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[gidgetgh]

And I might.  Seriously. At any moment I’m going to sob. 

Please forgive me and be gentle. This is a long post. 

I hurt my knee some weeks ago. It didn’t get better so I found an orthopedic doctor and went in. They ordered an MRI. Meniscus is torn. I’ve had that before. Had surgery 10 years ago. 

So they scheduled surgery for awhile from now, first opening. For a few different reasons not important to this thread,  I called the next day and cancelled the surgery and found a new surgeon, very highly recommended. First opening to see him is Dec. 6th. I’m also on the cancellation waiting list. 

Because of my knee, we cancelled our out of town trip for Thanksgiving. We were disappointed but what can you do. 

My knee has been “ok enough”. No stability issues. Just pain in certain positions. But manageable. 

This afternoon, I was sitting in the recliner and on the phone.  I went to stand up to go get some information and a pain shot through my knee and my knee wouldn’t support me.....at all. So I sat back in the recliner. My husband was outside. Tried a few more times to stand on it but couldn’t. 

I rested it about 5 more minutes and then tried again and was able to stand up. It was stable. No pain when walking. Went to the restroom and navigating that was painful and awkward. 

Since then it’s been stable but painful. 

I’m posting here because I’m not looking for medical advice. Just venting and feeling sorry for myself a little. 

I tried calling the new doctor’s office (they have my paperwork already) to ask them what my plan should be this 4 day holiday weekend if I get to the point where I can’t walk at all.  Will an ER do anything or will they send me away. Well, they’re already closed for the weekend.  Of course. 

We’re supposed to go to my sister’s tomorrow but that’s the least of my worries right now. I’m just concentrating on being able to stand up. 

As I said, I could just cry. And, as it always is, it’s a four day freaking holiday weekend. 

And don’t worry. I have perfect perspective. This pales next to issues others have. I’m just a little scared because it just happened out of the blue. And my husband has health issues and I’m kind of the lead in a lot of the things we do. 

And, the cherry on top?  I’m about 80% sure that the meniscus on my other knee is torn also. I’m just tackling them one at a time. 

[deepwaterdotter]

You might want to borrow, rent, or purchase a walker.  You will probably need one during rehab from your surgery anyway.  Mine came in real handy after both of my total knee replacements.

[cancun08]

You go ahead and vent all that you want to, we're always here for you.  Hope that the darn knee stabilizes.  Sending hugs and healing wishes to you.

[ROMARY]

Sending miracle lucky stars your way.    I'm not a doc, but just only wondering if placing cold gel pack on your knees might help?  For only a few minutes at a time.  Just a thought, and perhaps one of your docs previously recommended this. (?)   If not, perhaps you have an advice nurse in your medical plan who you can call.

Again, sending you wishes that your knee(s) will feel a lot better very soon.   

[SXMGirl]

@gidgetgh, I feel your pain--literally.  I have a meniscus tear and surgery is scheduled for December 14.  I have tried everything; but, the icing on the cake was when I could not walk through the airport on a recent trip.   Y membership on hold until I can walk without pain.

I have found that working out is apparently not working out too well for me.  I jokingly say to my ortho that I must be an experiment to see if someone can live when replacing blood with cortisone.

The best that I can tell you is to keep it elevated and iced.  You might also want to reschedule the surgery, because if it hasn't healed on its own by now, it won't, and you will continue to be in pain.  It will then start to affect your IT band on the other side of your body.  I know because I now have that.

If you are on medicare, get your doctor to write a prescription for a cane or other device,  DH says that if this is what retirement is like, he is never retiring.

[muttmom]

@gidgetgh

I feel your pain.  My case is different but you may get some takeaways.  I have only 1 knee and it takes a lot of wear and tear.  I had a torn menicus 10 years  ago and had it scoped.  I had a few painless years but eventually it became painful again.  I had cortisone and then gel shots.  My ortho told me scoping was once routine but not so much anymore.  I had a TKR in fall 2016.

When I had periodical bouts of severe pain and weakness, I used a knee brace, Aleve and a lot of ice.

Good luck

[Shiloh09]

I' so sorry about your knee. Having haD two knee replacements and many years of knee problems, I found that managing the pain is critical. I don't mean that you need to get a narcotic from your doctor, but if you can tolerate ibuprofen then take it religiously as directed ( whether you think you need it or not) This will take the edge off the pain. Additionally, keep it elevated and ice it down. If you can tolerate a neoprene wrap, you might consider it, just not over nigHt in bed. I piled several pillows on my bed to elevate. Most of all though is rest and elevationto reduce inflamation. Check with pharmacist or doc regarding extended use of the Ibuprofen. I really hope you feel better soon. Best wishes for you. Take things easy and slow.

[dex]

@gidgetgh well your pain is not pleasant but it will not kill you....

Try to think positive and that can help you enjoy your family dinner.I hope that you will have your surgery and a speedy recovery and put all of this behind you while you are busy enjoying life. I like to wear knee braces when the knees are acting up to help keep everything stable.You may have twisted your knee a little when you got out of the chair and put pressure on it...try the brace and maybe the walker would be handy if you feel unstable.

[Lilysmom]

@gidgetgh, just sending you hugs.  This time last year I was in a cast after I broke my foot for the second time.  I get how you feel.  Get some medical advice about how what you can tolerate for pain.  So sorry this happened to you!  LM

[gidgetgh]

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@SXMGirl wrote:

@gidgetgh, I feel your pain--literally.  I have a meniscus tear and surgery is scheduled for December 14.  I have tried everything; but, the icing on the cake was when I could not walk through the airport on a recent trip.   Y membership on hold until I can walk without pain.

I have found that working out is apparently not working out too well for me.  I jokingly say to my ortho that I must be an experiment to see if someone can live when replacing blood with cortisone.

The best that I can tell you is to keep it elevated and iced.  You might also want to reschedule the surgery, because if it hasn't healed on its own by now, it won't, and you will continue to be in pain.  It will then start to affect your IT band on the other side of your body.  I know because I now have that.

If you are on medicare, get your doctor to write a prescription for a cane or other device,  DH says that if this is what retirement is like, he is never retiring.

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@SXMGirl- I feel your pain too!  I plan to schedule the surgery for as soon as the new surgeon can do it. But I don’t even see him till the 6th for the first appt. but it will help that I have the MRI cd and the radiologist’s report. 

I cancelled the other surgery because it was very far from our house (not remotely near the surgeons office which is close to us) and he only operates in the late afternoon and I just didn’t think my husband would be comfortable navigating us home. If I were driving, no problem. But we’d be coming home at night in lots of traffic and I cancelled it to help my husband. 

The new surgeon operates in the the early mornings and only 10 minutes  from our house. 

If I need to tomorrow we’ll get a walker. My husband is asleep now and I hate to wake him up to go with me to CVS. 

I’m not nervous about surgery at all, especially since I’ve had it before. Bring it on and get this fixed. I just can’t figure out what happened this afternoon. It’s been stable all day and when I went to get up it just felt like something shifted out of place. Like a gear shifting or something.