Oh, my knees, my poor knees!



http://morguefile.com/creative/shebaduhkitty

I feel young but some of my body parts try unsuccessfully to hold me back.  About 5 years ago, I put on a pair of my daughter's flip-flops and went outside in the dark to get something from my car.  Her driveway at the time was made up of uneven bricks and I was not used to wearing flip-flops so it was not the brightest thing I've ever done.  I tripped over the bricks and went down on both knees.  By the time I went inside, they were both swollen, the right worse than the left.

Normally, I don't like going to the doctor only to be told something I already know.  "You hurt your knees.  Put an ice pack on them, and call for an appointment if they don't heal.  That'll be $2,000."  I already had a ticket to fly out of state to visit another daughter, however, and was worried about not being able to stretch my legs out for a couple of hours on the plane as well as going up the steep stairs at her apartment building.  I (being me) naturally did not make an appointment right away.  A week after my fall, I was slowly walking my grandson to school when I went down on both knees again, on the sidewalk in front of all the parents dropping off their kids.  I didn't trip this time...I just went down when my knees gave out.  That was enough even for me.

I knew the reputation of Dr. John Kagan, an orthopedic surgeon, so I made an appointment.  He gave me a cortosone injection to reduce the swelling and took xrays of my knees.  He was only able to give the shot in one knee but said it would help both.  He suggested I get up a few times on the plane and, while it might be painful to walk, I would not make my knees worse.  I had a small fracture, torn cartilage, and (ach!) some arthritis in my knees.  I made another appointment to consult with him about surgery.  I never made it back.

While walking was very painful, I decided not to let it stop me from enjoying time with my grandchildren.  It was hard to go up and down the steep stairs but they were too young to really understand.  They were used to a grandmother who liked to play and take long walks.  No matter how many times they wanted to show me something (always outside or in the basement...another set of steep stairs), I couldn't say no.  I didn't see them often and I wanted to make good memories with them.  By the end of my visit, I was taking long walks with them and going up and down the stairs with only minimal pain.  I attributed that to the swelling going down from the cortosone injection and was sure it would wear off.  I planned to have the knee surgery if that's what Dr. John Kagan recommended.  I felt so good upon my return home, however, that I forgot about the appointment and did not make another.  My knees still have their moments but the more I walk, the better they are.

I am not recommending that anyone not have surgery but walking/exercising worked for me and I believe surgery should be the last option.  There are knee exercises;  advancements in knee surgery; less invasive surgeries, including partial knee replacement.  I realize that some day I may need surgery but for now, at least, I am happy with my choice.  I did fall again on one knee last year (doing another dumb thing) but I iced and exercised and iced and walked and I'm ok again.