It was a simple yet clear sign that the backstage tech guys had taped to the metal stairs.
"CAUTION!! STAIRS ARE EXTREMELY SLIPPERY FROM THE RAIN!!"
I had to walk up and down those stairs several times as I went up on stage that day to interpret. The event was Kingdom Bound, a 4 day Christian festival featuring well-known musical artists and speakers, held annually at Darien Lake Theme Park here in Western NY. Summer of 2011 was my sixth year volunteering there.
I walked up the steps, one at a time, holding onto the railing for dear life as one of the men again cautioned me. I rubbed my sandals on each landing, testing it to see at what degree of ‘slippery’ it was. I remember thinking that ‘Gee, these aren’t slippery at all, but I’ll be careful anyway.’
I had just finished my turn interpreting, and as the stage crew set up for the next band, I waited at the bottom of the stairs for my replacement interpreter to arrive. Before she came however, one of the announcers started speaking. Yikes! I need to get up there, and fast! Without thinking, I rushed up the steps. Half way up, I found out that, indeed, the steps were slippery!
I didn’t actually FALL; if I had video of it, I’m sure it would take a few views to figure out how I did it. Somehow my right foot slipped away from the step, causing me to fling it suddenly forward, missing the step completely, whereupon my shin forcefully hit the step edge. Instant pain and some bleeding ensued as I tried to hurriedly gather myself to limp to the interpreter’s area. I’m pretty sure I heard one of the backstage guys mutter “Like I said, those steps are slippery....” Yeah. Got it.
Kingdom Bound was held July 31st thru Aug 3rd of that year. I don’t remember which day my stairs acrobatics occurred, but I do know that for the rest of August, I had my leg propped on a chair with a cushion underneath, hoping the swelling in my knee, shin and ankle would subside before I went back to work in September.
That summer I had also started jogging, and despite my gargantuan leg, I still managed to go out and alternate running and walking. Even tho my knee was slightly sore, I really didn’t think I’d hurt it at all; I was convinced that since I had hit my shin, it was ONLY my shin that was injured. Little did I know what I’d done.
The swelling seemed to go away for the most part, and I kept jogging until one day on Columbus Day weekend. I had been out the day before, and although I was getting a little more sore in the knee, I was determined to keep up with the 3 miles I had managed to work up to. I didn’t even get thru 1 mile that day; I turned around and limped home, knowing that SOMETHING was wrong. My knee was h.u.r.t.i.n.g.
I could barely walk after that. It took well into December to heal, and by January, I knew something wasn’t right. I went to the orthopaedic surgeon, had my MRI, and was given the diagnosis: torn medial meniscus. It was the kind that needed surgery. I was told that since there is no blood supply to the meniscus, there is no other alternative but to take out the torn part, smooth things up, and hope for the best after.
I was also told that after surgery, I would have enough of the meniscus gone to create a ‘bone-on-bone’ situation, for which the diagnosis is: pain. Lovely. Surgery to fix the pain, only to result in pain. Alternatives? Not have surgery, and the meniscus will eventually tear completely, causing the knee to lock in excruciating pain, ending me up in emergency surgery. Great. Just what I wanted to hear.
You would have thought they told me I had three weeks to live, because after finding out what was wrong, I left the doctor’s office, got into my Jeep, and just sat there crying!
I cried to the Lord: “Dear Father, you know that I’ve healed my body in so many ways by eating healthy. I’ve been trying to exercise to lose weight, so I can be as healthy as possible, and be able to do the things you have for me to do. Now I have something that exercise and healthy eating can’t fix, and even surgery won’t truly fix this. The diagnosis is pain, no matter what I do! Lord, I don’t understand! Please, give me peace in this!”
I scheduled the surgery as soon as possible, for Leap Day 2012. I didn't have peace about it, but I figured there was no other choice. Because I had a negative reaction to anesthesia when I was a child, I asked if I could stay awake. I also asked if I could watch the surgery. The Physician’s Assistant had no problem with it, and even encouraged me to look on YouTube to watch medial meniscus surgeries posted there.
I perused the videos one day, preparing for what I’d see of my own surgery. I watched a LOT of the surgeries, so much so that I was sure I could perform the surgery myself. Then, 4 days before my own procedure was to happen, I decided to look on YouTube once more. As I got on, I thought to myself “Why am I checking this again? I already watched MORE than enough of those surgeries!”
I almost didn’t look again, but God’s still, small voice was there, telling me to check one more time.
I clicked around, and opened one particular video. I watched the whole thing, because it pretty much described my situation, as well as what the traditional surgery does to ‘fix’ it. But, at the end, they explained how stem cells from my own body could repair the torn meniscus. The procedure was called Regenexx. What??! An alternative to surgery?!
I was shaking! All I could see was an answer to my tearful plea that day in the Jeep. This HAD to be it! I HAD to check it out, and I pushed aside the fear that was welling up with questions like: How could I afford something like this? What if I did this, and it doesn’t work? Am I CRAZY?? Who am I to try something cutting-edge like this?!
I made a phone call to my orthopaedic surgeon’s physician assistant, who agreed I should check into it. He cancelled my surgery, and I called the closest Regenexx doctor, Dr Shiple in Springfield, PA. (at the time of this writing, there are only nine doctors in the U.S and its territories who are doing this procedure. At the time I called, there were only seven).
I filled out paperwork, sent my MRI to them, and waited to hear if I was a candidate for the procedure.
Then the call came....I was indeed a candidate!
The next question: traditional surgery, or Regenexx? In my next post, I’ll explore why I chose Regenexx.
Stay tuned...
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