I have had a lot of pain in my knees for about the last 10 years. When they first starting hurting, I had them checked out and was told they were fine. I got used to the pain and just played through it all the while thinking that it was normal. It got a little worse over the years, but I mostly attributed that to the extra weight and still thought there was nothing really wrong. This past January I was playing softball (haha to all you cold climate people – in Florida we can play softball outside in January!) and was just running the bases and my left knee really started to hurt bad. I kept playing though and by the end of the game I could hardly walk. A normal person would have gone to the doctor then, but I was still convinced I was just being a baby, so I waited 2 weeks. After 2 weeks when I was still having trouble walking, I decided there must actually be something wrong. At my first visit, the doctor took one look at my x-ray and said that I was going to need surgery. Of course, I needed to get an MRI to confirm, but she had me schedule my next appointment directly with the surgeon because she was so convinced I was going to need surgery.
After my MRI at my first appointment with the surgeon, it was confirmed that I needed surgery. I had a torn meniscus and I had really bad osteoarthritis in my knee. He needed to go in and fix the meniscus and clean up all the debris from the arthritis. I wasn’t thrilled about having surgery, but it was just arthroscopic, so I would only really be on crutches for a couple of days.
As I was waking up from surgery, my doctor came over to talk to me and told me that he’s done that same surgery over 5000 times and my knee was in the top 5 worst knees he had ever seen. He couldn’t believe it was that bad in someone as young as me (at that time I was 35). I have the knee of a 65 year old. Good times!!
On my follow up visit, he told me that the arthritis in my knee is progressed enough that I’m going to need a knee replacement, but I’m too young for that, so I’ll just have to deal with the pain. Knee replacements don’t last forever, so doctors don’t like to do them until you are at least 50. And the worst part of it all was that he told me that I shouldn’t ever run again.
At first, since I love hate running so much, I didn’t really think of it as such a big deal. But then I realized I would never be able to play softball again. On top of that, I would never be able to do a triathlon again. I suppose I could do an aquabike, but for some reason that feels like cheating to me. I was super bummed.
The real bummer was that my knee still hurt a lot after the surgery. I figured it would at least go back to the way it felt before I tore my meniscus, but that wasn’t the case. The doctor I suggested I get shots of Euflexa, which would help lubricate my knee joint, but those didn’t help either.
I had already signed up to do a triathlon in May before my knee got so bad, so I figured I would go ahead with it even if it meant walking. I signed up to train with a group and the coach used to work with orthopaedic surgeons a lot and couldn’t believe that the doctor told me I couldn’t run. She pushed me to get a second opinion and I’m glad she did. I went to a doctor that has a background of sports medicine and working with athletes. He pretty much confirmed that my knee was horrible and I would need a replacement when I was old enough, but he said I didn’t have to stop running if I could deal with the pain. He also gave me an anti-inflammatory (Meloxicam), which has helped me a ton. I go back to him next week to get a shot of something similar to Euflexa (can’t remember the name), but he said that he thinks it works better. Even if it doesn’t, I feel so much better with the Meloxicam that I can walk without limping and even run a little.
After my MRI at my first appointment with the surgeon, it was confirmed that I needed surgery. I had a torn meniscus and I had really bad osteoarthritis in my knee. He needed to go in and fix the meniscus and clean up all the debris from the arthritis. I wasn’t thrilled about having surgery, but it was just arthroscopic, so I would only really be on crutches for a couple of days.
As I was waking up from surgery, my doctor came over to talk to me and told me that he’s done that same surgery over 5000 times and my knee was in the top 5 worst knees he had ever seen. He couldn’t believe it was that bad in someone as young as me (at that time I was 35). I have the knee of a 65 year old. Good times!!
On my follow up visit, he told me that the arthritis in my knee is progressed enough that I’m going to need a knee replacement, but I’m too young for that, so I’ll just have to deal with the pain. Knee replacements don’t last forever, so doctors don’t like to do them until you are at least 50. And the worst part of it all was that he told me that I shouldn’t ever run again.
At first, since I love hate running so much, I didn’t really think of it as such a big deal. But then I realized I would never be able to play softball again. On top of that, I would never be able to do a triathlon again. I suppose I could do an aquabike, but for some reason that feels like cheating to me. I was super bummed.
The real bummer was that my knee still hurt a lot after the surgery. I figured it would at least go back to the way it felt before I tore my meniscus, but that wasn’t the case. The doctor I suggested I get shots of Euflexa, which would help lubricate my knee joint, but those didn’t help either.
I had already signed up to do a triathlon in May before my knee got so bad, so I figured I would go ahead with it even if it meant walking. I signed up to train with a group and the coach used to work with orthopaedic surgeons a lot and couldn’t believe that the doctor told me I couldn’t run. She pushed me to get a second opinion and I’m glad she did. I went to a doctor that has a background of sports medicine and working with athletes. He pretty much confirmed that my knee was horrible and I would need a replacement when I was old enough, but he said I didn’t have to stop running if I could deal with the pain. He also gave me an anti-inflammatory (Meloxicam), which has helped me a ton. I go back to him next week to get a shot of something similar to Euflexa (can’t remember the name), but he said that he thinks it works better. Even if it doesn’t, I feel so much better with the Meloxicam that I can walk without limping and even run a little.
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| Check out the cool knee brace! |
The most important thing I could do to help my knee feel better is lose weight, so that’s a big portion of my motivation to get healthy. And as something to look forward to, the doctor told me that there is no way that my one knee has such bad arthritis and my other knee doesn’t too… That knee is a little stiff too, but doesn’t bother me much, so I’m hoping it stays that way!!!
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