3-D as in all three parts of my right knee are fucked up.
Shit.
Plenty of blame to go around. Going up and down those fucking stairs at Pit and Balcony when I did the Wedding Singer. Being on high dose of prednisone which masked the symptoms of the damage I was doing. Being a fat old lady.
And here’s the topper – how many years old were you when you found out cortisone shots to your joints destroy the cartilage?
I was 70 years old when I learned that. After having had quite a few cortisone shots (years ago) in both of my knees, but most especially in the right one.
Fuck me.
So I basically have no cartilage left, osteoarthritis, and bone spurs in my knee. That’s right, fucking bone spurs. My physical therapist showed me the x-ray – one is shaped like a hook! WTSF!
My knee currently sounds like a one man band every time I move it. Luckily, most of it is just noise and not pain. But when something hooks on something, or can’t slide past another bone – it hurts like a motherfucker.
So what’s a fat old lady to do? Right now, I have two options. Gel injections or total knee replacement.
I’m trying gel injections first. At least, I will if and when my crappy health insurance decides if they will cover the shots. My sister Linda who has had pretty much every joint in her body replaced, told me that gel injections gave her knees an extra 5 years before she had to have surgery. However, the science on gel injections is not great (according to AARP), but Mayo Clinic and Cleveland Clinic recommend trying them. And I’m not ready to have a knee replaced.
And the really shitty part is because of my ITP (low platelets) I can’t take any NSAIDS (you know, ibuprofen, aspirin, etc.). The sports medicine doctor I saw recommended I try a topical pain relief compound (which my insurance is not going to cover, but it’s relatively reasonably priced); and that should be coming in the mail in a few days.
And I’m doing PT, but all it’s doing so far is causing me a lot of extra pain. Enough pain that I said fuck this and took a couple ibuprofen so I could sleep.
Hey a fat old lady’s got to do what a fat old lady’s got to do.
So that’s my tale of woe. It’s bound to get better, but I sure wish better would hurry the fuck up!
Thoughts from a Fat Old Lady 
Teri- try the shots if you can! I did & they kept me out of surgery for almost 6 years. You must be tougher than I am – they had to use a local on my knee before each shot or I’d scream louder than Merman aiming for the 2nd balcony. Will keep the good thoughts coming….just about knn-high.
Thank you for the shot info. If my insurance refuses to cover it, I think I’ll appeal. Often it just takes a letter on attorney letterhead for them to suddenly see the light.