Priorities

[perzephone]

Too many things are happening tomorrow:

1) School starts. Have to go pick up my books. On the first day of school. Blegh.

2) My MRI results are in. No more tear, but I've got some kind of 'degenerative bone disease' going on. The doc wants to start me on a regimen of 'shots that may help' the pain & swelling of my left knee, but it's my mostly untroublesome right knee that may require surgery. I've got an appointment at 10:45am tomorrow. On the same day that school starts & I have to go pick up books, AAAANNNDDD...

3) The Burning Crusade expansion comes out. 

Motherfucker. At least I'm still on vacation.

Comments

[moonvoice.livejournal.com]

*hugs* regarding the knee pain and treatment.

Also, be very very certain you know what you're getting yourself into with surgery. My 'untroublesome' (in terms of pain) left knee required surgery, and because of mistakes during the surgery I'm left now with permanent pain that cannot be corrected or alleviated at this stage. I walked into that surgery able to walk without pain. It was just unstable and dislocated frequently.

I walked out of that surgery eventually achieving full range of motion (which I already have) and having permanent complications. I now can do even less than I could before.

So don't rush into it. Knee surgery is risky business. If you're not in pain with that knee now, or it's fairly stable, wait until it's absolutely necessary, imho.

Knee Surgery

[perzephone.livejournal.com]

I've known & heard of so many people, women mostly, who have had unsuccessful knee surgeries. A majority of them even ended up in more pain than they started out with. I'm glad I waited when I tore the ACL ligament in my left knee - the more recent MRI showed the tearing had somehow repaired itself.

If the 'degenerative bone disease' is just arthritis or something similar, I'm going to look more into the anti-anflammatory side of things than surgery. It's really a last-ditch resort as far as I'm concerned.

I've got a lot of questions to ask the doctor tomorrow, that's all I'm truly certain of at this point!

Re: Knee Surgery

[moonvoice.livejournal.com]

I will say this:

I'm on 6000mg of fish oil and 1500mg of glucosamine a day at the moment, and it really does help. It lowers the pain, and the inflammation and also keeps my mood a bit happier as well. My rheumatologist upped the fish oil dosage, amazingly, and said it often worked better than prescribed anti-inflammatories (with less side effects) and so far he's been right.

I hope your doctor has a lot of hope to offer you tomorrow. *hugs*

Re: Unfortunate Side Effects of Supplements

[perzephone.livejournal.com]

Massage & heat seem to work, at least temporarily. Stretches, never-ending, constant stretching... but it's starting to cause more pain than make it feel better. So does walking & standing for more than say, an hour. All the floor-work stretches aren't making my back feel better, either, so I've been having to modify some of it to a standing position.

Hee hee, if I took that much Omega Fatty Acid on a daily basis, I'd be far more regular than a person should be. Most commercial supplements send me running as is. I do try to eat more fish, though. Our seafood is so lousy out here, and no one seems to know how to make lobster - but what can one expect, living in a land-locked desert?

Re: Unfortunate Side Effects of Supplements

[moonvoice.livejournal.com]

Hee hee, if I took that much Omega Fatty Acid on a daily basis, I'd be far more regular than a person should be.

Lol, I already have irritable bowel syndrome, so I can't really tell the difference. *grin* Plus, choosing between some diarrhoea, and agonising intestinal bleeding (which I get from the prescribed anti-inflammatories) seemed like the lesser of two evils. But that's all I have left now to manage the pain. If you find massage and heat help, stick to it! I wish massage helped my knee, but meh. It helps my ankle sometimes, which is awesome.

As for omega fatty acids, tinned tuna and salmon are one of the best sources, if you can stand it, and while not as yummy as fresh fish, is great if you treat it as just another 'supplement' once a day. We get the flavoured kinds here, and I just tend to cook it up with rice. :D Salmon tastes nice if mashed up with potato and pumpkin and cooked into patties. :)

Re: Unfortunate Side Effects of Supplements

[perzephone.livejournal.com]

Mmmmm.... fish cakes! :)

My husband's got IBS, too. It's a misery I cannot comprehend, and I feel so badly for anyone who does have to deal with it. He hasn't found anything that's helped him, and it doesn't seem to matter what he does or doesn't eat. At least Dramamine helps him with some of the ginger-proof nausea that he gets from it - now they've got a 'daytime' formula that's non-drowsy so he can use it a little more often.

My doctor today suggested a series of 5 'lubricating' injections for my left knee - my kneecap is deformed & the cartilage between it & my thigh bone is worn very thin. I'm still not too keen on that idea. I got a cortisone shot in my left knee about 5 years ago & it made me cry. I'm extremely pain-tolerant, so when something hurts me bad enough to cry it would probably make someone else go unconscious. He referred me to another doctor for something called an 'OATS' surgery for my right knee - it's where they graft healthy tissue from another spot into the large, ominous crater that's formed in my right thigh bone. I looked that one up online & I'm probably not a candidate because I'm about 40 lbs overweight for it.

I also have a bone spur that will most likely get worse as new calcium has already formed there. Even if I'm not an OATS candidate, I'll probably go ahead & say, "Get rid of the extra piece of bone before it pokes out the side of my knee & scares some unsuspecting bystander."

Re: Unfortunate Side Effects of Supplements

[moonvoice.livejournal.com]

Those procedures - particularly one to scale down the bone spur, which I've heard can be really painful!!! - don't sound too bad actually.

Yeah, I remember having my knee just drained after a dislocation, it was agonising, there were tears, because I dunno. I dunno why that whole area hurts so bad. :/ But the lubricating shots might be worth it in the long run? I'm sure you'll do what's best for you. :D