A Mid August Catch Up
To be honest, I just forget to come here and post. But then I think, I want to say something more than I want to be on facebook. Then I remember livejournal. Sometimes I still talk myself from posting here, then, here I am again.
After my wonderful two weeks in England,(really, all the pictures are on facebook, I'm sure you saw them if you wanted to, but I still may add one at the end here) I came back to chronic right knee pain. I thought this happened because of the fire alarm at 1:30am forcing us to hurry down 5 flights of stairs. At least that's what I've been telling people. Thank you again, Rhiannon, for making me take the walker as you would have looked funny carrying me on your back across the width and breadth of the UK. Of course, I say that she and Erin had to do some of that anyway! :) You haven't lived until you hear the train station attendant say "this train is leaving now" and three grown women start throwing luggage, walker and ourselves at the door. The only thing that saved us from looking like a rabble was no one was in our way. I still wish to give a shout out to my companions who left nothing at home they couldn't stuff into a piece of luggage. They of course, just want to thank me for the everlasting bruiser, the walker. See, there's the difference in here and facebook. I'm willing to tell you all about the walker. Facebook has no mention of the walker.
A visit to my primary health provider last week, she made an appointment for me today with the orthopedic dept. This delay you understand if you too have finicky do it our way if you want us to pay health insurance. X-rays were taken (haven't had those in 30 years!) and diagnosis discovered. Osteoarthritis. The wearing down of the cartilage we are supposed to have between the bones in our knees. The x-ray truth is that my left knee that I have favored for years is worse than my right knee, but my right knee is the one being pissy about it and basically tired of taking up the slack all these years. Both knees are missing a lot of the cushion stuff and there is no reversing that. There will eventually be total knee replacement on both legs, but we (doctors and me) want to put this off as long as possible. So, today a steroid shot into the right knee. Plans for upcoming shots, not only steroid but some that put a lubricant back in to somewhat replace the cartilage. The shots are really just pain adjustments, until the knee replacement is finally necessary. The steroid shot apparently takes up to 48 hours to start relieving pain, so I'll let you know how that's going.
I do have another planned visit to the pharmacy to find assistance. I have a cane which I can live with. I really don't want to live with the walker. I believe most of us here understand that. Mind you purchasing the cane last weekend wasn't sexy either. So I bought a box of condoms to go with it. It made me feel better, and I recommend it. When I go back tomorrow to get knee braces, pain creams etc., I'll be buying more condoms too. Heck, if I get too depressed I may have to throw massage oil in the buggy too.
Here's another tip, this one from the Mayo Clinic, proper usage of a cane. Hold it in the hand opposite of the hurt leg. Huh.
This is a picture inside St. Oswalds. Rhiannon posted here recently of our Saturday night evensong in this church. I was struck by the simple beauty of the table in the middle of the aisle. I found going back through my pics that another church had one too. So it's a thing. A fellow parishioner of mine informs me this is called a prayer deux. However, googling this phrase gets me nothing, so I wonder.
After my wonderful two weeks in England,(really, all the pictures are on facebook, I'm sure you saw them if you wanted to, but I still may add one at the end here) I came back to chronic right knee pain. I thought this happened because of the fire alarm at 1:30am forcing us to hurry down 5 flights of stairs. At least that's what I've been telling people. Thank you again, Rhiannon, for making me take the walker as you would have looked funny carrying me on your back across the width and breadth of the UK. Of course, I say that she and Erin had to do some of that anyway! :) You haven't lived until you hear the train station attendant say "this train is leaving now" and three grown women start throwing luggage, walker and ourselves at the door. The only thing that saved us from looking like a rabble was no one was in our way. I still wish to give a shout out to my companions who left nothing at home they couldn't stuff into a piece of luggage. They of course, just want to thank me for the everlasting bruiser, the walker. See, there's the difference in here and facebook. I'm willing to tell you all about the walker. Facebook has no mention of the walker.
A visit to my primary health provider last week, she made an appointment for me today with the orthopedic dept. This delay you understand if you too have finicky do it our way if you want us to pay health insurance. X-rays were taken (haven't had those in 30 years!) and diagnosis discovered. Osteoarthritis. The wearing down of the cartilage we are supposed to have between the bones in our knees. The x-ray truth is that my left knee that I have favored for years is worse than my right knee, but my right knee is the one being pissy about it and basically tired of taking up the slack all these years. Both knees are missing a lot of the cushion stuff and there is no reversing that. There will eventually be total knee replacement on both legs, but we (doctors and me) want to put this off as long as possible. So, today a steroid shot into the right knee. Plans for upcoming shots, not only steroid but some that put a lubricant back in to somewhat replace the cartilage. The shots are really just pain adjustments, until the knee replacement is finally necessary. The steroid shot apparently takes up to 48 hours to start relieving pain, so I'll let you know how that's going.
I do have another planned visit to the pharmacy to find assistance. I have a cane which I can live with. I really don't want to live with the walker. I believe most of us here understand that. Mind you purchasing the cane last weekend wasn't sexy either. So I bought a box of condoms to go with it. It made me feel better, and I recommend it. When I go back tomorrow to get knee braces, pain creams etc., I'll be buying more condoms too. Heck, if I get too depressed I may have to throw massage oil in the buggy too.
Here's another tip, this one from the Mayo Clinic, proper usage of a cane. Hold it in the hand opposite of the hurt leg. Huh.
This is a picture inside St. Oswalds. Rhiannon posted here recently of our Saturday night evensong in this church. I was struck by the simple beauty of the table in the middle of the aisle. I found going back through my pics that another church had one too. So it's a thing. A fellow parishioner of mine informs me this is called a prayer deux. However, googling this phrase gets me nothing, so I wonder.