I'm going to start a new thread seeing as how I've suffered a setback and the goal of attending the MWC in May is a distant one from where things stand now.

A week ago yesterday I saw my doctor and described what I was feeling. He Rx'd me some 800 mg Motrin, scheduled me for some X-rays, and referred me to Sports Medicine. Monday of this week, I met with Dr. Bean (Clan McBain) who understood e-x-a-c-t-l-y what we do in the Heavy Athletics. I didn't even need to show her my little photo album which usually helps the doctors see what I do.

The good news is that my ligaments (ACL and MCL) are intact and I'm a long ways from having to think about a knee replacement. The not so good news is that I have "degenerative meniscus tear with underlying osteoarthritis". OTOH, it can heal itself if I help it along by not doing any more damage to it for a while.

BTW, the knee that hurts is my good knee. The left (post-up) knee is a bit worse in terms of the arthritis and a bit more unstable. The Rehband knee sleeves help a lot with stability.

Turns out that most of the pain I was experiencing was from tendonitis surrounding the knee joint. The tendons (hamstring, quad, and that one that Alan is always complaining about) were inflamed. It's quite possible that squatting with the Rehband sleeves did that.

After several days of Motrin and ice packs three times a day, I'm now mostly pain free and able to sleep through the night without waking myself up when I turn over in bed. I do walk carefully now and lean on the shopping cart when accompanying Mrs. OD on the never-ending shopping spree.

Throwing is out of the question at the moment. No stairs, no squats, lunges, loaded carries, torquing the joints, until Dr. Bean thinks I'm ready. I'm not looking forward to the final evaluation. She began her initial evaluation by saying "This is the part where I hurt you." Indeed she did. "Does this hurt?" "YEOWWW!"

I could hardly walk after I left her office.

Monday morning I see the physical therapist.