Ruminations

Six years ago today, I completed my first full marathon as part of the Dopey Challenge at Walt Disney World.  Most people train for their first marathon as just a single race.  The Dopey Challenge was four races, over four days: starting with a 5k on Thursday, a 10k on Friday, a half-marathon on Saturday, and a full marathon on Sunday.  The training for the Dopey Challenge involved 2 long runs each weekend.  Saturdays were the half-marathon training runs and Sundays training runs were for the full marathon.  Near the end, 13 mile runs on Sundays became the "short" runs!

And yes, my knee was talking to me on many of those long runs.  I ignored it though; as the pain was never in the same place (common for tri-compartmental patellar osteoarthritis (OA) which I did not know I had at that time - it moves around the kneecap).  I had always been told if it is not a consistent pain that doesn't go away then it is probably nothing to worry about.  So, invariably I would slow my pace down, the pain would go away, and I would forget about it.  I am sure the ice baths after the long runs helped too!

I did not worry about it until 10 months later while training for another Disney trifecta: the inaugural Avenger's 5k/10k/half-marathon event.  On my last long run before the event I was half-way around Lake Natoma when I felt something happen in the back of my knee, and it became very painful to run let alone walk the last 5 miles back to the car.  Hello Mr. Baker's Cyst!  Though that was mis-diagnosed as tendinitis.  Then a few days after that, my fun loving boxer, Dallas, plowed into me and tore the medial meniscus.  This led to an MRI which showed the OA, cyst and tear.  The only option given to me was a knee replacement - though it was not recommended as I was not old enough.  Pain control via ibuprofen and/or cortisone shots was the recommended course of action until the knee deteriorates to the point that the pain control no longer works.  

Fortunately, I have Dr. Edward Chu from Elite Spinal & Sports Care (http://elitespinalcare.com) on my side.  He gave me a few non-surgical options to look into:

• Hyaluronic Acid Injections
• Platelet Rich Plasma (PRP) Injections
• Stem Cell Replacement

My doctor at that time did not do PRP, and knew nothing about stem cell replacement; but did do Hyaluronic Acid injections (1 injection/week for 3 weeks).  I did that for a few years, until my insurance stopped covering them.  They worked well for me and added in some cushion back into the knee.  The injections have a bad rap in the medical world, as they are normally given to patients after the cortisone shots stop working and before knee replacement.  The reason I was given for my insurance no longer covering the injections was that a knee replacement is cheaper than the round of injections.

So it was back to just pain control which, by this time, I was also starting to control by my diet, thanks to being introduced to the Whole 30 plan.  Basically eliminating sugar, processed food and inflammatory foods from my cabinets and belly, has helped control the backtalk from the knee.

Last year, my healthcare provider dropped my insurance and I had 30 days to find a new doctor.  I made a point of asking about the PRP and stem cell replacement when looking for a new doctor.  Fortunately, I found a doctor who has actually done the stem cell extraction; and knows one of the doctors at the facility where I am going.

So here I am on the eve of starting the stem cell replacement therapy, thinking back on how I got here and what it took to get to this point.  I am willing to bet the total length of time that I will have needles in me will be far less than the number of hours I spent running the full marathon at the Inaugural Dopey Challenge!