My Running Injury (MRI)

I've been meaning to bring you up to date on my knee. As I mentioned in my last blog post, I had an appointment with the orthopedic specialist on Thursday, August 5th. It didn't take him long to figure out that my jacked up knee was caused by a stress fracture. He put me on crutches and scheduled me for an MRI on Monday, August 9th and a follow-up appointment with him today.

I got to see the MRI images today. Here is one of them...



You are looking straight at the front of my knee, but beyond the knee cap. The red arrow is pointing to the problem. You see that dark area inside the bone? Well, it's supposed to be the same gray color as the rest of the inside of the bone.

If you could see the other "slices" of the MRI, you could see that it's at least as deep as it is wide or tall. It's just below the growth plate of the tibia and is called a proximal medial tibial stress fracture. And it will heal... over the course of 6-8 weeks.

There is also cartilage damage inside the knee joint, but I already knew that. It's an old injury but now I know a little more about it, thanks to the MRI. The good news is the cartilage damage isn't in a place that is likely to be be aggravated by running. It's in the groove that the knee cap slides over. It mainly hurts when I'm on my knees.

I have another appointment in three weeks. At that time, he will take a regular x-ray and assess my progress. He will then decide whether I can start working on the eliptical or bike riding to strengthen the surrounding muscles and tendons. It will be weeks later before I can do any high impact exercising like running. And even then I will have to ease into it very gradually.

But over the next three weeks, he just wants me to get to the point where I can walk normally without pain. Baby steps.

Up to my knees in RICET.

Those of you who read my last blog know I set a goal to run a half-marathon.

The first day of training, I ran and walked 2.2 miles. Lordy, it was harder than I thought! It was a pain in the shins, but I figured that was to be expected.

I gave it a day or two of rest and then ran and walked 3.3 miles. It was again difficult and somewhat painful, but I felt like I did pretty well that day.

I gave it a few more days rest and then ran and walked another 3 miles. I felt good after the run, other than a little pain under my right knee. Then I drove home.

When I got out of my truck... OH MY GOD! Yeah, I apparently hurt myself royally! I have had knee problems for almost thirty years and hadn't considered how the high impact nature of running would affect that old injury. Yikes! In layman's terms, my right knee is JACKED UP!

That was last Wednesday. Since that time, I have been on RICET therapy...



Perhaps you have heard of RICE therapy? The "R" stands for Rest, the "I" stands for Ice, the "C" stands for Compression and the "E" stands for Elevation.

Well RICET therapy is just a slight modification of RICE therapy. It incorporates all the elements of RICE therapy, but with one additional element. The "T" stands for TEQUILA! Preferably, mixed in a margarita! Mindy's friend, Cindy, who is a runner, came up with RICET therapy and I have adopted it for my own use.

If you read my last blog, you know that I signed up for the Hottest 10K on August 15th. Well, guess what? That's NOT going to happen! I have an appointment with an orthopedic specialist on Thursday morning to get a diagnosis beyond "it's jacked up." Hopefully, I will find out what needs to be done for my knee and whether running is even a possibility. Stay tuned.