Dammit

Well, I’ve had a setback. I dislocated my knee while trying to go downstairs while holding my son. Thankfully I was able to fall backwards and he was completely unharmed. But my knee, not so much.

My knee first dislocated when I was 12, while on a ladder, while performing in a play. No joke. I’ve had bad knees forever it seems. I have also been overweight forever it seems.

I should go to the doctor and have them do all the tests to see how bad it is. It’s swollen and painful, but I can walk, I haven’t lost any feeling in my leg, there’s no bruising, and the kneecap slipped back in after only a few seconds. I’m sure I’ve done some ligament damage, but I didn’t hear or feel a pop, so it’s not severed. I’ve severed a muscle before in my calf and it felt like a bunch of rubber bands broke from tension. So weird and so painful.

The proper term for my knee problems is Patellar Instability and Patellofemoral Pain Syndrome. Essentially I have loose ligaments around my knee. My knee was recently made weaker from all the stairs I’ve been climbing unloading stuff from mom’s basement. It’s super easy to dislocate my knees – particularly my left one. It usually happens when my left foot is planted and the rest of my body turns right. Most often my knee only slips a little then goes right back in place (subluxation) – more disturbing than painful. But this time I was holding my son and trying to navigate around our babygate at the top of the stairs, and wham, full dislocation and immediate severe pain.

So I should go to the doctor and confirm all this, but this is America. I have insurance, but it won’t cover everything. My deductible is $5,000. Plus I have to take time off work to go the appointments, and I don’t feel like my work would be too happy with me. I already have knee braces and a cane. Plus, I know the source of the problem already, I’m obese. I’m working on it, but I still wake up obese every day.

My plan is to take it easy for a while to let it heal, then start some physical therapy on my own. After I lose more weight, I will join a gym and get a personal trainer with experience in joint injury recovery/physical therapy.

Of course, if I heard of this happening to anyone else I would tell them to immediately go to the doctor and get it looked at. Screw the money and the time, your health comes first and it could be worse than you think. You could possibly prevent future damage by getting it seen to now. Your Googling does not equate to a medical degree. Don’t be a dolt!

Okay, time to post this and get back to work.