When I was 11, I was diagnosed with Osgood Schlatter Disease and I was excused from gym class for all of sixth grade. Since then my knees have been a little sketchy. Most of the time they're cool, but every once in awhile, for no apparent reason, they just "go out".
As you know, I've been working out at the Y for a month and I'm loving it. Well, about a week ago my knees started to bother me, the left one especially. One night last week it got so bad I was lying on my bed crying in pain and frustration. I was so worried that, after the progress I've made, I'd have to give up the aerobic workout I have come to LOVE.
I went to my doctor and had some x-rays and found that I have mild arthritis in the left knee and moderate arthritis in the right. I am not surprised by this, it runs in my family. My grandmother was all but crippled by it and my dad had knee replacement surgery a year ago because of it.
For me it's a bit of a catch-22. I have been overweight all my life, which exacerbates the arthritis and when I'm finally doing something about it and actually losing weight, the knees are bad enough that changes must be made to the workout. No more elliptical for me. I have begun to swim.
The Y has a 75 foot long pool with lap lanes available every day, all day. I went for the first time on Thursday thinking it wouldn't be as good and it kicked my ass! I did 5 laps of the crawl and it made me dizzy.
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