The (not so) Bionic Man

Not just tallking about my personality.

The follow up appointment with the orthopedic surgeon to receive the results of my MRI was two days ago.  The meniscus isn't torn and the joint is intact.  Very good news to hear.  So much so that I had the surgeon repeat it three times just to make sure that my selective hearing power wasn't activated, or that I wasn't unintentionally "re-authoring" the facts (as my wife and I accuse each other of doing ever-so-often).  But the surgeons stuck to their guns: no meniscus tear.

Because of the residual chronic pain in my knee the doctor suggested that I might benefit from Platelet Rich Plasma therapy.  An experimental procedure (so deemed because of the lack of solid data from clinical studies) in which the doctors will draw my blood then spin it in centrifuges, then inject the separated plasma and platelets into the knee along with the drug Synvisc.  Theoretically the platelets in my blood will release growth factors that will initiate a healing and regenerative response in the bone and tissue in my knee.  Cool, huh?  The best thing is that I now know my blood has magical healing properties!  Who knew?  That automatically triples my awesome factor.  You can read more about PRP at the Scientific American page or at the all-knowing Wikipedia.

The down sides to the PRP treatment are a) as with any injection the potential for infection, b) the possibility that I will derive no benefit from the treatment at all (studies have shown inconsistent results - although I attribute this largely to a person's overall awesome score, so I should be just fine), and c) the $1000.00 out of pocket cost.  PRP, being an experimental therapy, is not covered by insurance.  I will also be "down" for about three to five days following the injection.  Doc says biking or swimming should be fine on day three or four and a return to normal activities on day five or six.  He is confident that this will give me the ability to return to all my normal high speed activities with no pain in the knee.  Considering that he was right about the meniscus tear, I'll give him the benefit of the doubt on this one.

So until the procedure next week, I have been given clearance to do what I like, provided that I can tolerate the discomfort in my knee. Yesterday I ran three and a half miles at a leisurely ten minute per mile pace.  There was little pain in the knee during the run, but it was sore the rest of the day.  This morning I put in around four miles at a mind-numbingly slow pace and so far the ache is minimal.  The plan is to get in my regular workouts between now and the procedure next week and to slowly return to my normal training after Labor Day.  I have committed to running with a team on September 29th at the Tap N Run and am already registered for the LSC Half Marathon on November 3rd.  After the PRP that gives me just under eight weeks to train for the half and I'm not confident enough in my base at this point to have much hope for an improvement over last year's performance.  But, hey!  If what the doctor says is right, then in the words of Oscar Goldman, I will be "better than (I) was before.  Better.  Stronger.  Faster."

   What I'm hoping for.