About that disability thing and bad knees
Mar. 3rd, 2004 12:10 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
danaerisSince it got some people so riled up...
I'm essentially disabled right now. There are things I can't do. There are things I'm not supposed to do at all according to the doctor that I do anyway (run, jog, wear heel, bend my knees past ninety degrees weight bearing or not). Am I permanently disabled? I don't know. I'm pretty sure I am, but the extent of that disability will not be clear until I have the money and the strength to go see a doctor about my knees.
Do I think that disabled people sometimes don't try things out of fear that they'll discover they can't?
Well, I sure do that. I'm doing it right now. I did it even worse for a long time, telling myself I couldn't workout because all the machines would aggravate my knees.
Do I think the smart ones/ones receiving proper medical attention do that? Probably not. They have a good idea of what their body can and cannot take, what pain is just pain and what pain means that you're causing more damage, and so they can make informed decisions about what to do and not do. They might be on the cautious side, but that's the smart thing to do in my mind. Throwing caution to the wind led me to the place I'm in now.
In my fantasies, I would see a knee specialist, and a sports doctor, and all the appropriate people for my problems. My PFS, my tendonitis; get the cartilage they operated on checked on again, my bursitis... whatever it is that causes me to need as much as 1000 mg of acetaminophen to sleep soundly without being woken by achey knees... also other little injuries which sometimes act up like my groin on the right side. Then maybe I'd find a rehab personal trainer and get into good physical shape, but pace that program to what my body can take -- and feel confident that the trainer understood these sorts of things and was monitoring that for me, working with what I say about what hurts to not push me too hard but not go too easy either.
I'm scared that I'm going to reinjure myself with the workouts I'm doing. I'm scared that my knee is going to take this away from me, because truth be told I enjoy working out and the benefits I gain from it. But already when I'm doing cardio my right knee is starting to act up. And on right leg adduction and abudction weight lifting, my groin is acting up.
I know one thing for sure. I'm about 60 pounds overweight by most doctor's standards. All that weight is bearing down on my knees making everything far worse than it has to be. If nothing else, I'm beginning to realize more and more that weight loss for me is a necessity for my health and not just for my vanity.
Um. I guess that's all for now. I guess writing this post is a step because I've never really "verbalized" all these concerns and fears about these injuries. I do feel very bitter, however, and the damage I did to my body pursuing someone else's dream.
I'm essentially disabled right now. There are things I can't do. There are things I'm not supposed to do at all according to the doctor that I do anyway (run, jog, wear heel, bend my knees past ninety degrees weight bearing or not). Am I permanently disabled? I don't know. I'm pretty sure I am, but the extent of that disability will not be clear until I have the money and the strength to go see a doctor about my knees.
Do I think that disabled people sometimes don't try things out of fear that they'll discover they can't?
Well, I sure do that. I'm doing it right now. I did it even worse for a long time, telling myself I couldn't workout because all the machines would aggravate my knees.
Do I think the smart ones/ones receiving proper medical attention do that? Probably not. They have a good idea of what their body can and cannot take, what pain is just pain and what pain means that you're causing more damage, and so they can make informed decisions about what to do and not do. They might be on the cautious side, but that's the smart thing to do in my mind. Throwing caution to the wind led me to the place I'm in now.
In my fantasies, I would see a knee specialist, and a sports doctor, and all the appropriate people for my problems. My PFS, my tendonitis; get the cartilage they operated on checked on again, my bursitis... whatever it is that causes me to need as much as 1000 mg of acetaminophen to sleep soundly without being woken by achey knees... also other little injuries which sometimes act up like my groin on the right side. Then maybe I'd find a rehab personal trainer and get into good physical shape, but pace that program to what my body can take -- and feel confident that the trainer understood these sorts of things and was monitoring that for me, working with what I say about what hurts to not push me too hard but not go too easy either.
I'm scared that I'm going to reinjure myself with the workouts I'm doing. I'm scared that my knee is going to take this away from me, because truth be told I enjoy working out and the benefits I gain from it. But already when I'm doing cardio my right knee is starting to act up. And on right leg adduction and abudction weight lifting, my groin is acting up.
I know one thing for sure. I'm about 60 pounds overweight by most doctor's standards. All that weight is bearing down on my knees making everything far worse than it has to be. If nothing else, I'm beginning to realize more and more that weight loss for me is a necessity for my health and not just for my vanity.
Um. I guess that's all for now. I guess writing this post is a step because I've never really "verbalized" all these concerns and fears about these injuries. I do feel very bitter, however, and the damage I did to my body pursuing someone else's dream.
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no subject
Of the OTC painkillers available, acetaminophen is probably the worst for your liver. You might want to try swapping in ibuprofen or aspirin, or at least drinking some schizandra tea to lighten the load. MSM is also really good for pain and inflammation. I've talked to people who have permanent liver damage from acetaminophen . . .
In any case, you have my best wishes. Good luck!
*goes off to pop a couple of advil and some MSM for her tendinitis* :P