new tilers, kneepads, wear them!

[High Peak Tiling]

okay the long shot is I've had trouble with my left knee since early teenage years as a result of a mis-diagnosed sports injury. Now I'm 50 and with 6 ops behind me I'm not quite crippled but left with some hard decisions to make about my future. I was at hospital for an appointment with consultant yesterday and I knew it was serious when after looking at the x-ray he took off his glasses and asked if I had a good early retirement scheme in place...
he gave me 3 options..
1) retire now
2) have my knee and a few other bones broken to re-align my leg so it's not bearing weight on an arthiritic joint, this would make me bow legged and with only a 70% success rate, also if there was any arthritis in the joint behind my patella (kneecap) it wouldn't work, also it would mean 4 months off work.
3) carry on as long as I can.

there is a 4th option, changing jobs, not sure I can bring myself to do that though.

I know my arthritis is a direct result of my injury, but I asked the consultant if knee pads would have made a difference if I'd worn them earlier in my working life.
His reply was a resounding "YES!!", apparently in his estimation the arthritis would only be at 25% stage as what it is now.
On a lighter note, it is quite funny hearing an asian consultant say "Mr Boardley, in short, your knee is fecked"

Sorry to hear this Doug.

On the topic of changing jobs.. Can you be selective on your work and not take on many floors?

 

[Dougs Third Go]

how long exactly was you tiling without kneepads? years or just the first few months when you first started out?

probably 30 odd years without ​kneepads Ash..

 

[White Room]

probably 30 odd years without ​kneepads Ash..

Thats frightning....

 

[peteablard]

ha ha Pete, yep, as pic was loading I saw the red pendulous ears and thought maybe you meant a Vizsla trainer...then I saw the black nose and it all went pear shaped from there..:lol:

Training Vizslas! Or Some kind of obedience training school for working dogs. That's got to be an option if you had to go down the alternative career route mate

 

[Dougs Third Go]

tbh, as long as I keep moving and keep my quadricep strong it's manageable, the pain starts when I sit down and try to rest, quite often during the night I have to get up and just walkabout for 10-15mins to get the circulation flowing...then the blaaady dog thinks it's going out for a walk and starts tearing round the house looking for her lead..

 

[Mr Tiler]

probably 30 odd years without ​kneepads Ash..

how old are ya now doug? no wonder you have bad knees that's mental I cant go an hour on me knees without pads on or im throbbin all night

 

[Dougs Third Go]

how old are ya now doug? no wonder you have bad knees that's mental I cant go an hour on me knees without pads on or im throbbin all night

just turned 50 last month..

 

[Mr Tiler]

id stick to the walls from now on mate maybe teach someone the floors or get a reliable tiler to do the frloors for ya

 

[jonnyc]

Doug I'm really sorry to hear about this.i think we are about same age or you couple years younger.
ive been told a year ago that I have to either have left knee replaced or break to realign which must be similar op to yours I imagine.
mine is cartiledge and ligament lack of and damage .
i have put it off for a year and it's getting too much but I can't bear thought of maybe not being able to carry on in same capacity as I could before. But really I have probably made things worse by putting off and I know I have to make a decision now in next month .
i have to get done whether retire or not .
my decision is to grow my business and just run it and see what happens.
we just have to get on with what we've got but I am very worried and know exactly how you feel right now.
hope your decision works out.

 

[Stef]

Jeezo Doug, not a good predicament to be in.
im sure you will find something to do, salmon season starts on the 15th, :hurray:

 

[Dougs Third Go]

id stick to the walls from now on mate maybe teach someone the floors or get a reliable tiler to do the frloors for ya

that can't happen fella, who does the bottom cuts?, besides, what you lose on the walls (financially) you gain on the floors, (usually). It's not a "pity me" thread, more of a "heed me" thread, if that makes sense.

 

[Dougs Third Go]

Doug I'm really sorry to hear about this.i think we are about same age or you couple years younger.
ive been told a year ago that I have to either have left knee replaced or break to realign which must be similar op to yours I imagine.
mine is cartiledge and ligament lack of and damage .
i have put it off for a year and it's getting too much but I can't bear thought of maybe not being able to carry on in same capacity as I could before. But really I have probably made things worse by putting off and I know I have to make a decision now in next month .
i have to get done whether retire or not .
my decision is to grow my business and just run it and see what happens.
we just have to get on with what we've got but I am very worried and know exactly how you feel right now.
hope your decision works out.

exactly the same Johnny, exacerbated now by not wearing the pads.

 

[Mr Tiler]

yes mate good thing for someone like me to see doug its another addition to the great site that this is! I hope you find a way to make it work fella

 

[CJ]

You could become a Gigolo Doug.


Mmmm, maybe not. Not a big call for a Ginge gigolo. That, and I've seen ya pics.

 

[jonnyc]

Doug you must not beat yourself up about it.what's done is done.
i know a couple of tilers mid fifties who have never worn knee pads and they seem to be ok .
luck of the draw sometimes.
i know what you're thinking.
my knee is result of early teen ligament problem from sport and in those days even though I was going regularily to a children's hospital I never really got any help.
Ligaments just got looser and looser and because the pain was not there any more just left it and then went and took up tiling of all professions which is as crazy as you not wearing knee pads.
i am blaming myself now but it's done and people in positions like this just have try and keep going forward.
i tell you one thing I will and have been doing more of is floor restoration .
use my knowledge and get on the end of a vax or scrub machine and let a younger lad get down there.
there is good money in stone floor cleaning .just a thought .
plenty of people doing it but not many who really know what they are doing.