Good News/Bad News

The good news is that my knee is feeling wonderful - the hot tub and "pool therapy" in Maine helped a lot! It still stiffens up when I am inactive for a while, as when I first get up in the morning, or getting out of the car after driving a hundred miles or so, and there is an area that is tender to the touch. But I can walk and negotiate stairs without any pain in my knee. In confirmation, I saw my doctor today and got the results of the x-ray I had last week: normal except for degenerative changes associated with osteoarthritis, or in other words, old age.

Unfortunately as my knee has improved, I've been increasingly bothered by discomfort in my left heel, which I have been trying to ignore for the past several months. The pain comes and goes, but lately has been almost constant. It often makes me limp, and sometimes even the cuff of my jeans causes pain when it brushes against the back of my heel.

I figured as long as I was scheduling doctor visits last week, I would get this checked out. So I had an x-ray of my foot, and I went to the podiatrist today. It turns out that I do have a bone spur at the back of my heel, which is causing bursitis. Treatment: since I am unable to take oral anti-inflammatories, either 1) topical anti-inflammatories or 2) injection of steroid. I opted to go directly to the injection.

I guess I should have asked for more information about the effects of the injection before I went ahead with it. It turns out that I am restricted from "martial arts" activities for at least two weeks, in order to reduce the risk of Achilles tendon rupture. That's the bad news.

My first thought was, How in heck can I prepare adequately for Black Belt testing in October if I am sidelined for weeks at a time? The second pre-test comes up on July 18, just three days after my restriction is supposed to be lifted. Can I retain all my material during that time if I can't practice?

My grandson says, "Don't worry, Grammy, I'll help you." And my mentor at the karate school wants me to come in for one-on-one training, even if I only use my upper body (deep stances are a no-no right now). And I'm sure I can use the stationary bike in the fitness room to keep my stamina where it needs to be. And it wouldn't be the end of the world if I had to wait until the Spring of 2010 to test.

But regardless of how being sidelined may affect my testing, I don't want to miss any classes because I feel so good when I train. I want to be in class!

I guess I just have to suck it up and do what I've done in the past when I've had to be off the mat: be present for every class and pay attention to everything, and do all I can to stay fit. Then hopefully when I am released for full activity I'll be able to jump back in without missing a beat.