I Got Knee Injections
It’s been six weeks since my latest hip surgery. The recovery has been a roller coaster of ups and downs. Most of that is to be expected, although some of it is harder than I would’ve imagined. My knees have become a significant problem. It’s something I anticipated but hoped would go away. I have had knee pain and issues since high school. It’s been a difficult endeavor to recover my hips without causing more problems for my knees. There are a lot of emotions surrounding this topic. It’s not easy to consistently have new problems that come up frequently. I’m extremely grateful for my care team. They are absolutely amazing and have come up with a plan to help me through this recovery.
My knees were really impeding upon my ability to rehabilitate my hip. Since I’ve had surgeries on both hips, the recovery can naturally be more strenuous on the body. My left hip is only a year past it’s surgery. Realistically, it’s strength is not back to where it was or needs to be. That’s especially true for me since I wasn’t able to continue my recovery the way I anticipated. My need for a second surgery really hindered my ability to workout the way I intend or desire. Add my knees to that equation and I was benched from exercise for a month prior to surgery.
It’s been a difficult journey of understanding and respecting the limits of my body. My hip surgeries were a huge wake up call for me. Once again, I am reminded that I’m not invincible. Everything comes with consequences and I’m extremely aware of that.
Where do I go from here? Well, that’s a difficult answer because truthfully, I don’t know. I can make educated guesses and hope but that doesn’t make it reality. My care team has decided to start and continue cortisone injections in my knees, as needed. This is in an effort to continue recovering my hip as successfully as possible. Then we can address the underlying issues in my knees. I would be lying if I said I wasn’t a little disappointed. I was really hoping that my hips would naturally fix my knee problems. To some extent, they will but it’s unlikely that it will repair that damage that’s already been done.
The good news is that the injections worked. My knees are eons ahead of where they were. They feel amazing and the injection almost completely took away my post surgery limp. All in all, I’m really grateful I got them. I would never want to become dependent on them but if they give me a running season then that’s all I can ask for. I’m only a month away from starting to run once again and I can hear my running shoes calling my name. I couldn’t be more excited to start again and retraining.
Life is full of setbacks and everything is about perspective. I let myself be upset and sad for a couple of days but more than anything I’m grateful. Grateful for the opportunity to get great healthcare. Grateful for the opportunity to get a running season. Grateful that my body is capable of amazing things. That’s what I’m choosing to hold on to.
I hope you’re having an amazing day. I hope that your day is filled with joy, positivity, and laughter. I hope you find peace, love, and happiness.
