The story begins...again. Part 1 (just catching up)
Ohhh boy, this one might take a while...and could possibly be separated into different parts. :) I suppose the most interesting time to start would be January 7, 2011, which was the day of my bi-lateral knee surgery. FUN! As many of y'all know I've had bad knees most of my life from dancing. When I was 14 yrs old a doctor told me I would probably need surgery on my right knee. However, the technology wasn't the greatest at that time, and the doc said I might never dance again after said surgery, so we decided against that. I guess I didn't think the pain was bad enough to risk not being a dancer. So, I danced, and danced, and danced. I started college when I was 28, with a major in elementary education and a minor in dance. Well, after attending a few education classes and learning that the education system really sucks I decided to drop that major and concentrate on another major. Betcha can't guess what I chose...yep, DANCE! For the record, I am SOOOOOO GLAD I made that decision. The education system is continually becoming worse! Well, I was on my way to an Arts Degree, with a lot of dance involved in getting me there. So you know, most of my 20s were spent dancing off and on due to moving around a lot and/or just not being able to afford classes, but when I started college it all came back to me. Despite being the oldest dancer in my classes I thought I fit in fairly well. Most of the girls/guys had no idea that I had a good 5-10 years on them! :) I had to wear a brace on my right knee for most dances, but then my left knee started to bother me a bit. I was always so scared to go back to the doctor for fear of surgery and being told I could never again do what I love. Dance is the only thing I've ever wanted to do and it's really all I know. It has always been the biggest part of my life. After dancing in college for a few semesters I became engaged to my now awesome hubby and we moved to Cali for his work. I took a tap class while in Cali, but it just wasn't the same. I missed jazz, hip-hop, modern, and yes, even ballet (which kills the knees). When we finally moved back home (to TEXAS) we bought a house. My hubby had taken a job in Dallas with decent health benefits so we decided to finally have a doctor look at my knee(s). We thought it might be a good idea before I signed up for more dance classes...just in case. Dr. Montgomery was highly recommended by a friend, and a few others, so how could I go wrong with him? And yes, he truly is amazing! I went to see him and after an x-ray for each knee he told me that my cartilage had mostly shattered, and that is why it was so painful for me to do anything. It had gotten to the point where I couldn't even squat down to pick up my Clark Kent "Superdog", who is an 8.5 lb Pomeranian. Dr. Montgomery said the damage in each knee was almost identical. Weird, right? He then told me that I would need Arthroscopic surgery (a scope), which isn't a huge surgery, but something that should be done, and hopefully, take away that horrible pain I've felt the majority of my life. I seriously thought it was normal to be in pain every time I squatted, walked up/down stairs, and bend to sit in a chair. Any pressure on my knees about killed me, but I was a dancer so I was supposed to suck it up...right? Wrong. The doc assured me that I would, absolutely, be dancing again. I gained quite a bit of weight after not dancing for a while, so I'm sure that was contributing to the pain, but I was so ready to get back to my dancing, and was willing to do almost anything to fix that horrible pain! I had my surgery on January 7, 2011 on both knees...yes, I said both...at the same time. I didn't want to go through therapy more than once. I gotta say, it wasn't all that bad. The operation took about 2 hours for both knees. They went in there and cleaned out the shattered cartilage and smoothed my knee caps. My cartilage wasn't replaced with anything, so now I have two knees with no cushion, which is fine because there isn't as much pain as before. The doc did tell me that the pain will go away but the crackling might still be there. He told me the healing process will take a while. I was on crutches for a few weeks but was walking on my own in February. I was able to walk down the aisle as a bridesmaid at my brother's wedding, which was awesome! (We never thought he'd get married, so I was thrilled to do that. And he married someone I actually like).
To be continued...
Ohhh boy, this one might take a while...and could possibly be separated into different parts. :) I suppose the most interesting time to start would be January 7, 2011, which was the day of my bi-lateral knee surgery. FUN! As many of y'all know I've had bad knees most of my life from dancing. When I was 14 yrs old a doctor told me I would probably need surgery on my right knee. However, the technology wasn't the greatest at that time, and the doc said I might never dance again after said surgery, so we decided against that. I guess I didn't think the pain was bad enough to risk not being a dancer. So, I danced, and danced, and danced. I started college when I was 28, with a major in elementary education and a minor in dance. Well, after attending a few education classes and learning that the education system really sucks I decided to drop that major and concentrate on another major. Betcha can't guess what I chose...yep, DANCE! For the record, I am SOOOOOO GLAD I made that decision. The education system is continually becoming worse! Well, I was on my way to an Arts Degree, with a lot of dance involved in getting me there. So you know, most of my 20s were spent dancing off and on due to moving around a lot and/or just not being able to afford classes, but when I started college it all came back to me. Despite being the oldest dancer in my classes I thought I fit in fairly well. Most of the girls/guys had no idea that I had a good 5-10 years on them! :) I had to wear a brace on my right knee for most dances, but then my left knee started to bother me a bit. I was always so scared to go back to the doctor for fear of surgery and being told I could never again do what I love. Dance is the only thing I've ever wanted to do and it's really all I know. It has always been the biggest part of my life. After dancing in college for a few semesters I became engaged to my now awesome hubby and we moved to Cali for his work. I took a tap class while in Cali, but it just wasn't the same. I missed jazz, hip-hop, modern, and yes, even ballet (which kills the knees). When we finally moved back home (to TEXAS) we bought a house. My hubby had taken a job in Dallas with decent health benefits so we decided to finally have a doctor look at my knee(s). We thought it might be a good idea before I signed up for more dance classes...just in case. Dr. Montgomery was highly recommended by a friend, and a few others, so how could I go wrong with him? And yes, he truly is amazing! I went to see him and after an x-ray for each knee he told me that my cartilage had mostly shattered, and that is why it was so painful for me to do anything. It had gotten to the point where I couldn't even squat down to pick up my Clark Kent "Superdog", who is an 8.5 lb Pomeranian. Dr. Montgomery said the damage in each knee was almost identical. Weird, right? He then told me that I would need Arthroscopic surgery (a scope), which isn't a huge surgery, but something that should be done, and hopefully, take away that horrible pain I've felt the majority of my life. I seriously thought it was normal to be in pain every time I squatted, walked up/down stairs, and bend to sit in a chair. Any pressure on my knees about killed me, but I was a dancer so I was supposed to suck it up...right? Wrong. The doc assured me that I would, absolutely, be dancing again. I gained quite a bit of weight after not dancing for a while, so I'm sure that was contributing to the pain, but I was so ready to get back to my dancing, and was willing to do almost anything to fix that horrible pain! I had my surgery on January 7, 2011 on both knees...yes, I said both...at the same time. I didn't want to go through therapy more than once. I gotta say, it wasn't all that bad. The operation took about 2 hours for both knees. They went in there and cleaned out the shattered cartilage and smoothed my knee caps. My cartilage wasn't replaced with anything, so now I have two knees with no cushion, which is fine because there isn't as much pain as before. The doc did tell me that the pain will go away but the crackling might still be there. He told me the healing process will take a while. I was on crutches for a few weeks but was walking on my own in February. I was able to walk down the aisle as a bridesmaid at my brother's wedding, which was awesome! (We never thought he'd get married, so I was thrilled to do that. And he married someone I actually like).
To be continued...
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