A Tale of Two Knees...

For those of you that don’t know my background, I’ve played soccer for as long as I can remember. I participated in travel league’s growing up and played for my high school soccer team. I joined my high school cross-country team to keep in shape for soccer – often running 30-40 miles a week on top of 5 days of soccer practices.  The concept of 2-a-days was sketched into my brain early in life.

I was blessed with the opportunity to play for Samford University’s soccer team my freshman year of college, but chose to “retire” my cleats after a freak racquetball accident early in my sophomore year where I tore my ACL and dislocated my knee cap. After an ER visit and a month of taking it easy I was back at my normal routine – intramurals, running 3-4 miles a day, etc. My senior year of college I was the director of a step-sing show for my sorority and AGAIN, in a freak accident while dancing, my kneecap dislocated. This time I knew something was definitely wrong with my insides. Following another ER visit and a month off I visited a local orthopedic surgeon. After x-rays and an MRI, they decided that ACL reconstruction was necessary if I continued to be as active as I was. Not only that, they wanted to reconstruct my medial patella femoral ligament – the ligament that helps to hold my kneecap in place. Under the knife I went – a double major surgery underway. After surgery my knee was locked at a 10 degree bend for 6 weeks. I went through 4 months of rehab learning to walk, lift weights, and run again. It was 8 months before I was running and back on the soccer field. That was 5 years ago…

In the past 5 years a lot has happened. I went through about a year stint where I hated working out all together – I became very jaded. I gained 20 pounds and stopped taking care of my body. Then I became a YMCA gym rat obsessed with step aerobics. Then I became an avid runner – trained for 2 ½ marathons but still didn’t eat clean. Finally, 2 ½ years ago, I was introduced to Crossfit. I joined a Crossfit gym in Atlanta and was VERY skeptical. I hated every minute of the first few months in my gym, but I kept coming back. I slowly became stronger, slowly started incorporating a paleo diet into my routine, and I began to see a true body shift. I was stronger, faster, and in better mental health than I’d ever been. My knee STILL hurt, but NOT like it did playing soccer. Soccer was ALL lateral movements…Crossfit was functional for daily life activities. Squatting/bending, no crazy pushing and turning, and actually focusing on using my arms: what a concept. I became so in love with the program that I started coaching and competing – I dusted off the cobwebs from my inner athlete and began to show signs that I could handle 2-a-days after such a crazy reconstruction.

Insert IronTribe.

A little over a year ago I was blessed with an opportunity to join the IronTribe staff – making my hobby of coaching and competition a profession. I admit when I joined the team, I was still very SELF focused and had to learn the art of developing athletes outside of myself. Then I had to train myself to understand that not everyone is as competitive as I am, nor was the IronTribe experience solely about winning or being the best…for some, this experience was more social, for others it was a haven away from work, and others still a place where they could excel athletically like they never thought possible.

Thanks to ITF, like many of you, I reached new athletic abilities, but within the past few months I could no longer ignore the nagging pain in my knee nor the fact that my range of motion was becoming extremely difficult – even to demo to my own classes. On the outside I looked great, I was performing better, I was eating paleo and  “living the code”…that must mean that it’s just leftover pain from my surgery 5 years ago, right? There is no way something can be wrong with me again, right? WRONG.

Upon recommendation from two different ITF members, I visited Dr. Dugas with the Andrew’s group about 6 weeks ago. I knew the drill – do some mobility testing, take x-rays and an MRI. I kid you not, the night before my appointment I prayed that the doctor would say “You’ve torn your meniscus, we can perform a scope, you’ll be out a few weeks, then you’ll be right back at your normal routine.” But that wasn’t the report I received. Dr. Dugas informed me that my ACL was perfect. Good! My meniscus looked perfect. What? BUT…the surgery you had to fix your floating kneecap was never corrected properly. Your kneecap actually sits outside of its groove (see image below) – that clicking you feel…that’s your kneecap rubbing against your femur. Not only that, but all that clicking has caused an extreme case of osteoarthritis and it’s not reversible (see image with osteo cracks below).  His quote: “This is one of the worst knees I’ve ever seen for a 20-something; your arthritis is like that of a 90 year old.”

 

BAD KNEE ON THE RIGHT (OBVIOUSLY!!)

BAD KNEE ON THE LEFT

On October 25th, I had surgery #2 to hopefully fix my problem. Dr Dugas performed a lateral release - a cutting of the IT band connection to my kneecap join. This should help with my patella tracking issues. Downfall of surgery - LOTS of swelling, my range of motion will be limited for quite some time, and absolutely no running, jumping, lunging, quatting with weight or landing in the power position. Insert lots of swimming, biking, strict press, muscle cleans, pullups, situps, etc. My arms and core are definitely getting stronger already!! 

I don’t write this blog as a sob story…I write this blog as a reminder. I reminder to EVERYONE that what we do athletically, at ITF or other adventures, isn’t just about what we look like, or how we perform; it’s about taking care of your body – your insides. I ignored an injury for YEARS and now it’s going to cause me pain for the rest of my life...I may never compete again because of it.  And I’m ok with that… I want to encourage all athletes, young/old…experience/in-experienced…whatever your fitness level to listen to your body and the warning signs of something that nags you. That’s what your coaches are here for – tell them if something hurts. They are great at coming up with alternate WOD solutions and modifications. Also it’s important to remember that rest is ESSENTIAL if something in your body is hurting you...You accomplish absolutely nothing (except making it worse) by pushing through pain. I’m practicing what I preach now…I’m the kid in the corner doing something different than the rest of the class. And you know what, that’s ok. I’m still getting a workout. And I know it’s only for a short time while I heal. And you know what’s even more important to me: because I finally did something about my nagging knee, I will be able to get on the floor with my kids one day. I have a definition to that click – the clicking reminds me to slow down and look at the BIG picture of life.

IronTribe is a VERY special place. We are unlike any other crossfit-style gym in existence. The coaches, the staff and more importantly you – the members – care about each other like family. We are a TRIBE. We help each other to reach new physical feats, but deeper than that, we challenge each other mentally, spiritually and emotionally. I cannot put into words how grateful I was for the prayer chain that happened during my surgery, nor the meal schedule that was devised to feed Chaz and I, or all the hugs of encouragement I still receive as I limp around. I’ve turned off my inner athlete and get to truly focus of all of YOU. You – the members of the Tribe – make this place special. You are the cheerleaders, the motivators, and the encouragers. You have reminded me that this place isn’t just about wining, or Rx’ing, or looking the part…it’s about living your life while making lasting relationships – making healthy habits a lifestyle among a community. As our new campaign says it best: “Life. ___________ .” For me, it’s “Life. Shared.” My prayer is that through my story, I can share with you the importance of taking care of yourself – your insides, the importance of shared investment in others, the importance of sharing your struggles/pains, and at the end of the day what ITF truly is – a shared experience.