Author: Jen Rios

So, I had my normal visits to ATI on Mondays and Fridays from January 26th to the week before February 16th.  February 16th was my appointment with Dr. Moore so I thought I would have been cleared to go back to Barwis. My time at ATI was a lot of fun before the Super Bowl. Sean has always told me that I am a, “bandwagon-er”  when it comes to the Super Bowl and for this past Super Bowl, I was on the Eagles bandwagon.

First of all, I am NOT a Patriots fan so I would’ve gone for anyone NOT the Patriots but I vividly remember the Eagles being Phil’s team.  I really liked Nick Foles’ story and I liked their showing at the championship game the previous week. Once they won the Super Bowl, I got my Super Bowl champions shirt which I am not ashamed to say is my new favorite shirt because it is SO comfortable!

The whole time I was at ATI from January 26th, Greg stretched me out very well getting me ready to go back to Barwis. At my appointment with Dr. Moore on February 16th,  I mentioned that my knee was still popping out of its socket and it still hurt. Dr. Moore cleared me to go back to Barwis and told me that if it continues to pop out or is really bothersome that I should give his office a call and they will set up an MRI.

I was so excited to get back to Barwis that I called Elle immediately, that day, and asked to get fitted back into the schedule.  That weekend, my knee popped out multiple times and it was excruciatingly painful! I called Dr. Moore’s office to schedule an MRI that Monday.  I was frustrated that my knee is still a problem but I’ve felt in my core (and in my right knee) that something was still the matter with my knee.

Today, a woman called me from the DMC to make the appointment.  As she asked me the routine, clarifying questions, she asked me when my birthday was and wished me an early birthday because it is my birthday in 10 days. I am scheduled to go to Harper Hospital on St. Patrick’s Day for my MRI.

I want to be back at Barwis so badly that it hurts but I want answers to why my knee is still popping out more. I remembered that it popped out before my surgery and I explained to Mr. Langford how my mom would pop it back in and he said that she was,  “Hard-Core.”   Well, she still pops it back in when it pops out and she is STILL, “Hard-Core!”

Until my appointment for my MRI, I will lay low in my house as I have been for the past 18 months until I get my answers. I will call Monday morning to make a return appointment with Dr. Moore to discuss my MRI results and I can’t believe this is STILL going on.

I talked with Sean briefly that it would be pretty terrible if I needed a third surgery or fourth procedure on my knee.  I’m not concerned about the scarring but only the recovery time.  I just want it to STOP popping out because it is pretty painful! Since before surgery,  and after my injury, it probably has popped out about 100 times!  It is excruciating each and every time!

I worked with Greg again on Monday but first, he had Larry do an ultrasound on my knee for about 20 minutes.   Once Greg came over, I told him about tests my neurologist has me do at my annual appointments  as he stretched my right leg out.  He was familiar with these tests and put his index finger out in front of me.

It was probably a foot or a foot and a half in front of me and he told me to, “Go!”  I  concentrated a whole lot as I touched my nose and then his fingertip with my left hand index finger  repeatedly. He kept telling me to go faster and faster and I did this about 10 times. On the 10th time, he told me that I was, “Killing it!”

We both laughed as he bent my right leg and had my knee kind of crossed over my body to the left. He leaned on the outside of my  thigh. I immediately got alarmed because I felt the stretch on my hip and it hurt! I told him so and he told me it was OK because I just don’t use these muscles because I sit so much and so he was stretching them out for me. Then he added, “You’re Welcome!”

I laughed again as I tried breathing through the pain. He stopped leaning on my right leg and walked around the table and did the same stretch with my left.

My mom and Greg helped me back to my chair and my legs felt like Jell-O because both of my hips were really stretched out and kind of hurt. My mom had to put me into the passenger’s side of the car pretty much by herself because I couldn’t offer any help because I was unable to stand.

Both of my hips hurt and my right hip hurt a little bit more than my left. It wasn’t until we were at the light on Plymouth Oaks and Sheldon that I realized that I have had this pain before. This stretch was very similar  to the, “Ooh Doggie!” stretch that Michael used to do on me in 2014.

The table I worked on with Michael at Barwis was about the size of a full-size bed and was lower to the ground. I didn’t equate the two because the table at ATI is similar to a gurney in a hospital.

Michael laid on me more and pushed the opposite shoulder down to the table.   I used to grab his wrist because it hurt so much!  Thinking about it, I welcomed this return of the, “Ooh Doggie!”  Stretch and it made me miss Barwis so badly! As we were driving on the freeway, my hips burned and I remembered the first time I felt this 2013 with Jesse at Barwis.

It’s crazy that I seem to have reverted  to my abilities from 2014 or even 2013 because this stretch hurt me so badly because my hips were so tight. I can’t wait to get back to Barwis but my knee is still popping out of it socket. The other day, I was awakened and shocked by the pain as I rolled over in bed in the middle of the night and heard and felt the  very familiar click of it popping out and I had to roll back over to get it to pop back in.  February 16th cannot come fast enough!  Happy Birthday Mar-Bear and Adam!   Hopefully, it will be a good day for me too and Dr. Moore will clear me to go back to Barwis.  It will really stink if my knee popping out will become my new normal!  Grrr!!!

I worked with Greg on Friday. He stretched my leg out really good  and for a really long time and then he had me do my leg lifts with the bolster under my knee. I really rocked them with Matt and I do OK with Brad, but doing my leg lifts on Friday with Greg proved to be really difficult! I told him that my legs felt, “Heavy.”

This fact frustrated me and tried to put these frustrating thoughts out of my head (if just for a moment) so I immediately thought of the movie Across the Universe and this song. I could see Max carrying the Statue of Liberty with all the other guys.  I love that movie!

“I Want You/She’s So Heavy”  Across the Universe Soundtrack

We ended our time with the ultrasound and I really could feel the vibrations from the ultrasound more than I ever have before. It felt nice! I think it is crazy how ever since my injury, I am hyper-aware of my knee, it’s aches, and how much it hurts… STILL.

My knee is still popping out of it socket and I don’t know why. I will talk to Dr. Moore about this when I see him.   In the meantime, when it pops out and I gasp, my mom will grab my ankle and pop it back in. I remember I told Mr. Langford about this and he said something like she was, “Hard-core.”   I remember laughing and I didn’t really think about it but, I guess she is!   It’s just crazy that this is still happening a year and a half later.

I worked with Brad on Monday. As I was getting onto the table, I told him and Matt that if the Eagles don’t make it to the Super Bowl, it will be dumb! All of my teams lost last weekend!

Once I was on the table, Luba came over to talk to  Brad. She told me that she was leaving and she told me to, “Hold it (ATI) down with all of these boys.”  I told her I would as I looked around and noticed who was there  as Brad put my leg in traction. There was Brad, Larry, Matt, and another client. I totally could handle this! I grew up with four older brothers!

As Brad unsnapped my pants and pulled my compression sack down, I told him how my knee was feeling. I haven’t worked with him since after my Tenex.  As I was telling him about my, “Shank hole” Larry yelled from the other end of the room that I need to find another analogy. We laughed as Brad looked at my leg and pointed to the, “Shank hole”  and asked if I was talking about, “this little slit.”  I told him that I was and how badly it hurt and how it felt like it was the size of a quarter and that a screwdriver was stabbed into my shin.

I’m not sure how the conversation started but we (the four guys in me) talked about the playoffs and the upcoming Super Bowl and then we started talking about Tom Brady.  I told them that I wasn’t a fan even though I went to Michigan. I just don’t like him.  Matt told me it was because I was hating on greatness. I laughed and  agreed.

Brad told me that my tone was not too bad and he kneaded  my shin mostly. I kind of winced at times and he asked me if it was tender and I nodded.  When he was finished, he told me that it was time for ice and stim but I told him that ice would make me too cold and that the last time Larry just did an ultrasound.   Larry started doing that and kind of  marveled at my football knowledge. He told me that I should be a bookie or something. I told him that, “You  would think I would be good at fantasy which I am not!”

I’ve played on Draft Kings a few times and at the beginning of the second quarter once, I was up seven dollars. At the end, I finished 27,000   or something.   I told him that I enjoyed the game and the NFL Network.

My knee is really starting to get better. I wish it was all the time but there are still times when it aches and my knee pops out of it socket. I will say, the pain isn’t like it was before surgery and the further I get away from my surgery date now that my Tenex is completed, it’s starting to feel better.   I just wish I could trust that because then there are days like yesterday and this morning. The pain can still stop me in my tracks.   I will talk to Dr. Moore more about that on February 16th.   In the meantime, I really like coming to ATI!  It helps my knee to feel better AND I have great conversations with everybody!