I can pinpoint the moment that my knees started to become a problem - it was the moment I agreed to start playing 5-a-side football at the ripe old age of 47. “What could possibly go wrong?” I thought to myself. “I used to play rugby, I’ve done a fair bit of running and swimming so this should be a doddle!” Admittedly I was getting a touch heavier as the years went by but this wouldn’t stop me. And so every Tuesday evening I would battle it out with 9 other guys who would not give an inch - it was exhausting but exhilarating and I absolutely loved it. As a former prop forward, my football skills left a lot to be desired, but I certainly made up for it with desire and commitment - I even managed too score the odd goal! Every Wednesday morning was a different story as I rued the fact that my office at work was on the first floor - getting up the stairs first thing was not an enjoyable experience as my legs (and in particular my knees) would remind me that it probably wasn’t the best idea to keep playing. However, keep playing I did until, after 18 months or so, my right knee ballooned up and started to give me a lot of pain. Even I, a stubborn middle aged man, knew that I needed to get it looked at. I was diagnosed with osteoarthritis and told to find other, less vigorous pursuits to keep myself fit - my brief footballing career was over!! I started swimming and doing short runs with a strapped up knee and after a while the knee swelling went down and the pain subsided. This was around the beginning of 2020 and the start of the Coronavirus pandemic. Lockdown meant finding new ways to keep active - cycling and walking were regular activities along with daily HITT workouts with Joe Wicks. I actually had my fittest year for some time and felt really positive despite all that was going on around the world. Around Christmas and New Year with yet another Lockdown, I was taking my son to the park every weekend to keep his football training going. We both loved these sessions, they were great for skills (his not mine), fitness and, above all else, father-son bonding time. However, around February 2021 I noticed that my left knee was beginning to go the same way my right one had 18 months previously. To begin with this didn’t worry me unduly as I had weathered the storm before and would surely do the same again. This time however I could feel that something wasn’t quite right. The pain was different and the swelling didn’t go down no matter how much I iced it. This time, the scan revealed that both the soft and hard cartilage had completely worn away on the inside of my left knee. Over the next few months I tried physio along with a couple of steroid injections. Each injection would give me some relief but neither lasted more than 4 weeks before my knee would return to it’s bloated, painful state. And so, after much prevarication, I came to the conclusion that surgery was probably the only long term option for me. It wasn’t a decision I came to lightly as, to be perfectly honest, I find the thought of knee surgery pretty unsettling. I know the success rate is really high and the quality of the materials used is getting better all the time but having never personally needed to spend any time in hospital I find them particularly creepy places. Anyhoo - here we are, a couple of days before the big day. I am going to keep this blog going as a way to document my feelings (physical and mental) and to share my experiences. If anyone else is interested to take a look please do and if it helps anyone else in any way that’s a bonus.
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