Le Sigh
A month ago I managed with great timing to tear my retina a couple of weeks before our dressage Provincial Finals, so was on box rest until the day before the show…prep was somewhat curtailed. We did not have a fantastic show, but was pleased that we were Reserve Champions at Basic Level, and just missed a Reserve at First…
Now we are 3 weeks out from Heritage Finals, and guess who managed to slip on the stairs and annoy her knee? Yup that will be me. The knee was operated on 5 years ago, and then he said that he had done all he could and it would probably need replacing, around now was his guess…well I have been having to carry it for a while, eventually gave in and went and had an MRI, and turns out I have a traumatic amputation of part of my meniscus, a description which has raised eyebrows…as well as moderate arthritis, neither was a shock.Thing is I got sent to the physiotherapist, whose opening gambit after reading the report was “well you don’t need me, you need a surgeon” No shinola Sherlock! He explained that anything that makes it hurt is making it worse…so basically grab a brace and a cane and live a quiet life!
Living in Canada is great, and I totally love that any decisions on my treatment will be based on decisions between me and the surgeon, the kicker of course I am patiently waiting to see him and as yet have no date.
So once again I am trying to work out how to show and prepare to show without damaging myself too much…it is the last show of the year, after that I am happy to sling her out for a few weeks, but for now…I need a plan. I have been living in a BOT brace all year, but recently it’s not working its magic anymore. So now I have a cane and a hinged brace, working out if I should risk more problems by riding, or if I should get the trainer to ride her and do her prep, while I do what I can on the ground, then just do what I can on the day, it’s just a one day event.
Should I just suck it up and take the pills, slap on the hinged brace, and either ride with it or pop it off…I know that meniscus problems are common…how do you cope?
