MIA meniscus

I'm having one of those "are you fucking kidding me???????????" moments...

So I went to see the knee doc today. It was almost the reverse of what happened to me 12 years ago. When I went in for that knee problem the x-ray showed a huge hole where my lateral femur knuckle should have been.

This time, the x-ray showed a distended lateral femur knuckle bumping up against my tib/fib. The doc said the bone plug had bone growth which has slowly distorted my knee/femur. I asked where my cadaver meniscus might be (since there was no light of day between my femur and my tib/fib) and she said she didn't know. I asked if it might have dissolved over time or something, but she said that wasn't possible.

So, looks like my only option to be able to keep walking is to get a knee replacement. Bye bye zombie knee, hello metal fucked up robot knee. Ugh. I can't believe I'm so old that I can even get a mechanical knee.

Anyway, I go see a doctor on 16 June who is the doc for the Denver Nuggets. Maybe he'll have something better than the doc I saw today.

Robot knee = no climbing, running, skiing

I can bike and swim...which means, since I live out of a hotel, I do...what...for exercise. Maybe I can get a fake tan and start doing zumba.

I guess I should be grateful my cadaver knee lasted as long as it did. Me and my fake body parts had a good run. 11 years, which is way longer than any doctor thought it would last.

Fuck fuck fuck. Stupid fucking knee.

do I look fat in this knee?

So annoying. My right knee blew up like a fucking parade float on Sunday. I can barely walk on it even today, after 2 days of rest and ice.

Going to see a doctor on Friday. It feels like the top part of my leg is completely disconnected from the bottom part of my leg. That's happened before, but normally it goes away in 24 hours...

some Paradox Rockx pics

Timmy O'Neill giving an attentive belay with Christa, Gabe, Faith, and Ethan (red jacket) in the background.

Christa's puppy curled up with her walking foot.

Tommy tries his backwards foot climbing strategy.

Tommy's prosthetic. I asked him if the hole was from getting shot at. It's not, it's from a rock.

Tommy's philosophy is that you can fix anything with duct tape. And that a betty boop sticker is the perfect adornment for a prosthetic.

The back of Tommy's leg. He wanted to make sure everyone saw the cool piston.

Chad Butrick, event organizer, climbing a route. Note that he has a sling going from his leg to his harness. That's because on a climb a few months ago, his leg fell off. With the sling he doesn't have to worry about losing it again.

Tommy and I in the parking lot next to the group camp site. You can tell he's a trouble maker.

Christa belaying Faith on a climb. She has the smallest feet ever (size 5 shoe) and has a specially designed prosthetic foot for climbing.

happy birthday Bob!

My brother Bob's birthday was on Sunday so I sent him some shirts from Banana Republic. I received this email from him on Sunday:

"I got the shirts you sent me.  Thanks!  I'll try to do something stupid while wearing each one and send you a photo."

I wonder if he's actually going to send me some photos...

"the first move off the deck is a heel hook"

I had the BEST time climbing with Paradox Sports this weekend! Pics and stories to follow, but now I have to take a shower and get some sleep (got maybe 8 hours of sleep total this weekend).

Movie of Tommy Carroll, retired US Army, climbing with a backward foot...I met a lot of people this weekend that were really inspiring and amazing athletes, including Tommy, who designs prosthetics and has a wicked sense of humor...