A Crucial Lesson in Self Advocacy
- rickdmoore
- 9 hours ago
- 4 min read
There are a number of reasons that I love my wife. That I’m now recovering from surgery is one of them.
Huh? you’re wondering. That Amy’s had you have surgery is a good thing?
Actually, the surgery I had five days ago is the best thing to happen to me in months. Let me explain.
Quick Refresher
As I’ve shared in previous posts, I experienced a sudden sharp pain on the inside of my left knee on July 8 of last year during a cool down at the end of a workout. Since an X-ray the following day did not reveal any damage, I eased back into running. However, continued pain in that knee had me check with a sports medicine doctor who determined it to be arthritis. He also recommended a Platelet-Rich Plasma (PRP) injection that was intended to reduce the inflammation and allow me to resume my running - at least for several months. From there, I would need future injections, pending their effectiveness.
I received that injection on October 21, 2025.
Too Many Questions
Although the first four weeks of recovery seemed to go quite well, my knee simply did not respond as favorably to my attempts to return to running. It seemed that every 10 to 14 days, I’d have another setback with more pain on the side of that knee, causing me to ease back on my running. In an act of frustration, I finally deleted all races from my 2026 calendar, hoping at least to eventually be able to put in a 4-5 mile run at a very slow pace.
But there were too many questions that simply made no sense.
Why had my knee responded so well to walking, but not running following the PRP injection?
Had it actually been the draining of a substantial amount of fluid from my knee that provided that initial relief following the injection?
Why did using an elliptical cause my knee to hurt - even if I kept the machine at a minimal setting?
What reason was it that certain exercises designed to increase flexibility in my knee ended up causing more pain?
Overall, why was it that the PRP injection seemed ineffective?
Owe It to My Wife!
Amy has developed a business where she provides guidance to women about menopause. Through her, I’ve learned that despite this being a change that impacts over half our population, medical knowledge is nowhere as extensive and precise as it should be. In order to help address this, Amy has a website and book that can help women navigate their experiences as well as asking the right questions. A key component of her program is advocating for yourself.
That meant addressing the problem in lieu of continuing a plan that clearly wasn't working. Amy recommended that I instead schedule an appointment with that sports medicine doctor.
Which I did - prompting an MRI a few days later. At 9 am the following Monday, I was informed that the problem wasn’t arthritis. I had a torn meniscus.
Which explained both that sharp pain way back in July as well as my continued problems. From there, an appointment with a surgeon who removed the torn flap just a few days ago - all taking us to where I started.
Going Forward
I won’t lie. There’s part of me that’s not happy over a missed diagnosis. Not when I consider the months wasted as well as the cost of a pointless PRP injection. I’ve also learned that x-rays do not always reveal meniscus tears. Likewise, it seems that insurance companies discourage MRI’s because of their costs. All of which had me trusting a system when I should have been advocating for myself from the onset.
It’s a mistake I won’t repeat.
At the same time, as my coach has indicated, if there’s a good time of the year to miss running in Iowa, it’s the winter months. Even better, assuming my six to eight weeks of recovery goes well, I should be able to eventually resume running as I knew it before the injury.
With that in mind, the focus is clearly on moving forward.
Going into this new year, I truly had no idea what to expect with my running. Although I plan to adhere to a careful workout schedule and accept that I may have lost additional speed over these long months, that I can look forward to the resumption of a key part of my life after so many months away has made me far more optimistic about 2026.
Conclusion
I share all of this as I hope to provide some benefit to any of you facing the challenges that all of us eventually experience as runners. It goes without saying how much I appreciate the support that many of you have offered throughout these past months.
If you have any thoughts or experiences to share, I’d love to read them in the comments below. Best wishes with your running!
