Ego! Ego! Ego!: Chondromalacia Archives
October 08, 2009
It's KNIFE-TIME!So, remember back in June when I saw Dr. J and talked about surgery? I eventually decided to try PT instead.
Well, I did PT. For months.
And as I said to Dr. J last week when I saw him again, that shit did not work, so it is KNIFE-TIME!!!
I'm going under the laparoscope the Tuesday before Thanksgiving. Presumably on Turkeyday I will be giving thanks for Vicodin. Those three months of off-the-mat time seemed awful long back in June, but I've been essentially off the mat almost that long while trying PT. My knees actually got worse than they were originally after an initial improvement. Pfffft. You'd think I'd be used to that, as it's an old pattern. Every treatment I've tried for my knees has helped for a bit and then they've gotten bad again. Surgery is the one thing I haven't tried. The big guns, so to speak. Well, my knees are worse now than they've been in about a decade, so it's time to bring out the big guns. I am not having with this nonsense any more.
Curious about what all I'm having done? BEHOLD:
I'm going to have Dr. J from FORM perform laparoscopic Lateral Release on both of my knees, in hopes of fixing my Chondromalacia. I'll be under twilight sleep rather than general anaesthetic, thank goodness (I had to do that for my cyst surgery and was not a fan of the prepwork required).
After the surgery I'll have a 4-week course of physical therapy and then after another couple months of healing, with any luck I'll be back on the mat! WOO HOO! LET'S DO THIS!
June 05, 2009
Quick Knee Update: MRI ResultsSaw Dr. J today (as previously mentioned) to go over my MRI results. The MRI shows no tears or anything, and no signs of arthritis, hooray! However, this does mean that I have classic patella-femoral pain, which has no simple fix. Boo.
He's suggesting that I consider lateral release surgery, which has a very good success rate and a very low chance of making my knees worse. The down side is that even if I do both knees at once to keep recovery time to a minimum, I'd have to be off the Aikido mat for three months.
THREE MONTHS.
Sure, that's not that long, all things considered. But given that I'm training toward my next rank, that's a long time to not be training -- especially since there's backsliding when you're not training, so three months off would set my progress back at least four months or so. So I'm dithering. Trying to decide whether my knees are bad enough to warrant doing the surgery.
May 20, 2009
Knees Update!So, I hit Fremont Orthopedic and Rehabilitative Medicine today for an appointment with Dr. Jauregito. Got a bunch of X-Rays (the tech commented on my familiarity with most of the poses, heh), then met with the doc. He was nice -- very efficient, concise, and friendly. Also up front with me, which I appreciated. He pointed out that my knee issue is one with a lot of different names, which is a bad sign, and a lot of different treatments, which is also a bad sign. Not much progress has been made in the fifteen-plus years since I was diagnosed, which is kind of depressing.
He made an appointment for me to get an MRI and I'm going to meet with him afterward to discuss the result. There's a possibility that I'm developing arthritis in my left knee, which would suck, but he doesn't think that's the case. It's apparently unusual for someone my age to still have as much pain as I do with this sort of condition, but then I've always specialized in being an edge case.
So, next week I get an MRI, and the week after I see him again to discuss what the MRI shows and what my options are. Woo!
May 12, 2009
Chondromalacia Strikes Back!So, as I've bitched about before, I have knee problems. When I was about 12, I was diagnosed with Chondromalacia Patellae, which is a collection of symptoms and has no set treatment or cure. In short, when I do things like climb stairs, run, or ride a bike, it makes my knees hurt. A lot. So does doing nothing, which is really unfair. Or sitting with my legs crossed for too long. Or whatever.
Anyway. They've gotten better over the years -- until recently. I think that all the work I did getting ready for my brown belt exam pissed 'em off and now every little thing sets off the left one, which has always been worse.
So, I'm going to make the rounds. Again.
March 16, 2006
Good griefMan. I always think of awesome things to blog about when I'm commuting, then forget them when I am actually in a position to blog.
My life continues to be insanely busy even without Cinequest. I am currently dealing with:
- Preparations for my birthday party this weekend (cleaning, figuring out what munchies to get, etc)
- Training in Aikido so I can hopefully test some time in the next decade
- Coping with a change in my fibro meds which is making my sleep weird while I acclimate to the new dose
- Dealing with my knees, which have gotten so bad this week that I'm looking into buying a cane (which, for one thing, will aid my curmudgeonly crazy aunt thing I have going on... or would, if I had any neices/nephews)
- Working full time at my awesome "real" job
- Figuring out when to see a movie this weekend since I didn't have a screening on Tuesday (I instead spent the evening watching the final three eps of this season of Battlestar Galactica and all I can say is you sadistic bastards, why do I have to wait until October for the new season goddammit)
- Wishing the freakin' weather would warm up (SNOW? IN MARCH? IN CALIFONIA? WTF???) so I can go back to gardening properly
- Trying to get everything in order so I can move my web clients to a new hosting service
- Resurrecting The Foresite because there's a Foremen "best of" album coming out this month.
- Trying to get my daily meditation practice going again so I don't lose my mind
- Figuring out when I will have time to do my taxes
I think that's everything. Geez. No wonder I'm so tired all the time. At least this weekend will be fun.
File under: Chondromalacia, Fibromyalgia, Pure Ego!
Posted at 12:46 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)December 15, 2005
An open letter to my kneesDear Knees,
I know the rest of my body has been getting most of the attention lately, what with the fibro and all. But that doesn't mean I've forgotten about you and your Chondromalacia! You are still very important to me. I thought you knew that, but the temper tantrums you have been throwing lately suggest that maybe you think you need more attention.
That's okay, but today needs to be the last day you pitch a fit, okay? Waking up with my leg muscles cramping because you hurt so much is not my idea of a good time. I'm going to work from home and ice you at regular intervals, take my ibuprofen, and stretch you a bit. See? Loads and loads of attention and affection. Can this please be the end? All that work on the elliptical machine has really helped my fibro (or at least, it seems better... possibly because you two are hurting more than the rest of my body combined). But if the elliptical really bothers you that much I'll try to find another exercise. Okay? Do we have a deal? Truce?
Love,
EalasaidFile under: Chondromalacia, Fibromyalgia
Posted at 09:38 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)November 23, 2005
Another Fibro postThis is a followup to Fibro 101. So, now that you know what Fibro is like in general, are you wondering what it's like for me?
August 03, 2005
Well, damn.As some of my friends know, I have been having some trouble with joint pain lately (beyond the usual Chondromalacia and Carpal Tunnel pain, I mean).
Today, the rhumatologist told me I have fibromyalgia.
Now, I went through too much crap with my knees to take any doctor's word as OMG TEH TRUTH, so I am going to get a second opinion (hopefully from Kerlan-Jobe, who are awesome).
But it's still depressing. Fibro sucks. I mean, at least she doesn't think it's Lupus, which sucks more, but still.
Feh.
April 22, 2003
Insert witty-but-serious title about pain and relative value here.Last Friday I went on a big-ass hike up in the Santa Cruz mountains. By "big-ass" I mean "eleven miles of up and down with bits of the trail under water or hidden by fallen trees." It totally ruled.
January 26, 2003
Stranger in a Strange LandSo I watched The Superbowl today, along with Antwon and a zillion insane Santa Cruz area folks. Now, my previous experience with football chiefly consisted of watching the Rose Bowl every year and nothing else. Needless to say, watching my first professional game was a bit peculiar. Especially when surrounded by people drinking rum, wearing eye patches and going "yarrrrrrrrrr!" at every possible opportunity.
But it was a lot more fun than I expected. I'm not going to turn into a rabid football fan, but I don't loathe the sport, either. If asked to watch another game with the same group, I would say "sure!" That makes the day a success in my books. :)
And in other news, I totally forgot the Friday Five. I suck.
Text by Ealasaid
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