My appointment with Dr. Jeter this afternoon could not have gone any better. After about 70% of my knee mobility returned in the last 48 hours, I had a glimmer of hope that I might be able to try to finish what I started. Dr. Jeter opened that door wide for me when he told me that a meniscus tear was not my problem. He did say I may have a small tear but that tear (if it even exits) is minor and not in the location associated with my pain.
Dr. Jeter believes I sustained a bruise on the fat pad under my kneecap and that I have "infrapatellar fat pad contusion inflammation." Essentially that means I have a bruise under my kneecap and that the motion of cycling was making it worse (like repeatedly biting the inside of your cheek after an initial bite causes swelling). The fat pad in the knee has a lot of nerve cells, so any injury to it is extremely painful. That was certainly the case for me.
I'm not quite ready to send out an email to my supporters yet but I wanted to get this posted on the blog for anyone who might be following closely enough to be checking in. The plan is to start two weeks of physical therapy tomorrow, with regular icing of the knee. I will then return to South Bend, Washington on September 6th, and ride the last 55 miles to Astoria, Oregon on September 7th. At that point, I will be back on schedule, joining the Pacific Coast Classic on September 8th for the ride down the Oregon coast.
This sort of bruise does not heal overnight, so it is possible that it will return when I start riding again. I will do everything I need to do to mitigate the problem, but I also need to be prepared for another setback. The good news is that I'll be closer to Mexico no matter how far I get, and I am not going to do any permanent to my knee. You're essentially precluded from doing any real damage because the pain becomes so intense, you literally cannot spin, and if you cannot spin, you sure aren't going to get very far.
I'm going to see how the next 48 hours go and if everything continues to progress, I will send out an announcement.
Dr. Jeter believes I sustained a bruise on the fat pad under my kneecap and that I have "infrapatellar fat pad contusion inflammation." Essentially that means I have a bruise under my kneecap and that the motion of cycling was making it worse (like repeatedly biting the inside of your cheek after an initial bite causes swelling). The fat pad in the knee has a lot of nerve cells, so any injury to it is extremely painful. That was certainly the case for me.
I'm not quite ready to send out an email to my supporters yet but I wanted to get this posted on the blog for anyone who might be following closely enough to be checking in. The plan is to start two weeks of physical therapy tomorrow, with regular icing of the knee. I will then return to South Bend, Washington on September 6th, and ride the last 55 miles to Astoria, Oregon on September 7th. At that point, I will be back on schedule, joining the Pacific Coast Classic on September 8th for the ride down the Oregon coast.
This sort of bruise does not heal overnight, so it is possible that it will return when I start riding again. I will do everything I need to do to mitigate the problem, but I also need to be prepared for another setback. The good news is that I'll be closer to Mexico no matter how far I get, and I am not going to do any permanent to my knee. You're essentially precluded from doing any real damage because the pain becomes so intense, you literally cannot spin, and if you cannot spin, you sure aren't going to get very far.
I'm going to see how the next 48 hours go and if everything continues to progress, I will send out an announcement.
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