More Than I Deserve
The past couple of years have been anything but normal. that is if normal for a retire is to tend the garden, mow the lawn, and paint the sashes, in Summer. Then rake the leaves, caulk up the cracks and wait for Winter in Autumn, and spend the Winter blowing and shoveling snow, making sure there's oil in the furnace tank, and working inside at hobbies and writing flowery prose.
Since October of 2013, many of those routines have been relegated to memories of how things used to be. You see, in October 2013 I started the "bionic adventure".
It started out about fifteen years ago, when tennis games became shorter and slower, running in the evening came to a halt, and I started shopping for pain relievers and knee supports. Nothing helps once the hereditary OA begins to take its place in your joints, but you soldier on, telling yourself it'll be just fine if you don't worry about it.
Turns out you're lying to yourself, and one day you realize you're spending more time in your recliner, than you are bouncing around the yard getting things done. Trips to the store with or without the wife, get fewer as the pain of walking around aimlessly shopping, increases.
Then the trips to the Osteopath begin, becoming more frequent as time passes. One day, you realize that the Cortisone shots and cartilage replacement shots are no longer doing much to relive your discomfort. At that point, the Osteopathic Surgeon begins to mention joint replacement.
You ask the surgeon if it's an age thing, and he assures you that it can be. but it's just as likely to be hereditary or even from the way you've used/abused your joints over your lifetime. It turns out that people from their 30s to their 70s are candidates for joint replacement, and frequently have it done.
In October of '13, I had the right knee done. It was a total replacement with a stainless steel appliance replacing my bones and cartilage. It's said, by the doctor, to be a fairly simple surgical procedure. He slices your knee open vertically down the kneecap with about an eight inch cut, slides the cap aside, saws the leg bones to remove both the upper and lower portions of your existing joint, and replaces it by gluing in the prosthesis. Presto! Later that day, or early the next morning you're up and gimping around on crutches, using the new knee just like it's your natural one. They have you demonstrate your ability to get about on your own, including climbing stairs, and after a couple of "glue-drying-wound-healing" days in the hospital, you're sent home.
After reaching home, you make your nest in front of the TV, and prepare to commence a steady regimen of pain relieving medication, and a minimum of bi-weekly trips to Physical Therapy. After a couple of weeks of PT and heavy duty pain medications, you are pretty much pain free, and are soon shopping with the spouse again, and doing the things you always did with the exception of extreme physical exercise.
In my case, I also had a damaged right hip. I had been attacked in the line of duty, ten years earlier while working with criminals. While the knee replacement took away an enormous amount of pain, it didn't take it all, by a long shot. Once my new knee allowed me more mobility, my hip became more painful than the knee ever had. Every movement was excruciating, and simply rolling over in bed would awaken me with a painful start. There was no relieving shot available, and nothing short of narcotic pain killers would dull the agony. Within a year, I had scheduled hip replacement surgery with the same fine surgeon who had done my knee.
In January 2015, I received a new hip. The pain relief was instant. I awoke in the recovery room and knew immediately that my suffering was over. Recovery was quick, I required a minimal amount of pain medication, and with PT, was getting around better that I had in ten years, inside of a month.
Unhappily, with OA, it's never only one or two joints. Eventually others turn up in need of attention. I am now scheduled to have a partial replacement of my left knee, in January 2016. There is no cartilage left on the inside of the joint, and with luck, once I'm opened up, they can repair the damage with only a 50% replacement. The doctor tells me the recovery time is much faster with a partial, and the pain during the healing process is far less than with a total replacement. this is good news, because after a bout fifteen years of walking around with a limp, favoring one side or the other, I'm ready for a good long walk.
The purpose of this article is not to complain about my problems, pain, or suffering. Nothing like that, in fact. The reason I wanted to lay this out this way, is to tell anyone who is suffering from joint pain, that they don't need to much longer. Get into an Osteopath's office and get the pain diagnosed. If he suggests shots, get them. If his x-rays and/or MRIs show that you need a joint repair, get it done. A month of discomfort following surgery is far better than the years of pain you've no doubt endured so far, and much more attractive than the prospect of continuing to suffer for years to come. That's where it's going, because those joints don't rejuvenate or repair themselves. The pain only gets worse.
When I see people walking, on the street, in the stores, or anywhere, I find myself looking at their walk. I see the cane, the walker, sometimes even a wheelchair nearby, and I try to start a conversation about the source of their pain. I was amazed at first, but not so much now, that it's so frequently OA joint pain that has brought them to where they are today.
Sometimes it's an insurance issue keeping people from seeking relief. That's understandable. Today, however, affordable medical care is within more people's reach than ever before, and if you are on Medicare, that will take care of most of the expenses.
I'm not recommending any treatment, or doctor, hospital, etc.. Nothing like that. I'm only recommending that if you're reading this and you have painful knees or hips, or a friend/family member does, go see a doctor. There's help for you to live pain free.
How does this relate to a Happy Thanksgiving? Due to me taking care of my knees and hip, I am having the best Thanksgiving I've enjoyed in many years. A year ago, my wife and I didn't go on vacation, due to my inability to move about and enjoy myself, Now, even though I still need another operation, we just returned from nearly two weeks in Florida, and attended the big Parrot Head convention in Key West, that I've missed since 2011, due to my pain.
Yes, this is a very Happy Thanksgiving for me and my lovely wife. We wish a very Happy Thanksgiving to you, and everyone you love.
