Go See The Doctor

Got massage from Tara at Bella this morning. She usually works on my back and hip but today was all about my knee. She knows what she's doing and is really good at moving the the waste and bullshit out of the affected area. It's weird. I almost always feel better walking out of there than when I went in. And 48 hours later it's even better. Those pros who get massage or PT everyday are so stoked. Huge advantage when you're trying to win the recovery battle.

I have an appointment with the doctor today to get my knee looked at. I know how it's going to go:
"Doc, it hurts when I do this."
"Well, don't do that."
Maybe he'll have some nuclear anti-inflammatory or some new instant ligament healing compound, but I doubt it. Still, I'm going. Need to get my vitals taken by someone other than the blood pressure machine at Walgreen's.
Cian's home from school today, so I'll try to get him to go with me, but he likes to chill on his days off. I don't blame him. Couldn't even get him to go get a doughnut with me this morning and doughnuts are his favorite.

The other day I told someone I had Brian Howard knees, and then Brian himself made a couple comments on Facebook that made me feel a lot better. He's kneeslid and slammed on his knees way, way, way more than I could even imagine and he's a regular and veteran cyclist, so it was cool to have him chime in and confirm what I was hoping was true — I'll be fine.

Sometimes a few well typed words are all it takes to make you feel right.

Post Cruciate Ligament

I slammed on my knee last Thursday. I knew it was bad right when I did it. Fell about six feet straight to the joint right under the knee cap. It's where I usually fall, but this was a full-weight, full-speed thumper. I tried to get up super fast like squirrels do when they fall out of a tree. Almost like I was trying to get out of the way of the injury. Didn't work.

I've fallen like this before — a lot — but not for years. It's the kind of fall where what you hit doesn't even hurt that bad — the opposite side of where you hit takes the brunt of the slam. Like if you slam to your hip, your groin hurts from your femur tearing into your crotch. I hit my right knee on the front and right so the back left hurts. It's a bit of pcl and a bit of mcl aggravation, not sure about the tearing, but it's definitely sprained. The swelling is minimal, but it doesn't take much swelling inside the knee to make it tight and painful.

Still ... icing three times a day on two different spots on my knee. Ibuprofen too.

I'll go to the doc on Monday, but I know the drill: stay off of it, maybe see an orthopedic specialist, maybe see a physical therapist.

There's been improvement everyday, which I love. I can walk pretty good, but lifting my right leg while going up the stairs hurts.

I think I can ride. I might spin around for a half hour or so nice and easy. Get the blood going and stretch things out little. No skating, though.

Cyclists will say stop skating, just like the skaters question cycling after a bad crash.

I can think of like half a dozen people who do both and they won't say anything. They'd do what I'm doing: serve their sentence and then keep going.