I have been keeping something from you...

Secret: I have delayed in letting you know that my knee trouble a couple weeks ago turned out to be either a torn ACL or a partially torn ACL in my right knee. My orthopedic surgeon, Dr. Farrell of Maryland Orthopedic Specialists, says it hard to tell exactly until he goes in. The good news is that it is a not a new injury. I probably tore it several years ago (I used to play basketball and of course working with youth at the church, we play “mad” dodge ball).

Why do I have an orthopedic surgeon you ask? Well, last June at a good friend’s wedding, I tore my ACL and had a lateral tear in my meniscus in my left knee. It required immediate surgery. I had my ACL replaced and my meniscus repaired. I was unable to drive let alone walk for 6 weeks. As a stay-at-home mother, it was awful. Thankfully, my supportive husband and friends stepped up to the plate and tried to keep my children’s life somewhat normal. I had months of Physical Therapy and emerged in early November with a “new” knee that I was weary of fully using. The thing that boggled my mind at that time was that my right knee had always been my “bad” knee not my left. It would “pop” out every now and again, but I would shake it out and be better in a few minutes. As I have aged, this recovery time has greatly increased. When I hurt my knee at the gym with the trainers, it took 2 days for the swelling to go down and for me to comfortably use it again.

Verdict: Well, Dr. Farrell said I could hold off on surgery since it was an old injury and there was no bone bruising.

One of the reasons that I wanted to share this with you was because, as we get older, we are bound to have many ailments. Granted, I am only 31, but I could have decided to give up on this challenge. I could have decided to go ahead with the surgery or better yet, decided not to continue out of FEAR.

I chose to remain in the challenge and to hold off on the surgery for two reasons:

1. I completely trust my doctor and if it was necessary to do now, he would have told me, and
2. Our trainers at Rio Sport & Health are AWESOME!

As soon as I told the trainers about my injury, they did not hesitate to tailor the exercises that would be stress on that knee so I am able to complete them - pain free! At first, I felt like I was letting my team down, but I realized that they were rooted for my success too. They do not want to see me have to drop out of the challenge because of my knee. This is the kind of support that I was looking for when I applied to this challenge. And the BLUE TEAM is delivering it wholeheartedly.

I remembered as I was writing this that Dr. Farrell told me something at my “last” appointment regarding my left knee that has rang true. You see, at this appointment, I asked him was I still supposed to have discomfort in my knee even after the surgery and the PT. He said, “Jen, we got to get this extra weight off of you and then you will notice a difference.”

Now that is enough motivation to give this challenge 100% of my effort!