The Verdict

I went to the doctor's today and received a diagnosis and a treatment plan, along with a worst case scenario.

Diagnosis: My left kneecap isn't sitting properly, causing the cartilage on one side to be compressed. Friday when I stood up from the coffee table and all these problems started, my kneecap popped out of position temporarily. What I am dealing with now is the injury this caused to the surrounding tissue, but the underlying cause of the problem still needs to be addressed, or it will just happen again later.

Best case scenario: I stay on crutches for the next 1-2 weeks to keep weight off the joint, and go through lots of physical therapy for the next month. We're talking heat, ultrasound, and electric treatments, massage therapy, and strengthening/rehabilitative excercises. When the month is up I go back into the doctor's, get checked out, and go on my merry way.

Worst case scenario: I do the same as above, but no improvement is seen, or I'm not completely healed within the month. Then I go in for an MRI, and we discuss the possibility of exploratory surgery to get a better idea of what exactly has gone wrong.