Friday, January 15, 2021

YAY! It's *not* all in my head.

I had a very exacting and precise examination of my left knee, and its surrounds. Here is the prognosis:

S***** has had an MRI scan and orthopaedic review, with the opinion that no surgery is indicated. There are medial meniscal changes as well as knee OA and some signs of anterior knee oedema following her injury on her MRI. She had a local knee cortisone injection which she reports flared her knee for three weeks and provided no overall benefit.

S***** remains very limited in her walking capacity, requiring a walking stick even for short distances. She reports prior to her injury, she was increasing exercise under supervision, losing weight and walking on uneven surfaces without difficulty. *

**** has a combination of local underlying knee pain as well as signs of increased pain sensitisation (including localised sharp hyperalgesia). Her knee strength is mainly limited by pain inhibition. Her antalgic gait is likely also impacting on her recent increase in low back pain.

Got the crutches (uhh yay?) and have been told to use them when walking around outside of the house. Fun fun. Now, I will wait until I hear from Meg The Merciless as to how we shall proceed. And in the meantime, find a pool somewhere, as swimming was one of the recommended things to do.

Monday, January 4, 2021

How about that. 2021

I made it. A bit battered, bruised, and dented, but I made it.

I keep counting down the days until Trump is given his walking papers, but I am worried about what he and his cronies will to to f**k things up before they leave.  Yes, he and his crew are that spiteful and petty.

Wing had a trapeziectomy (save you the google time, he had bone removed from his left wrist because of stage 4 osteoarthritis) and then some of his own body parts used to create a capsule to give the long thumb bone a place to sit.  His hand is already in the proper "hold a can" position. Dr L is very pleased with the results. Now comes the hard yards, of slow physical therapy, and monotonous exercises.  He's doing quite well.

My left knee. Hmm. Today I saw my GP, and told him about the less then stellar performance of Dr B L.  Dr H examined my knee, and said, nope it's not all in my head. There is degenerative arthritis in my knee, and with amount of grinding in there, yeah, it's painful.  He said the medication suggested when I finally get to see the psychiatrist Dr B L referred me to (haven't seen said person yet) is not just an antidepressant, but can also calm nerve pain.  I will keep using the lidocaine patches on the knee to make the skin surface less painful. He has also increased a non-opiate medication dose.  He said if the psychiatrist Dr B L referred me to doesn't contact me in a month, call him and he will write the prescription himself.

He knows me. He knows that when my right knee was going, I was walking around lakes to get photos of wild life. Walking around the woods, and other places, even though yeah, it hurt.  I haven't been doing that with how my left knee is. I have to use a cane, because not only does it hurt worse, it feels like it's going to fold all the time.

I just want the pain dulled. I know the knee will need replacement (family history of osteoarthritis in the knees; mother, aunt, grandmother, great grandmother, and now me).