Today seems like a good day to start this (yet another!) blog, as I've just returned from "Dr Knee", who informed me that, amongst other things:
I don't have an ACL in my right knee, and it has been gone for some time?!
To say I was a little surprised is an understatement...
Don't get me wrong, I am well aware of my dodgy knee; I just didn't realise how dodgy it had got...
To rewind a bit, and give a little history of "the dodgy Bergman knee", and indeed, reason for the blog's name... My dad (Harold Bergman) had dodgy knees (played a lot of sport - tennis, hockey, rugby, cricket, and ultimately, the old-man sport, golf!, so it could've been from any of them), both my brothers have "the dodgy Bergman knee", again from various sporting incidents, my sis dislocated hers whilst ten-pin bowling - yes, ten-pin bowling - popped right out and stayed there with her leg sticking out at a right-angle (I vividly remember her being carried into hospital, bouncing on this big fat man's belly), so she ended up being the first of the Bergmans to undergo knee surgery... My niece, who is very much a 'mini me' (poor thing!), has "the dodgy Bergman knee" and has popped hers playing basketball, etc...
Enter the youngest (nee - no pun intended!) Bergman - yours truly...
I first popped my knee (but it came back into the socket, tearing my MCL along the way and leg back in its rightful place!) when I was playing high school softball, ca 1989... I'd hit the ball, run to first base, en route feeling a 'pop' mid-air, landed, slid into first base (declared "safe" by the ump - thank you very much!), the pitcher was getting ready to pitch again, and I was getting ready to stand up again, when I realised I couldn't actually do that...
Harumph... 10 minutes later, I was carried by two boys up to the office, who, being boys, weren't concerned about the fact that I was wearing a short skirt, and well, had my 'legs akimbo' to the world... I remember telling them to close my legs without out ripping my knee... it was problematic to be ladylike and pain-free at the same time...
So, a rapidly swelling knee, doctor's appointment, xrays and analysis later, I encountered my first MCL and ACL problem...
I have since dislocated the same knee - playing tennis (reaching for a volley - yes, I still remember it!), then hockey (running on an uneven surface), "walking down the stairs" in Dublin, a 'friendly' game of volleyball and/or near-misses (where I can feel it about to pop out, and it pops quickly back in)... Suffice to say, it is pretty fragile/'loose' and I am very tentative with it...
Fastforward to 2009 when I was finally able to fulfill my life-long dream of doing the Inca Trail, I was doing a bit of extra cardio stuff to increase my fitness... I was doing kickboxing, mainly for cardio/upper body strength and therefore not going too hard on the 'kick' part... All was going well until the instructor decided to 'shake up the class a bit' - for variety I suspect... and he had us doing 'warm-up' runs...
Firstly (and evidently), I am not a runner! Secondly, it was on CONCRETE...
Within two weeks, my 'good knee' - Mr Left - was clicking, locking when I walked, not happy... I tend to favour my left (due to Mr Right's history), so I suspect I was pounding the pavement harder on that side... Who knows...
With the trip a month away, I went to my gp for a quick check on how I might go doing the climb and/or which drugs I might need...
I was referred to the guru of all knee gurus - more on him later - who, after "a short history of the Bergman knee" and some MRIs on my left knee only, informed me that I had:
"chondromalacia patellae with linear full thickness chondral fissuring overlying the mid apex of patella with underlying T2 hypertense marrow edema..."
Which sounds exotic, but is basically, irritated cartilage/some loose 'flaps', some fissures and swelling in the bone... hooray! It was described on my medical certificate as 'moderate severe' - ?!
He suggested a 'cartilage transplant and/ or biopsy, where they take a bit of your cartilage, grow it in a petri dish for six months and pop it back in - just like that! It's more of a preventative thing, to save a full reconstruction/further damage down the track...
So, I did the trip okay - yay! - with lots of painkillers (some were actually 'too' hard core for my stomach!) and the usual swelling knees I get whenever I do any exercise - other than yoga... Thank buddha for yoga...
Sadly, I put down the tennis racquet, and in fact, any 'fun', multi-lateral exercise... for 18 months...
So, onto 2011...
We decided 'this was the year' for knee surgery 'if need be', as we've got a pretty quiet year ahead - for our standards, anyway...
So a few weeks ago we re-visited "Dr Knee" to see if I could a) play tennis again, b) attend a yoga retreat in a couple of weeks, c) go skiing in August and d) just for general interest of 'where my knees are at'...
After a physical examination (telling me I had 'squinting patellae' - ie like squinting eyes, they sit slightly inwards, so have a natural tendency to pop out because of the 'vector force'!) and general chat/18 months catch-up, he said, "it all looks pretty good, I wouldn't suggest surgery... but let's get some MRIs to be sure, and some normal xrays."
I said, "would I be able to get my right knee done, just to see where it's at, seeing as it's my 'historically bad' knee?"
He agreed.
With this good news in mind, I decided I would be able to play tennis again (MRI results pending) and phoned the Queensland Tennis Centre to register for fixtures grading...
I got my racquet re-strung, attended the grading session - with both knees heavily strapped! - and despite not having hit a ball for 18 months, I didn't do too badly... I felt some ligament twinges on my left side, was a little 'tight' from not having played at all and my shots weren't 'the best' (though I have to mention that I did actually ace a GUY!), but overall, not too bad... all things considered...
But being realistic, and knowing how I used to play and how I wanted to play, I came home, looked at my husband and said, "hmmm, I don't know if I'll be able to do this."
But I slept on it... and the thought of 'not playing' or having to play 'with those terrible social ladies types' (sorry to any mid-week tennis ladies, but I just prefer the competitive/aggressive style!) made me decide to play and I had to confirm by midday.
I rang Dr Knee to get his approval...
In the meantime, I emailed the centre and said, "Yes, I will play, but let me just get confirmation from my doctor before I pay up."
A few minutes later, the doctor's receptionist returned my call with his response - which was read out from the notes on the post-it note pictured...
:(
Suffice to say, having had my hopes up, I was GUTTED...
24 hours later, with the shock over, I decided, 'that's okay, that's what I thought he would've said the first time, let's just see what he says at the official follow-up appointment...'
Which brings me, FINALLY - sorry! - to TODAY...
As I said in the beginning of this post, Dr Knee just told me that, yes, as expected, the MRIs showed that my left knee has chrondomalacia patella... and some flaps (loose bits of cartilage) and an ulcer... and a cartilage biopsy is recommended 'when I'm ready'...
More pressing, however, is that my right knee does not, and indeed, has not for some time, got an ACL! It's goneski! I just have a 'nubbin'... isn't that like a third boob, er, nipple?
I can't believe I don't have an ACL and didn't know! I've travelled lots, climbed mountains, done lotsa 'stuff' and I never bloody knew... I wonder how long ago it 'went', how I did it, where I did it, and when it absorbed back into my knee guff... I'm very curious about this missing ACL...
It's very common I know, but it's just a bit of surprise!
And an ACL reconstruction (using my hamstring) is recommended... as soon as 'I' think necessary and/or it fits in with our life...
So that's where we're at...
More about Dr Knee himself (cos he really is worth a post on its own!) soon...
And more about 'the journey ahead', if indeed, we do go down this lovely road...
