Knees
A year ago this month, I tripped over some vegetation and a curb in the Red Cross parking lot. Since my arms were full of blood drive materials I couldn't throw them out for balance or to stop my fall and I went down hard on my hands (partly) and my knees (fully) and ended up prone on the concrete. For a moment or two I did what you do in a fall...laid there hoping I wasn't really hurt and trying to get a feel for if I'd broken anything. With my weight and...ahem...mature years, I don't fall light like thistledown anymore. It's more like a buffalo putting its foot into a prairie dog hole at a full gallop - the prairie didn't quite shake but I swear there was a dust cloud. For better (no embarrasment) or worse (no one to help me up) no security guards were present so I got to my feet and checked the legs. My right leg was swelling and obviously bruised so I went to my truck, limped home, and applied ice. Lots of ice. For a few days it was sore and then the pain and swelling went away. Apparently the left knee was biding its time, mulling things over and waiting for ITS ice and was secretly resentful of the attention that had been paid to the right knee because that was when the left knee started really hurting. The doctor said that he didn't think anything was actually broken but I'd no doubt had some muscle and/or cartilage tearing.
Well, Cheryl and I had our Disneyland trip we'd planned for 18 years booked in April and I was damned if I was going to be the reason it got postponed again. That had happened too many times in the past. So go we did, and we did Knotts Berry Farm, Disneyland, California Adventure, Sea World, and Universal Studios.
I limped. I sat down a lot. I used up ice-buckets of ice each night. I ate Ibuprofen like it was candy and by the time we headed for the hotel each evening our method of getting back was from one bench to the next. We'd walk from one bench to the next one we could see and then we'd rest for a couple of minutes and head for the next one. Cheryl said we were both pretty damn pathetic and I had to agree with her. She, herself, was not used to being on her feet for hours, so by the end of each day she was just about as sore as I was. Of course, dinner, tons of ice, a hot shower, and a good night's sleep would revive us just fine and we'd be off again the next day. We had a WONDERFUL time!
At any rate, my doctor's predictions came true and the knee DID heal and is almost completely painless now - though it does make ghastly noises when I go upstairs. But I think that the right knee has been silently and sullenly resenting the increased demands I've made on it while the left one was being babied. So it waited until the left one was almost completely well, then it started hurting. I'm grateful that it didn't let out at the same time, as I have to have ONE relatively good one to balance on. So at this point I'm icing the right one again.
A couple of weeks ago, I'm crossing the street to our parking lot and some nice driver stops to let me go and waves me on. Trying to be nice in return, I think I'll hurry. Bad mistake. I extended my right leg too much, came down on it wrong, and it was like someone hit me in the knee with a hammer. I could barely limp to the curb and stand there on one leg until the pain went away. So for a few days I could hardly walk on the right leg and had to use a cane. Shades of Mrs. Peach, only I hated it. REALLY hated it. It seems so "old lady-ish" and the best I could do was turn it into a joke...which wasn't really funny to me but hey...what can you do? Back to the doctor, who said that there was fluid in the joint so there had indeed been some cartilage tear but again, he says it will heal.
He told me to get a stationary bike. It will help you lose weight, he said, and also give you the type of motion that will strengthen your knees. Okie doke, I said, I can do that.
It's being delivered next Monday. A really REALLY nice one that will take my pulse, magnetically increase or decrease the resistance to maintain the correct aerobic target heartbeat, scold me for losing focus, and pay my bills if I forget. Well...maybe that's a slight exageration, but not by much.
So for folks who may have wondered why I've missed a lot of local games lately, that's why. It hurts, sometimes, to walk. And it hurts, sometimes, to sit down and then stand up again.
But it's better now, and I should be back to normal soon or even better!
Well, Cheryl and I had our Disneyland trip we'd planned for 18 years booked in April and I was damned if I was going to be the reason it got postponed again. That had happened too many times in the past. So go we did, and we did Knotts Berry Farm, Disneyland, California Adventure, Sea World, and Universal Studios.
I limped. I sat down a lot. I used up ice-buckets of ice each night. I ate Ibuprofen like it was candy and by the time we headed for the hotel each evening our method of getting back was from one bench to the next. We'd walk from one bench to the next one we could see and then we'd rest for a couple of minutes and head for the next one. Cheryl said we were both pretty damn pathetic and I had to agree with her. She, herself, was not used to being on her feet for hours, so by the end of each day she was just about as sore as I was. Of course, dinner, tons of ice, a hot shower, and a good night's sleep would revive us just fine and we'd be off again the next day. We had a WONDERFUL time!
At any rate, my doctor's predictions came true and the knee DID heal and is almost completely painless now - though it does make ghastly noises when I go upstairs. But I think that the right knee has been silently and sullenly resenting the increased demands I've made on it while the left one was being babied. So it waited until the left one was almost completely well, then it started hurting. I'm grateful that it didn't let out at the same time, as I have to have ONE relatively good one to balance on. So at this point I'm icing the right one again.
A couple of weeks ago, I'm crossing the street to our parking lot and some nice driver stops to let me go and waves me on. Trying to be nice in return, I think I'll hurry. Bad mistake. I extended my right leg too much, came down on it wrong, and it was like someone hit me in the knee with a hammer. I could barely limp to the curb and stand there on one leg until the pain went away. So for a few days I could hardly walk on the right leg and had to use a cane. Shades of Mrs. Peach, only I hated it. REALLY hated it. It seems so "old lady-ish" and the best I could do was turn it into a joke...which wasn't really funny to me but hey...what can you do? Back to the doctor, who said that there was fluid in the joint so there had indeed been some cartilage tear but again, he says it will heal.
He told me to get a stationary bike. It will help you lose weight, he said, and also give you the type of motion that will strengthen your knees. Okie doke, I said, I can do that.
It's being delivered next Monday. A really REALLY nice one that will take my pulse, magnetically increase or decrease the resistance to maintain the correct aerobic target heartbeat, scold me for losing focus, and pay my bills if I forget. Well...maybe that's a slight exageration, but not by much.
So for folks who may have wondered why I've missed a lot of local games lately, that's why. It hurts, sometimes, to walk. And it hurts, sometimes, to sit down and then stand up again.
But it's better now, and I should be back to normal soon or even better!