My left knee has been giving me trouble, as I’ve mentioned before. I went for an MRI last Friday and just got the analysis back. Apparently I have a condition called chrondomalacia. Go ahead, google it. I’ll wait here.

Yeah, it all seems to fit. All the symptoms, the causes, all that stuff matches up with my experience. There’s not much mention of significant swelling, though the swelling in my knee can only be described as significant, but it certainly sounds like an accurate diagnosis to me.

I’m being referred to a physical therapist and they’re giving me Celebrex, a prescription anti-inflammatory. All the stuff I’m finding indicates that with PT, drugs, and rest, there’s a good chance that I can fix this problem without need for surgery or lasting complications. Here’s hoping.

The bad news is that I’m probably going to have to take some time off for training. I’m betting on several weeks to allow it the knee to recover, and several more for physical therapy to balance out the muscles to prevent this from coming up again. Call it two or three months.

That means that I’m almost certainly going to be unable to test next month, and that will also push back my black belt test. Best case scenario, if I recover quickly, if I’m allowed to test on the current material after I get back, if I can get into good enough shape quickly, if all the planets align in my favor, I may be able to test for my black belt in July. That would be a pretty nice birthday present.