Knee-ectomy

Today is a bad knee day.

Some of you may know that I've been having knee issues lately; I think I probably mentioned it in another post or something.

It first started in the second week of May, in the 14th week of the circuit training I had been doing through the amenity center where I live. It was really bad at first - swollen and painful. Since I see my chiropractor pretty regularly (although most of my appointments lately are with the massage therapist!), he took a look at it for me. He poked and prodded and wiggled it around... but nothing hurt... until he pushed on my IT band. Ooooweeee! That was some serious ouchie!
For those who are curious, I found this wikipedia article about iliotibial band syndrome.

So I stayed off my leg, iced it a lot, and kept it elevated. I made several visits to the chiropractor for therapy with those little circles they attach to your muscles and send electric currents through your leg... not sure what it's called exactly. The swelling went away and it was feeling better MOST of the time. But it would just randomly have sharp pains shoot through. Sometimes just when I was walking or going to sit down. Weird.

The other doctor in the office took a look at it and came to the conclusion that perhaps my ACL was loose. My kneecap was moving around and certain pressure would hurt. The thought was then that I would need to do special exercises to strengthen the muscles around my knee.

I think at this point I was getting a little frustrated because I had FINALLY been working out but now I couldn't... and the pain was bad enough (although not regular) that it made me a bit wary of doing much at all. Off I went to Mayo Clinic. I got an appointment for x-ray and a visit with the orthopedic surgeon.

What did I find out? Well, my x-rays were fine. He even said there were no signs of arthritis (wow... that's amazing with how creaky my used up knees are!) and my ACL was fine. He basically says my kneecap is loose and when it moves, it causes me pain. I now have a prescription for physical therapy. Hopefully I'll be able to set something up soon.

However, today my knee is KILLING me. The pain is usually NOT constant... however, that is not the case today. I don't even want to move. I want to crawl into bed. But Chris is working and we have not only our four dogs waiting at home for me but also a fifth dog who belongs to his brother. They are gone for a month so we are taking care of her for them. Oh... she's adorable! I'll definitely share some photos soon!

Anyway... I just needed to whine a minute. Stupid knee. Can't I just have a new one? *sigh*