Steve - that's fiance Steve, not brother Steve - has had both knees replaced. Picked the best hot shot doctor he could find, guy with patients like, say, the Vikings. Sounds like a great recommendation, right? Problem is, he's never been without pain, and every once in a while they still swell up like balloons. His regular doctor now has him on a steady pain meds regimen, one pill 4 times a day.
It helps a little.
His regular doctor finally sent him to a local orthopedic guy. The doc thought it might be referred pain from the hips going bad too. Apparently it's common. The appointment was today. The good news is the hips are just fine.
It's the knees that suck. After moving his legs around, the orthopedic guy heard what Steve's been feeling ever since he got his new parts: they're too loose. It's time to put in new joints with longer shafts and a tighter fit so they actually stabilize the knees. Moreover, one knee will get a prosthetic joint which eliminates the need for the tendons. You know about tendons, those things that stretch, get frayed, get torn, and ultimately generally hurt with any movement and sometimes even without.
So we're both looking forward to him getting new, better knee replacements, and finally being able to walk without pain again. At least, that's the hope. I'm even hoping that my right knee -when the time comes - can get one of those prosthetic knees. It's the knee I keep falling on - or rather, landing on - and those tendons have lots of play in them, leading to instability which hastens bone wear. Not to mention hurting on their own just because. I'm familiar with the problem. So I'll be paying extra close attention to the outcome for Steve.
He's scheduled the first surgery for October. It could be done tomorrow, but Steve's waiting until fishing season is over. The guy's got his priorities.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment