My blog about knitting, teaching, and being a mother to two energetic young boys.

Friday, March 12, 2010

Here I Go Again....

Getting old & playing soccer turns out to be a deadly combination. About a month ago, while playing 5 v 5 soccer in the O35 (over 35) league, I twisted my knee. Now I've had several knee injuries (read: 3 ACL repairs over the last 19 years), so I'm no stranger to the warning signs that something just "isn't right". Overall soccer is a sport prone to knee injuries - especially in women. There's a great book called "Warrior Girls" which discusses this 'epidemic' and what coaches and parents can do about it (read: diversity in sport, strength training!). Since my last ACL repair 5 years ago, I've tried to "be good" & keep my legs strong, do other low impact sports such as hockey & cross country skiing while limiting the amount of serious soccer playing. I only returned to league play ("old people league") just last year & was feeling great!

So - bad luck struck & during a routine defensive play, when I went to clear the ball, I planted my left foot on an opposing player's foot & ended up tearing the medial meniscus of my knee. The injury is known throughout the orthopedic set as a "bucket handle tear" because the meniscus folds over & looks like the handle of a bucket. Not only is it painful, but the meniscus gets trapped in the knee joint & prohibits the leg from fully extending. After a couple of weeks on crutches the pain eventually subsided, but I still walked with a noticeable limp. Skiing, ice skating, & general outdoor play were put on hold.

An MRI confirmed my amateur diagnosis & my doctor's suspicion, so the plan was to check out the damage through arthroscopy. There were two possible outcomes dependent on where the tear was located within the medial meniscus: 1) Totally trim out the damaged area or 2) Repair the tear with sutures. Trimming meant a shorter recovery, but more wear & tear of the surface cartilage within the knee. Repairing was dependent if there was a suitable blood supply in the region of damage & requires a much longer recovery period.

Turns out the latter was my case. The good news is that I don't lose any of the meniscus, so I may stave off arthritis of my knee for a longer period of time. The not-so-good news is that I'm confined to crutches and a brace with limited weight bearing for several weeks. I should be up for "light hiking" by June. Coaching JV soccer this season will be impossible, which is kind of a bummer, but also a load lifted from my shoulders during the very busy end of the school year. I guess this also frees up my time for more knitting!!

Speaking of knitting... I hope everyone's experience with hospital staff has been as positive as mine have been. My surgery yesterday was no exception - my prep nurse, surgical nurse, anesthesiologist & of course my orthopedic surgeon were fantastic. They made me as comfortable as possible & were so kind. The best part came in the recovery room. While I'm slowly waking up I could hear the recovery nurse talk about knitting. Well - that put my radar on full alert & helped me wake up more quickly. I told her that I too was a knitter & asked if she was on ravelry. Of course she was! So - we spent the last bit of my wake-up period surfing each other's ravelry profiles in the recovery room! Pretty fun! It was a slow day for the day surgery team (about 1/2 as many cases as usual) so there was no neglect to other non-knitters.

Well - off to elevate & ice. I hope to have some knitting photos to share soon.

Ciao!

5 comments:

Katrina said...

Hey you!

Glad that they were able to patch things up. Will be praying for a speedy recovery.

Happy knitting!!! :)

pdxknitterati/MicheleLB said...

Ouch! But glad you're on the mend. Take care of yourself, don't over-do, and knit on!

Teena in Toronto said...

I hope you feel better soon.

Happy blogoversary!

Diana said...

Listen to your doctors advice, always and when your ready for some light hiking, I'd be glad to join you.

Holly Jo said...

I am glad your knee is getting taken care of, but slowing down is hard. Enjoy the time with the needles.