Sidelined, and Closing a Chapter

I met with my orthopedic doctor one week ago about the tendonitis I'm experiencing in both knees. He recommended taking some time off and allowing the condition to heal through rest. That's pretty much what I figured he would advise and the approach I'd been taking prior to meeting with him. Dr. Johnson also looked at previous X-rays of my right knee and said it's been bone-on-bone for several years and that I should give consideration to having knee replacement surgery—something I've been hesitant to do because I've worried that a knee replacement wouldn't hold up to the active lifestyle that I want to continue. 

I first injured my knee in June 1975 while playing softball. I tore the meniscus when I slipped on some loose sand over hardpacked dirt when running from home plate to first base. The treatment then was to immobilize my entire leg in a full-length cast for 4 weeks. All seemed fine, but shortly after getting the cast off my leg, I managed to tear the meniscus again in a freak fall on some dewy grass while carrying boxes out to my car. I recall how the pain was so bad that it was nauseating. I was back in a full-length cast once again for another 4 weeks. But I wasn't done beating up my right knee. A few months later, I was at a friend's apartment when I hit my knee hard on the sharp corner of a table. I would learn years later that I had fractured the patella in that painful blow. 

Knee pain is nothing new, as I've contended with it all of my adult life, but the tendonitis I'm currently experiencing is more than I can manage.

Dr. Johnson told me that knee replacement has been refined and that I could expect to get 30 years out of a new knee, even with my active lifestyle, as long as I'm not running on it. I had been under the impression that I could expect to get 10-15 years of active use from a new knee, so this was very good news. On the drive home to tell Tammy about my doctor's visit, I thought about all Dr. Johnson had said and decided I'd have the surgery done, maybe this November after fall yard clean-up and before the snow flies. It's time.

I had been on the cholesterol medication Rosuvastatin, aka Crestor, for not quite one year when I began to develop pain in both knees. I looked online to see if there was a correlation between tendonitis and the use of Rosuvastatin and found that there may be a connection. My doctor agreed that it can be an issue for some people. Lucky me! I'm done with statins now, and just a few days ago, I began using Repatha, a twice-a-month injection that controls cholesterol but without the side effects of a statin. 

It's been two weeks since I last put a leg over my bike's saddle. Based on how slowly my knees are healing, it'll be at least another two weeks before I attempt to ride again. I fear a setback if I resume riding too soon. Walking and golfing are okay for me to continue to do, but I'm mostly staying off my feet, hoping it will hasten my recovery.

Tammy and I traveled to Michigan's Upper Peninsula last week to attend the funeral of Maria, my last surviving aunt. I got a little choked up as we left the cemetery, contemplating how all of my aunts and uncles, as well as several cousins, had now passed on. 

It's the close of a chapter, and it leaves me wondering if I'll ever make it back to the U.P., a place that holds so many fond memories for me. It's where our family used to vacation every summer for two weeks in July and a place where I've continued to go back, although with much less frequency, for family get-togethers. There's no family left up there to visit. Perhaps a drive to the U.P. for old-time's sake at some point, maybe with my mountain bike (I hear the mountain biking is fantastic up there) just to reminisce. I find comfort and meaning in time spent that way—the reminiscing and the mountain biking.

I recorded the walk from the church into the cemetery where my parents and my brother Tim are buried. It's a very beautiful and secluded cemetery. See the video below.

That's all I've got.