The BEST thing I've ever done! I lurk here all the time but seldom post...I want to say go for it! My recovery was very easy. I never took anything stronger than tylenol for pain. I took a month off from work not knowing what to expect, but I could have been back in a week or two easily. Now, 7 years later I'm still so glad I did it...wish I would have done it sooner. Let me know if you have specific questions. Judy

i tore my meniscus many years ago. it was sore for a few months, but it gradually got better and i was a young mother and didn't really have the time/desire to schedule ortho appts. certainly within the year i had no pain and full range of motion. over the years i would occasionally(rarely) have sharp pain when the little torn piece would probably get lodged somewhere, but i would give it a day or two and it would work it's way out and be 'fine' again. finally about 4 1/2 yrs ago it became sore and i lost some range of motion. had mri and a ganglion cyst had developed in there too- probably from years of irritation from the tear according to doc. i had arthro surgery to repair tear and remove cyst. i didn't regret having the surgery because my knee had become fairly uncomfortable, but it didn't make me all better by any means. i'm an active person and didn't rest it like i should have, and i had LOTS of residual swelling and soreness for a couple of years post op and still do not have full range of motion. it is much better now 4 yrs after the fact, but i doubt if i will ever be able to run on it. subsequent mris have been alittle inconclusive and i have opted not to have another surgery at this point. it is frustrating tho. i wonder if i should have had an immediate repair of the tear and if it would have been a simple rehab... i don't know. but MOST of the 13+ yrs after i had torn it but before it was repaired were much better than the 4 since...

Hi, thanks for the responses. I am not always very good about following up as I don't get online too often. Anyways, we decided to go ahead and get the spay done. We picked Zori (kitten) up this morning, and if it weren't for the obvious shaven stomach and stitches I'd barely know anything was done, she has bounced back sooo much faster than my other cat did. The only problem I am having now is that our other cat, April, is acting really weird around her (hissing and swatting) which isn't too much of an issue while I am home for the weekend watching them, and I hope she will chill before I have to go back to work on Monday. I guess maybe Zori smells funny to her after being at the vet?

jude -- I kinda suspect mine may be 'attached' too. MD says there could be a tumor as well. The CT is not very clear. I'd have to have a special 'colonoscope w/ultrasound' to *possibly* learn more. I'm thinking, why not just *operate* and remove whatever is there. I'm so glad to hear about your procedure -- and that Sleeperblues recommends an open incision too. I'll ask for that instead of laparascopic. Unfortunately, all this brings back memories of our DS's botched appendectomy when he was about 20. He has a scar about 12 inches long from the incompetent surgeon on call at the ER that night. DS was in surgery for four hours with this jerk. Worse still, the same guy happily removed stitches in his office while DS complained of pain. (DS has very high pain threshold.) Within hours we were back at the ER. The MD on duty gasped, then immediately opened the incision. The stench of infection was awful. DS was in hospital for three weeks on IV antibiotics. A scary time. I got nowhere complaining about the surgeon; he continued on-call at that ER until he retired. (Even the ER nurses rolled their eyes at mention of his name.)