All Knees Go To Heaven

As my Hapkido master likes to say, "You only have one set of knees!  Take good care of them!"

Well, I try.  I really do.  But when you start off with crap genetics you're pretty much hosed.  Science is wonderful, but they don't have a way to stop osteoarthritis.  And that whole knee cap moving where it isn't supposed to?  Also not my fault.  Thanks Dad.

About nine months after my second (yes, second knee surgery, at the ripe ol' age of 26, thank you very much) I decided that I wanted to start martial arts.  I may still be slightly disgruntled that my parents never allowed me to start kicking people earlier in life when I wanted to...but that's a different matter. 

Three years ago next month I started training in Taekwondo and a year ago in Hapkido.  Besides the occassional knee ouchies, I was doing pretty darn well.  That is, until my last belt testing in TKD.  That's when the landing on my flying side-kick board break went...badly.

Can you guess which knee it is?!  Go on, take a second look...Turns out that I had severely sprained my MCL and tore my miniscus.  Good times.  This is what I looked like (with crutches!) after that:

Sexy, I know.

I ended up seeing the orthopedic surgeon (who did my 2nd knee surgery) and he told me it would take about a month to heal and I didn't need surgery.

Well, yesterday I went back for a re-check because my knee is still giving out on me and swelling after exercising.  He gave me a brace and told me if that doesn't help stabilize my knee cap my next option is surgery again.  That would make THREE knee surgeries in EIGHT years.

FML.