Hello Folks,
Today bright and early I headed to my first session of physical therapy in San Francisco. I was greeted by a young, but buff man who instructed me to fill out paperwork. I had to do it quick since the physio was anxious to get me started. The therapy area is upstairs. Stairs! My mortal enemy right now, but ya to get to my session I had to go up them. Anyways, I've heard a lot of good things about this place so I was eager to get started. I sat down on a table and my physio walked up. Really nice guy, not too hard on the eyes either. After feeling out my knee and doing a few tests he commented that it wasn't as bad as he would have thought. Yes my quad had atrophied a bit. :( Since I pride myself on having strong legs, but he reassured me that he'd get my strength back up by isolating all the leg muscles while not stressing out the knee. He sent me off to do the routine below with an aide. It was not that hard of a workout. I did not push myself too much since I do not really know the limits of my knee. All in all, I felt good afterwards and most of today. I was told no soccer of course and no walking outside of the norm, which is hard since I love to walk and it doesn't really hurt. It's up to me now to do my strengthening homework and give it all I have in my sessions. I still think surgery is inevitable due to the lose cartilage in my knee, but at least I will go into surgery with a strong leg and the proper training to start rehabbing right away. Hopefully I am one day closer to getting Back to Gooooooooool!
Routine:- 10 minutes on spinning bike
- 20 x 3 quad sets
- 15 x 3 quad sets with leg raises
- quad holds on shuttle x 3 sets - basically holding position with knee bent making your quad burn
- 20 x 3 heal raises
- 15 minutes of ice
I am starting a new blog. Why? Well I'm not much of a blogger for everyday life. FB and Twitter are good enough for that, but when I have a journey to go on whether physical or mental I like to record it. What is Back to Gol? It will be my journey back to the pitch.
The Acute Trauma:
On June 6, while playing in a women's soccer tournament I tweaked my knee. It was the last of 3 games of that day. I was marking the best forward on the other team. A through ball went flying up the right flank and she and I were in a blazing foot race. I'd been playing co-ed ball on turf for the last 2 years where no slide tackling was allowed, but something in me clicked and I slid and knocked the ball out of bounds. Unfortunately, I also took the player out and she and I tumbled. I came up with my knee clicking and hurting. As I usually do with midgame clashes, I just shook it off and kept playing. We ended up tying the game. Oh well. The next day with a sore knee I played a morning game. The knee was still hurting, but seemed to feel better when running. After that game things started to shut down. It became very stiff and painful. I was afraid to see the tournament physical trainer, but I felt I had to. He jerked and pulled to test out the ligaments. They were OK thankfully! He massaged the heck out of the IT band and sent me back out on the field. I played one more game. DUMB! That was the end of me. It was real apparent something was wrong because it was really swelling up.
The Diagnosis:
Today, about 1.5 weeks later I went for an MRI. The ortho dr. said my ligaments were good, but only an MRI would show if something else got damaged. I was hopeful, but at the same time I do not have a history of knee issues and when I do have a problem it has led to surgery. Right knee meniscectomy in November of 2006.
I got an MRI on my left knee. The machine was curious. It was just a hole big enough for my leg. I didn't have to be slid into a big tunnel like the past. About an hour after they did the MRI I was in the exam room with the doctor. He went over my films and well he saw some scar tissue from an irregular articular cartilage (the cartilage the covers your femur and tibia kinda like a car cover), but he said he's seen that before, not a big deal. He did see a little tear in my lateral meniscus. He did not opt for surgery right away and just said I should go to rehab and recommended one that's one of the best in the state. Athletes like Jerry Rice have gone there. I was like ok. I can do this. Like 3 weeks of rehab cool. As he filled out my prescription the phone rang and it was the radiologist with a report on my MRI.
Now you know it's not good when he has to get the films out and again and follow what the person is saying on the phone. That irregular looking cartilage he showed me turns out to be irregular because I chipped a piece of cartilage that was now free floating in my knee. Thus raising my chances of surgery. Lovely! I knew then that PT wasn't going to do it. I mean something floating in your knee is like a rock in your shoe. You never know when it's going to pop out and bug you, but it's there.
In conclusion, I am still headed to rehab. Mostly because I want the pain to go away and I have such a busy schedule that having surgery would not be good until mid-July. Maybe there is a chance my knee gets better with rehab. I mean it will no doubt, but will I be back to Gol..... that is left to be seen.
