The Right Knee

If you don’t want to hear about an old woman’s knee saga, you should just skip ahead to another blog post.  It is ok by me, really.

While my main concerns are for my husband, I have had one or two inquiries about my right knee.  This  knee did its best to take center stage right in the middle of my husband’s serious cancer diagnosis.  This right knee is very narcissistic!  She likes to think that it is all about her!  And I, the owner of this right knee, feel differently.  But I thought I would give her center stage right now, in this blog post, so that later - when we are dealing with more serious stuff, she will keep her trap shut. 

(I hope she is listening.)

This right knee has aged me in the last few months, but truthfully, it probably has been a growing problem for 5 to 10 years.  I just didn’t know the scope of it until last year.  Currently if I sit - it feels normal-ish.  Good for the knee, bad for the rest of my body.  If I try to use it - like going to the bathroom, getting ready for bed, walking to the washing machine - it feels a bit tempermental.  Trips grocery shopping, walking trash to the dumpsters, a casual walk outside for exercise, ... she can be sore enough to need ice packs when I get back.  When she is really bad, it burns, it radiates pain down and sometimes up the leg.  Putting body weight on it can cause a level 8 pain on a scale of 1-10 with 10 being the worst pain ever.  When it is like that it hurts to sit, to stand, to walk, to lay down, to breathe - it just hurts!  Thankfully level 8 pain doesn’t happen often. But it did happened at the worst possible time - when I needed to be with the man I spent 55 years of my life with, and who is now getting the worst bad news of his life.  When my right knee gets in the way of that -  I have absolutely no compassion for my stupid right knee. 

Arthritis is the diagnosis on X-ray for the inflammation.  For the last 5-10 years I have been on an anti-inflammatory called Celebrex.    But things changed greatly last year.  My kidney surgery separated me from all anti-inflammatory meds. So my very best friend, Celebrex, and I parted ways. Arthritis Strength Tylenol is my new friend, sort of.  And Voltaren gel rubbed on the knee four times a day is a life saver!  When I stopped Celebrex last year,  I discovered just how much arthritis I do have in my body. It all flared up: lower back (surprise, surprise), in my knees (sigh),  in my thumbs (more surprise), and apparently even in my big toe joints.  I sure do miss my best friend.

Stunningly, I don’t think my knee pain is due to arthritis at present.  I also have a history of meniscus tears in my left knee - tears that were fixed in a 2017 surgery. So I know what meniscus pain is like and this right knee pain is pretty much the same. They don't want to do surgery to fix a meniscus if there is arthritis in the knee - which makes sense.  Do the surgery and the patient still has pain because of the arthritis. Not a good outcome even if you fixed one problem.  So I am left with 1) Physical Therapy, 2) cortisone injections or ... drum roll ... 3) knee replacement!!!   Knee replacement seems like an extreme reaction for a torn tissue. Based on a number of people I know who had knee replacement, recovery is hard and not always successful. 

Going forward...

No surgery for me of any kind.  At my age surgery seriously sets you back physically. If the condition is life threatening, then I would do it.  But in 2017 it took almost a year to gain back my function and trust in my left knee.  And  I was 7 years younger then.  

I am in PT now to get my legs stronger to support the knee better and give the meniscus, if damaged, a chance to heal on its own.  Some meniscus tears can heal if the tear is located in an area that has blood supply.  Since I haven’t had an MRI of the right knee - we don’t know exactly where or even if there is a tear.  But, regardless of what it is or isn't, doctors like to start with PT.  And I am a huge supporter of PT.  Actually, this is my 4th or 5th PT in maybe 15 years.  In 2017 I had two sessions of PT.  One before surgery and one after.  In fact, I have an exercise routine that I was already doing based on many of the exercises from 2017.  Apparently my 50 minute routine did not include enough strength exercises.  So we are hitting that harder now. After PT there are always cortisone shots into the knee if I need them.  That worked wonderfully for my lower back - so I am hopeful I will have the same outcome for my knee if it comes to that.

So, there you go folks.  The saga of my right knee.  My heartfelt thanks to any of you who made it all the way to the bottom of this post!  You are my besties, my dearest most beloved of friends ... right after Celebrex.  😂

Disclaimer: I am not a doctor or a nurse or even a medical receptionist.  If you think anything I have said would work for you, you need to check in with your doctor first!!!

Next up??  Maybe a little knitting stuff!