Idiot Control Now

My right knee is becoming quite the growing concern over the last month or two. The same knee I hurt on New Years Eve at Hunter's party, which just popped suddenly while I was standing around in her kitchen chatting with Al's sister's friend Monica -- loud enough for Monica to actually hear it pop and make an alarmed expression. I spent the rest of the evening dragging a dead limb behind me at the party, but it was fine by the next day and forgot all about it. Since then it will pop occasionally, usually when I'm at work, and the pain would return. But within the last month or so the popping has been nearly constant, and getting through work 8 hours on my feet has become increasingly undoable. I have managed to survive this past week taking the Darvocet that Joe's dentist prescribed when he was getting his tooth pulled last week, and it has gotten me through the long days (including the Bayou Boogaloo Festival Sunday, which might explain how high as a kite I was during the Wild Magnolias show). But I just took the last one right now after getting out of bed and nearly taking an ignominious morning tumble down the stairs when the pain shot down my calf, but now this means that the drug will wear off around 1pm today, and that leaves me with wondering how to get through the four hours after until it's quittin' time. I'm taking a buttload of Aleve with me, and that's about it.

But it doesn't address the long-term issues about what could be wrong with my knee. Other than the fact that my rapid weight gain probably has a lot to do with it. Having a knee pop on you just standing around at a party should send flares up instantly that my body has issues with me neglecting my health over the last two years. I'm still working on the weight loss, and exercise is nearly non-existent besides my 8 hours dashing about the store, but any power walking like I've done in the past isn't gonna start happening until the knee situation is resolved. I've become very much the veggie lover these days, perhaps as a result of the sickness and revulsion I experienced during Atkins. Yesterday I had tomato slices and mustard with sliced apples for lunch, and for dinner I cut up fresh avocado and onions and a little pesto and wrapped them in lettuce leaves and some olive oil for dinner. It was so rich I feel positively nauseous this morning. But the idea of eating meat or cheese right now makes me even more upchuckulous. Plus something about the summer months makes me gravitate more towards fruit and veggies. I tend to eat lighter in the heat anyway.

I need to fix this. I want to go to New York City in October and see The Residents with my friend Paul. There's no way I can walk around the city dragging my dead limb. And I'm not about to ask Paul to carry me. He's done enough for me as it is.

So what kind of a doctor do I go see about knees? A knee doctor? Joint-ologist? A remover of increasingly unnecessary limbs?