It's Official...I'm an Athlete...

...Because only athletes get these injuries, right? After seeing my doctor (who I LOVE) today, I found out there are some significant things happening. Some of you may not know that I've been struggling with a knee injury for the past few months and just had an MRI on my knee and back. That's fun when you're claustrophobic. Please read that as sarcasm. This injury makes it hard to walk even four blocks. Two and a half months of physical therapy didn't really do the trick.

So in a nutshell:

1. I have a torn meniscus in my left knee that's 7mm long. She says it's pretty big and that they need to try and repair it if possible. If they can't, they'll cut it???

2. I have no cartilage on the outside of my knee. She says I'm pretty young to have this but it's probably because of my past injury. Three cheers for 9th grade basketball! They are going to first try to do some surgery they use on professional athletes where they drill holes in the bone and allow stem cells to grow (Microfracture?). This is usually 85% successful. If it doesn't work, we'll go about another route with a different surgery.

3. Both these surgeries can be done at the same time and I'll need to be on crutches for a month (dear Lord help me!). The good news - I'm getting it done and I'll be back to myself in a few months. Woohooo!

4. I have a bulging disc in my back pressing on the nerve root which shoots pain down my leg and to my knee. So I'm seeing a back doctor on Monday and they may give me an injection. No surgery and it isn't too bad. It's probably from compensating for my knee (Which I knew. I could be a doctor). We'll see what her colleague says. She wants to get this taken care of first before surgery.

I'm a mess. But at least there are answers. I told her I was afraid I'd go in there and she'd tell me there's nothing wrong. It was the opposite - I have multiple things wrong which explains SO MUCH! Like why I can't walk without wanting to rip my left leg off. I'll admit that I cried after I left and called Mom. I'm not sure why. Maybe a bit of relief knowing what it is and that there's hope for healing. Maybe a bit of sadness that the summer will be about rehab. In the end I will get better and will eventually be able to run along the lake again.