A final diagnosis? Maybe, so that probably means that I should admit I have a problem. I hear that's the first step. My left leg is the issue.
If you refer to the previous post about snowboarding on Tyrol's last weekend open you will see there is no mention of an injury. "Made a perfect end to the snowboarding season" is what was written. I kind of glossed over the part about me uncontrollably crashing off the chairlift not once, but twice. Seemed kind of embarrassing, a beginner problem, not worth mentioning. I looked cooler by not writing about it. Chad said the crashes were awesome, worthy of a funniest video maybe, but maybe not since I got hurt doing it. I limped off and kept snowboarding after each incident. Seems like maybe I heard a pop when it happened, but I thought I was imagining that as splints and ambulance rides flashed through my mind while it was happening.
Just a little swelling and some faint bruising around the knee by that night. I iced, rested, elevated, and medicated and it seemed better. I favored the leg, well, because it hurt. I had pain in the knee area, just above the knee, the ankle, top of foot and somewhere in the middle between the ankle and knee. OK, maybe that was a sign to have it looked at medically. Didn't happen. Seemed to be getting better, I didn't have trouble walking or getting around, just twisting and turning. Well the turning point was last Friday when I wore a pair of wedge sandals for a few hours and when I took them off that night my knee hurt and the pain was pretty constant and continues still.
Chad encouraged(threatened) me and I made a call to my doctor. Was there yesterday for evaluation and xrays. Choices were to go to physical therapy for an evaluation or go for an MRI. Probably had a ligament tear in the ankle, and three or so ligament tears around the knee, based on all the names of different ligaments being tossed around. Each in various stages of healing, and wearing the heels most likely reinjured some areas. Everyone seemed to have a "well no kidding" attitude about wearing heels and knee injuries, but the shoes don't come with a warning label so how was I to know.
PT eval today with a complete work up. Ligament tears are most likely healed and the pain is mostly from one torn meniscus, and the other is potentially torn as well. Well all the favoring has affected my hip stability on that side, so I have exercises to do, and a list of things not to do to help heal the meniscus. Back in 4 weeks for a checkup at PT, and hope it is healed.
Wishing good luck to Chad on his half marathon run on Saturday. I hope for good weather for him.
