Check Engine

It seems I have been riding around for quite a while with my CHECK ENGINE light on. Actually, my engine is fine, humming like a Ferrari, it the tires, or chassis that's wearing out.

I finally got the results back from my MRI. The doctor had a model of a knee and was lifting bones and throwing out anatomical mombo-jumbo, what it came down to is, its pretty messed up. It's more like two different injuries, one, being the posterior ligaments. These are the ligaments that run along the left side of the right knee. This was the injury producing all the pain. It's starting to finally subside. Just in a nick of time to, I was running out of Tylonal-3's. At least the ligaments weren't torn.



The second injury, though not really painful, is the potential career-ender. The cartilage underneath the knee cap is damaged. If there is a tear or lesion in this lining, then you have a bone on bone situation. Not good. He didn't go into to detail, but was pretty sure that it would need surgery. I'm scheduled to see an orthescopic surgeon on Aug. 3. Who knows when the surgery will be scheduled. This thing has been going on since June 13. It has been a bummer of a summer.

I could tell that the doctor wanted me to be prepared for the fact that my running days might be over. I was really feeling down for a few days after that. I mean, people get much worse news from their doctor everyday, so, in that respect, my problems are trivial. Still, I was bummed.




I've been very active in a lot of different sports my whole life. I used to play a lot of basketball and tennis, both of which are hard on the knees, and several other sports, too. My knees have been pretty solid, but, over time, all that wear and tear can take it's toll on the knee cartilage.

I read that there is an epidemic in osteoarthritis. That's the arthritis due to the wear and tear of ligaments. The main cause is because the average weight of Americans is so much higher. The airlines did a study on why their fleet was getting the same fuel efficiency and they determined it was because the average passenger was 10-lbs heavier than just 5-years ago.

I think my slight pudge contributed to my knee problems. That and the 1,500-miles I ran each year since August, 2000. Here is link to a Body Mass Index Calculator. If you are big-boned or thickly muscled, then shoot for the high side of the normal range. If you have a light frame, like me, then shoot for the low side. I'm currently on the high side of norm. Calculate your BMI, then leave it in a comment, please, as well as your gender and age. You don't have to leave your name. I can figure that out from the other three.
I have some strategies to being active and/or competitve, into your latter years. So check back.