Building A Better Bumblebee

nkrichards wrote:

Mark B wrote:Five carbs is definitely not much. Glad it's working for you.

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So, the MRI is done. It was one of the older "open" models that made me flash back to the closing scene in "Terminator" with the giant crushing machine. I was waiting for the top to end up being a piston and the lower half of my body suddenly becoming 2D.

The tech said a radiologist won't get around to reviewing it until Monday. When I asked if I could peek at it, he said no, he'd already sent it. Hmph.

Waiting is not going to be fun...

It would have been interesting to get a look at it before it disappeared into the electronic world.

Here's hoping it's going to be a short and simple recovery!

Mark's good at waiting.    Besides, with all the slices taken, how much could he really discern, unless there's a big red arrow pointing at the defect with the words "He's SOL!!!  BIG money maker!!!!!"  If his doc is an orthopedist, then the doc will want to look at it anyway because sometimes radiologists miss something.

nkrichards wrote:

Mark B wrote:Five carbs is definitely not much. Glad it's working for you.

---

So, the MRI is done. It was one of the older "open" models that made me flash back to the closing scene in "Terminator" with the giant crushing machine. I was waiting for the top to end up being a piston and the lower half of my body suddenly becoming 2D.

The tech said a radiologist won't get around to reviewing it until Monday. When I asked if I could peek at it, he said no, he'd already sent it. Hmph.

Waiting is not going to be fun...

It would have been interesting to get a look at it before it disappeared into the electronic world.

Here's hoping it's going to be a short and simple recovery!

Thanks, Nancy! Me, too.

One thing is for certain. This enforced idleness is building up such a powerful hunger to be out there. I am being reminded of just how much it means to explore and experience the world and all it has to offer.

Mark B wrote:

nkrichards wrote:

Mark B wrote:Five carbs is definitely not much. Glad it's working for you.

---

So, the MRI is done. It was one of the older "open" models that made me flash back to the closing scene in "Terminator" with the giant crushing machine. I was waiting for the top to end up being a piston and the lower half of my body suddenly becoming 2D.

The tech said a radiologist won't get around to reviewing it until Monday. When I asked if I could peek at it, he said no, he'd already sent it. Hmph.

Waiting is not going to be fun...

It would have been interesting to get a look at it before it disappeared into the electronic world.

Here's hoping it's going to be a short and simple recovery!

Thanks, Nancy! Me, too.

One thing is for certain. This enforced idleness is building up such a powerful hunger to be out there.  I am being reminded of just how much it means to explore and experience the world and all it has to offer.

It could be worse.

ounce wrote:

Mark B wrote:

nkrichards wrote:

Mark B wrote:Five carbs is definitely not much. Glad it's working for you.

---

So, the MRI is done. It was one of the older "open" models that made me flash back to the closing scene in "Terminator" with the giant crushing machine. I was waiting for the top to end up being a piston and the lower half of my body suddenly becoming 2D.

The tech said a radiologist won't get around to reviewing it until Monday. When I asked if I could peek at it, he said no, he'd already sent it. Hmph.

Waiting is not going to be fun...

It would have been interesting to get a look at it before it disappeared into the electronic world.

Here's hoping it's going to be a short and simple recovery!

Thanks, Nancy! Me, too.

One thing is for certain. This enforced idleness is building up such a powerful hunger to be out there.  I am being reminded of just how much it means to explore and experience the world and all it has to offer.

It could be worse.

Could be much worse.

At the moment, I'm sitting out another day hoping 1) the radiologist reviews the MRI soon, 2) the radiologist gets information to my doctor, and 3) that my doctor gets in touch with me. I'm eager to hear but not optimistic that it'll happen.

I'm playing it super-safe because it'd be really unfortunate if I tried to do something and worsened the situation.

Pestered my doc, which got my MRI report shaken loose.

Here it is: Mostly good news, as I interpret it. No tears or ruptures. Solid! That's good. A cyst in the knee, which can't be ideal, and some softening of my medical meniscus cartilage at a level not unexpected for someone of my age and activity level.

I'm asking to see their sports medicine people to get a good plan to verify the assessment and get a plan going forward.

Here's the report, if you have a medical dictionary handy.



FINDINGS:  


MEDIAL COMPARTMENT:  Meniscus has myxoid degeneration without superimposed
tear.  MCL is intact.  No osteochondral defect.  No bone marrow edema. 
There is a small Baker's cyst 4.7 cm in length and 6 mm in thickness.



LATERAL COMPARTMENT:  Meniscus has some central myxoid degeneration.  Mid
aspect of posterior horn meniscus has oblique linear signal that does not
definitely extend to articular surface and may reflect a focal myxoid
degeneration or volume averaging artifact rather than a focal
intrasubstance tear (image 17/9).  There is slight irregularity
weight-bearing tibiofemoral cartilage heterogeneity and irregularity.  No
underlying bone marrow edema.  Lateral support structures are intact.



NOTCH   ACL and PCL are intact.



ANTERIOR COMPARTMENT :  Quadriceps and patellar tendons are are grossly
intact.  Proximal patellar tendon has increased T2-weighted signal and
mild anterior prepatellar edema which may reflect a combination of
tendinosis and mild tendinitis.  There is mild increased signal distal
quadriceps tendon.  No patellar bone marrow edema.  Left facet patellar
has moderate cartilage loss along the inferior aspect.  Medial facet
patellar cartilage is heterogeneous.  There is mild lateral patellar
subluxation.  Small patellar osteophytes are present.  There is a small
joint effusion.
 
 

IMPRESSION:

1.  No ligamentous tear are intact.  No bone marrow edema.


2.  Posterior horn lateral meniscus focal indeterminate signal
abnormality, as above.  Menisci are otherwise unremarkable.


3.  Proximal patellar tendinosis with possible superimposed tendinitis and
prepatellar edema.  Can correlate clinically.


4.  Moderate lateral patellar cartilage loss/chondromalacia and mild
patellar subluxation.


5.  Small joint effusion and Baker's cyst.

So, two questions on this post.

Other than the medial side, where did the Baker cyst originate and is the size nothing, something, or in between?

Can the knee cap be better contained?

ounce wrote:So, two questions on this post.

Other than the medial side, where did the Baker cyst originate and is the size nothing, something, or in between?

Can the knee cap be better contained?

Excellent questions, Ounce. Let me try to answer them.

1) They described the size of the cyst as "small" - though 4.3 cm x 0.6 mm doesn't seem all that small to me. It's created by excessive synovial fluid in the joint itself. My doctor's interpretation is that it's the result of a small amount of edema (swelling) in the knee and, as he put it, a temporary message from my body to "take it easy." Is he right? I don't know. The radiologist's report did not say what was actually feeding the cyst (it should be connected), so this is my doc's best guess. He has a habit of guessing wrong, so that's why I'm asking to see the sports medicine folks.

2)  Maybe, but maybe not. The kneecap is already damaged from a nasty bout of "derangement" I experienced back in 2000. I had arthroscopic surgery that cleaned up some of the gunk in my knee and purposefully weakened my lateral retinaculum to allow my kneecap to move back into the groove. So to for excessive wear to show up in the MRI is no surprise to me. "Subluxation" is a partial derangement/dislocation, and lateral subluxation. It's not ideal, but it can be controlled to some extent by working on the vastus medialis muscle (the quad on the inside edge of the knee) and making sure it balances out with the quad on the lateral side, the vastus lateralus. That can be done by knee extension work, but also by simple isometrics, which I've resumed.

The only sad thing is my doc blithely suggested deep water running in a pool, which nice... if I had a close and cost-effective option available. I have neither, so that's a no-go for me.  

To bad you don't have access to a pool...

Not sure I understand all the medical jargon but it doesn't sound terrible.  The cyst would make me nervous.  It will be interesting to hear what the sports doctor says.

Hang in there...I know it's tough when you can't get out and do what you want to do.

nkrichards wrote:To bad you don't have access to a pool...

Not sure I understand all the medical jargon but it doesn't sound terrible.  The cyst would make me nervous.  It will be interesting to hear what the sports doctor says.

Hang in there...I know it's tough when you can't get out and do what you want to do.

It doesn't sound too bad, actually. It's still a bit of a mystery as to what actually caused the pain, but I hope the sports medicine folks can help me understand that. Playing email exchange with my PCP doesn't give a lot of opportunity for follow-up questions.

The only pools around here are associated with health clubs, and those are too expensive for us.

XT: Core and Calf Work

Backed the reps down today to ease into this. (I might have gotten a little carried away last week.)

1 x 50 each, each side: Clamshells, Side Leg Lifts, Leg Circles
1 x 50 bridges
5 minutes each leg, single-leg stance
1 x 50 double-leg heel raises

Windy Walk: 1 mile

Weather: Overcast, 20 mph wind gusting to 30 mph. A bit of rain to make it even more interesting.

Well, that was a different walk. We have a windstorm blowing through, and I couldn't resist the temptation to head out for a short walk as I ease back into things. I didn't expect sideways rain while I was at it. Kind of problematic in work clothes.

Walking into the wind felt like wading through water. It wasn't cold, so it was actually kind of fun.

I walked out and jogged a decent part of the way back as the rain picked up.

The bad news, the back of my pants are pretty damp. The good news is that my knee didn't seem to mind either walking or the easy trot. My hips were a little tight at first, but they loosened up quickly.

Crossing fingers!

The wind/weather in Portland...and during my drive home today was nasty.  There were limbs all over the road on the way back over the mountain.

Encouraging to hear that you knee coped with the walk/jog this afternoon.

Thought about you as I was running this morning and had to check myself quickly after hitting an ice patch - no issue here, but I was wondering if you have an update on that knee?

We have that same wind here most winter days (guess that is what I get for living on Lake Erie).  This morning it was 23F with a 20 mph wind and snow showers - oh joy!

nkrichards wrote:The wind/weather in Portland...and during my drive home today was nasty.  There were limbs all over the road on the way back over the mountain.

Encouraging to hear that you knee coped with the walk/jog this afternoon.

And it was fine today, too! Woot! I felt even better after my sports medicine visit today, which I'll detail in a moment.

Michele \"1L" Keane wrote:Thought about you as I was running this morning and had to check myself quickly after hitting an ice patch - no issue here, but I was wondering if you have an update on that knee?

We have that same wind here most winter days (guess that is what I get for living on Lake Erie).  This morning it was 23F with a 20 mph wind and snow showers - oh joy!

Hi, Michele! Glad you kept all your body parts intact. Those stupid little slips are the worst! (Oh, and Brr.)

As for the knee, it's recovering. I had a medicine with a sports medicine doctor today, and after twisting and torquing and poking and prodding, his plain-speak assessment was that I'd pissed off the cartilage on the backside of the kneecap.

In short, it'll recover, though I ought to avoid steep climbs as it settles down, because that'll likely piss it off again.

So that's good to know, but maybe even more importantly was new insight he gave about some core inflexibility and/or weakness that's throwing off my pelvic alignment. I don't know if I've ever mentioned it before, but it has seemed that I've been leading with the right side of my hip when I ran. It turns out, there was something to that... except the issue wasn't on the right side leading: It's on the LEFT side lagging.

Whether it's core weakness, inflexibility or both (probably both), my pelvis rotates laterally on the left side when it should be stable. That messes with the adductors on my right side, which have also been bothering me (getting me a sports hernia diagnosis) and should resolve as I get everything properly aligned.

He gave me some different stretches and strengthening work to get it all squared away. I'm sure that'll be quite comical.

One other thing: He also noted chondromalacia of the right patella (fancy term for pissed off kneecap cartilage), but he also noted that the groove that's supposed to serve as a track for the kneecap is kind of shallow in me, which makes the kneecap more likely to move side-to-side. Definitely good to keep those stabilizing muscles strong!

Good decision to schedule a visit with the sports medicine doctor.  Sounds like you got a lot of valuable information.  Glad to hear the knee isn't anything to serious.  Interesting info about the pelvic rotation as well...you got your money's worth.  Hope the exercises help.

nkrichards wrote:Good decision to schedule a visit with the sports medicine doctor.  Sounds like you got a lot of valuable information.  Glad to hear the knee isn't anything to serious.  Interesting info about the pelvic rotation as well...you got your money's worth.  Hope the exercises help.

It was definitely worth the co-pay. I like sports medicine docs (and PTs) because they have a better understanding of the many wild and unusual ways human bodies are put together sometimes. As usual, my freaky feet came into the conversation, as well as my well-documented tendency to recruit the wrong muscle to perform an action.

I'll be putting the knee to the test in about an hour for a dynamic testing session at Nike. Hoping it goes well.

Mark B wrote:

nkrichards wrote:Good decision to schedule a visit with the sports medicine doctor.  Sounds like you got a lot of valuable information.  Glad to hear the knee isn't anything to serious.  Interesting info about the pelvic rotation as well...you got your money's worth.  Hope the exercises help.

It was definitely worth the co-pay. I like sports medicine docs (and PTs) because they have a better understanding of the many wild and unusual ways human bodies are put together sometimes. As usual, my freaky feet came into the conversation, as well as my well-documented tendency to recruit the wrong muscle to perform an action.

I'll be putting the knee to the test in about an hour for a dynamic testing session at Nike. Hoping it goes well.

Are you still in warranty?

ounce wrote:

Mark B wrote:

nkrichards wrote:Good decision to schedule a visit with the sports medicine doctor.  Sounds like you got a lot of valuable information.  Glad to hear the knee isn't anything to serious.  Interesting info about the pelvic rotation as well...you got your money's worth.  Hope the exercises help.

It was definitely worth the co-pay. I like sports medicine docs (and PTs) because they have a better understanding of the many wild and unusual ways human bodies are put together sometimes. As usual, my freaky feet came into the conversation, as well as my well-documented tendency to recruit the wrong muscle to perform an action.

I'll be putting the knee to the test in about an hour for a dynamic testing session at Nike. Hoping it goes well.

Are you still in warranty?

Yes, though the whole "return to manufacturer" option is something I'd like to forestall.

Dynamic Testing: 3.61 miles

Weather: Partly cloudy, breezy, mild. 53° Gear: Prototypes, shorts, T, jacket (shed)

Since I have a (mostly) clean bill of health, I opted in for some dynamic testing at Nike today. It was a different test than usual, when you have to compare and contrast between two shoes. This time, it was just go out for a run, wherever you want to go and let them know how they feel.

This worked well for me, since I wanted to test out the body after a prolonged downtime. It operated pretty well mechanically, on concrete, chip trail, asphalt, decomposed granite and cobblestones. I headed over to a private forest Nike has near its campus and did a big loop over there. It's a pretty area, though it was kind of intimidating when a pack of high-level runners sailed past. (No, I didn't recognize anybody, dangit.) Don't mind me, folks! I won't get in your way!



Nice that they didn't run by when I was playing tourist and taking this photo. That would have been awkward.

I can't say anything about the shoes, of course. But it was a good experiment to run in something other than zero drop Altras for a change. I kind of liked it. I'll probably pick up a pair of Nikes (maybe a Free 3.0) next time we get to the Employee Store and I can use the gift cards I've been getting for these tests.

My HR was *not* in the low range, even though I wasn't pushing the pace. It's just been a while since I ran. Hope to get the system to restore itself soon.

Walked first 4 minutes, last 6 minutes as I went to and from the parking garage. Average HR: 142. Max: 170 (oops!)

ounce wrote:170!!!!!!  Great Caesar's Ghost!  What in the hell are you trying to do?

See Superman vs Batman on March 25 at your local theater.

I don't know... sub-11? But I did pass one of those radar speed signs on my run.

It said 5 mph.

Mark B wrote:

ounce wrote:170!!!!!!  Great Caesar's Ghost!  What in the hell are you trying to do?

See Superman vs Batman on March 25 at your local theater.

I don't know... sub-11? But I did pass one of those radar speed signs on my run.

It said 5 mph.

The two I always pass say, "Please Slow."  How much slower does that thing want me to go????

ounce wrote:

Mark B wrote:

ounce wrote:170!!!!!!  Great Caesar's Ghost!  What in the hell are you trying to do?

See Superman vs Batman on March 25 at your local theater.

I don't know... sub-11? But I did pass one of those radar speed signs on my run.

It said 5 mph.

The two I always pass say, "Please Slow."  How much slower does that thing want me to go????

Wow - HR seems high need to get that in check

Michele \"1L" Keane wrote:Wow - HR seems high need to get that in check

Yup! I think it was mostly because I'd been mostly idle for the past month as I nursed my knee. Hopefully things will get back in the groove soon. I'm pretty confident it will. My legs just wanted to go faster than my cardiovascular system wanted.