My Retirement Year: An Ongoing Skiing TR

[jackstraw]

This is fantastic! Congrats on 100! Impressive!

[savemeasammy]

Congrats on making this happen during this challenging season…! I’m glad to have made a few turns with you - although not as many as I had hoped. I hope the knee problem gets resolved so you can enjoy some biking. I know a guy who lives a few lakes north of you who is a pretty mediocre mountain biker- wink, wink.


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[MyNameIsAugustWest]

Congrats on making this happen during this challenging season…! I’m glad to have made a few turns with you - although not as many as I had hoped. I hope the knee problem gets resolved so you can enjoy some biking. I know a guy who lives a few lakes north of you who is a pretty mediocre mountain biker- wink, wink.


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Still waiting to get an MRI for the knee. Haven't skied in 8 days and it really isn't any better (or any worse). If possible, we'll ride some dirt this summer. Don't know about your place but the black flies are horrible down our way. Bought a mosquito magnet and it is slaying them in great numbers but they're like the Chinese in the Korean War...maybe too many of them to kill.

[Speedfreak]

Congrats!!!

Holy crap 5 passes, and only 21.50 a day. That's just wild.

Hope the knee heals up in time for you to hit the dirt/gravel

[muted reborn]

Congrats, you are doing retirement right. Happy that I made turns with you and Goniff.

[AmmergauerTele]

How’s the wheel?

[MyNameIsAugustWest]

Still waiting for an MRI....from my military service I get "almost free" health coverage but it sure seems like you get what you pay for. I called the Dr. office yesterday and they said the MRI order was "in progress" with the insurance provider. Honestly, my knee is getting a lot worse, probably because I'm doing too much on it. Interestingly, it never hurt that much when I was skiing. Just want to get it done and behind me.

[Wookiee]

Awesome thread to follow along and congrats on hitting 100 days, that’s a sold amount of skiing and not an easy feat.
Hope the knee heals up for you!

[AmmergauerTele]

Good luck on the wheel - do you homework, if it comes time to get cut, get the best dr you can.

[MyNameIsAugustWest]

Just an update....finally got the MRI on 5/24 and got the results late last week. I've deleted all of the "unremarkable" findings.
FINDINGS:
Lateral meniscus: Complex tear extrusion.
Medial femorotibial compartment: Medial compartment articular cartilage thinning.
Lateral femorotibial compartment: Full-thickness and near full-thickness articular cartilage loss weightbearing.
Patellofemoral compartment: Mild thinning.
Effusion: Large.
Para-articular soft tissues: Prepatellar soft tissue swelling.
Osseous structures: Susceptibility artifact within the proximal tibial metaphysis.


IMPRESSION:
Degenerative appearing tear lateral meniscus with extrusion.
Severe lateral compartment arthrosis.
Mild medial and patellofemoral compartment osteoarthritis.
Secondary artifact within the proximal medial tibial plateau. Recommend correlating with radiography.
Effusion.

I had a clean (non-compression) tibial plateau fracture in 2012 so some of the findings are seeing the remnants of that incident. Now just waiting on the referral to ortho to come through.

[AmmergauerTele]

I had meniscus surgery, bucket handle tear in 2014. Got it repaired, stitched back together. Got back pretty good but needed a quick smoothing a year later. Took about five years to totally feel better. But was skiing on it at 11 months. Now I don’t even think about it when skiing. Tore it hitting a rock in 18” of powder in Austria. All it did was pop my ski off. Didn’t even fall….lots of biking and getting back into rowing now. Best of luck, fingers crossed. PM if need Ortho recco.

[cat in january]

Are you looking at a new knee?

[MyNameIsAugustWest]

PM if need Ortho recco.

Thnx. With my almost free healthcare (compliments of 20 years in the Army), I don't get a choice. I could use the VA but those guys are real butchers.

Are you looking at a new knee?

Man, I hope not but with all that cartilage loss and arthritis, it seems inevitable. It would be tough to get much of a ski season next winter if I have to get a new knee this summer.

[MyNameIsAugustWest]

Just got back from the ortho doc. Mostly good news....

Went in expecting him wanting to do a full or partial knee replacement. His first comments were just that...the MRI and x-rays suggest a full replacement but based on my skiing on it for almost 5 months after the injury, he wants to try a less aggressive approach initially.

Lots going on in there:
* MCL shows some evidence of at least a bad sprain or partial tear but it has resolved itself.
* Medial meniscus is ragged but in place and doing its job.
* ACL and PCL show no damage
* Medial cartilage is thinner than when I was a youngster but there is at least some.
* Lateral meniscus is completely detached and floating outside of the joint compartment
* Basically no cartilage on the lateral side of the knee
* Grade 3+ osteoarthritis on the medial heads of the femur and tibia. Range is 0-4.
* There is a small shaving of metal inside the tibia head. This is clearly from when I had the screws removed after a tibial plateau fracture (TPFx) in 2012.
* There is some evidence that I suffered another minor TPFx but it has resolved.

Basically, all of the above has caused my knee joint to collapse on the lateral side so my lower leg and upper leg are not in alignment; upper leg points in at the knee joint while my lower leg points out toward the ankle. This misalignment has caused me a crushing case of sciatica but I have recently upped my core exercise regime and that has helped tremendously.

The way ahead is to get fitted with an "unloader" knee brace that will get my leg bones back in alignment and then hyaluronic gel injections to "replace" the soft tissue on the lateral compartment of the knee joint. These injections are good for about 6 months and delay joint replacement by 3.6 years on average (according to the propaganda from big pharma). Doc liked my idea of biking to strengthen the muscles supporting the knee but not to start until I get the brace because strengthening them when not in proper alignment could do more harm than good. Should have the brace within a couple of weeks and first gel injection is on 7/6. Assuming my insurance provider agrees....

[jfost]

Just got back from the ortho doc. Mostly good news....


Lots going on in there:
* MCL shows some evidence of at least a bad sprain or partial tear but it has resolved itself.
* Medial meniscus is ragged but in place and doing its job.
* ACL and PCL show no damage
* Medial cartilage is thinner than when I was a youngster but there is at least some.
* Lateral meniscus is completely detached and floating outside of the joint compartment
* Basically no cartilage on the lateral side of the knee
* Grade 3+ osteoarthritis on the medial heads of the femur and tibia. Range is 0-4.
* There is a small shaving of metal inside the tibia head. This is clearly from when I had the screws removed after a tibial plateau fracture (TPFx) in 2012.
* There is some evidence that I suffered another minor TPFx but it has resolved.

…

The way ahead is to get fitted with an "unloader" knee brace that will get my leg bones back in alignment and then hyaluronic gel injections to "replace" the soft tissue on the lateral compartment of the knee joint. These injections are good for about 6 months and delay joint replacement by 3.6 years on average (according to the propaganda from big pharma). Doc liked my idea of biking to strengthen the muscles supporting the knee but not to start until I get the brace because strengthening them when not in proper alignment could do more harm than good. Should have the brace within a couple of weeks and first gel injection is on 7/6. Assuming my insurance provider agrees....

Those braces actually are effective, but you have to wear it!!! You’re probably not hurting it biking, especially if you lower your seat a bit so you don’t ever fully extend the leg (shouldn’t quite fully extend anyway but when your knee is a bit flexed it’ll be stable side-to-side)

Brace won’t do much for you while biking unless you have a really weird pedal stroke, will def help your weight bearing activity though…

Also I’m not a doctor so listen to the dr!!!

[MyNameIsAugustWest]

^ I am a new cyclist. I did notice on long climbs my right knee would angle inward ("weird pedal stroke") so I'm hopeful the brace will keep my leg in better alignment and get my leg muscles around the knee trained properly. Stability really hasn't been the problem but the lack of any shock absorbing tissue in the lateral part of the knee allows it to collapse to that side (I actually have some cartilage left on the medial side and a meniscus also) and that is what has caused the inward angle of my femur...kinda the opposite of bow-legged. I can see the misalignment and the ortho doc also saw it immediately.

[::: :::]

^ I am a new cyclist. I did notice on long climbs my right knee would angle inward ("weird pedal stroke") so I'm hopeful the brace will keep my leg in better alignment and get my leg muscles around the knee trained properly. Stability really hasn't been the problem but the lack of any shock absorbing tissue in the lateral part of the knee allows it to collapse to that side (I actually have some cartilage left on the medial side and a meniscus also) and that is what has caused the inward angle of my femur...kinda the opposite of bow-legged. I can see the misalignment and the ortho doc also saw it immediately.

If it’s not been suggested yet, make sure you are positioned correctly on the bike so that it’s not making anything harder to heal correctly

[MyNameIsAugustWest]

Yeah, thnx. That's a whole separate issue. I'm actually trying to sell my current bike to get one that has better geometry for my aging body.

[Terryludwig]

Yeah, thnx. That's a whole separate issue. I'm actually trying to sell my current bike to get one that has better geometry for my aging body.

What do you think about electro bike?

[MyNameIsAugustWest]

^ Not until I'm 80...

[MyNameIsAugustWest]

Quick health update...

Unloader brace had immediate impact on the sciatica I was experiencing. It's all but disappeared. Yay science! I'm wearing it during all waking hours.

Insurance delayed the gel injection but I got it a little over a week ago. Once again, yay science! I can walk down stairs now with virtually no pain.

Hopefully the weather cools down a bit and I can get back on my bike next week. Instead of buying a new bike, Peruvian suggested a much shorter and more upright stem. Got that installed a coupla days ago so fingers crossed....

[rod9301]

The ha knee injections work for some people, including me, 20 years now, twice a year.

There are two types, a series of 3, it just one injection.

For me, the one injection did not work as well as the series of 3. My doctor thinks the same.

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[Buster Highmen]

Quick health update...

Unloader brace had immediate impact on the sciatica I was experiencing. It's all but disappeared. Yay science! I'm wearing it during all waking hours.

Insurance delayed the gel injection but I got it a little over a week ago. Once again, yay science! I can walk down stairs now with virtually no pain.

Hopefully the weather cools down a bit and I can get back on my bike next week. Instead of buying a new bike, Peruvian suggested a much shorter and more upright stem. Got that installed a coupla days ago so fingers crossed....

++++.

For me, 21 years on an acl repair and skiing fat skis too many days on hard snow last year has finally come to roost.

[MyNameIsAugustWest]

The ha knee injections work for some people, including me, 20 years now, twice a year.

There are two types, a series of 3, it just one injection.

For me, the one injection did not work as well as the series of 3. My doctor thinks the same.

Thnx for the perspective...gives me hope. I got the single injection and so far, I'm pleased with the results. We'll see if that lasts the entire 6 months.

++++.

For me, 21 years on an acl repair and skiing fat skis too many days on hard snow last year has finally come to roost.

I probably accelerated the issue by skiing so many days on really hard snow last year. Was rarely on fat skis but my time in Wydaho made me a believer that soft snow is way less punishing [signed Captain Obvious]

[skiJ]

MNiAW -
' Glad the knee is doing okay -

I sure wish they would offer a replacement (lateral) meniscus, but I suspect such procedures are for 25yo hockey stars, Not 65yo skiers...

( it does sound like that knee has had some hard use )

still hope-ing your commitment to fitness and extending the life of your knee will buy you some Time.


Good luck ! skiJ