Having never undergone any major surgery since I was little, wherein I had been hit by a motorcycle and thereby needed stitches, I was rather curious as to what life would be like post-being cut open.  In my search, I found two rather interesting (and somewhat relevant) articles..

The first is a news article released about an hour ago.  It details a man in Idaho who suffered 10 weeks of pain/stiffness because doctors had left a broken device in his knee during surgery.  Though the event occurred in 2007 and the device was eventually found and removed in 2008, it made news today because a lawsuit was just filed by the patient, naming the two doctors responsible for the mistake (Buoncristiani and Pletcher), the Sawtooth Orthopedics and Sports Medicine (where the two doctors practice), and St. Luke's Wood River Medical Center (where the surgery was initially performed). 

Eep. This article makes you realize that something to think about before undergoing surgery is checking up on your surgeon.  Getting recommendations might be the best way.... Just saying.

Anyways, the second article is much more interesting.  It was a humorous, personal account of life after surgery. The author, Michael Gibbons (managing editor at Aiken Standard) recounts the haze and daze that follows surgery. I found it rather well written and gives you a pretty good idea of what it would be like to come out of surgery.  I can only imagine that "drug-filled haze" would be the best way to describe it.  Anyone else have any thoughts on what it would be like (mentally) to come out of surgery?

There was an article in the New York Times a week or two ago about magnet therapy as a possible treatment for arthritis pain. Based on the idea that the magnets help to "stimulate the release of the body's natural painkillers or by increasing blood flow to the tissue", magnetic straps and bracelets have become fashionable and popular.  However, this article points out that rarely do studies actually provide evidence to support this view.  In fact, the article cites that "in recent years a number of studies have found little evidence that they provide any real benefit", and then in a "well-designed 16-week study" published this year, researchers found that after comparing the effects various types of magnetic devices on people with osteoarthritis, their results "indicate that magnetic and copper bracelets are generally ineffective for managing pain, stiffness and physical function in osteoarthritis."

However, I know plenty of people who would argue otherwise.  People who swear by the fact that their magnetic bracelet helped relieve the pain that wouldn't go away with OTC medication.. and I don't think they would lie about that.. why would they?

It's amazing how effective the placebo effect can be... Personally, I don't see a problem with letting people believe that the magnets are helping; if the person believes that it's working..  Forget the saying "seeing is believing".. Obviously it would be more accurate to say that "believing is the first step to seeing".. or something along those lines.  If people want to believe that magnet therapy is an effective form of treatment for arthritis pain and this belief is not negatively affecting their health (or further harming them) in any way, let them be.  Let them believe..

A recent news article featuring Mayor Thomas M. Menino and his knee injury/surgery got me thinking. Since when are health problems considered to be public knowledge? 

It seems that people had some issues about the fact that Mayor Menino hadn't let the public know about his knee injury until after he had already undergone the surgery. Apparently, he had fallen down some stairs at his son's home at Hyde Park, severing a tendon in his left knee. Undergoing a roughly 90-minute surgery conducted by orthopedic surgeon Dr. Thomas Thornhill at Brigham and Women's Hospital, Mayor Menino is expected to be hospitalized at least until Thursday (Nov. 12). Drilling holes in Menino's kneecap and using wire, Dr. Thornhill stitched the torn tendon on Menino's thigh muscles to the top of his knee cap.

What piqued my curiosity about this article was what happens next. According to one public relations specialist, "politicians have a responsibility to tell constituents when they are hospitalized, unless releasing the information would put the public safety at risk." What I want to know, is why does it matter? Personally, I don't see why knowing about every minute/ridiculous accident that your local politician gets in affects my (your) life. Tobe Berkovitz, an associate professor of mass communication and public relations at Boston University was also quoted in the article as saying that "In this case, to me it just seems like unnecessary secrecy." In my opinion, feeling the desire or need to know when/if a politician happens to fall down and injure his knee seems a little much. Why does it matter? I mean, don't get me wrong- tearing any sort of tendon in any part of your body sucks. It hurts (I'm sure). But it shouldn't be considered "news". I understand why knee injuries are reported in sports. What I don't understand is why they need to be reported in political news.

The article then goes on to cite the eight other times that Mayor Menino was hospitalized since taking office in 1993. What is that?? Who cares if he is private about his health problems. They're HIS health problems. Unless he catches something highly contagious, has an untreatable illness, or has gone psycho or something, then I don't really care how or when he tears his ACL. Or that he had kidney stones. Or if his stomach hurts. No offense Mayor.

Knee injuries can be very devastating to someone, especially if they happen to lead very active lives.  I'm not saying that lazy people who injure their knees aren't as affected by it as, let's say, an athlete.  But let's face it, if your income isn't dependent upon your knees (and presumably other body parts) functioning at its best, then an ACL tear is not as big of a deal for you. 

For most people tearing the anterior cruciate ligament on their knee would cause some serious physical and emotional pain - emotional because let's be honest, surgery is very expensive and NO ONE likes to spend money.  Sure, it sucks not being able to go to work for a while or not to be able to take long walks on the beach as the sun sets, but it doesn't really change or affect our lives too much.  For athletes (and possibly some blue-collar workers whose jobs entail physical labor) however, tearing the ACL can quickly escalate to the end of a career.  Ok, that may be somewhat of an exaggeration, but the consequences of such a serious knee injury could be seriously detrimental to the career of an athlete, as opposed to, say, a lawyer. 

Case in point? The recent injury of Houston Texans' tight end (TE) Owen Daniels.  Daniels was injured during Sunday's victory against Buffalo, when he caught his foot in the turf during Houston's second possession.  Scheduled to undergo ACL Reconstruction surgery once the swelling goes down in about two weeks, Daniels is reported to be "lost" for the season.  He is reported to be lost for the rest of the season because recovering from such a serious injury will take time.  Time however, is not a luxury most athletes have today, in light of the sheer number of other, talented athletes just waiting for their shot at being a professional athlete. 

To keep with the thread of using the Houston Texans as my case study, in the same breath that the Houston's coach, Gary Kubiak, proclaims the loss of Daniels this season is a "big blow to our football team", he also discusses possible replacements for Daniels.  With third-string TE James Casey also out for arthroscopic surgery to repair a problem with the meniscus in one of his knees, the Texans are left with Joel Dreessen  and rookie Anthony Hill as the only tight ends on the roster.  Hill, who had missed some time earlier in the season because of Swine Flu and so has not yet played this season.  Kubiak goes to explain that with Hill, he has been "impressed with his work", saying "He's a physical player. Is he ready to go? I don't know. We'll see but it's time for him to go." 

Hill is a good example of the depths/lengths to which the world of professional athletes will go to stay ‘relevant'.  Despite not having played all season due to illness, Hill will most likely play his heart out during the next game.  The issue with this situation lies in the fact that he is probably coming back into the game much sooner than he really should.  Not that his abilities or skills have disappeared in the past few weeks because of Swine Flu or anything, but because he is out of practice.  Because transitioning between not playing and playing requires more than just a note from the doctor saying that you're over the (Swine) Flu.  In order to avoid serious injuries to the knee (and other ligaments/joints/body parts), you need to ease into the intensity of physical activity/strain it takes to play one game of professional football. 

Though I have no doubt that Hill has remained physically fit and such over the course of his bout of Swine Flu, it does not change the fact that he could not possibly be physically ready to be playing a game of football at the professional level right now.  Not to mention the possibility that he may be spreading the H1N1 virus to the rest of the team/opposing team? 

Talk about dedication to your profession.

So I decided that today would be a good day to start blogging about the knees. "Why?" you ask? Well, it's quite simple actually.. why not?  I thought it was time... Carpe Diem. or something.  I decided that today is the day, so I'm going for it..

 

Now, the question is.. What do I blog about?  I mean, obviously something knee-related, but that's such a broad topic.  Where does one begin??

Perhaps at the beginning. 

The birth of the knee.  I heard it goes something like this:

 

One day, mommy and daddy were in love and decided to have a baby.  Suddenly (or, you know, nine months later), out pops a baby with two little, tiny knees! Now, this little baby begins by crawling on his (yep! You got it!) knees!  How adorable!! ...

 

Ok, that wasn't very funny.  Or very informational.  *sigh* 

I guess it's time to get serious, right? But serious is boring.  Seriously. 

 

On a side note, I just tried googling "funny knee stories" and have now learned that apparently the medical community does not find knee-related injuries too amusing. There are virtually NO funny knee stories out there.  It's not fair! We're discriminating against those of us who choose to find humor in every situation, regardless of appropriateness. 

 

So what can I say about knees? One thing I've noticed is that no one seems to really appreciate their utility until suddenly faced with knee-related problems.  Most people don't really give it much thought day to day.  Arbitrary though it may be, I feel as though we, as a society, should focus on making sure that our knees stay healthy from the minute we are born.  Why? Because since we've started walking, most of us have forgotten the significance of, or more importantly, the role that our knees have played in our development.  Before we begin to walk, we learn to crawl using our (*ehem*) knees.  Yep, that's right. We've got to give kudos to our knees for playing such an important role in our ability to be mobile.

 
 
Knees also play a very significant part in our social development.  I have separated the impact that knees have on our lives to social and physical development because it plays a different role, depending on context.  For example, it would not be too difficult to imagine how different our physical developments would be without knees.  Not only would it affect the obvious (i.e. walking), but it would also affect the way that the rest of our body develops.  I've always been told in my science classes that our bodies are all about maintaining homeostasis. This means that without fully functioning knees, our bodies would have to come up with a way to compensate for it, (possibly) affecting the physical development of other parts of our bodies.  Something interesting to think about however, is "how would our brain chemistry/structure be affected if we were to be born without knees?"

 

However, now imagine how our social development would be affected by non-functional (maybe non-existent) knees?  First of all, it would limit our ability to travel independently.  Yes, we could always invent something that will take us from one location to another (wheelchairs, cars, segways) but has anyone considered the social impact that such technologies have had on society?  Though it is indeed great that we have developed the capabilities to travel long distances in a short amount of time, the speed and isolation with which we expect from such modes of transportation have rendered us rather isolated from nature/the world.  Though today's society seems to have gone on a very trendy health-kick which has helped increase the awareness of the importance of health and exercise, in my opinion, it has merely served to further de-socialized us from the rest of the world.  For example, when was the last time you drove to the closest gym to run on a treadmill with headphones on, instead of going for a jog outside? 

Though it is true that in today's violence-ridden society, running on a treadmill in the comfort and safety of a gym is a reasonable choice, it doesn't change the fact that it has changed the way that people interact and socialize.  We are social creatures, and yet, as we make further advances into technology, we seem to be heading in the opposite direction of what is natural.   

Just saying...

 

 

 

[[ Opinions and arbitrary comments made by writer does not reflect anything but the need to get one's thoughts down on "paper".  Please don't judge. ]]