My Serve; Love-all
In late winter 1974, when I was a 30 year-old mother of two living in Chicago (4800 West, 5600 North) and pregnant with my 3rd child, a friend from Skokie asked me if I would be a 4th in their weekly indoor tennis game. I hadn't picked up a racket since high school gym tennis at Howard Park in West Palm Beach, Fl back in the 50s, but I was game (though I didn't have game at that time), and I joined the foursome. I can remember playing with the same can of pink balls for 3 or 4 weeks in a row. Who knew? I had no idea what that inauspicious beginning would lead to.
15 love
Fast forward to fall of 1975. By then, Angela was born and we had moved to Englewood Cliffs, NJ. I quickly found myself some tennis games, and the real games began. I spent the next ten years playing tennis on hard courts most of the year, and often two or three times a day (or night). Tennis eventually became my vocation as well as my avocation. (I had to pay for all this indoor court time some way). I managed an indoor tennis facility in Englewood, and ran tennis leagues and tournaments. I also became a regionally ranked (top ten in singles and doubles in the 35s and 40s Eastern Region). I was winning singles, doubles and mixed titles at Oritani, Tenafly Tennis Club, and any other place there was a tournament to enter, and was one of a select few women “permitted” to play at Ah-deek, a small all men's facility nearby. I went to the Nationals at the 5.0 level during the fledgling years of the NTRP tennis system, when it was sponsored by Michelob and Volvo. But at a cost. My knees took a beating. And the extra weight I carried didn't help.
15 all
In 1991, after having moved back to Florida, I was playing singles on a hard court at Juno Beach with my friend (later to become my husband), Bill, when I made a jig when I should have jagged, and tore the meniscus in my right leg. I tried PT and strengthening, but the knee was insecure and I couldn't trust it to move. It would lock up, so I ended up having it scoped. And then the pain started. And it didn't quit for a year, until the doctor scoped it again in 1992 and this time “bled the bone,” so when I woke up, I discovered I was on crutches for SIX WEEKS! Who knew? Not me. So, there I was on crutches for my son's graduation from Stetson. Talk about rude awakenings.
30-15
Life went on. I had to go back to work, so tennis took a back seat, and I was down to playing 2 – 4 times a week. Good for the knees, but not my sanity. I divorced my husband, married Bill (who I met on a tennis court and who is a very good tennis player in his own right),and my knee was holding its own, though I never got full mobility back after the second surgery. And it got progressively worse. I have been on Mobic (after trying Celebrex (rash), Vioxx (upset stomach)) and went through many temporary fixes, including Synvisc, Euflexa, cortisone shots.....but the damage had been done, and it continued on its downward path. I had been told repeatedly along the line that TKR was inevitable, but I, of course, was putting it off as long as I could, rationalizing that the process and procedures and bionic parts would only keep improving.
30 all
Retirement came and went. I retired, was bored, since I had the time to do stuff, but not the money, went back to work part-time, and ultimately retired for good, all the time continuing the tennis as frequently as I could. We moved from Palm Beach County, a beautiful place once, but now too glitzy and ritzy, to Homosassa, FL, the polar opposite of Palm Beach County. It took us nine months to sell our house in Palm Beach Gardens, and the weekend of the 11th hour we had set for ourselves, we got two offers. Since both our lives revolve around tennis, we will only go where we can find it. The first criteria no matter where we live, is tennis; anything else is secondary. Homosassa, for a variety of reasons, did not work for us, so three years later, after having the house on the market for 7 months, we moved to Harbor Hills, a beautiful golf and tennis facility just outside of the Villages in Lady Lake, FL.
30-40
But first came The Brace. Before the movers came to move us out of Homosassa, I asked my orthopedist for a brace. He wrote out the criteria and sent me down the road for measurements, and five days later, the fitting. It was big, black and intimidating. How can anyone run around on a tennis court with that thing wrapped around their leg? But I had some tennis friends who managed to do it, so, what the hell. I got to try it once before the movers came, (it sorta helps, actually) and then it sat for a week or so during the transition.
But, it wasn't long before I was hooked. It reached the point where I could no longer walk onto the tennis court without it. And subsequently, I found it was even more difficult to stand and/or walk for great distances, a problem I had been having for a loonnngg time. I haven't been able to go up or down steps for any number of years except by the very slow “one step up, drag bad leg” method. So while as recently as a few months ago, I was able to play tennis and still do whatever needed to be done in the afternoon, i.e. shopping, chores, etc., of late the knee is too painful, and I'm hobbling around. Quality of life has declined. Now, it is no longer just about tennis. Even if I gave up tennis, I would still be unable to do everyday stuff. I'm leaving tomorrow for Boston to spend time with my daughter, Alyssa, and we will be limited as to the walking we can do, which is very frustrating. One of the charms of Boston, is walking around the city. What's a trip to Boston without a walk along Newbury Street? And we are going to the MFA. The thought of being on my feet for that length of time is daunting. Quality of life is declining. It's time to act!
Duece The Seminars
So, I've begun the task of attending knee seminars. The first one was held in The Villages, and it was presented by an orthopedic surgeon out of Tavares, Dr. Donald J. Perry. Presentation was well done; surgeon had knowledge and personality, uses minimally invasive technique with less down time. May make an appointment with him. (and the food was good and good for you: fruit and cheese, wraps....not a lot of junk).
Next, was the Largo group. Lots of marketing by this outfit. I went to one of their seminars 3 years ago. Same woman presented this time. A nurse who has been with the hospital/doctors for 26 years. Excellent presenter. The patients stay in a suite at their facility, 3rd and 4th floor devoted to hip/knee replacements, so no sick people are present. Minimally invasive, with little down time. (Florida Knee and Orthopedic Pavilion, Largo Medical Center, Largo, FL) One of my tennis friends is scheduled to have her knee done there on October 13, 2010.
