My blog has a bit of an odd name. I've been asked a few times now why it has this name. Why 'floating knees'? I guess I should start at the beginning. For those of you that don't fancy a story I have drawn up a simple to follow explanation above.
So, every kid falls, usually due to clumsiness or running too fast. I did that all the time and had permanently skinned knees. Then something weird started happening. I did normal falling and then not so normal falling. The not so normal falling would be something like walking along and just dropping for no reason or feeling myself crumple while running. I could sense it was something to do with my knee because I could hear a loud thud coming from it and an incredibly unsettling sensation. It felt like my leg was falling apart.
As I grew older and it kept happening I became more and more aware of it and the conclusion that was reached was that I had dislocating knees like some of my relatives had. They tended to grow out of their problems and that's what many doctors said. "She'll grow out of it".
So on I went, falling over quite often and each time my knee dislocated I'd hit the ground, my knee cap thankfully having popped back into place by the time I landed. But things then changed. I'd hit the ground and my knee would stay around the side of my leg. I learnt how to pull it back around safely myself so then on went the falling and pulling my knee caps back on, usually to the horror of many random strangers I'd fall in front of on the streets.
One day I experienced both knees falling out at the same time. I've sat here for a while thinking how to describe that feeling but it's too difficult. My body goes into shock and all I can think of is getting my knees back in place. It's the worst pain. It's also terrifying.
It was time to go back to the doctors so as a teen I went and had X-rays done. They concluded that my knees dislocated which was obviously already known. It was know all too well. But nothing according to the doctors, could be done.
Years went on of bad falls and increased pain each time. My knee caps got more temperamental and I now even struggle to get them back in place. I also can't walk with straight legs as my knee caps are so loose when I straighten up. If you imagine cracking an egg into a bowl and the yolk slides about, that's what they feel like to me. When you bend your knee you can feel everything tighten slightly so I use that tightening to keep my knee caps on. I'm basically using the mush in my leg, all the gooey parts to keep them on. Nice.
I went through physiotherapy, wearing knee supports, then being told not to wear knee supports, and even had my knee caps strapped down with strong tape in the opposite direction to how they fall off. That made them feel like they were on fire. Nothing worked and it just got worse.
Thankfully in the last year I was sent to have more X-rays done. The results turned out to be a lot more than just knee troubles. My hips are twisted in the way, I have no bone surrounding my knee caps, hence why I call them 'floating knees', I have hypermobility in my joints, my knee caps are too high and my leg bones are all facing different directions. I said to the doctor "so I'm guessing this isn't normal?", his reply, "this is very abnormal...". Can't argue with that really. My legs are pretty darn strange.
So I guess this is another reason I'm writing this post. I have multiple operations ahead on both my bones and ligaments so to get me through it, I'll probably post updates on here. This is all a good thing though. Operations sound serious and scary but when your knees fall off all the time getting them fixed is the more favourable option. It's also a light at the end of a very long tunnel for me after going backwards and forwards to doctors since I was wee and getting nowhere. I can't wait to walk normally and be free from the fear of falling all the time. I shall keep you all posted.
EDIT: The Story of the Floating Knees - The Update... Click here.
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