With the run of news about folks with life-threatening diseases and difficult surgeries and all manner of other serious troubles, I feel rather self-indulgent posting my complaint. For the past three days, I have been housebound, because of a painful knee. I didn't fall or injure myself, except that I noticed a twinge in the knee when I was getting out of the bathtub the other day.
Later that day, as I was taking my walk, my knee began to hurt, but like a dummy, I didn't stop and head for home until I was at my turnaround point. By the time I got back home, the knee was quite painful. The next day the pain came with force. I haven't hurt this much since I broke my shoulder several years ago. Walking, standing, sitting down, lying down, no matter, it hurts. When I bend the knee or straighten it, the pain is excruciating. I can barely hobble along holding my leg stiff.
I like to take a day or two to see if nature or God will resolve a problem before rushing to the doctor, if the problem is not life-threatening, probably another dumb decision, in this instance. Anyway, I have a doctor's appointment tomorrow morning. If you will, please pray that he will find the problem and that it can be treated, preferably without a knife. Thank you.
UPDATE: From Ann comes word that St. Roch is the man for knees if you care to ask the saint to intercede.
UPDATE 2: I'm sure it would be helpful if Rowan, Scout, Clumber, and Grendel could lick my knee.
UPDATE 3: I saw the doctor, got a steroid shot, and now we shall see.
Sorry to read this. Do hope it clears up, and soon. I'm of an age where my joints are starting to do tricks on me as well. Mostly these things clear up, but occasionally not and sometimes, even when they do clear up, I have a feeling that the episode was the invoice for problems yet to come. Fingers crossed for you - as you know I'm not a big prayer person (a pragmatic approach, based on the state of world around me - though seems you did OK a week ago). Good Luck.
ReplyDeleteLet us know what the doctor says. I hope it clears up. Oddly, my knee has been bothering me, too, lately and I'm wondering about going to the doctor. . . .
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry you're hurting--and I'm more than happy to pray for someone other than myself.
ReplyDeleteGod bless and keep you, well and healthy and far away from knives!
Oh, my peeps, thanks. Prayers, good thoughts, whatever suits you best, I'll be grateful. Kirstin, especially, I appreciate your help.
ReplyDeleteJan, don't wait until it gets too bad.
Physical exam and knee X-ray will ensue first.
ReplyDeleteNowadays, it's endoscopes rather than open surgery. If you don't have an obvious inflammatory joint of the collagen vascular diseases kind, and haven't done something to rip a ligament or strain a muscle or pinch a nerve or annoy a bursa, you may have just broken off a bit of joint cartilage that now is acting like a grain of sand in the joint, and that's fished out by endoscope. Little incision, stick endoscope in, look around, fish out loose bits, trim any torn stuff and even things up and fish that stuff out, then remove scope and close. Unfortunately, you don't get a pearl at the end.
In older people, cartilage breaks off because of lifelong wear and tear on the joint - condition known as osteoarthritis.
Who else? NancyP
Nancy, I knew it was you before I reached the end and saw your name. There's no redness or swelling whatsoever, so it's probably not inflammatory. It could be any number of things. Thanks for the reminder of endoscopy. That's not as bad as the thought of long cuts.
ReplyDeleteI will pray to the patron saint of knees for you dear Mimi. Except I do not know who that is.
ReplyDeleteKnow you are sent prayers of healing and love from here!
Mimi, prayers for your knee as well as for the skill and knowledge of your doctor. I hope that you can get to the stage where just needing to elevate your knee will be the answer to lots of things that you would rather not be doing anyway. Marilyn
ReplyDeletePatron saint of knees? Hmm -- I looked on google and here is the answer St. Roch aka Rocco, Rochus, Rock, Rollox or Roque.
ReplyDeleteReally - check it out - he takes care of other things too.
oh, praying for you Mimi. (by the way, I'm trying to figure out how to do the little accent...)
ReplyDeleteand all I have is a sore shoulder.
yes, keep us updated.
My cousin broke her knee simply walking up the steps in her own house.
ReplyDeleteThis was within a week of me fracturing my pelvis (slip on concrete floor, concrete floor won), and three weeks after my mother fell in the house and broke her hip.
Long cuts for me and my mother, not for my cousin. Approaching five months for me, and still limping badly, although (thank God) I've gotten past the walker/crutches phase.
Refuah shelemah, as we say in Hebrew.
Fran, thanks for the prayers. You inspired Ann to Google the saint for knees.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Marilyn and Ann. St. Roch helps with other problems, too, and he's the patron saint of dogs and invalids (which I pretty much am, at the moment). I suppose he and St. Laika can share the duties.
Diane, thank you, too. For the accent grave which I use, hold down the Alt key and type 138. The other accents have different numbers.
Kishnevi, thank you for the Hebrew prayer for good health. Refuah shelemah for you, too.
ReplyDeleteIf troubles come in threes, then your family should be done for a while.
Diane, I pray your shoulder heals. I left that out.
Can Maya Pavlova do the laying on of paws? She is very gentle and delicate.
ReplyDeleteNot to dis the dogs or anything. The more animal healing the better.
St. Roch is indeed the man. Incidentally, he is often represented with his dog (if he is the St. Roch I'm thinking of), so you get a twofer.
(((Mimi)))
Now you see, if that were me, I'd just read and listen to the radio. I don't do guilt.
ReplyDeletePrayers for ya, Mimi. I've had Osteoarthritis since the beginning of the Eighties; it comes and goes, but sometimes I get something like this in my foot or knee.
ReplyDeleteNow it's the right shoulder; cortisone injections Wednesday, with follow-up X-Rays. I think it's (another) bone spur. Endoscopes are a wonderful gift & another sign Godde likes us anyway.
I'd send one of my furry kitty tribe to rest on and warm your knee but they wouldn't stay still long enough if I could catch them in the first place.
ReplyDeleteI've been climbing ladders and steps this week trying to rid the attic of 40 years of junk. Since there haven't been stairs in my life for many years, my knees and hips are not happy. Perhaps those of us of a certain age are just having sympathy pains with each other.
So, is this picture Christ as the good dog trainer?
ReplyDeleteJane, Maya's gentle paws would be most welcome. - not to dis the dogs.
ReplyDeleteDP, love, I know you mean well, but it's the pain that keeps me from enjoying very much of anything.
Johnieb, I hope the steroid shot is the prescribed treatment. Several years ago, it was the other knee, but not this bad, and the shot did the trick. I haven't had trouble since.
Piskie, it was nothing I did, except get out of the bathtub. I may have to give up baths. Have no fear, I will shower.
Rmj, it's St. Roch. Try to keep up.
Oh, and thanks all for the prayers.
ReplyDeleteRmj, it's St. Roch. Try to keep up.
ReplyDeleteReligious icons, ya know; they all look alike.
Lick your knee? First tie some calves liver around it... then you should be able to get dogs from all over to help you out! Add some horse poop and I bet 95 out of every 100 dogs in your neighborhood will be there in a flash, looking for one of those 2 doggie delicacies!
ReplyDeleteClumber, I don't know. That sounds a little extreme. I thought maybe the dogs would do it just because they like me.
ReplyDeleteSame thing happened to my daughter Liz, and she's only 48. But she was playing tennis. Anyway, she had to have her meniscus scoped (whatever that means). My wife has had both knees replaced and walks without pain. Age happens!
ReplyDeleteAge happens!
ReplyDeleteOrmonde, if I were standing in front of you, and you could see the smile on my face, I'd say, "No sh*t, Sherlock," but the internet does not suit for such a moment. I'll only say, "Oh, I know, I know".
Seriously, I'm glad the knee problems worked out for your family.
Oh, okay then Mimi... Call in the dogs!
ReplyDeleteClumber, Grendel, Scout, Rowan, come! See this knee? C'mon now, a few licks from each one of you, and it's done. St. Roch says so.
ReplyDeleteWell, with the distance issue, I chose to grab an ice cream cone and pretend really really hard that it was your knee. Don't know if it helped you, but I'm sure feeling good after going 3 rounds with a small black raspberry cone! That can only mean one thing for a bishop.
ReplyDeleteNap time!
D-P's not wrong -- sitting around reading and listening to the radio, preferably with the leg up and an icepack on the offending knee -- that's most of the RICE prescription.
ReplyDeleteClumber, dearest, the ice cream is therefore MUCH better for Grandmere's knee than the horse manure, which is usually warm -- not good for tender joints and tissues. Although, mostly it feels better than ice packs.
+Clumber, just the thought is helpful. I hope you'll forgive me. I occasionally forget to put the little cross before your name.
ReplyDeleteKate, the RICE advice is very wise - not that I'm doing it. Now if I had a laptop....
O Grandmère Mimi, I will lick your human knee and your face, and I'll wag my tail for you too. I want you to feel better.
ReplyDeleteDid you know that Saint Roch is also a major dog acceptor? He is. There's a picture of it in the computer and everything so you know it's true.
I love you and I am going to woof some prayers to THE Guardian for you and Lindy will too.
Rowan, my love, thank you. You are the sweetest dog - in truth, probably sweeter than my Diana, who is sometimes not very sweet. She's a headstrong girl, you know. But she does love to be petted and scratched.
ReplyDeletePrayers and hugs. Mimi.
ReplyDeleteMimi -- Molly the WonderDog, mainly licks ears but she informs me that there is a healing link from the ear to any ailing body part. Consider your ears licked.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you had the steroid shot. I hope you're noticing improvement.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your encouragement. BUT the next appointment is June 16, so I'm thinking of going elsewhere.
Thanks all for the love and the prayers. I do believe the pain is less. Thanks be to God and doctors. I pray that the trend continues in that direction.
ReplyDeleteOh, and I forgot Molly! Molly, thanks for the licks. They heal, too.
ReplyDeletePrayers for your knee, GM. It can be such a drag. Roch is a wonderful saint (I am rather fond of him). Don't have time to read more or the comments but just so you know I dropped in!
ReplyDeleteHi Mimi,
ReplyDeleteI was wondering about your knee after I read your post the other day and I was curious re the Doc and then I saw "Update 3". That's clever I didn't know you could do that with blogs.
Anyway I told MP he had too many prayers but I've got you both on my mental prayer list.
Cortisone is a Godsend though, so I hope that helps too.
Boaz, I go into my Blogger Dashboard and click on "edit" for the post I want to add to and type what I want to add, and then click "publish" again.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the prayers. I think the cortisone is already working. I'm in less pain.
Paul, I missed you up there. Thanks for the prayers. I left you a couple of comments at BB.
ReplyDeleteYes Mimi thanks of course its obvious. I've corrected spelling mistakes but never added an "update", its just the same really.
ReplyDeleteDo you know how to use the HTML tags that they list below to do italics and bold etc, in the comments?
Boaz, here's the page that I usually refer folks to for directions on the html links. If I demonstrate, it turns into a link.
ReplyDeleteGreetings from St. Rocco! Try to pronounce the pastor's name -- that will keep you occupied while you stay off your knee.
ReplyDelete((((((((Mimi))))))))
PJ, finally! Thanks for the hugs.
ReplyDeleteI see they call him Fr. Aaron. I can't think why. His name must be close to the record for long names. Remembering to include the many syllables must be daunting.
OK I missed it. I saw the picture of Jesus and figured it was one of the more pious posts. My bad.
ReplyDeleteI do hope that you are feeling better.
Dennis, you're hopeless. It's not Jesus; it's St. Roch. It's like the holy cards that were given out in my RC grade school, if you did not ask to use the bathroom during class. I am not joking. I had a cousin with a weak bladder, who would race home from school and bang on the door to get in fast, because she had to go really, really quickly, because she wanted to get her holy card and did not ask.
ReplyDeleteBesides, the post was titled "All About Me". Didn't you want to read about me?
Dear Mimi
ReplyDeleteHave just noticed on Madpriest's blog your statement that your knee condition is osteoarthritis. I have this in my back and my knee. Cannot do much about the back except grin and bear it but my lifesaver for the knee is a product called OsteoEze. As this is an Australian brand it is Glucosamine plus Chondroiton. Don't leave home without it is true for me I brought 2 packs (2 months supply) to Europe with me. Having said this, I do have a friend for whom it does not work but for me the pain had gone in 2 weeks and has never returned. And I have hiked up 300 metres twice in the past 3 days.
Brian, any and all advice is welcome. If my problem continues, I will try it. I look at surgery as a last resort and want to avoid that if I can - not that it's been mentioned, yet.
ReplyDeleteContinue to enjoy your travels.
Well, Mimi, I missed this when you posted. I agree with brian...Glucosamine and Chondroitin work for me too. Also there is a rub on cream that might give some relief. It is Homeopathic gel called Arnica. You could probably find it at a health food store. They usually have more supplements than real food, and I have found it at those places. It doesn't specifically recommend itself for arthritis, but it gives me an excuse to rub my knees and I feel some relief when I do. I know how you feel about surgery. I will wait at least for another 7 years before I consider that.
ReplyDeleteSusan, thanks. I'll make a note of the Arnica, too, to see if I can find it. I don't think it will come to surgery soon. My knee is much better already.
ReplyDeleteMimi
ReplyDeleteThanks for the link re the text formatting. I will give it a try.
Hey Mimi
ReplyDeleteIt Works! There will be no stopping me now.
Thanks!
Boaz, learning to do links was one of my most useful lessons. I'm glad I could help.
ReplyDeleteOne of the last things Grendel said to me was: "I love my Grandmere! I give licks and love to her knee! Make sure she is ok!! She is a Major Dog Acceptor!!!"
ReplyDeleteYeah.
Take care!!!
Oh, Agha. How sweet. You brought me back to read this lovely thread. I miss Grendel.
ReplyDeleteAnd how are you and Da doing? I pray for you, you know, and I know Grendel does, too.