Knee deep debacles
The problem I can find with blogging, is thinking of anything to write about in the first place. So as I take five minutes out to think about the next topic, I grab my red resistance band to help stretch out my injured knee… Eureka: That’s it!
The young ones
Let me explain… I’ve been running Deportivo; a five-a-side footy team for *does calculations* christ, 15 years! I was in my mid-twenties back when we formed; entering the league as the ‘young ones’… we’re now the ‘old ones’, as we get rounder and slower; opponents get younger and quicker!
Not quite ready to join a walking league; it was playing for Deportivo, just over 10 weeks ago, when it happened. It was us in our dark blue shirts, vs another team in white. As we battled it out in the Bhasvic Arena (sports hall), there was a 50-50 ball that I stretched out to win. As my right foot made contact with the ball, I kinda stood on the back of it, causing my leg to go one way, as my knee went the other…
‘POP!’ - My knee felt like something had come out of somewhere it shouldn’t. I couldn’t move; instantly fearing the worst. Remember that scene in Alien, where it pops out the guy’s chest, well imagine the chest was my knee… that’s what it felt like, minus the blood!
Fellow players look on after my latest knee injury!
To make things worse, it happened to the same knee I had done my Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) on about 10 years previous. For the non-ballers out there, tearing your ACL is probably one of the worst injuries you can do. It puts you out of action for around 6 to 9 months and usually requires surgery, then heaps of physio, not something I wanted to go through again.
l couldn’t put any weight on my leg, so was carried out the hall. Walking home wasn’t an option either, so my team-mate Pearcebot played the role of ambulance; getting me back in one - albeit slightly damaged - piece. I got ice on it straight away; hoping for the best.
The next morning my knee was like a beach ball… I couldn’t move, or bend my leg at all. Barnesy, my paramedic mate advised lots of icing, compression and elevation (ICE).
Fast forward two weeks, with no luck getting through to my local GP, I arranged an online appointment through an app called Livi, where I explained the situ and my symptoms. The doctor was happy no ACL tear, so to continue with the ICE. Skip another four weeks, and with no major improvements, it was time to get some real eyes on it.
Reaching out
I booked in for an assessment with Nicola at Reach Physiotherapy. As I hobbled through the door, I expected no sympathy (as I’ve known her through her sis for over 20 years). Laying on one of them special beds where you can lay face down and look at the floor, she got to work…
“AGGGH, OWWW, JESUS!” I screamed, as she started squeezing, pressing and elbowing my knee back into place! Nothing she hadn’t heard before I’m sure. As long as I didn’t cry, that would defo get back to her sister. “Stay strong Florez” I thought… then she got some needles out: I hate needles! I couldn’t feel them go into my leg, but I could feel the reactions. It was a weird sensation, as parts of my leg started pulsing. I’d just been Acupuncture-d!
After about 45 minutes of fist-biting, eye-watering moments - her conclusion was I had dislocated my knee cap. That would explain the pop bit, where the bones in the knee joint disconnected. As that news sunk in, she applied some of that RockTape you usually see The Rock wearing, to help support and keep things where they should be. I was a little dubious, but as I walked home that evening; my knee felt a hundred times better!
Ouchy
The road to recovery
With a set of exercises to do every morning and night, my path to comeback was set…
Cue Rocky IV style montage:
〰️
Cue Rocky IV style montage: 〰️
WFH on my sofa, with knee strapped in ice;
Buying a Neenca (my Robocop like knee support);
Going to the gym (starting with lightest weights, slowly increasing each visit);
New gym trainers arriving (motivational boosters!);
Leg stretching exercises (in bed);
Extra physio, Acupuncture and RockTape;
More leg-stretching (on the sofa);
Me picking up the pace to catch a bus (small wins)
Tip-toeing into the sea, speeding up them body healing mechanisms (brrr!)
Extra time
10 weeks on since that alien-esque gorefest, I’ve still not thought about kicking a ball, but the knee feels way stronger, with far less remindful twinges of pain. I can even start straightening my leg, so hopefully I’ll be jogging, then running, then playing again in the next few months.
Part of me thinks this might be my bodies way of calling me to hang up my boots? If that’s the case, it’s dialling the wrong number. As for this entry? They think it’s all over… it is now!
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