Blog

And now, the lame news

And “lame” is appropriate any way you define it.

After last Thursday’s crappy run, I slept in a little on Friday and took the day off.  I was feeling much better and had a good run on the Backbone with Lukas on Saturday morning.  Saturday evening, my right knee started bothering me and I had a hard time sitting comfortably at “The Book of Mormon” that night.  Thankfully, the show was so fantastic that I didn’t think much about my knee.  Sunday morning, it was tight and a little painful, so I decided not to run.  I figured it was just my IT band acting up or maybe a touch of patella tendinitis, so I spent some time on my foam roller during the day.  I got temporary relief, but over the course of the day, it got tighter, more swollen and more painful.  The pain actually woke me up a few times during the night and when I woke up on Monday morning, I couldn’t really bend it.  It hurt the most when I either tried to bend it back (which I really couldn’t do anyway) or tried to fully extend it.  Fun stuff, right?

Monday afternoon, I went to my previously scheduled appointment with super-Chiropractor Dr. Chris Tosh.   He listened to my symptoms, did some diagnostic tests and then suggested I make an appointment with an orthopedist.  His feeling was that there could be something going on with my meniscus, but I would need an MRI to confirm that.  None of the doctors that were recommended to me could see me for two or three weeks, but I was able to get in with someone who works in the same office as Dr. Modabber, the guy who fixed my clavicle last summer.  I saw him yesterday.  He also thinks it’s my meniscus and told me to schedule an MRI.

I don’t remember twisting it or any other trauma, but supposedly the meniscus can get torn without a specific traumatic event.  You learn something new everyday!

So… I’m having an MRI on it on Friday morning.  And follow-up doctors appointment for after Thanksgiving.  It stinks to have to wait two weeks to find out more information.  In the meantime, I’ll try to maintain some fitness by swimming (no kicking allowed until I can bend my knee without pain).  The doctor said I can get on the bike, but that’s obviously not happening until the pain and stiffness are gone.

The pain has stayed pretty much the same.  The swelling has stayed pretty much the same.  At its worst, I can’t really bend my lower leg backward from the knee at all.  At its best, I can bring it to about 90 degrees. And straightening the leg or trying to flex my quad hurts worse.  Yesterday and today, I’ve gotten a lot of relief from naproxen and ice on the knee, but once those wear off, it’s back to “walking” with a straight leg.  Also, a few times, my knee has actually slightly given out on me.  I think it’s happened when I tried a lateral move, like walking around a corner.

Until I know more and until the swelling and pain go down, there’s not much I can do about it.