I got the MRI done yesterday and found out today that I have a large lateral meniscus tear with an accompanying cyst. Surgery to have the meniscus removed is the only way I can hope to relieve the pain and become functional again. (Happy Holidays to me!) Right now, I am wishing I had this done before Christmas. The earliest I can now have the surgery is January 8th (if I have it with this random guy I saw who someone rated “worst doctor ever”), but that would mean I would have to cancel my talks on the 10th and 11th, as I won’t be able to drive or move so soon after surgery. (It turns out that one of these libraries hasn’t even listed my talk on their website yet (??) and the other still has the wrong name of the trail and my name misspelled (both of which I asked to be corrected weeks ago!) and no other information). For the last several hours, I have been trying to look up better orthopedic surgeons in Boston, but it seems like none of them accept my poverty level health insurance and since it is New Year’s Eve, I can’t get ahold of anyone and am stuck waiting. I have been wanting to write a re-cap of this past year, but at the moment, I am feeling too upset to do that. I’m scared and worried about a whole bunch of things at once. Maybe I can still find some calm time to reflect a bit later on.