Or as my doctor tried to tell me in English, ‘brueeze’. However you pronounce it, this is the latest diagnosis of my decades-old knee problem. My sports doc was very confident in his MRI analysis and pointed out the bruise (I think on my femur). The bruise has water in it and can swell from time to time, causing me pain just under the patella. The cause of the bruise, however, is a small tear in the cartilage that was probably due to a fall. I did martial arts for years and the knee hit the floor more than a few times. I probably fell over drunk a couple of times, too, so this is not surprising.

I forgot to ask if this kind of thing is curable, but I did ask what the treatment was, and we are back to what I was doing a decade ago – Hyaluronic acid shots. He said that this is rien de grave and that I could wait to get the drugs and bring them to him after my tour season is done with. He also assured me that I DON’T have any osteoarthritis, which I was certain I had for about the last 12 years. He said that the tear is small, which doesn’t mean it can’t give me pain. It all seems very manageable once again. I’m sticking with this doctor because when you get the answer you are looking for, why bother keep searching?