Oh great . . . it's the "A" word . . .

So my knee has been bugging me for awhile now. Awhile meaning . . . a little over a year. I seem to remember on one of my walks that at sometime I turned my leg the wrong way and ever since then it's felt funny. Well, not funny ha.ha. but funny ouch. I have just been ignoring it, but lately going up and down stairs, getting out of a chair, even turning over at night causes a knife pain in my knee. I think my tolerance to pain is pretty high, but it's just really been annoying me lately. So I made an appt. to see an Orthopedist today. I explained to him my symptoms and said, "I really hope nothing is torn, because I probably won't have any surgery done unless it's a simple arthroscopic procedure, otherwise I can put up with it." "Well, I'm glad to hear that" he says, and he sends me down the hall for about 5 different Xray views of my knee. Have you ever had to wear paper shorts before? oh verryyyy attractive . ha! Anyway . . after he does some twisting, turning, pushing and pulling of my leg and knee area, he looks at the Xrays that were taken and begins his diagnosis. "I am happy to tell you that nothing is torn so no surgery is going to be required" . . . . "Well, that's great news!" I say, then he goes on "Can you see this area in the Xray??" "Yes?" "Well, it looks like you have a bit of arthritis developing in the knee area and your kneecaps are slightly out of place" WHAT??? how did that happen? I sit Indian style (or yoga as they call it now) all the time, my kneecaps should be in great shape? then he says, "Now this is the part you won't like, but women at your age begin to develop . . . ." At that point I didn't like this doctor anymore . . . WHAT DOES HE MEAN WOMEN MY AGE and WHY am I hearing that so much lately?? "because a womens hip size pulls the muscle near your knee and that muscle needs to be strengthend so your kneecap aligns properly" . .blahblahblah . . WHAT ARE YOU IMPLYING THAT I HAVE FAT HIPS??? (I'm thinking with a fake smile), "So you would benefit from a few physical therapy sessions to learn some stretching exercises to strenghten the muscles around the knee and feel free to take some Motrin if it really feels uncomfortable". . . "Oh thank's, good to know." I say, thinking (I would rather you have told me it was badly torn and I need surgery, instead of "I'm OLD and that's just the way it is so GET OVER IT, and apparently my HIPS are a problem too"). I think I will just self medicate with a glass of wine and try to feel good about myself again! ;)