Sports-less; Three Months In

Three months ago, I was diagnosed with osteoarthritis and torn meniscus in my right knee. Nine years ago, I tore my ACL and meniscus playing intramural flag football in college. The doc warned me that I would have early-onset osteoarthritis because of the amount of damage and pre-existing scar tissue that populated my knee. Because of this, I hit my rehab especially hard and within a few years, I was running five + miles at a time and lifting just as much weight as I ever had, not to mention playing on city league basketball and football teams. Sure, I had to ice my knee more often than most people and it would occasionally get stiff and swollen when I over-did it, but it was worth it. I have always loved playing sports and was happy that I was nearing 30 and still able to perform at a relatively high level all-around.

Then, six months ago, after a pickup basketball game, my knee swelled up and did not get better for four days. Before, the swelling would last for a few hours, maybe the rest of the day, but by the time I woke up the next day, it was back to normal. I made an appointment to meet an orthopedic surgeon. Despite how good I felt otherwise, in the back of my mind, the words “early-onset osteoarthritis” kept echoing. After an x-ray and an MRI, the word came down; I had a 70 year old’s knee. There were two new tears in the meniscus, most likely from gradual wear and tear and not any single injury.

I was devastated. It’s not like I expected to continue on the way that I was forever. I was in the best shape I had been in since high school. The previous week, I’d tested myself and was at or near the same kind of numbers I had put up my senior year. 315 on the bench press, 425 on the squat, 455 on the deadlift, 275 power clean and a 5:45 mile. Keep in mind that I’m 29, 6′ tall and weigh in the area of 205lbs. So, these numbers aren’t great, but for a guy with a bum knee, it wasn’t too shabby.

Now, that was all gone. No more heavy weights (which was fine), no more running (okay), but the biggest blow was no more basketball or football.

Three months in, it’s a work in progress. I haven’t had the pangs from not playing basketball that I thought I would. At least not that much. But football I miss. I haven’t played competitively in a few years, which was fine with me. Until I realized that I couldn’t anymore. The possibility used to be there, and now it isn’t. That sucks. It also affects my motivation to lift.

I’ve tailored my workouts to more of a sustainable goal. Lighter lifts, more cardio, less knee-straining. It’s been very good. But there’s still that itch. Still that desire to get out on that field/court and run around like a kid. It sucks, but it’s not like it’s life-ending. Many people have things so much worse. I’m thankful every day that I can still do 50% of what I enjoy.

Maybe I can take up table tennis…