In contrast to the incident in 1983, I suffered the injury to my right knee playing a "C" side match playing for the Seattle Rugby Club in Portland, Oregon in 1997. While I can still tap the emotional pain I felt sitting on the sideline waiting for an endorphin wash to take away the physical pain, the injury has had no legacy physical effect. I still curse the cockiness that led me to ask-in for the last match of the day, after already had a magnificent run with the Second XV, and 40 minutes in the First XV match that day. 120 minutes is a lot of rugby. 200 is nuts. But, I was playing the best rugby of my 30's, and was as fit as I'd been since joining the Seattle club.
So I still regret wanting an extra run that day. The only reason I was playing with the 3rd XV was to gain some extra work for the national club championships in Hartford that Spring. I could easily have done extra training on any of the six other days of the week besides Saturday.
The experience of my first injury and the degradation I suffered from 1983 to 1991 lead me to seek medical care for the right knee immediately. I was diagnosed and under the knife for right knee ACL autograft within a few months of the injury. It hasn't bothered me since.
Which brings us to the present. Earlier in August, I celebrated my 50th birthday. I was lucky to have the company of friends and plenty to drink. My friends include a couple who are both physicians and a brother-in-law who recently replaced his hip. These three, lubricated by interest in the constant knee pain I suffer (and more than a few really good drinks) formed a critical mass of opinion that stirred me to consider total knee replacement in my left leg.
I've been considering total knee replacement for almost five years now, consulting the same surgeon that repaired my right ACL. Five years ago, having already treated me for over a decade, and therefore knowing me quite well, my surgeon suggested I was not "ready" for knee replacement. The conventional wisdom as recently as five years ago was to identify total joint candidates and put their surgery off until as late in life as possible so as to avoid the need to ever re-treat the replacement. Joint prosthetics were thought to "wear out" over time and needed to last the rest of patients' lives.
Furthermore, my doctor looked me straight in the eye and said he knew that if he replaced my knee then, I would look on this new-found, pain-free existence and an opportunity to extend my athletic career.
He was right of course. I was still running as much as the pain allowed, and playing moderately competitive mens league ice hockey. The knee pain, even more than the crappy ice time hours, lead me to leave the game within the year after that first consultation.
My doctor said come back and talk to me when you're willing to adjust your lifestyle and here I'd made the first step; giving up hockey which was my first sport and one that I still dream I'm playing. A few months after I stopped playing hockey, I quit running and although I started swimming intensely, I managed to put on a few pounds after that. Despite the added weight, that's when my doctor started taking my questions about total joint replacement seriously.
To be continued.
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