take a knee – or two

“This is where the middle of your calf should be,” the doctor said, drawing a line on the x-ray.

The line he drew did not run down the middle of my calf. It ran along the side of my calf. My kneecaps, it turns out, are not quite where they should be.

Why are my knee caps elsewhere, you ask? No one really knows for sure. My best guess is a fall I took when I was about 3—a three-foot fall onto concrete. But whatever the cause of my misplaced kneecaps, I started having knee pain when I was a freshman in high school, prompting my visit to the orthopedic surgeon. (more…)