Re: Seeing an orthopedic surgeon June 18th
- From: "Kelly" <kelly.e1@xxxxxxx>
- Date: Thu, 29 May 2008 17:24:23 GMT
Nell,
First congratulations on the weight loss - that is incredible. You are
right though - although it could be discouraging it is great to know that
the knee surgery would not be as successful or in some cases last as long
until the weight was gone.
Previous treated and untreated injuries do cause problems down the line.
Gait changes influencing the wear and tear on joints. It is hard to explain
to someone about this sometimes. My family can't understand why I am having
so much pain and discomfort although I have no swollen joints right now.
The problem is that the tendons and ligaments are still swollen and I know
the alignment of my body is off due to gait problems. All these things make
a difference. Please encourage your doctor to get a physio trained in this
to check things out before you get to the surgery option so you can try to
address weaknesses (however small) in one side or another. These may stop
the damage from occuring again and may make the pain less. In my case for
instance I was tipping my head about 1/4" - 1" to the left. That was
influencing my balance and my gait and putting my hips in a painful
position. that and some core exercises are starting to make a difference.
I also am turning my cane wrist just a tiny bit which is putting pressure on
my shoulders and she says it will make a difference down the road. Easier
to correct now than later.
Hopefully they will find you some help quickly - maybe it will only need
scraping which would be nice. Keep strengthening the legs and keeping the
movements flexible. This can be done by rocking in a chair, gentle lifts
while sitting or non weight bearing, swimming etc. Go to your level. This
will help immensely with recovery after surgery.
Good luck and keep us posted - I am so impressed with the weight loss. Mine
is slowly starting to get there as I finally drop that darn prednisone and
can be a little more active. I keep telling myself that the weight gain did
not take a year to put on. Helps some days!
Take care,
Kelly
"Nell" <nellybly99@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:mn.e8b67d85b38d8e7e.63005@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
My rheumy felt that between my complaints about my right knee and the
x-rays that I may need surgery. My insurance doesn't have a huge number of
orthopedic surgeons near me. None, to be exact. I live in Ocean County, NJ
on the Shore. The nearest one who takes my insurance is in Burlington,
Burlington County, NJ (Central/South Jersey considers counties "metro"
areas. lol ). The office is about an hour and a half away. I use county
transportation through Social Services (paid for by Medicaid). They do not
like to ok "out of county" trips, as they call them.
Depending on what the surgeon recommends I'll probably either get the
cartilage scraped or a knee replacement. Or he could recommend no surgery
at all.
In 1974 I tore the cartilage in my right knee and didn't have any follow
up care, just the initial diagnosis. I developed arthritis in that knee.
My rheumy has been giving me lidocaine/cortisone shots but while they help
for a bit, they, of course, don't address the underlying problem. Being
obese most of my life didn't help a bit. I lost 140 pounds (I now weigh
145) which helped a lot. Can't turn back time but at least that's one
factor I don't have to deal with.
One friend asked me if I was discouraged at losing all that weight and now
having the knee get worse. Nope. It was probably going to happen
eventually and better now than when I was heavier.
Nell
--
Sunshine's not expensive; God delivers it free.
"Give Me Your Hand" 1913.
.
- References:
- Seeing an orthopedic surgeon June 18th
- From: Nell
- Seeing an orthopedic surgeon June 18th
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