(no subject)

[pantryslut]

I had a good discussion on the phone with my middle sister (aka Migraine Sister) today. Mostly we talked about her recent knee problems and subsequent experiences with physical therapy.

My family all suffers to differing degrees from chronic weird-ass knee problems (just as they all suffer from migraines). In my sister's case, it's as of yet undiagnosed, just "my, your knees make a lot of noise for someone so young." In my case, the doctors refused several years ago to take X-rays to see if I had arthritis in my left knee, because I was too young. (My knee has since improved, so I haven't pushed the issue.) In my mother and grandmother's case, it's something about spongy cartilage.

My sister reports that her initial attempts to get her knees looked at were greeted with the usual "you're overweight and out of shape" bullshit. But they sent her to phys therapy anyway, and the therapists don't care. If she doesn't see improvement, she's going to talk them into an MRI and/or exploratory arthroscopic surgery.

But I also learned:

* that she can not only touch her toes, but lay her palms flat upon the ground.

* she can do a full lotus, knees on the ground, and then bend over to kiss her own toes.

* she can to a full split.

All this, and no yoga :) I think the next time somebody hassles her like that, she should just sink to the floor in a natural split, then draw her feet up and rest her head against them in mock despair. That should teach them.

P.S. *I* am undeniably a fat girl, but my sister is by no stretch of the imagination of the same build as I. She is of the 'would be perfectly acceptable in a world that wasn't fucked up about body image' size, last time I checked anyway.

P.P.S. I don't mean to imply that flexibility automatically equals fitness.

Comments

Sooo...

[sadojewess.livejournal.com]

Sooo...got any photos of your sister? (GRIN)

Re: Sooo...

[pantryslut.livejournal.com]

I am way sexier than my sister. And this is *despite* the fact that she is a natural redhead.

Nonetheless, I will see what I can dig up.

Re: Sooo...

[sadojewess.livejournal.com]

I hope you didn't think I was implying that you are not sexy, which was definitely not the case!

Re: Sooo...

[pantryslut.livejournal.com]

Nah. That was the "my sister is so not a hottie!" reflex kicking in, is all.

So to make up for it, here's a pic:



It's a few years old, though.

[kalmn.livejournal.com]

making a wild assumption that you are about my age, i say you should kick your doctors in the ass using the leg with the good knee.

i was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis at 16, and while osteoarthritis is primarily a disease of aging, my mother was showing symptoms of it when in her mid-thirties.

not old enough my ass.

[pantryslut.livejournal.com]

Yeah, well, I was showing osteo symptoms at 24. So I was a bit young, 'tis true, but with my family history they could've at least checked.

[dnereverri.livejournal.com]

Overweight sounds like BS. I'll note, however, that I'm suffering from knee and shoulder problems derived from being *too* flexible, and not maintaining enough muscle strength to hold everything in place during normal motion -- e.g., walking. End result: Extra strain on the joint (and, in my knees, the kneecaps slipping out of place). This despite walking two miles a day -- walking doesn't exercise the right muscles! Physical therapy has worked wonders for me. (And while I can't do the splits, full lotus and laying my palms flat on the ground during a toe-touch are both easy.)

So I guess I'm saying that "out of shape" can mean some pretty specific things with joint problems, and PT might actually help her.

[pantryslut.livejournal.com]

PT is helping her, mostly. But she said that even the PTs are concerned about the noise in her knees. So it may not be enough. We'll see.