R.I.C.E. The recipe for recovery success

After struggling with knee pain for the last year or so I couldn't take it any longer and had knee surgery on Feb. 23. I started training for a half marathon about this time last year. When I first started running I felt great! No pain in my knee for the first time in a long time. Then I went to a running clinic to improve my form and instead of improving it seemed to cause more problems than good. I started to have pain in my foot which I have never had before and then my knee pain started. I continued to train as the pain was only prevalent when I was running. But as the mileage increased and the pain lasted days after a long run, then progressed to pain all the time.

It was time to do something. I had x-rays done which showed nothing other than some arthritis was developing. I continued to finish my training as the half was fast approaching. The week before the half marathon I had so much pain in my knee I could hardly walk. The worst part of all of that was I was in San Francisco walking everywhere and supporting my dad in his swim from Alcatraz! At the finish of the swim, I ended up standing in the ocean to get the best pics and soaked my only pair of shoes. Not wanting to just wear flippity's (flip flops as they are called at my house) with no support with my knee pain as I walked back to the hotel I saw a shoe store and decided that I needed a new pair of shoes. I went in, saw a pink pair I thought looked nice, told them my size and attempted to try them on. I really didn't try them on long. Here's why, not wanting to make a nuisance of myself that my feet were soaked and I was leaving puddles just standing there, as I slipped off my soaked shoe I left a good portion of the beach there on the floor. Not wanting to add to much sand to the new shoes I slipped it on with my wet foot, noticed my toes didn't rub the end and said I'd take them. I bought a new pair of dry socks to go with them. Bam! Less than 10 minutes in and out with a new pair of shoes. My knee began to feel a little better with the new shoes.

I questioned whether or not I should even run the half the pain was so intense. But I had trained so hard and had traveled across the country! With the new shoes the pain lessened and I decided to do the half and did them in those pink shoes. Ever since the half I have had constant knee pain and I haven't run since the half. I came home had a MRI which showed I had tendinosis of the patella retinaculum and decided it was time to try physical therapy. The first time I went to PT it seemed to make my knee pain a lot worse and they gave up and threw in the towel.

My next step was to visit an orthopedic doctor. He palpated my knee and thought I might have a plica. He wanted me to give PT another go and see if it made any difference and follow up with him in a month. The second round of PT was much better than the first, I tried a different location but I still had a constant ache in my knee and was not able to exercise. At my follow-up appointment it was decided that arthroscopic surgery was the way to go and I scheduled it that day.

The surgery went well. They examined the integrity of all my ligaments and menisci were examined. There was no sign of arthritis, the plica which Doc said was huge and inflamed was removed. My PCL, the stability ligament in my knee is loose from an injury about 10 years ago when it was partially torn, but it is stable. No further surgery is required to repair it. Hooray! I came home with crutches but never used them.

Brooklyn was very concerned about crutches. She had told me that if I came home with crutches she would cry and run and hide. She also said she'd rather that I be in a wheelchair than to have crutches. Eric helped me in the house after surgery then went back out to the car to get the other things and brought in the crutches. As soon as Brooklyn saw them her heart sank and she clouded over and covered herself up with a blanket. I had the bright idea to let her decorate them with stickers. One crutch for each girl out came the stickers and I have the fanciest crutches ever.

Recovery has gone well with lots of rest. Thank goodness my mom could come to town and run the fort. The only hiccup was I had some calf pain that I thought was probably just muscular stiffness from walking funny and a couple extreme charlie horses, but decided it best with my family history of blood clots to get it checked out. After a trip to the ER and a Doppler ultrasound no blood clots were found. Now a week and a half post-op, stitches has been removed. I can now shower without wrapping my knee in saran-wrap to prevent infection in the knee joint. I'm almost walking normally. I still have some swelling and pain but overall it hasn't been near as bad as when I tore my PCL 10 years ago. Lots of rest, ice, and elevation for me. The doctor and I are confident that the plica is the culprit of my knee pain. Now we'll just have to give it some time to heal and test it out on the roads.