Quote:
Originally Posted by Hank Chinaski
All b-ball injuries? I always thought the Zen thought, "i want to quit playing the day before i blow out my knee!"
as the players in my group were aging, a guy would go down from time to time. mostly they got their surgery and didn't come back. But Frank, he got his surgery, and was back shooting and jogging soon after. We'd see him lifting too. and he said he was coming back, soon.
then he was back. and he played with a big brace on his right knee. and he played a shard as ever. a few months later I'm playing with him, and he collapses, and grabs his knee. We were all bummed. He'd worked so hard to rehab his right knee. It took a moment to realize he'd blown out his left knee.
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Yeah. That's always how it works. I assume it was ACL?
The grafts they create for an ACL injury are so good that they're stronger after the surgery. I had mine 23 years ago and last time I went in, they were shocked it was still going strong (and to be honest, I was like, "WTF? I thought this shit was permanent!"). But there is no way after blowing out your knee, no matter how hard you rehab to get rid of the atrophy, that you won't favor it. And when you favor it, you fuck up your other knee. Aside from one time when a fucking jackass dove at my legs and I had to avoid him and twisted my knee, overcompensating caused my other injuries. (Also, I wish I knew that the weakness around your knees destabilizes everything back when I was athletic. The amount of pressure you put on your knee when you make a really athletic cut is just ridiculous. You really have to keep them strong, especially if you put on even a little weight and can still cut.)
It really sucks because knee problems age you on the court faster than anything else (accept maybe back issues). There is no more jumping and deciding what to do once I'm up there. I gotta figure out what I'm going to do in advance. And after every time I play there is at best, a 3 day pain recovery window, and at worst, a full week.
I should quit, but I can't. Doc said, "You know what? Live your life. You'll need to get them replaced anyway. But why stop doing what you want to save yourself a year maybe?"
TM
