After nearly eight years of living with a torn ACL in my right knee, I finally went to an orthopedic surgeon. Having a torn ACL isn't that bad, you just have to watch where you step and avoid any lateral movement. But because I have a torn ACL it caused some other problems and I finally got so frustrated with that I wound up in the doctor's office today.
I feel like I have cartilage floating around in my knee that causes it to dislocate or explode or any number of things that all lead to immense pain. That started just before the Kona Marathon in June and then it did it again just a month ago and I am still limping. So I went to the doctor.
(The X-ray of my right knee)He tugged and pulled, twisted and turned my knee. He had me walk so he could see how I walk. He said I was a little loose (a bad thing) on the anterior part of the knee. But it was pretty tight (a good thing) everywhere else. He also said it didn't look as beat up as he would have expected.
I was warned by a friend who is a physical therapist that orthopedic surgeons nowadays are against running, so to expect the doc to say not to run any more. But this doc told me he has a friend who's a triathlete and was up and running on a treadmill after a couple of days following surgery. He said most triathletes don't even go to a doc until their leg is abut to fall off (and mine is just hanging on). So he was a pretty cool doc.
He took a couple of X-rays but couldn't see any floaty thingies, so he wants me to get an MRI, which should show what's going on in there. So now I'm waiting for the MRI place to give me a call so I can make an appointment. Then it'll be back to the surgeon to see what he thinks.
The thought of surgery used to scare me, but I am so frustrated with my knee that I am almost looking forward to it. I'm figuring at the least he'll go in and clean things out in my knee joint and at the most he'll repair my ACL and clean things out in my knee joint.
I may end up missing Lavaman on March 29, but I should be back in time for Hawaii 70.3 a few months later. And hopefully I can qualify for Ironman next October. But that's all a long way down the road. I'm a wimp when it comes to my knee and pain, so I'll have to see how it all plays out.
LAUGHTER IS THE BEST MEDICINE
“The doctor must have put my pacemaker in wrong. Every time my husband kisses me, the garage door goes up.” -- MINNIE PEARL
"I was so ugly when I was born, the doctor slapped my mother." -- Rodney Dangerfield
"Doctor, my leg hurts. What can I do?" The doctor says "Limp!” -- Benny Young
“A doctor says to a man "You want to improve your love life? You need to get some exercise. Run ten miles a day." Two weeks later, the man called the doctor. The doctor says "How is your love life since you have been running?" "I don't know," the man says. "I'm 140 miles away!"”
4 comments:
I think there are several orthopaedic doctors around who are keen at sports, especially in Hawai'i, and of course you can always seek a second opinion if you have your doubts. Then of course the way we train, especially as we get older, has a lot to do with how our joints hold up to the increased use. Since my knee caused me to drop out of Ironman in 2006, I have always felt a little unsure about what I should or should not do. Obviously we need to have the long term in mind, too. It's no good my making things worse now if in a few years' time I cannot climb the stairs. Anyway, learn as much as you can about your situation and recover and train sensibly. The Ironman will come.
Surgery that word scares me never had never want to but our family triathelete can't be down so I hope everything goes well. love ya
Yes! You'll be good as new and Ill see you in Ironman next year!
So glad you like the Doc. Hope the MRI shows all the thingies you are looking for so you can get them out of there and find that IRONMAN you are looking for.
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