I broke my knee part III
As with all teenage dystopian novels, we have reached the end of a trilogy. The saga that is my broken knee.
I first broke my knee early March. I had to work from home for 2 months, cancel my trip to Japan and I even traveled to Seattle in a wheelchair.
I am very happy to announce that last week, I jogged for the first time in 6 months. I wasn’t jogging fast and it wasn’t for a long time (1 min for every 3 mins of walking at most), but I jogged!
Of course, shortly after I realized how unfit I am still (heavy breathing is so attractive). My knee also kind of hurt after a few more times of jogging, but at least my knee didn’t collapse on itself and make me fall on my face.
So a toast, my dear friends, to a life where I am now afraid of breaking myself while doing fun things.
What are some of my final thoughts on this old-person journey I’ve had this year?
1. If you broke something, go to physio. I know it can cost a lot of money if you’re not covered, but I seriously don’t think I would have healed this much in 6 months.
You might read this and think damn, 6 months is a long time! But it’s really not. Every time I go to visit my orthopaedic specialist, I see other people who have been injured way longer than me and still can’t go back to their normal lives, like stand at their job. Of course I know every person’s injury is different and it makes a big difference if you’re older and hurt yourself, but I think the point is that your body is important and if you’re not well, you should get help. It’s really as simple as that. I’ve heard stories of people who neglected physio and it took time twice or three-times longer to heal.
How has physio helped me? Well, aside from reminding me and encouraging me to exercise, physio has helped me identify things I never even knew was wrong. For example, I had several weeks where my knee would just hurt from walking after 10 minutes. My physio diagnosed the problem – my leg wasn’t actually straight. Even though I was lying there on the bed or standing up, it wasn’t actually straight (they measured it). Imagine if your knee was always just a little bent and you walked like that and went up and down the stairs like that. After awhile, joint pain will occur. It was a tiny angle microscope of a difference that I would have never figured out by myself. After a week of stretching exercises, this issue was gone.
This is just one small example of how physio identified little irks and errors of how I was using my body after my injury. Sometimes my hips wouldn’t be aligned, sometimes I subconsciously shift my weight onto another foot. For me, I was walking and I seemed fine. I had no idea that I was walking differently.
On a further note, I think my physio has been exceptional. If you’re looking for a physio in Coquitlam or New Westminster, I highly recommend Trailside Physio.
2. I’m thankful? Kinda? There’s always someone else out there who has it worst than you. I think in general, my injury wasn’t that bad. I was able to work from home, I had friends and family taking care of me, I still got to go out. My pain level throughout this experience has been low and my progress in healing has been steady.
Maybe my injury could have been more serious. Maybe I could have been permanently paralyzed and my boyfriend would break up with me and I’ll gain a lot of weight and be sad. Maybe my leg would never be back to normal (because that happens too) and I’ll forever have a little bit of pain and can’t play sports anymore.
None of these things happened, but there’s the maybe. So for that, I am thankful. Kinda.
Real thankful to everyone who helped take care of me, of course.
3. I am old and I need to be careful now. You know how when you’re a kid, it seems like a good idea to jump off the top of the stairs or go full speed down a hill on your bicycle? Yeah, that’s not me anymore.
I’m not sure if I’ll have PTSD when snowboarding season starts this winter, but I am generally just more fearful of hurting myself now. For example, my mom always warns me about slipping on ice when winter comes and I always kind of just dismiss it because I’ve never actually slipped on ice. Now the idea terrifies me because I could hurt my back and that would basically take forever to heal.
I am 26 years old right now and I have many friends who are in their early thirties and I hear horror stories. Oh boy, do I hear horror stories. Basically, your body just kind of falls apart when you turn 30. The joys of growing up.
Thank you all for reading and sending me your best wishes about my knee. I hope you’re all careful out there.
P.S. Does anyone want to buy a knee brace or crutches? I’ll sell it to you for cheap cheap.