OK, can you bend your knee this way?... Does it hurt?... Can you duck walk? Good ... How does that feel?... Does it hurt when I do this? ...
Whether sitting in an exam room at PACE Orthopedics in Somers Point, or working through the exercises at physical therapy this morning, these are some of the questions I've been getting. I've been twisted, poked and prodded. My knee has been massaged, pushed, flexed, extended.
The answers to the above questions: Yes, No, Yes, Good, No.
In short, I've passed every test. Tell that to my knee. ... But in a way it's good news. We're figuring out what's wrong, sure. As important, we're figuring out what's right. My Saturday morning MRI should clarify things even further.
I mentioned to my therapist this morning that in a way I feel like the boy who cried wolf. Because while I know there's pain there - after Tuesday's three and a half miles, I limped for a good 36 hours, for cryin' out loud - every time someone asks me to do something, I do it. When I want to feel pain, to see if something feels inflamed to someone trained to decode injuries, it's not there.
So now I have 12 PT sessions - strike that, 11 - to build up strength in my knee, plus a series of exercises to be doing at home, at least once and as many as two or three times per day. And I'm doing them to strengthen both knees ... the thought has crossed my mind that I could heal the right only to injure the left.
