Jumper's Knee

After just one day of heavy walking on Rome's cobbled streets, I knew that something was wrong with my right knee. It had hurt for some time and was probably injured from playing racquetball. (You do remember how hazardous I am playing racquetball, right?)

Anyway when I got home I made an appointment with my primary physician and explained the problems I had been experiencing: pain just below my knee cap when walking down stairs and my right knee was supporting my weight, the feeling that might right knee might just give way and I would collapse, and then at night it would ache quite a bit. After getting the data, he decided that I needed to have an MRI on my knee. I did that the next day and on the following Monday I got a call telling me that I had a torn patellar tendon and that I needed to see an orthopedic surgeon.

I began searching on the Internet and saw knees sliced open and read accounts of the healing process taking about a year. Needless to say, I immediately panicked. After a few more days I started to realize that maybe they would only immobilize it for several weeks to let it heal. That option while not as invasive still wasn't sitting well with me. How can I function without being able to drive?!

So today I actually visited the surgeon and had all my fears wiped away. I told him I had a torn patellar tendon. He looked at me and said "no I think its a torn meniscus." He said that torn tendons normally happen for "elite athletes." I said he might be right. I certainly am no elite athlete. After looking up my MRI, he did in fact find that it was my tendon. So much for it being an injury for only elite athletes.

To get my knee back in good health he just wants me to stay away from high impact sports (eg, running, racquetball, basketball, gymnastics, etc...) I'm alright with all of those except I would love to be back playing racquetball. I was pleased to find I can still use the elliptical and bike machines. After 3 months of rest I can get back into it slowly. If the tendon is still painful then we will consider a PRP (Platelet Rich Plasma) injection into the tendon area to help it heal.

He said that a Cortisone shot in this case would be a bad thing and make it hard for the tendon to heal. Also he said the surgery was a last resort.

Platelet Rich Plasma
Click here to watch a video on CNN talking about the platelet rich plasma procedure.

The Dangers of Racquetball

As you probably know I have been playing racquetball with my nephew. It has been a lot of fun. But it had also reminded me that I am getting older. Between my "racquetball shoulder," pulling a glut, and my tender ankle, I am wondering if I am up to this. I'm hoping they will all go away as I play more. All of these have been self inflicted injuries but on Saturday I received my second direct racquetball to the body. The previous week my nephew smacked me in the arm with the ball. I had a nice bruise from that one. This time he slammed the ball into my side. When I showered this morning, this is what I noticed. Maybe it would help if I wasn't such a large target!

Racquetball Shoulder

After a break of playing racquetball for something like 10 years, I decided to give it a try again. Actually my nephew invited me to play with him. We both just renewed our memberships at Gold's Gym and he has been working out regularly. Meanwhile I have had a hard time getting there as often as I should. Playing racquetball sounded like a nice change of pace from the regular cardio machines and lifting weights. So I agreed to it and we played around noon on Saturday. Before the day was over, I was already starting to ache. I forgot that it could be a good workout in addition to just being fun. My gluts and my shoulder took the brunt of the damage. Since the initial shock to my system, my gluts have recovered but my shoulder still has yet to feel good. I've got racquetball shoulder. At least that is my self diagnosis. Never heard of it but I'm pretty sure it exists and that I have it. :) I'm just hoping that I recover in time for the next round on Wednesday!

It's Just Not In My DNA

Okay, I admit it, I am not a sports fan. It's really kind of genetic. Most of the guys in my family are not big sport event watchers (or whatever the sports term is.) Most of the time I could really care less. Occasionally, I do enjoy watching a game especially if I am at the game in person. So why am I explaining this? Well I just don't want you to get the wrong idea about me from this post.

Just because I don't want to watch BYU's games doesn't mean that I don't want them to win. I do. But of course, I didn't watch today's game against UCLA. Surprise, I know! Tonight, I went to Yahoo to check one of my e-mail accounts and noticed their home page. Here's the headline: The Bruins get humiliated: BYU hands UCLA its worst loss in nearly 80 years. Good for you, BYU! I always enjoy seeing BYU get some good press. Normally we only get stories about how weird we are (not that they aren't deserved) but this is a nice change!