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Knee Update + Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving to all!

I definitely have a lot to be thankful for.  Family, friends, our little guys Gus and Charlie, good health, running, cycling, swimming (lots of swimming recently), and much more.  I’ve missed running over the last 10 days, but when I think about everything else I have, I can’t get down about it.

The good news is that my knee feels much much much better.  The swelling is gone, as are most of the stiffness and pain.  I don’t notice anything at all during normal activity.  Tuesday and Wednesday, I swan without the pull buoy and the kicking didn’t bother my knee at all (neither did some easy push-offs on the wall).  I’ve also spent a little time on the elliptical and done some core work and really easy lower body exercises.  It felt a little stiff on the elliptical and definitely didn’t feel “right” when I ran 50 feet in the yard with dogs this morning.

The “bad” news is that I still don’t know what happened (or is happening) in there.  I had my MRI on Friday.  (This 18 minute MRI where only my lower body was in the machine was almost enjoyable compared to the 45-90 minute MRI sessions fully immersed in the machine that I’ve done for my spinal MRIs!)

UCLA was supposed to send the MRI results to my doctor and chiropractor (Dr. Tosh) Monday or Tuesday and I was hoping to get the results from Dr. Tosh before the holiday weekend, but he still hasn’t received the report.  I called UCLA, but they wouldn’t tell me whether the report was finalized or whether it has been sent to either doctor and they wouldn’t let me talk to anyone who could give me that information.  I understand why they can’t give me the results over the phone or send the report to me, but it would be nice if they could at least confirm whether it’s completed or, if not, when it will be sent.  OK, rant over.

At this point, given how I feel, I’m guessing (hoping) that there’s not a tear.  But there is something going on. I assume that next week, the doctor will recommend that I start some sort of PT program and avoid running for the time being.  If that happens, I’ll be disappointed not to run, but hopefully it will be a short temporary thing.  But that’s all conjecture at this point…

In a comment to my last post, the5krunner made a suggestion that my issue might be related to a leg length discrepancy.  That’s interesting, because it’s something that multiple doctors and chiropractors have told me in the past.  My current chiropractor notices that my right leg is a little shorter than my left just about every time I’m in there, but after doing some hip and low back releases, it seems to even out.  The other interesting thing is that pretty much every “injury” or serious ache I’ve had in the past few years has been in my right leg or hip.  My right hamstring is usually tighter than my left.  What I’m not sure about is whether my legs are actually different lengths or if my right hip/low back are tighter than my left, causing everything on my right side to scrunch up, thereby pulling the right leg up a little bit.  Thanks, the5krunner, I’m going to look further into this one!

As a final, final note, here’s a Movember picture.  Twenty-two days in and this wisp of a mustache is the best I can grow??  WTF?? 🙂