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Week 33 - Introducing Mr Knee

Today I met Mr Knee, the carefully selected ultra marathon running knee consultant. Of course, it is a classic confirmation bias to have done this, and I got exactly  the answer I hoped/planned for when I asked if I could continue running while waiting for the results of the tests. "Of course, if you can manage it". Result!

He examined my knee carefully, tested the painful areas, and then, once we finished talking about running, sent me off for x-rays. Many different views, bent knee / straight knee, weight-bearing, non-weight-bearing, anterior, posterior, side....my knee is positively glowing with radiation now.

I am being sent to Poland next week for work, so the MRI will have to wait until Jan 30, when I'm back. And I have a followup appointment with him that Thursday. I checked out the x-rays while she was processing them, and couldn't spot any signs of fracture, and I assume she would have sent me back to him if she'd seen anything like that.

His view at this stage is that it is patella tendonitis, with possible additional damage behind my kneecap.

Oh, and I had to stop myself from laughing and saying something that probably wouldn't have gone down well: Mr Shoulder asked who I was seeing for my knee, and when I told him said, with quite a dismissive tone, "I don't know him". When Mr Knee was noting down my history, he asked who had managed my broken shoulder, and when I told him said, with *exactly* the same tone "I don't know him". Really was a struggle to stop myself saying "That's what he said about you!".

I had a rest day today, with just the normal walking across London, but nothing else. It was quite hard to do nothing, but necessary, my muscles are really sore after this week. Back to the gym tomorrow. Which is not much fun at the moment - all the New Year Resolution people cluttering the place up, doing very little except sitting on equipment staring at their phones, and when they do try something, doing it with terrible form. Impossible to use the gym now except between 9 and 11, and even difficult between 2 and 4. Hope they all drift away again soon.

For the Poland trip, it is snowing quite heavily there, and is very cold. I read that the river paths are very slippery so that vetoes running outside for me, as a klutz at the best of times, but there is a pool in the hotel, and a gym with treadmill, so I can hopefully manage with those. I am also taking my clubs so I can keep that going. And will take bands of course, to keep going with workouts as well.

Physio again tomorrow, and taking the clubs in for another session. Got some very nice praise from the yesterday's video, so that's quite motivating and I guess I'm not quite as uncoordinated as I thought I was.

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