Here is what I think happened

This may be TMI for people who are squeamish about needles and pain.

So before I went on vacation I got myself a cortisone shot in the knee. It was an odd experience. Three times the needle went in and three time the doc couldn't push the drug through the syringe and into the joint. It creeped way out but I tried to ignore it. He moved to the right hand side and it went in effortlessly. I was thinking scar tissue or something was in the way-- a big pocket of fluid never occurred to me. But as the time has gone on since then I have been watching that area slowly deflate/sink in. I was out riding my bike yesterday and trying to process all the weirdness and here is what I think happened. When the doc poked me, he punctured the big balloon of fluid that was sitting on my knee. Three times was enough to cause a leak down through the leg muscle and then on to being absorbed into by system. That would explain the CRAZY night sweats I had on vacation (I don't feel infected but am hoping to get some blood drawn just to make sure my WBC isn't sky high) and the new indentation that is prominently visible.

Sadly, along with this change in shape has come some ridiculous pain. The fluid must have been pretty well encapsulated by something and whatever that something was is now catching in the joint. We were racing through the Salt Lake City airport on the way out to Denver and I almost fell over the first time it tweaked. It was literally a stop you in your tracks kind of pain. It mellowed as the week went on and now I am really trying to work on wearing whatever that is down. I was simply expecting the cortisone shot to reduce the inflammation, I was not expecting to puncture a balloon of fluid. But to be honest, I am glad that happened. The shape of my knee, well, looks more like a knee should now. You can see my knee cap clearly defined and it seems to be sitting in a better spot because the fluid isn't pushing it into an unnatural position. But I do feel like once again I am wearing out a new groove.

Someday I will bonic and this will all be but a happy memory.