Ouch! redux

My friend Suzanne, who (to my great disappointment), stopped blogging about 3 years ago, frequently refers to a chronic and painful medical condition as "My Stupid Leg (trademark pending)".  I hope she won't sue me for theft  of intellectual property if I start referring to my situation as "My Stupid Knee".


You may recall some of my posts about my right knee from 2017.  Ouch! described the situation -- popping noises in my knee, pain during exercise, etc.   I had an appointment with an orthopedic  physician's assitant, who told me I had an old injury, that sometime in my past I had torn my meniscus, and that I had aggravated the old injury when I started to become more active.    He prescribed gel injections.

This was not as simple as it sounds.  My insurance company had to authorize the injections.  In the interim, he gave me a topical anesthetic. When the cream didn't work, he gave me an oral medication. 

But  I had a physician's assistant who has no clue about how to get the authorizations for the gel shot.  Finally, after a very frustrating summer, I called my insurance company myself, and found out that I could not get the gel shots until I'd exhausted other remedies. 

In October 2017, I switched doctors.New doctor told me that the torn meniscus was only part of the problem, that I had arthritis in both knees. He prescribed cortisone shots and physical therapy.

And when those failed to remedy the situation, he finally ordered the gel shots.

It's a series of three shots.  I got my first gel shot in February 2018, and the last shot in April.

I was told that the gel would be effective for 6 months, maybe a year.

Well....

Right on schedule...

Three weeks ago, the pain came back...and then some.  Drew and I had just finished breakfast.  When I stood up, I heard a loud "POP" and felt a shooting pain in my knee.  I felt as if my knee was unstable, as if it was going to collapse.  I had to sit down again and wait for the pain to pass. 

Since then, I've had pain while walking, while climbing steps, etc.  The worst of it happens when I try to stand after I've been sitting or lying down for awhile. 

Sigh ....

All of my contacts seem to have the same first name:  Doctor.