by Arlos » Thu Mar 15, 2007 1:05 pm
I've had surgery on it once before, about 10 years ago now, and it's better than it used to be. Back then, it would suddenly sieze up and stop working with no warning. This is a problem if you're walking along in a mall and suddenly between one step and the next your knee gives way, can't support any weight, and the only reason you don't fall flat on your face is because you grab a luckily handy bench... Then spend the next hour on that bench, not moving, massaging and resting your knee until you can make a pretense of walking again so you can hobble to your car and go home. (not that I describe there a specific incident or anything, oh no, not me.)
Basically, they went in and cleaned out a big mass of scar tissue, a bunch of damaged cartilage (I have effectively no cartilage in that knee now, it's almost constant bone-on-bone contact), and actually physically removed my kneecap so they could reshape it slightly and remove deposits, then put it back in and re-routed a muscle to hold it in place differently. I have a big scar across the o utside of the knee from the surgery. And as I said, it doesn't randomly stop working with no warning any more, and the constant pain is less than it used to be before the surgery. That doesn't mean it's healthy, though.
More recently, when I had insurance, I had it looked at and was told there wasn't a whole lot more that could be done. I've also had it looked at by the sports medicine doctor here on campus, and he basically said about the same thing, though he did recommend a diffferent brand of shoes to help control the walking motion better, which actually has helped some. (I used to wear Nikes, the shoe he recommended was the Beast from Brooks)
Believe me, Ginzburgh, I'd love to have it fixed. There's all sorts of stuff I used to like to do that I just realy can't any more. Hell, I've even had to stop going skiing, cause the last time I went, by the end of the day I couldn't put weight on it at all, and had to effectively ski down from the top of Heavenly Valley on 1 ski, stopping every couple hundred feet to let the pain ebb a bit. Even besides athletic stuff, I'd just like to not be in pain for a change. I mean, I'm used to it and all, but trust me, constant pain gets awful tiring. It may sound like whining, but there are times when I really abjectly wish for ONE pain-free day. Just one.
Oh, and no, I won't deny I like to get high, but that's not all, or even most of the times I smoke.
-Arlos
Last edited by
Arlos on Thu Mar 15, 2007 1:11 pm, edited 1 time in total.