My husband and I both were realizing last night that we’d only been back for a full week that evening. After an a great initial three days back (Friday, plus the weekend) the rest of the week was pretty rough, starting with my busted knee on Tuesday night and ending with my son’s throwing up all last night. Whew, I’m glad it’s Friday. And here are a couple updates. Five in fact.
My knee. It’s A LOT better. Every day it’s been less sore and felt more secure. I’m still wearing the brace to make sure I don’t over do it, but I’m feeling pretty confident that I haven’t torn my meniscus or my ACL. I just think either of those injuries would hurt a lot more than this does. My current guess is that I just sprained it, or tore my quad muscle. The only spot that is still swollen is right above my knee. So I’m feeling really hopeful that it’s not nearly as bad as I originally feared. I’m even hoping I can still participate in my belt test next month.
Doctor’s appointment. I have one for Monday, but the latest they have is 2:30, which means I’d have to miss my last two classes. These are really hard classes to miss because almost no teachers have preps during those periods (during 5th only ONE teacher has prep! ONE!) I put in for a sub, but if no one takes my classes I’ll probably have to cancel. I’m wondering how bad it would be if I have to cancel. This is where I’d love some advice. If my knee just keeps feeling better, is seeing the doctor necessary? Especially if I suspect I will not be offered an MRI (because my knee is feeling better). If you have any thoughts on this please let me know.
Sitting workouts. They are a thing! Thank you JJ for alerting me to that fact because I searched for some (specifically for knee injuries) and found a bunch and immediately felt better just knowing they were there. I did a short one last night and I could definitely feel a difference in my emotional state afterward. Feeling like my knee was not as injured as I thought helped, but getting my heart rate up helped more. I just really need that release.
Knee braces. I immediately ordered a knee brace (one a friend suggested based on her experience) and it came Wednesday. I’ve been wearing it since then, when I need to walk around. At first I used it for lateral stability, and then to make sure I didn’t over extend my knee (which still really hurts) and now just to make sure I don’t walk around like everything is fine (because it’s not, sometimes I come down on it in a certain way and get a sharp pang, so I definitely still need to be careful). I got one with hinges and one without (for continued use when I’m at the dojo). And then I didn’t get anything else! I almost got a sleeve and another ice pack at Kaiser when I was picking up my prescriptions, but I put them back. And I almost got a cotton-lycra sleeve to wear under the brace, but then I found a pair of my daughter’s old leggings and I cut each leg off and that are perfect because they are so small that they are tight, and they stay on and up and are literally exactly what I need. I’m so proud of myself for not buying a million things when this happened. I’m also proud that I kept enough of our old ice packs and ice pack holders, to not need to get more. Yay me.
My husband. He’s been struggling with this. He seems really angry at the dojo. He keeps asking me if other people have been injured (yes, of course) and what the liability waiver looks like. At first I understood, but he just keeps bringing it up and it’s starting to annoy me. Martial arts is a contact sport. Of course there is a chance that you’ll be injured. There is a change you’ll be injured in any sport, and even more so in contact sports. I have always felt VERY safe at the dojo. It’s a teaching dojo, not a competitive dojo. We spar to teach and learn, not to best each other or win. There are no points. I’m just really not sure where all this is coming from.
I’ve also found myself not asking for things because I don’t want to put him out. I think this is partly because I just hate asking for help, partly because I know he specifically can’t usually take on more than he is used to, and partly because he’s being so negative about how this happened. It’s not great. Luckily I have never been totally immobilized by this injury – even initially I just needed to walk very slowly and couldn’t stay on my feet long – so I haven’t needed too much help. But still, it sucks to not feel like I could ask for it if I did need it.
{He’s also been really struggling at work again. He was in such a good mood on out trip, but the minute he returned to work he got really down and tired again. It’s clearly work that is making him miserable. Do I really pressure him to ask for medication just so he can better tolerate his job? He’s definitely interested in leaving, but it will take months for that to happen, and this next year will be even worse than normal because it’s an election year and the current mayor is incredibly unpopular, so all her staff are losing their minds and it will only get worse. Just another reason 2024 is going to be shitty.}
Resting. I went to work on Wednesday, but I only taught two classes (one block and Advisory) and then I went home. I spent the rest of the day on the couch, with my knee up, icing it every other 20 minutes. It was really nice to give myself that time, and since I had long prep on Wednesday, it only “cost” me 90 minutes (for the staff meeting I missed). Thursday was really rough – I had four block periods, I missed my first break while the 8th graders were finishing a test, then my second break doing supervision duty, then my lunch letting kids in because of the rain. I got no breaks all day long, and I was on my feet a lot. I also had to do a ton of driving after work (which isn’t so bad because my car is electric and has a drive setting that basically brakes for you (to generate power) the minute you take your foot off the gas – it’s been so helpful). So I was REALLY glad to get some rest on Wednesday. I hope to get some more this weekend, especially since my son is now sick!
Right when I got hurt, I was immediately thinking of big picture things I might not be able to do – mostly my belt test. But Wednesday morning, when I got up to make the kids’ lunches, I realized how hard everything else was going to be, and what a pain in the ass just shuffling from one area to another was. I kept forgetting things and cursing the need to double back. It’s been really hard, and my injury is super low key! I’m fairly mobile! I can’t imagine how hard it would be with a more serious injury that made moving around difficult to impossible. I’m so grateful that mine wasn’t that bad.
And with that I gotta just hit publish on this thing otherwise it will never go up. I’ve been working on it all day…
Aak! I meant to thank everyone for their thoughts and advice on the last knee post. I really appreciated them! Thank you! I take all your insights to heart.
I would not skip your doctor appointment, even if it feels better it is still affecting your daily routine.
I am a teacher and a runner, so I understand the struggle.
Another teacher (and also a Sara!) weighing in to say the same thing. Though I admit I find this advice hard to take myself, think about what your school would do if you, say, suddenly had a stomach virus and needed to leave because you were throwing up. Your admin would figure it out — that’s their job. I think you should definitely keep the appt (and I also hope it continues to get better!).
I am glad to hear your knee feels better but I’d also have it checked out, just to be sure you’re not overlooking something. You don’t want to make things worse.
And I am sorry your husband’s job is so stressful. If that’s truly what’s making I’m miserable and depressed, he needs to do something about it. It’s not worth his health.
Supporting the people who commented before me.
Get knee checked out even if it feels better; cause ‘better’ isn’t good enough.
Administrators are paid to deal with these things and they will be better off covering two classes for you to see doc than you being out for a week or more if injury is more serious and help is delayed.
Husband is angry you were hurt and he could not protect you from injury. Hating ones’ job is really hard … Hope he decides to reduce his stress and try ‘better living through chemistry’ (But legal stuff not street stuff) … can really help.
THANK YOU FOR WRITING. I continue to worry about your knee and hearing it improved is nice. Norovirus is HIGHLY contagious and VERY popular here right now….. NOT FUN AT ALL EITHER>
100% I’d keep the doctor’s appointment and get an official exam on the books. Then if another week goes by and the pain isn’t improving, they should likely be able to order the MRI for you without going in for another appointment. You really don’t want to skip out on the assessment piece in case it’s a partial tear that could heal with conservative measures (and not just a sprain like you’re hoping). I’m glad it’s feeling a little better, though! And yay for seated workouts helping your mental health. 🙂