Plans…why do I even make them. Seriously. I come up with so many plans, so many ideas, so many thoughts and then I fail. What in the world is wrong with me? I must be just plain stupid!
So it’s been 18 days since I last wrote and the leg saga is still ongoing. After those first awful days where I could barely function, things started to feel better……kinda. I got to the point that my knee only ached while I was walking…and no real issue while sitting or immobile moments. However, random acts just drive a searing pain through my knees. What things? Ohhhh standing up from a chair…. lowering myself to a sitting position on a chair. Going to the bathroom was absolutely the best. (note the sarcasm). Steps…. or even a curb…. not fun. Any step that is not a normal to small step. Turning and changing direction. Also, painful. Manageable right?
But then let’s add in the ‘wrong step’…. the “too many steps’….or just the “insanity that seems to happen to me.”
The wrong step. I was walking through the yard about a week ago and wasn’t paying close enough attention…. apparently! You see, I stepped on a walnut that had fallen from the tree, it threw me off balance, and I thought I was going down. (Just imagine the staggering stumbling forward). Let me tell you, PAIN! I was on the phone with a friend and that friend heard me and literally was saying, “I’m calling an ambulance for you.” That wrong step set me back a few days where no matter what I did it jus HURT!
Too many steps? Well, that is self-explanatory……too many steps, too much incline….too much uneven ground and eii yii yii!
The insanity…. well let me tell you that getting zapped by the electric fence around the chicken yard was torture! That electric jolt seemed to go straight to that knee! I had literal tears for about 15 minutes! And the next couple days were extra rough.
So about a week ago I decided that enough was enough. The urgent care had said to seek further advice if it hadn’t gotten better within about 10 days. I waited close to a month. But I went to an orthopedic specialist today.
The diagnosis…….
First of all, apparently it was a baker’s cyst. But those really bad early days where I couldn’t function. Apparently that was when the baker’s cyst ruptured. No worries…..once ruptured the body steps up to the task of taking care of the fluid that is now running loose through your body.
Secondly, the arthritis that I have been dealing with for YEARS has apparently gotten a LOT worse. I was 29 when a doctor first told me I had arthritis and there was no discussion about anything but management of the pain. I lost all the weight and the knees felt fabulous. I regained and the pain came back.
Apparently it came back with a vengeance. The doctor advised that while its by no way the worst case he has seen, there is significant amounts of arthritis…..in all three (apparently there are three areas) areas of my knee.
We are still on the over the counter meds to manage. But the doctors words were, when it gets unbearable (he also used the phrase, ‘when you can’t sleep at night from the pain’) then come in and we sill start steroid injections (offers a few weeks of pain free) and when you need more we will move to the hyaluronic acid injections. (He freely admitted that the injections will hurt). There may be the addition of a ‘pain management doctor’ at some point to possibly do some kind of nerve reatment. And as a last resort a knee replacement…both knees.
I liked the doctor. He actually talked about the replacement as a total last resort and did admit that it was 50-50. Some people are absolutely in love with the results and do both readily. Others do one and refuse to do the other. (Not good odds.)
We talked about some other things to do in the meantime. Things like the arthritis creams, the over the counter pain relief (and if I start eating ibuprofen like candy to start getting my kidneys checked regularly), braces and of course staying as active as possible.
But he also recommends
- Collogen powder
- Glucosamin chondroitin - He actuall said this stuff really makes a difference. He said his aged dog who hobbles around got into and ate a full bottle and for the next three weeks the dog acted like a puppy! (Course the dog also had a bad case of diarrhea….but I don’t plan on taking a whole bottle)
- Vitamin D
- Red Light Therapy
- Ice and/or heat – depending on what feels good (ice always at the beginning) Ice to reduce inflammation….heat to loosen the muscles
We talked about some other things to do in the meantime. Things like the arthritis creams, the over the counter pain relief (and if I start eating ibuprofen like candy to start getting my kidneys checked regularly), braces and of course staying as active as possible. He said losing weight would ‘help’ because any weight loss helps. But he said it would most likely not be the solution to my woes…the damage has been done.
So where does that leave me right now?
- Still in pain…but focused and determined to get back to moving as much as physically possible.
- Heading to the pharmacy after work to pick up the supplements
- Checking into the red light therapy room that my gym offers (and I have access to at my level of membership
- 100% focused on losing weight.
So here I am. Stupidly, I knew this was hurtling toward me. I’ve known since I was 29 and originally got diagnosed. Yet I allowed the weight to come back. Maybe not allowed….I mean I didn’t invite the weight back, but I didn’t do what I needed to do to stop it! So here I am…….DANGEROUSLY close to the REALLY bad side of arthritis…..at age 53.
