I kneed more physical therapy.

I'm lame, I know.

So...I saw the sports medicine guy today. I'm going to call him B-dog, just for funsies. Really, his name is Dr. Patrick Birmingham, and you will find him to the left. He was a nice guy...he didn't talk down to me, which a lot of doctors have a tendency to do to their patients in general, so that was good.

When I arrived, I first had to have some x-rays taken. I saw the doctor shortly afterward. He translated my knee a bunch, which wasn't the most pleasant, but I survived (I was actually kind of afraid he was going to pop something out or hurt me...not in a fearful way...but just in the way he was contorting my leg around). He said my injury was, "pretty impressive." He thinks that when I was in my car accident almost nine years ago, I partially tore the PCL on the left and because the injuries on the right were so significant, it got overlooked. Then, when I tripped and fell on February 26th, it tore the rest of the way. So, for nine years, I've most likely been walking around with a torn PCL, apparently. The reason he thinks this is because the damage done to my knee was almost too significant for a simple fall of two feet and that PCL injuries are usually seen either in football injuries or from knees hitting the dashboard in car accidents. And, as much as I would've liked to have been tackling the boys out on the field...it wasn't so.

The Plan
Going into this appointment, I had done about four weeks of physical therapy. Overall, I don't feel like it's helping me. It's basically strength training, so I do feel like it's making me stronger, obviously, but that's about it. I don't feel pain relief at all. I feel as though the instability issues have gotten better, but I think that's largely due to the fact that I wear a huge black brace on my leg for the vast majority of the day, so my knee can't give out. Maybe it would give out if I wasn't wearing the brace. I mean, a few weeks ago, I rolled over in bed one morning and the entire joint just slid apart. It was disgusting (and very painful) and the first time that's ever happened when I wasn't bearing weight (also, I don't wear the brace when I sleep...coincidence?).

Dr. Birmingham wants me to do more PT. I wonder what the record is as far as length of time someone's been in PT. Let's see...I did PT from August '02-January '03 at home...and then January '03-May '03 in La Crosse...and now April '11-July '11...hmmm...not impressive. I thought I will have done it for way longer. It certainly feels that way.

Anyway...the reason he wants me to do more therapy is to strengthen not only the quad, but to engage the hip and ankle as well. And, I guess once you tear your PCL, unlike the ACL, it will (are you ready for it?) never be 100% again, even with surgery. Isn't that something? It's true. Your knee will never again be aligned properly.

As for my patella...once the patella dislocates, there's a 50/50 chance it will happen again. So...for the time being, he's not going to do anything about it. PT should help keep it from slipping out of place. If it dislocates a second time, he'll figure out a course of treatment.

I have to say, I wish I was having surgery. Not that I'm some kind of surgery-fiend or anything like that. I just wish there was a simple, surgical solution. Like...appendicitis. You have an appendectomy. Problem, solution. Not this. This is going to be a lifelong issue, now. I mean, I'm not going to be in PT for the rest of my life, but I'm definitely going to have to strength train for the rest of my life (which I should probably do anyway, so I guess this is as good an excuse as any), because once those muscles get weak, the joint will become unstable and that's when problems will start.

I go back to see the good doctor in two months.