<p>nice work getting out there once again.</p>
<p><strong>jen</strong>, procedure? i'll have to check out the blog i guess.</p>
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<p>sorry to be a drama-dude...not my intent. i had to talk myself off of the cliff.</p>
<p>actually, i had to sober up a bit - i worked through the entire pitcher of margarita the other night and that made for an interesting dentist appointment the next morning.</p>
<p>so, the origin of the stuff that was floating all around my knee was the layer of cartilage from under my kneecap - the articular cartilage. i have a condral defect, a hole in this layer of cartilage and it's a grade 4 no less (all the way down to the bone) and it's big. based on the photos i saw, it looked about the size of a quarter to a half dollar (tough for me to tell). that means i am operating on a donut of cartilage under my kneecap. anytime i run up or down, or run in general, and my knee is loaded (flexes the quad, strains the patellar region) it will put force on the now non-lubricated area of my knee (bone) or more stress on the cartilage donut i have left along the outer ring under my kneecap. the other side of the joint still looks okay so the bone exposed by the defect hasn't started to erode that cartilage <span style="text-decoration:underline;">yet</span>. the pictures looked like a small stick of dynamite went off in the cartilage - the blowout looks crazy. so the doc smoothed out the edges reducing the likelihood of it catching and easily tearing. fear not, this type of injury isn't caused by running typically but from a blunt trauma of some sort - so keep doing what you're doing, just make sure your form is good! <span style="font-size:9px;">(anyone who says running isn't good for you is FOS! and i have had some of those jackasses saying that to me lately)</span> i have been wracking my brain trying to think of what sort of contusion i suffered that may have caused the damage and only came up with one about 12-14 years ago (baseball related).</p>
<p>i'm just starting to do my reading on potential treatments, fixes, etc but the thing i have working against me is time. i'm old. i know i don't want to live the rest of my life in fear that i can't do something because it will worsen my condition and accelerate the osteoarthritis that is bound to happen. i also will not, actually more aptly put, can not stop being athletic.</p>
<p>but, some things may force my hand and running may not be an option. time will tell.</p>
<p>so for now, i work on my flexibility and reducing the swelling in my knee. it's still pretty stiff an full of swell and there is no running at least for another 4 weeks. i'm probably not going to run in the near future just because i'm fearful of shredding other things in there further reducing any possiblity that some biological treatment can be considered.</p>
<p>once the swelling goes down, i can still run on it if i choose but that just doesn't strike me as a very wise thing to do until all viable options for repair are vetted.</p>
<p>the doc did say that i'm very lucky (and he stressed 'very') that no further damage was done. everything else in my knee is in excellent shape. i don't feel very lucky but i'll be thankful for that anyway. </p>
<p>the lesson to be learned here? i attribute the <em>lucky</em> part to really focusing on my running form, transitioning to a forefoot running style, losing some weight and trying to keep other stuff strong (despite having some back issues, etc).</p>
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<p>what's bugging me the most is the potential for losing the convenience (and effectiveness) of running. it travels well. as much tech garbage as we runners don and tote around, it's still a convenient and minimalist activity.</p>
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<p>yeah, i'm pretty pissed, frustrated, bummed out, confused and scared as hell - i'm not sure which emotion is dominant. no need for sympathy, i'm suffering the fate i have dealt to myself. <span style="font-size:8px;">gropes are always welcome though.<span><img alt="biggrin.gif" src="http://files.kickrunners.com/smilies/biggrin.gif" style="width:16px;height:16px;"></span></span></p>
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<p>well, that's about as open as i have ever been on a public forum. time to clam up again...</p>
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<p>cheers</p>
