A Crummy Sunday

Today was a crummy Sunday. I spent nearly eight hours in an emergency room trying to diagnose what was wrong with my left knee. Sharp pains, inability to take normal weight on it, stiffness to the point of immobility, swelling, joint overly warm to the touch. This is a first time for me. Before I left I was given several prescriptions for an anti-inflammatory and pain med (all generic). Before I broke down and went to the ER I tried self-medication, such as over-the-counter pain meds, an Ace bandage, and lots of ice to try to bring down the swelling and relieve the pain.

While the hospital staff was sympathetic they found nothing definitive. That was after X-rays, a sonogram of my left leg to check for any clotting, and a CT scan which they admitted afterwards didn't need to be run because of all the swelling. Best guess is a hairline fracture of the tibia at the knee joint. Great. Now I get to schedule for an MRI and then I get to see a local orthopedic surgeon. The surgeon is the same surgeon who fixed my wife's left knee replacement. The first time it was replaced, by a different surgeon, it became infected with MRSA. The second time he had to go in, remove the first artificial knee, then put in a temporary full of antibiotics to make sure nothing was growing in the bone, then take it out and put in a second artificial joint. That was two years ago. I have a lot of faith in this surgeon, but I really wish this wasn't happening.

Early in my life I was a runner. Later, I transitioned into hiking and bike riding, later still just walking with the labs and more sedate bike riding. I guess I should have taken up swimming instead. I've been told in the past I have some nasty looking osteoarthritis in both knees, along with some impressive looking bone spurs. Maybe this is the point in my life where my knees go to hell in a hand basket. I sure hope not.