The Knee Report and the Malibu Half Marathon

We’re heading to Malibu this weekend! As usual, Alan is announcing the Malibu Half Marathon on Sunday. He is “the voice of the Malibu Marathon” after all.

Alan has announced the race for about the last six years. I usually go along and take a run while he’s working, but as you know, that will not be happening this year (more on that below).  The race has new ownership, so Alan will be more than just the announcer this year, he will actually be helping with the race production. I will probably help out here and there as needed and maybe hang out on the beach. Or maybe I’ll get a massage.

We’re heading to up to Malibu early this morning, where Alan will get started on what he needs to do. We’re spending two nights there (actually in Agoura Hills), but at least it’s a nice hotel.

The Knee Report

Sorry to make you wait for the knee report because it’s almost a non-update. But, I’ll do my best to flesh it out.

To catch you up: I fell while running on October 17. I hit my knee on a rock, and fortunately decided to see a doctor sooner rather than later. I got in on Monday, October 19. The doctor (actually Physician’s Assistant) didn’t think it was badly injured, but sent me for an x-ray just in case. The bad news came that Wednesday evening, when he called to say I had a small crack in my patella. He would refer me to an orthopedist, but that was just SOP, he thought it would heal without any intervention. Except I shouldn’t bend my knee. So, two days later I found myself in a full knee brace.

So I had my brace and wore it most of the time (at work, anyway), and waited patiently for my referral to come through. Then not so patiently. Finally, one day short of two weeks since my fall I called first the doctor, who then referred me to the medical group. They told me that in non-urgent cases, the referral takes 10 days to two weeks. Fine. I went back to my brace.

I didn’t even bother to call the next week. Then, this past Monday, November 9, a little over three weeks after my fall, I called and was told, “your referral came through on November 3!” Well, thank you so much for informing me.

I called the number of the Desert Orthopedic Center that I was given, then after being transferred a couple times had to leave a message. No callback. Why was I not surprised? Finally, at the end of my work day I called again. This time, I got right through but was told that the earliest appointment would be on December 2.

Um, excuse me. That would be almost seven weeks since my fall? Which caused a broken bone? Which will probably be healed by seven weeks, so I guess we can just hope that the original doctor PA was correct in his assessment?  When I mentioned this stuff, I was told I could talk directly to the doctor’s office. That meant leaving another message.

About an hour later, as I was driving home, I received a call to schedule an appointment with the orthopedist. I asked if it was for December 2. She kind of laughed and said no, how about Wednesday? That, I said, was fine. (As a side note, the next morning I received another call from the doctor’s office, returning my call about setting up an appointment. Obviously, the left hand does not know what the right hand is doing.) In the meantime, I was to pick up my digital x-rays and bring them with me. Done.

Well, with all this build-up, you’d think that I might get some great information and have certain news about my knee, right? Wrong! Basically the doctor took a look at my x-rays, said I should wait three weeks, get another x-ray, then come back in for a follow-up appointment. I am so glad I took all the trouble to schedule that appointment!

(Another side note, as the doctor and I stood side-by-side at the desk, he told them to set up the x-ray for my right knee. I said, no, it’s my left. He quickly said, oh, yes, well you’re standing on my right side. It was said in a friendly, fun manner, but still. I said back to him, “now I know why they actually write ‘this leg’ on the leg that is getting operated on.” He did have the good grace to laugh at my joke.)

Actually the scariest part of the appointment was not anything to do with my cracked kneecap. No, the scariest part was when the doctor was looking at my x-ray and called me over. First he said, see that space there, as I looked at an anterior view of my knee.

 

I said yes, then he said, look at this, where the femur meets the patella.

I asked, is there supposed to be a space (though I really knew the answer). He said, that’s why I’m showing you. Yes, there is supposed to be a space. He told me I pretty much had the knee of an 80-year-old.  Yes, that’s arthritis, folks. Thanks, doc, for making my day. He did say, that since beyond my “regular” knee pain (and lots of pops and clicks), I seem to manage okay, I shouldn’t worry too much. I’ll know if and when it’s time to do more with it.

So, as if I wasn’t already worried enough, when I got home I took about the x-ray images (they hadn’t needed them after all, having downloaded them from the internet) and popped them in my own computer (hence the images above). Scarier yet was reading the radiologist’s report.

I did ask Dr. Google, and it’s way too complicated to write out here, but it’s not good. The effusion is the basically water on the knee, which may be from my current injury, but I’ve had a little bit of it since a knee injury over 10 years ago. The patellar chondromalacia, or Runner’s Knee as it’s known (surprise!), can be caused by inaccurate tracking of the patella, which wears down the cartilage over time.

And I don’t want to think or worry about Pseudogout because I think it’s one of those Dr. Google scary things that can really freak you out. If you want to read about it, here you go. Plus it just says that the chondrocalcinosis, which is the visible calcification of cartilage, may be consistent with pseudogout. I do not have the symptoms, and according again to Dr. Google, if and until I do there is no need to treat it.

In the meantime, I still have to wear my brace, but I have permission to leave it off when I’m home and I’m allowed to bend my knee up to about 30% (woo hoo!). It feels fine, break, arthritis, or pseudogout, no pain to speak of, so we’ll just take it day to day!

Obviously no running for a while. Right now I’m looking forward to the day I can walk normally again. (That’s not a whine! I know from my last post you guys don’t like whiners!)

So any radiologists or orthopedic wizards out there? What say you about my knee? Should I be freaking out any more than I already am? Will I live to run another day?

 

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