Hey there! How is your December going so far? I still can’t believe that Christmas is just a few weeks away and we’re reaching the end of this year. Crazy.

Sooooo… yesterday, I went to my much anticipated appointment with a new orthopedic surgeon. I was referred to him by my previous ortho and I was luckily able to be seen before the holidays.

They were able to get my MRI from back in September transferred to their computer system but I had to get new x-rays. If you’ve ever wondered what my leg bones look like then today is your lucky day!

I really liked my new doctor. We talked about everything that has been going on the past 3 months with my knee and what my options are moving forward. He seems to think that my knee is okay structurally and that there doesn’t appear to be an issue with the placement of my kneecap.

There has always been a question as to whether my pain is coming from my plica, which is what my first doctor diagnosed me with at my first visit. My understanding is that a plica issue can be hard to pinpoint because it doesn’t really show up on an MRI or x-ray (someone please correct me if I’m wrong!). We talked about that some more yesterday and my new doctor wanted to eliminate this as a possibility before moving forward with other treatment options.

Soooo he injected my plica with numbing medication and asked me to go do specific activities that have been bothering me the past few months. The idea was if I still felt pain even with my plica numbed then we could cross that off of the list of possible issues in my knee. If I didn’t experience discomfort then I would know my plica is what is causing my pain.

I mentally freaked out when I realized I was getting a shot IN my knee. I was sweating so bad that my legs stuck to the paper on the exam table, lol. It felt like a really deep pinch and kind of sucked, but it was quick so I guess it wasn’t *that* bad.

And then the fun part: I went running yesterday afternoon! I walked and ran for about 4 miles on the greenway right after I got the injection and it was so, so great. The weather was perfect, I didn’t have any major knee issues and it just felt amazing to work up a sweat. I’m supposed to give the doctor a call and let him know how things went so we can discuss what to do next.

Even though the past 3 months have been frustrating, I know I had to do everything I have done (rest, ice, anti-inflammatories, MRI, physical therapy) to get to the point I’m at now. I’m really, really hopeful that I can get to the bottom of this, recover and move on so that 2015 can be a new year for me. I also wanted to say thank you to everyone who has left encouraging comments about my knee issue. It helps to know that others have had similar/frustrating experiences and that there is light at the end of the tunnel.

On that note, I am headed off to work! I hope you have a good day <3

Have you been dealing with any injuries lately? If so, how’s it going? Maybe we can commiserate together

Did you buy anything fun for Cyber Monday? I bought a new gym bag… I’ll try to remember to post some pics this week.