Hey Guys,

A few days ago, I had Kota on a play date. There were two women I met a few months ago at the dog park and we formed a friendship. They have two dogs that Kota just really loved to run with and after a few times of running them at the dog park- Sue and Colleen invited us to their home where they have a large almost two acre fenced front yard that gradually goes down into a gentle slope. It’s perfect for Kota and Torrie (their shepherd mix) to run on because there are three rock walls the dogs have to jump on or over so that expends more energy. It is pure joy to see them run- like a big racetrack and the dogs get along great.  

I was on the lower level which thank God is grassy and wet and Kota was in front of me. I turned my back on him to leave and called him to my side. Oh, he came all right, at a fast clip and before I figured it out, he had hit me full bore in the back of my knees! I flew in the air and when I came down- I was lying on my back with my knees folded under me. I had hit my right shoulder and my head and I could feel this numbing pain traveling down my back toward my right leg. I could not move. Kota was beside himself, he knew instinctively that he had messed up and he was circling me and whining and nudging me as if to say “Mom get up, I don’t like this game anymore.” The only problem, I couldn’t move. I think I was screaming- it was a great deal of pain. 

I was lying in water and I knew I had to get up so I rolled over and tried to tuck my legs under me to get up- and then I know I screamed. Kota came to my side, and by bracing myself on him, I was able to get up. But, when I took a step, my right knee tried to buckle inward and a searing pain went through my body.  I knew because I was standing, that I hadn’t broke anything so slowly, I was able to get to the truck and with Kota’s help got into the truck and drove home. My knee was swelling at a great rate- so I iced it all that night and took ibuprofen hoping against hope it would be better in the morning. It wasn’t. 

I went to Urgent Care the next morning and they determined that I had torn my minescus. They gave me a pain shot, an anti-inflammatory shot and told me to stay off it for a week. I explained my circumstances, my husband and his needs and the cats plus the dog, so the doctor just shook his head and said do the best you can to stay off it, but don’t let it seize up. 

It hurts like the dickens. It initially swelled up to the size of a watermelon- but thankfully the shot helped to take a lot of the inflammation away. Today, it is the size of a cantaloupe. My problem is standing and sitting. I am using a walker to get around and I never realized how far it was to the mailbox until this happened.  They also diagnosed me with osteoporosis and I am supposed to really start taking calcium and eating calcium enriched food. The doctor said that they can’t replace the calcium lost, but that the diet will stop me from losing more. He said at my age, it is to be expected to lose calcium, but he was surprised at how much is actually gone. I told him about my early hysterectomy at age 21 which I believed had a bearing on the loss of calcium and he said that would do it. 

So how do I tell my cats that I can’t properly care for them right now. I have cut down the feeding time to only once a day which I hope will only last a few more days. I had a volunteer out yesterday, but she fed them dog food instead of cat food and my other volunteers haven’t been here in quite awhile.  My biggest concern is if I do have to have surgery- who is going to step in and care for Mike, Kota and the cats while I recover? My knee is still buckling when it shouldn’t be and I embarrassed myself yesterday when I went to the store to pick up my prescription and I screamed in pain when my knee gave out. People came running asking me if I was okay? I am concerned because I have a high pain tolerance- but not for this apparently.