Yes! I’m BACK IN THE GAME and will be continuing my goal to bicycle from Canada to Mexico on September 7th. Having missed one day from my schedule (South Bend, WA to Astoria, OR) due to my knee injury, I’m heading back early to make up that missed day, and then I will be back on schedule, cycling Oregon in the People’s Coast Classic starting September 8th. If everything goes right, I’ll be cycling 14 out of 15 days, arriving in San Francisco on September 21st. At that point, I have a 6-day break before I am scheduled to resume for the balance of my journey from San Francisco to Mexico.
Everyone knows I like to tell stories and mix a little humor and drama into my daily updates and blog. But when I have REAL drama, it’s no fun; it's just embarrassing. Two visits to the hospital in four days? Finding out I have a torn meniscus and having to pull out of the ride five days after I started? Ugh! Then, finding out when I get back home that my knee problem was not the result of a torn meniscus after all, and I have an opportunity to pick up where I left off!?! Jeesh, now we’re talking reality TV! But that’s exactly where I am today.
A day after I got back home, I was examined by the highly-recommended orthopedic surgeon, Dr. Grady Jeter. Prepared to hear that I needed meniscus surgery, I was thrilled when Dr. Jeter informed me that my (possibly slightly torn) meniscus was in no way responsible for my knee pain. Instead, I had an infrapatellar fat pad contusion − a bruise on the fat pad beneath my kneecap. That bruise became more and more inflamed with each day of riding until I could no longer bend my knee.
The best news was that Dr. Jeter told me I could return to the ride as scheduled. It's not likely that I'll be 100% (I feel about 90% now, but that's without putting stress on the knee), but I won't be risking further injury either. If the knee becomes inflamed again, the resulting lack of mobility will stop me in my tracks, as it did before.
Our hope is that with physical therapy, adjustments to my bike fitting, anti-inflammatory medication, a more cautious riding style, and ice, ice, ice, that I can get through this thing without the knee acting up again. But we won’t know for sure until I seriously test it back on the ride. For now, Dr. Jeter is not giving me a cortisone shot, and he says it's because I am doing so well.
Stay tuned for coming attractions because more drama is sure to follow! In the meantime, I have updated my blog with more photos and some editing (the pda web site editor is prone to error). I will restart my daily updates to my supporters when I return to the Pacific Northwest. I hope you’ll continue to follow me and post comments to the blog when I’m back on the road.
Finally, thank you all for the tremendous support. I have now raised a little more than $25,000.00 for arthritis programs and research! Lindsey is still flaring but she is much better than she was three or four weeks ago. Just in time, too: she has been accepted into San Jose Ballet, and starts classes next week.!
Everyone knows I like to tell stories and mix a little humor and drama into my daily updates and blog. But when I have REAL drama, it’s no fun; it's just embarrassing. Two visits to the hospital in four days? Finding out I have a torn meniscus and having to pull out of the ride five days after I started? Ugh! Then, finding out when I get back home that my knee problem was not the result of a torn meniscus after all, and I have an opportunity to pick up where I left off!?! Jeesh, now we’re talking reality TV! But that’s exactly where I am today.
A day after I got back home, I was examined by the highly-recommended orthopedic surgeon, Dr. Grady Jeter. Prepared to hear that I needed meniscus surgery, I was thrilled when Dr. Jeter informed me that my (possibly slightly torn) meniscus was in no way responsible for my knee pain. Instead, I had an infrapatellar fat pad contusion − a bruise on the fat pad beneath my kneecap. That bruise became more and more inflamed with each day of riding until I could no longer bend my knee.
The best news was that Dr. Jeter told me I could return to the ride as scheduled. It's not likely that I'll be 100% (I feel about 90% now, but that's without putting stress on the knee), but I won't be risking further injury either. If the knee becomes inflamed again, the resulting lack of mobility will stop me in my tracks, as it did before.
Our hope is that with physical therapy, adjustments to my bike fitting, anti-inflammatory medication, a more cautious riding style, and ice, ice, ice, that I can get through this thing without the knee acting up again. But we won’t know for sure until I seriously test it back on the ride. For now, Dr. Jeter is not giving me a cortisone shot, and he says it's because I am doing so well.
Stay tuned for coming attractions because more drama is sure to follow! In the meantime, I have updated my blog with more photos and some editing (the pda web site editor is prone to error). I will restart my daily updates to my supporters when I return to the Pacific Northwest. I hope you’ll continue to follow me and post comments to the blog when I’m back on the road.
Finally, thank you all for the tremendous support. I have now raised a little more than $25,000.00 for arthritis programs and research! Lindsey is still flaring but she is much better than she was three or four weeks ago. Just in time, too: she has been accepted into San Jose Ballet, and starts classes next week.!
RSS Feed
