Aging Athlete Seeking Knees
The blame cannot be specifically laid in my case. An argument can be made that the ball was
under thrown. But, at nearly 6’4” tall
and pretty fast, one could also say that the 5’8” defensive back on Oak Park’s
junior varsity football team should not have been able to catch me and latch on
to my left leg after catching a “Jet and Up” during the second quarter of the
game. I had a pretty big
game going, but mostly I can clearly see in my mind’s eye that guy putting his helmet
to my knee and pulling my foot toward him as I tried to break free. I did not know at that time that it takes a
ridiculously small amount of pressure applied in the right place to tear an
ACL.
Not that I knew what an ACL was, nor was it ever
particularly clear or even explained to me as I struggled through high school
athletics, intramurals in college, city leagues, hiking, hunting… all the while
just tearing the crap out of the cartilage in first the left knee and then the
right knee as it worked overtime to supply support to the left leg.
To be honest, I cannot tell you exactly how many knee
operations I have had the opportunity to go through, beginning when I was a
teen. It is well into double
digits. Then cortisone injections… again
innumerable. I even tried Rooster Comb injections,
since they sounded kind of natural. That
hurt like crazy.
It has been an inexorable slope downward with my activities
and a similarly paced rise in knee pain.
These things came together over this last holiday season when I began
walking a pretty easy trail like I was Frankenstein using walking sticks. Then, when I had the chance to jump into a
kayak with my kids and chase whales, I could not figure out how I was going to
get into the kayak nor out of it… I had to pass.
Like many folks my age (58), body parts are failing. Hips, knees, shoulders are getting replaced
at an astounding rate. On March 9, 2016,
I am going to have both of my knees ‘resurfaced’. My dental hygienist, also around my age,
(though I would never ask!) also with a failing knee, suggested I blog about
it. Why not?
A friend posted this today....is this what your process will be like. It seems to be kinda like a "resurfacing".
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ReplyDeleteHey, Bob! I, too, am suffering from incredible knee pain. I have had the rooster comb injections (3, a week apart). Ortho Dr says I have no cartilage left in either knee. For now, the rooster is keeping my left knee pretty calm. I know I will have to have them replaced, eventually. Hoping to hold out as long as possible. But, if the quality of my life declines, I will be the first to jump on the operating table. Good luck, my friend! You got this!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Helene. I am excited to move past this. I really appreciate you taking your time to reply. Keep reading!
DeleteChop -- I do remember that you had a "pretty big game going" against Oak Park -- no small feat counting on our new quarterback to get the ball to you! (JK, Chris.) If you had never gotten hurt, who knows, you might have been honorable mention all-SMA two times!
ReplyDeleteI could only dream of HM All-SMA. Thanks, Peter.
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