ONCE UPON A TIME the princess fell upon the wet cobblestones at the castle and bent her right leg back in a crippling position. Her fairy godmother waved her magic wand and the princess was able to get up and dance at the ball. Complications were deferred until the princess lost her Prince Charming and shock triggered the old wound.
In 2008 my cousin and I arrived in Edinburg to begin a tour of Scotland. We went right to the castle. It was a rainy day and I slipped on the wet cobbestones and landed with my right leg bent back under me. I remember the look of horror on my cousin’s face as she projected the end of her dream trip, sitting instead by my bedside in an Edinburg hospital. Miraculously, I got up and walked away without even a limp.
A MRI this week revealed that the deep aching pain in my right knee is from a torn meniscus and sprained ligament (in addition to the DVT which was diagnosed previously). What could cause the sudden onset of such trauma? I didn’t fall. Or did I? My cousin was the first to suggest that today’s knee problem might be connected to that fall four years ago. Shapiro writes: “Knees are like shock absorbers, major weight carriers, so if that weight becomes too heavy the knees may show the strain. The weight may not be physical; psycho/emotional weight can be just as heavy.” YES!
I was in shock after the Rose Man’s death. Shock protected me from that deep aching grief then. I simply could not bear the weight. My leg took on the pain, the deep aching pain. Activating an old untreated injury? I have an appointment with an orthopedic surgeon in two weeks and expect to undergo arthroscopic repair. My knee no longer needs to bear the weight of my grief. We are healing.
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