who here has been surfing this week?

Spiritual??? Umm....are you "native" American??? <grin>

 

Aren't we all native Americans?

 

Yeah they call me Tonto.

 

BassMon lives by that and showed my daughter and I - it is a great start to the day! I’m usually not an early riser guy unless it’s a mission... too dam tired all the time. But every time I do, it’s such a better day.

 

Oh yeah....well, being my wife is Canadian, I am called Toronto!!

 

yeah dude I feel ya. I call it "PNW Dawn Patrol". I don't even touch water until at least 9am

Dude do you know what "tonto" means in Spanish?

 

I do!! I do!!! I do!!! ME, ME, Me!! Call on ME, prof!!!

 

shut up, Lone Ranger. Let Tonto figure this out on his own lol.

 

Of course I do! Hahaha that was part of the joke.

 

Typical of me that I missed that, lol.

 

So what did the mri reveal?

I slammed my knee on pavement 3 years ago and haven't been able to walk worth af since...much less surf. Living death.

Got scoped to remove a medial meniscus flap and anomalies on my kneecap, medial & lateral femur cartilages...but that did nothing for my tendonosis and calcium deposits (those can take you out just by themselves). I also developed Arthrofibrosis, which limits my flexion significantly (at least for an athlete). Despite physical therapy, my muscle atrophy is bad: weak quads and basically no vmo.

Then, 6 months ago, while helping (shoving) my father in the car, the lateral side of the same knee popped. I worried it was my acl, but was "walking" immediately after with only a little pain and no perceptible instability, so I'm guessing i tore the meniscus on that side, too (still hurts, but no locking or catching).

Last few months, I've been trying my shortboard, but my knee was still too painful and weak to pop up. So, on the way home from yet another skunked sesh, i decided to buy a Wavestorm, and, thank god, i was finally able to pop up on that. Sesh before last, i was super stoked to catch some long lefts and rights, but the WS doesn't turn worth af...and any effort to turn hurts. Thanks to increased confidence (& some strength) the WS has given me, I tried my shortboard again and was able to pop up! Wobbly af, with no turns, but I finally did it.

Even with this relative progress, can't help but still be dissapointed I'm downgraded to longboarding straight down the line. After each sesh, my knee clicks, pops & hurts walking back to the car...but at least I'm getting something positive for all my efforts. Can't see myself being able to do roundhouses and off-the-lips on my shorty ever again...but I'll keep trying.

 

Well, keep trying. Sounds as if you have started to find a solution already. Remember this - the wounds you cannot see are the hardest to heal; they need the gift of time. I hope you get back to the shortboard with time.

 

Took tomorrow off to give myself a 3 day weekend. Didn't take off to surf, but am hoping. Tomorrow looks flat but with all this wind and low tide early im keeping those fingers crossed for a little mini sims wave. Saturday looks impossible. Flat and stupid winds. Sunday? Looks like some swell but onshore winds. My one weather app was saying 7-9mph. That's doable!

Time to do the surf dance and hope for the best.

 

Here’s the ‘official’ scoop on the scope…

Doc gave me a choice: MRI or new tech needle cam. I opted for the latter.

So, I had an in-office arthroscopic procedure performed yesterday by a top orthopedic doc in DC. It was basically drill two holes in my knee, insert a 10" long needle that transmits pics to a tablet with camera & video & doc then views, live, what’s inside my knee joint. Fully conscious, no anesthesia, in-office examination room. Interesting day, ahem, to say the least.

BTW, one of the best things about living metro DC is the superb docs in this region. They are top notch, they invest in latest medical techniques, they are top of their classes & so many sports docs; they also come here to make the big money cause people here have that. Free market economy works!

He didn’t pick up on any internal damage, which is really great news but also really strange given that my knee failed & stuck me on crutches last week. Said a tiny piece of cartilage may have gotten ‘stuck’ in the joint & blown out, causing the big pop & the pain. Said it doesn't take much for that sort of result, pain, immobility.

Suffice to say that the doc cleared me for surfing Dec 8. Stoked! And hoping that he’s right. Heading back to CR that day for a week.

This is the product.
https://tricemedical.com/mi-eye/
Very new tech, apparently. My knee is stiff but not sore. Still limping but should improve rapidly. RICE is my mantra.

Doc pumped some cortisone in there whilst at it. If things don't improve, off to PRP injections. PRP worked wonders on my right knee almost 2 yrs ago.

 

Wasn't really painful, but it was quite uncomfortable with that needle stuck in my knee joint & doc manipulating my knee to see what was happening.

Ok, apologies for this somewhat off-topic info in the longest running bestest surfing treade on the Forumme.

 

No apology necessary, this is great news!

 

Muchas gracias mang

 

Stoked for you yank! Glad you'll be back soon!

 

Gracias mon ami