What fun....(not!)

I found out today that I have Chondromalacia Patella, that is my kneecap is out of alignment and causing problems. According to one of the medical sites, it can be defined thus:

Chondromalacia Patella is often used by physicians as a catch-all term to describe anterior knee pain that results from patellar malalignment. The strict definition, however, is simply the degeneration of the cartilage on the posterior aspect of the kneecap.

Over the last week my left knee has been really hurting, and getting worse. It wakes me up during the night. It hurts going down the stairs. It hurts changing from bent knee to straight knee. It pops with a kind of grinding feeling when it didn't do this last week.

Classic symptoms.

Doctor gave me a drug called Mobic for the inflammation. I have trouble with large dose NSAIDs...they eat my tummy up. One dose hurt and had me running for the acid blockers...

Ginger for the next few days, I can see. And Protonix. Leg exercises to get my quadriceps in gear. And no high heels (boohoo!) - at least not to walk in. And I may pull out my danner hiking boots. They are good shock absorbers.

Last week I sat in the wrong chair watching all that hurricane coverage. It no doubt was the straw that busted the camel's knee-cap.

This time I was being so careful not to do things to hurt my leg, just some walking. I have injured myself twice trying to get into shape in the last few years. Can't ride my exercise bike cause it hurts my knees. Can't run on the treadmill cause it hurts my feet. I need a gym that has a pool so I can swim laps or something.

Leg lifts and isometric exercises, sore stomach lining and night pain it is for awhile. Yuck.

And grouse season opens this weekend, and I was wanting to see how much better I climbed up that long three mile in, 1000 ft up walk this year to the place we like to go. Rest of the year the place we go is either filled with sheep or snow. And it's so pretty once the aspens start turning color, and magical when they start dropping their leaves.

I am not happy. But at least it wasn't a torn ligament.

I have read that people who are obese have a different walk than thinner people. Could be this is also a sign of how my walk is starting to shift. Hope the exercise gets it corrected.