Tag Archives: knee injury

Heavens To Murgatroyd! Exit Stage Left!

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Yeah, it’s a Snagglepuss quote. It seemed much more clever when I originally thought up the title and mistakenly thought his name was Snaggletooth, because I have a bit of a snaggletooth going on myself.

Snagglepuss (definitely not Snaggletooth)

Saturday was shaping up to be a pretty nice day, lots of relaxing and lounging in the garden, and I’d been to the shops and bought my weight in meat to get grilling on the barbecue again. One of my friends conveniently forgot to tell us it was his birthday so we decided he should at least see everyone and we managed to drag him along. The evening was going fine until I bit into something (I forget what) and I remember hearing and feeling a very odd crunching. I spat whatever it was out and thought it looked suspiciously like a piece of tooth, and after a quick scan of my teeth with my tongue, I got that sinking feeling when it turned out I was right. It’s the corner of the back half of one of my front teeth, so it’s not visibile at least, but I’m very aware of it and it feels horrible and sharp. It means finding a dentist now as I’m no longer with my old NHS one,  but the chances of finding another one are very slim. I tried looking at every dentist within a 15 miles radius on Sunday and not one of them is taking new patients – some health service eh? It means I’m going to have to go private unfortunately. Dentists cost enough on the NHS, let alone private, so it’s not a trip I’m looking forward to for lots of reasons now.

My knee is still pretty much ruined. It’s a lot better in some respects, for example I can walk up and down stairs much more easily, and I can get up the lane to my car in the mornings, but in others it’s really not much better at all. I tried a few very light, very narrow changes of stance earlier, as if I were doing some basics drills in a TSD lesson, but within about five minutes I was aching and frustrated. It feels like it’s going to be at least another week yet before I’m back in a dobok, and then it’s going to be very light and controlled. I can’t imagine how long it’s going to be before I can fight again, I can’t even imagine driving off my left leg to attack, the thought of the pain makes my skin crawl. It’s yet another beautiful evening tonight and once again I’m stuck indoors, dosed up on ibuprofen, leg in the air and thoroughly fed-up. And until I find out if the dentist will accept a kidney in payment for my tooth being repaired, I’m too scared to eat anything even remotely firm. Is this the sort of evening I have to look forward to when I’m an old man??

I’ve still been going along to most of the training sessions that I can’t take part in, which is ok but no substitute for training myself. I was lucky enough to be able to help the kids out on Sunday, I helped them start learning their Ho Sin Sool (self-defence) which I really took a lot from, but watching all my friends and training partners fight for the last hour was really quite hard to take.

*puts the violin down*

That’s plenty of feeling sorry for myself for now, I’ll try for something a bit more upbeat the next time, I promise! I’ll leave you with a lovely song I’ve recently re-discovered and have been listening to a lot.

Guns N Roses – Don’t Cry
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Time To Get Comfy

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My knee has been getting no better really since I hurt it on Friday, so today I did as I told myself I would do, and went to see the doctor after work. Naturally I’ve been looking up knee injuries online and know the full horror of what it could be, I just wanted to know for sure. The good news is that it doesn’t look like it’s anything which will require surgery. I knew it wasn’t ACL, my worries were more MCL or meniscus damage as that’s exactly where the pain is. After being prodded, pulled, twisted and generally manipulated, the concensus is that I have sprained and strained several tendons and possibly ligaments down the outside of my knee. The bad news as such, is that the only thing I can do is rest it and let it heal, and so I’ve been told to stop all training immediately, and to stay that way for at least the next two, possibly three weeks.

The longest I’ve had to go without any training at all in the past has been about a week, so to be told that effectively I might not be doing anything – Tang Soo Do, Kickboxing, running, swimming, etc. – until July is a tough blow to take. Training has been my one outlet lately, my one little escape from everything, and now it’s been taken away from me. Needless to say, after this news, sleeping about 4 hours a night for the last 5 or 6 days, and being in constant pain, I’m not in the best of spirits at the moment.

Still, that’s enough of the melodrama and self-pity, I’ll get better. I’m a lot luckier than some people with knee injuries I know. I’m just going to have to find other things to occupy my time for the foreseeable future. I’m not sure I can face going to training for the next 10-15 sessions and just sitting and watching every time. Don’t get me wrong, I’m only to happy to learn from the sidelines and help out with pads and suchlike, but it’s hideously demoralising, and I could do without it.

Murphy had his boosters yesterday without so much as a yelp, so we went for a celebratory walk limp around the woods after. The vet said he’s about the perfect size and weight, his umbilical hernia is fine, and perhaps the best news of all, he doesn’t need to lose his nuts!

I’m signing off with this today, I think I’ve posted it before but I love it and so you have to listen to it too! (well, you do if you like me and click the ‘play’ button).

I Was A Cub Scout – Pink Squares
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Cows Love Def Leppard

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That’s the conclusion I came to sitting in traffic at a roundabout on the way to work today. They especially seem to like it when I sing ‘Photograph’ at them. I expect it’s my dulcet tones.

Tonight my little dog is heading to the vet for his booster shots, I can’t believe it’s a year since I was carrying the tiny, fluffy little maniac home. He doesn’t mind going to the vet, but he doesn’t like the vet himself, not since he was ‘violated’ with a thermometer. “Di…did you see what that man just did to me…?’ his eyes seemed to say, the poor little chap. Thankfully he doesn’t have to go very often, for some reason dogs seem to cost a fortune for anything, whereas cats are a bit cheaper. Cats are bargain pets.

Murphy has a ‘monster’ (a fluffy toy with rope legs and arms) which I bought him for his birthday which he is absolutely addicted to. It’s beginning to be the bane of my life. It’s impossible to sit down at home without this slobber-covered monster being put down in front of you with the saddest, most expectant eyes looking up at you. He’s not sure what he wants to do with it most times, normally it’s thrown somewhere for him to fetch (he’s always so proud when he brings it back), to play tug-of-war with me, and occasionally to hump it. He’s cute though, so he gets away with it.

I’ve started to notice just how many slopes and stairs there are between my home and my work. My knee is utterly knackered at the moment, I’m ok walking slowly on the flat, but throw a gentle slope or some steps in and that’s it, pain time. It’s got to the stage where getting to the staircase at work means I have to take a deep breath and just go. I’ll just have to go and see the doctor this week, providing I can get in to see one. It’s starting to feel a little better when I’m just walking around, but if it’s something bad I need to know.

I’m still a million miles away from training, running, kickboxing – anything I enjoy basically. I went along to the sessions on Sunday which was ok, as I got to help the kids a little from the sidelines, but it was mostly just depressing. The ‘theme’ for this month is some serious concentration on hyung, which I could really do with. Watching everybody else doing it just isn’t the same. I’m not sure I can face going along and watching every session between now and whenever it is I can put my dobok back on. It could be a while.

More insights into the world of Bovine music tastes soon.