In my last journal I said that I expected my schedule to break soon... and so it has but as a result of an injury that's going to keep me from attending MFF this weekend. I'm really pissed and in a lot of pain.

Last Saturday I started noticing some pain in my right knee. It was situated on the back side of my knee and registered as discomfort; I could walk normally but it was an annoyance that wouldn't go away, and mainly made it self noticed by a difficulty in flexing my knee. I could straighten my right leg though.

The pain continued unabated until Monday when I made a trip to my storage unit to get supplies and things in anticipation of driving to Chicago tomorrow. While I was standing on an old Army footlocker however I took a step backwards and fell off. My right foot landed solidly on the ground so I didn't fall to the floor, but the sudden impact either twisted my right knee or compressed it severely and the result was a sudden explosion of pain. I was able to keep standing and I noticed that the origination of the pain had suddenly shifted to right below my kneecap and I could no longer straighten my leg although I could somewhat flex it again. After the initial explosion subsided I was able to continue walking... gimpy though it might be, but after Monday morning the pain never diminished like I thought it would. I hadn't done anything to injure my knee that would provoke the pain I'd been experiencing, so surely it would subside, right? This morning I woke up in serious pain. I had tried to sleep with my right leg elevated but I just can't sleep comfortably on my back, and this morning when I got out of bed I could hardly walk at all. Any movement of my right knee was terribly pounding pain. I called the 24 hour nurse helpline and then made an appointment to see a doctor this afternoon.

Getting to the doctor wasn't too hard... -as long as I'm sitting still my knee doesn't get too angry, but the stop and go of traffic had me shifting my leg in such a way as to make me nervous about spending six hours driving to Chicago. When I got to the clinic I was hobbling everywhere and needing to take breaks because of the difficulty. When I got to see the doctor she told me I needed some X-rays, but noted that my knee was very swollen and likely had fluid buildup. She suspects I've torn my meniscus and I have a followup appointment with a sports injury doctor tomorrow who will review the X-rays and give me a deeper analysis. I've been prescribed 600mg ibuprofin tablets and now have a knee brace wrapped around my leg, and God I hope this will get better soon. Just sitting still leaving my leg unmoved can't keep the pain from vibrating.

I had planned to leave for MFF tomorrow after my daughter gets out of school, but in my current condition I don't feel safe driving for six hours, and with the amount of walking I have to do at the convention while carrying around sketchbooks and art supplies I'm going to remain in a lot of pain that would potentially just prolong this misery.

I want to apologize to the people whom I was going to visit with and deliver work to, and I'm disappointed that I'm going to miss the opportunity to draw for a bunch of new projects... I have a great time coming up with new artwork at conventions and I find that I'm the most prolific in such environments.

Tracy will still be going to the convention and will be taking my place as the person in charge of the G-rated room at Artist's Alley... I hope those of you who will be attending will stop by and say hello to her. She'll have her art supplies with her and can draw some awesome badges and sketch work.... check her gallery out at  Calicougar

To those who will be attending I hope you guys have fun and have some good stories to share.