Stilpayne stockpile!

It's rather odd writing something like this in retrospect - you want to tell all without too much repetition.  Maybe the best way would be to pretend its the beginning:

For years I've had problems with my knees - not severe, but they would ache or be a little sore. Would go see a doctor and/or physio and they would give me exercises which I'd start doing enthusiastically, but that would taper off as the discomfort or my laziness levels increased, whichever came first.  I also developed hypertension many years ago (extreme work stress, long and irregular hours, always rushing and living off fast foods - I knew all the drive-thru's!).

Over the past few years I also suffered severe potassium shortage on quite a regular basis - which could be a factor. (Add on:  from research I was doing I discovered that potassium shortage can damage cartilage - was this a contributing factor???)

About two to three years ago I experienced leg pain - everything hurt.  I visited an orthotist who fitted me with prosthetics to slip into my shoes - problem is that the only shoes they would fit into were sneakers ... not exactly professional-looking.  The incredibly sore feet and burning arches and calves were soon a thing of the past, but still my legs, especially in the knee area remained sore.  For approximately a year my doctor prescribed 180 Stilpayne a month - that's six tablets i.e. two three times a day!!! I built a nice little stockpile of big green tablets as there was no way I was going to take so many tablets every day because (a) two would knock me out for a few hours; (b) I was nervous about becoming addicted to them and (c) I did not think so many tablets were good for me. But still those knees burned and hurt. Time to visit a doctor.

More on this tomorrow, have to work now.

Bye for now!
Charmaine


February 2012

Why did I have the op?

Today is week 9 after my bilateral TKR (for the uninitiated: total knee replacement on both knees at the same time). Hopefully recalling some of my experiences over the past few weeks and the weeks to come will help you if you're planning to have your knee/s done - TKR from a patient's perspective.

Firstly - it definitely is worth it.  Accept that it's going to be flippin' sore for the first few weeks, but the outcome is magic - a new lease on life. Especially if, like for me, walking was extremely painful and 10 metres was far!! Now I can wander through shopping malls (something I had not been able to do for the last two years or more) - initially rather to the detriment of my bank balance!

So, why did I have to have the operation?  Simple, there was practically no cartilage left between the joints in both knees and osteoarthritis had set in. The constant pain was exhausting and movement was extremely limiting.

My doctor - more about him later, but he is brilliant (and not just my opinion), was hesitant of doing the TKR  because of my age (48). Knee replacements are apparently for more elderly people. Yep, when I first saw him I was 48, very overweight and very unfit.  He was also hesitant about doing bilateral total knee replacement - however I convinced him that time and money-wise it was the best for me.  Furthermore, I have a super-positive outlook on life, which really benefitted me in the healing process.

Well, finally, I have the blog off the ground. Next post, we'll start from the very beginning - (all together now) a very good place to start ...

Have a fabulous day!!