Long time followers will know *all* about my ongoing knee problem.
Over 18 months ago I had a drunken accident and damaged my ACL. Since then, subsequent falls have caused major damage. Over the past three or four months my knee had been causing more pain, limiting my mobility and what I am capable of doing.
My Trusty Rolling Walker
It had become enough of a problem that I finally decided to go back to the Doctor to plead for some help as nothing seemed to be working and in fact, things were getting seriously worse.
I have to say, I wasn’t expecting his appraisal of the situation.
A Better Day
Long-term damage to the ACL which has not repaired itself. A torn meniscus. A damaged Achilles tendon. The calf muscle has lost a lot of its strength and power.
Oh and my knee joint itself is compromised.
All Taped Up
To be told that my knee is damaged and that I will need a knee replacement in two or three years, really hit me hard.
The first thing I asked was if it was reversible.
Not such a good day!
The Doctor told me that one of the biggest issues was my weight. Like I didn’t expect that. However, it seemed like he was doing it reluctantly, rather than just saying “Well, you are morbidly obese etc”
Rather than immediately start talking about dieting and fat/weight loss, he went onto the topic of knee health and how I could improve my situation.
Needing a bit more support!
One of the biggest things that surprised me was hundreds of studies (literally) that show that for every 1lb of weight lost, it makes a different of 4lbs of pressure off the knees.
FOUR POUNDS?!?!
Styling It Out, Even With Mobility Issues
So if I lost just 6lbs, it would me nearly 2 stone of pressure off of my damaged knee and leg. Those statistics were more than enough to make me want to lose some weight.
He then went onto to tell me that being overweight causes inflammation in the joints. This would not help my knee, but again losing some weight would reduce this and possibly help the situation.
Pastel Perfection
The biggest surprise was that he didn’t focus completely on the weight loss topic. In fact he spent more time talking to me about the issues I was having, the damages I was suffering from and what I could do to help my leg.
Showing me a couple of amazing websites, he was able to both describe and indicate on the websites what he wanted me to do. Everything was totally do-able and he wrote down the sites for me so that I could look into them at home more.
Needing A Sit Down
I also asked if I could go back to swimming, as it is my favourite method of exercise and one that I would be more likely to do given the enjoyment.
He happily responded that it was the ONLY exercise that I should do.
Still Not Stopping My Adventures
It was the perfect solution in my mind. I would be able to do something that I loved, strengthen the knee and leg, whilst also potentially lose some weight which would, in turn reduce the pressure on my leg again.
Bonus, really.
Not Just For Walking
Going back to the topic of losing weight, the Doctor asked me if I wanted to get weighed so I knew what I was working with. Now, I hadn’t weighed myself in over 3 years so I wasn’t really looking forward to it.
However, I got onto the scales and even I was shocked.
Mr Whippy Time
20 stone 11 lbs.
Yes, I was absolutely stunned.
Still Living It Up
And equally I knew that this wasn’t helping my knee/leg at all.
So there we are. The start of a new regime.
Bringing My A-Game
And before anyone starts to ask, No, I don’t intend going crazy, become a weight loss advocate and start saying that life is so much better when you are thin…..
I would like to lose JUST enough weight to reduce and help my knee situation. This is turn will improve my life, my health and most of all, my adventures!
When Not Needed, It is A Perfect Table
Bring it on.
Till next time,
SPSG xxx