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Paying to be tortured.

44 Comments

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After dealing with constant pain in my right knee for the past two years, I finally cried uncle and made an appointment with an orthopedist. Thankfully it was a different orthopedist than the one who told me “It will either heal or it won’t” two years ago when the injury first occurred. She diagnosed a deep root radial meniscal tear ( the worst kind, the kind that doesn’t heal) as well as damage to my MCL and told me I’d probably need surgery. Wanting to avoid that…. I tried everything else. Ice, heat, massage, exercise, even acupuncture. Nothing worked and instead of getting better, it actually got worse. Groaning every time I got up and coming down stairs one at a time like an old woman was getting, well… old.

The new orthopedist did tests, and told me what I already knew… nothing had healed, and to add insult to injury, I also have holes in my cartilage now. Yay me. The options were slim – have surgery to remove the meniscus which would alleviate the pain but hasten the road to total knee replacement.. to which I said no thank you… or start with a cortisone shot and try physical therapy. I chose door number two.

After an ultra sound guided cortisone shot I was a seriously happy camper. On day one I had 40% less pain. By day three I could take stairs normally and felt 70% less pain upon standing. Why had I waited two years!! It was a miracle.

But then…

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Then I had to enter the torture chamber.

The week after my shot, I met the man I would pay to hurt me. And that’s exactly what he did. After an initial consultation he put me on the table and gave me the most painful deep tissue massage imaginable. He informed me my hamstring had contracted over the past two years and it had to be pressed and stretched back into service. I limped out of the building with my hammy screaming, barely able to drive home. It’s a good thing they only scheduled me for once a week because it took that long for the pain to subside.

Week #2 he prodded and pressed and took me into the huge gym attached to the building. Physical therapy my ass, I felt like I’d been thrown into NFL training camp. A plethora of squats, band work and what seemed like 300 knee bends later he made me pull and push 90 pounds of some weird weighted contraption down and back the entire length of the gym. When I was done I must have looked pathetic because he let me sit down with a pressurized ice cuff.

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(If those things didn’t cost $3,500 I swear I’d have one at home.) And again, I limped out of the building, sore for a solid week.

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Did I mention the therapy room has an entire wall of windows so everyone in the waiting room can watch your torture sessions? Fun idea.

Not.

Session number three began with him asking how much better I was feeling and me answering not much. He did some manipulations, said my patella was aggravated and proceeded to smooth out the inflammation with some stinky gel and what looked like a miniature squeegee. Whatever, it didn’t hurt and I didn’t have to go back to the gym so that’s a win in my book.

I did however go home with a sexy new accessory.

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Is that hot or what?

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44 thoughts on “Paying to be tortured.”

  1. If your meniscus is torn, all you can do is hide the pain (take cortisone shots) until you lose all use of the leg. Knee replacement surgery has come a long way. Unless your immune system is compromised (mine is) I would go for the repair surgery, and if the time comes that you need replacement get it. Otherwise you could end up in a wheelchair. Your choice, I know, but I would talk to your GP about it, see what they would recommend.
    For me, they won’t even talk about replacement surgery. I will be i a wheelchair, if I live that long!

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    1. I have no cartilage left. I’ve delayed dual knee replacements while I try to find a surgeon who does the new custom/walk the same day surgery. I’ll be graduating to a rollator next weekend in order to attend the annual cemetery tour. Even with it, I know I’ll be swollen for a week or more.

      I hope some immuno-muscle magic arrives for you!

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      4. Thank you, but two specialists so far have told me I am not worth the price of the surgery. It will fail, and keep on failing. At first I was very pissed off at the them, no person should be told they are not worth whatever price it takes. But lately I have have a change of perspective. Every surgery I go through increases my chances of dying on the table. Why add additional surgeries on when I can still walk right now, usually with help, and will for a year or two more yet. Might as well wait as long as I can. But for someone like Rg, I would recommend the first surgery at least. Fake knees work a lot better these days, and last a lot longer.
        And good luck to you in finding the surgeon you want. Surely in California someone is doing it.

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      5. Plenty of surgeons doing custom knee surgery, thd trick is getting an appt with one who isn’t a quack! The one I saw wanted to oerform surgery on me 3 days later, 300 miles away, without having seen a single xray! And no indication of how I was supposed to get back home after my gas-pedal leg was operated on!

        Since I neither expect or plan to live much longer, largely due to chronic pain, andbecause I live alone withno support network, I’m constantly debating my interest in an expensive surgery (well, 2 of them) with a difficult recovery.

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      6. You sound to me like you still enjoy life, and I hate that you are in the circumstances you are in. What you do is up to you, but is there no medical counsellor you can talk to, or a social worker who can help you find what you need? This is where Canada and the USA differ so much. Here there is alwsys someone to talk to, usually free of charge. And I have no idea how people in your position in the USA get the help they need.

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      7. I’m sure we have resources, and there’s always therapy. But I’ve yet tomeet a therapist who didn’t seem insane or stupid. There are pain mgmt docs/centers but my first try of that didn’t go well either. Finding hood options is just a buttload of effort and I’ve lost the energy for it.

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  2. I hope it help… the “theraputic” exercises I was prescibed in my 20 made my kneefar worse.

    I’m glad the shot helped!! Those were also a fail for me.

    I wish you were near so you could try my magic chiro!!

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  4. Ragwood is right, knee surgery has come a long way, not as nearly as painful or invasive. It would be to your benefit and quality of life I think. I have crepitus in my right knee but I don’t need surgery for that. But I feel you River, I feel you.

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  5. None of this sounds pleasant. I hope it all works for you. Personally, I think I would just get the surgery. My husband is having knee replacement surgery sometime in the next year. Day surgery. Arrive in the early morning and go home the same day. We know several people who have had it and are happy with the results. The only thing they can’t do I’d kneel without it hurting. Apparently fake knees don’t kneel.

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  6. Wife has a similar situation in one knee, but not as bad as yours. She got “the shot” eight months ago. She did not go for any physical therapy, and reports today she feels almost close to how she had felt pre-problem. Better living through chemistry!!! She had no interest in physical therapy or getting a knee replacement, feeling as long as most of the other “original parts” are still functional she’s gonna roll as is.

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      1. I don’t know how often certain doctors will do it because you aren’t supposed to have too many in a certain period, but it sounds like you should get another shot when allowed and just let it sink in without any physical therapy. I’m not a medical professional, I just play one on WordPress.

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  7. That sounds rough!

    My Bridge partner had both knees replaced during the pandemic ~ about 6 mos. apart. She is back to playing golf, swimming, biking, walking, etc. Definitely had significant post-surgical pain, but pot brownies (legal in Canada) helped her get through the worst of it.

    Good luck!

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  8. I completely understand putting off surgery. I’ve known several people who, after either hip or knee replacement surgery, said, “Why didn’t I do this sooner?” only to add that they really didn’t regret putting it off even though they felt so much better.

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  14. That’s super hot. 😳

    I’m glad you are doing something to address the issue; that is no way to live. You are really much to young to NOT walk up and down stairs without pain.
    I hope you continue on and all is well. I probably would have asked for a new knee…seems easier than all the other stuff. LOL!!

    Lolo just had to have (outpatient) knee surgery from a work related injury; something with her meniscus too.

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