. I still have some pain but I feel it’s lessening every day, so at this stage I can just see a physio and work at strengthening the muscles that support my knees. They advised me to call them immediately to schedule the surgical procedure if the pain gets bad again. Fingers crossed I won’t need to.

I decided not to do The Dog Lovers Show this year in case my knee didn’t feel up to the set-up and being on my feet for two long days. I may re-assess that closer to the time though and see if there are any last minute spots left. Either way I’ll be running a show special, so make sure you’re subscribed to my newsletter (this isn’t it, this is my blog feed) to ensure you don’t miss out. I only send about one email every two months (if even) so don’t worry, you won’t get bombarded.

Thanks to all my clients and the charities that I volunteer with for their patience while I heal. Everyone’s been very understanding. The weather forecast for next week isn’t great but once the sun reappears I hope to be able to get back to business.

Update 29/8/15: I ended up needing surgery, so last Monday I had an arthroscopy. I’m not allowed to kneel and crouch for a while, but I did a heap of shooting before I had the op so I have plenty of editing to keep me busy while I recover. I went for a walk today, my first time leaving the house since Monday and it was wonderful! I’ve never appreciated a dog walk so much. Hopefully it’s all onwards and upwards from here.