I’ve struggled with chronic knee pain and knee injuries for almost five years now. I had a major reconstructive surgery to my right knee in my junior year of high school during the beginning of Christmas break that kept me out of school for a while after, and the times I was at school it was hard for me to focus due to the amount of heavy drugs I was on, and it was difficult for me to get around, as I was in an immobilizing brace and relied on crutches for months. It was one of the hardest times of my life, and as I have been experiencing pain in my knee that was not operated, I’m afraid I’ll have to get surgery again while in my first year of college. I have not yet consulted my surgeon, but I’m wondering whether or not to even consider it, because I have no clue if I’d be able to handle all of that again, especially away from home (I’ll be about an hour outside of where I live), and walking around campus constantly (through the terrible winter snow on top of that if I have it done during Christmas break again). My Christmas break is very long at my school (Thanksgiving-New Years), but I’m afraid having surgery then won’t give me time to relax after my first term of college. So I guess my overall question is should I see my doctor, and in the case I do need surgery again, should I go through with it while in my first year of college? Any input helps. Thank you!
See your doctor for sure. If you need surgery and will have a long and difficult recovery consider deferring college for a year. If you will be in college as you recover contact the office of disability services to/ arrange for any accommodations you might need (ex. elevator access, first floor dorm etc.) Sorry you are having these issues but do take care of your health first.
Definitely consult with your doctor. You will have to make some sacrifice - defer a year, Christmas break, summer next year - to address this. One question you may want to ask is whether any kind of PT prior to surgery could help alleviate pain now and/or speed your recovery afterwards.
Trying to do this smack in the middle of the school year will be insane. If you can put this off until the summer (via PT, or just dealing with the pain), do it. That will give you time for the surgery and recoup. If not, you can do it during your Christmas break. So you don’t get to “relax”, whatever that means. Trust me: if it is truly painful and affecting your quality of life, whatever plans you had for your break will seem silly when compared to your spring semester of feeling better physically.
Of course, you cannot make an informed decision until you go see a doctor.
Sorry you are dealing with this, OP.
As others have said, the first step is to talk to your doctor. Only she/he can assess the damage and your pain level to determine how quickly you will need treatment.
D developed a condition (sorry, don’t want to be too specific) in the fall of her freshman year, out of the blue, which was pretty painful. Doctor told her if she acted fast, she would probably only need 1 surgery, but would have 4 week recovery, during which time, walking and sitting for long periods (like in classes) would be nearly impossible. If she waited, it was almost certainly mean two surgeries, both with longer recoveries. But the doctor left the decision to her, as long as she could manage the pain and be extremely careful.
D chose to wait until summer. It was difficult, but she says it was still the best decision----for her. She had surgery 2 days after her last final and was still in recovery from her second surgery when she started back in the fall. But she had the whole summer to get it done without worrying about school.
Your situation may be very, very different, so don’t put off talking to a professional.