I've complained a time or two over the last couple of years about my left knee. When I was still working at Lindsay, I hurt it one morning during a run on a concrete "trail." I ended up with swelling and moderate pain for a few days, and eventually purchased a couple different knee braces, confident I had some kind of tendinitis, or garden variety "runner's knee."
Since then, the pain has gotten progressively worse, and my running mileage has dropped down to zero. When I reached mid-winter this year, I decided to lay off the road/treadmill for an extended period, and just work out on the elliptical trainer. The logic was simple -- give the bum knee a longer period of time to heal.
That didn't work.
By the time summer rolled around, I was starting to experience pain even on the elliptical, or climbing stairs. It even hurt sometimes when I was sleeping. I delayed doing anything until after our vacation, and then went to visit the trusty orthopedist last week. He sent me for an MRI on Tuesday, and we discussed the results today.
So, I'm having arthroscopic surgery next Wednesday to repair (cut out, actually) a tear in my meniscus, and also remove a cyst from the knee. Sigh.
I'm grateful I live in a time when such things can be "fixed," but I'm kicking myself for not having the problem looked at earlier -- could have saved a lot of time and discomfort. Full recovery (if it occurs) is several months away, and for a few days I'll be on crutches, followed by a period of hobbling around while I start flexing and strengthening the joint.
Oh, and I need to lose a few pounds to make life for my knees easier.... That may be the most difficult part of this -- especially when I'll be very limited in my exercise options.
Since then, the pain has gotten progressively worse, and my running mileage has dropped down to zero. When I reached mid-winter this year, I decided to lay off the road/treadmill for an extended period, and just work out on the elliptical trainer. The logic was simple -- give the bum knee a longer period of time to heal.
That didn't work.
By the time summer rolled around, I was starting to experience pain even on the elliptical, or climbing stairs. It even hurt sometimes when I was sleeping. I delayed doing anything until after our vacation, and then went to visit the trusty orthopedist last week. He sent me for an MRI on Tuesday, and we discussed the results today.
So, I'm having arthroscopic surgery next Wednesday to repair (cut out, actually) a tear in my meniscus, and also remove a cyst from the knee. Sigh.
I'm grateful I live in a time when such things can be "fixed," but I'm kicking myself for not having the problem looked at earlier -- could have saved a lot of time and discomfort. Full recovery (if it occurs) is several months away, and for a few days I'll be on crutches, followed by a period of hobbling around while I start flexing and strengthening the joint.
Oh, and I need to lose a few pounds to make life for my knees easier.... That may be the most difficult part of this -- especially when I'll be very limited in my exercise options.
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