maggie08
02-23-2008, 12:36 AM
Hello everyone,
I am new to the message boards, have been reading thru some and don't
feel so alone now.
This is my short story. I am a 47 year old female with very severe oa in the
right knee. ( I feel so very bad for the ones that have it severely in both knees). I had to quit my job this past Sept. 07. I worked in a warehouse, meaning I was on my feet all day and had physical duties that were more strenuous on some days then others. Anyway, my problems all started 9 years ago when at work one evening, I was hit by a fork-lift. Needless to say, the fork-lift came out of the impact ok, I didn't. I would say that I was lucky I wasn't "killed" in the ordeal but, I have had many days since that I
almost wish I had of been. I had arthroscopic surgery on the knee following that and it was never like "new" according to that surgeon. I had nothing but
problems since then. The biggest mistake I made was to not continue to see an orthopedic dr. I probably would of been fired then cause if I had gone to
see the dr. everytime the knee hurt, I'd of missed a lot of work. So, I kept on pushing and gritting my teeth just to get thru the day at work. I should
have also sued my employer for the accident also, and if I had known then
what I know now I would of. So I went for 9 years without having treatments
to "slow" down the affects of oa. I thought oa was something "older" people
got. And it wasn't until last summer that I got online and started reading
about the symptoms of arthritis that I knew. I saw a dr. then and the damage was already done. He gave me an injection of the
strongest stereoid there, he said. It immediately made it worse! Had he done
the mri first he would have known it would be ineffective. Two weeks after, I called the nurse to ask what had they done to me. I was actually doing somewhat better before the shot than afterwards. It was prednisone. I continued to deteriorate until I could barely move, I was falling all over the place my knee was buckling so bad. Pain pills got me thru the days. So I quit my job and am still unemployed. This dr. wouldn't do a knee-replacement because of my age. Said I needed to prolong it. Sorry but I disagree with him. It should be up to the patient. I have NO quality of life
right now. The fact is, I hurt just as much sitting down as I do any other time. That's the worse thing about severe oa. It's all the same- standing, sitting, laying down. There is no relief. My pain pills do nothing for the pain, they just kind of make me mellow so I don't care.
So hopefully this summer, I'll find a dr. that thinks I should have some decent quality of life now. It is now that I need to work and be productive. Retirement is a long way off. I think the patient should not be treated more
like a human being. Not like a bad experiment that can't be fixed for another 10-15 years. Thanks for listening to my rantings......... I personally don't know anyone who knows or understands what I'm going thru, and I do feel
better to talk about it. So thank you. :)
I am new to the message boards, have been reading thru some and don't
feel so alone now.
This is my short story. I am a 47 year old female with very severe oa in the
right knee. ( I feel so very bad for the ones that have it severely in both knees). I had to quit my job this past Sept. 07. I worked in a warehouse, meaning I was on my feet all day and had physical duties that were more strenuous on some days then others. Anyway, my problems all started 9 years ago when at work one evening, I was hit by a fork-lift. Needless to say, the fork-lift came out of the impact ok, I didn't. I would say that I was lucky I wasn't "killed" in the ordeal but, I have had many days since that I
almost wish I had of been. I had arthroscopic surgery on the knee following that and it was never like "new" according to that surgeon. I had nothing but
problems since then. The biggest mistake I made was to not continue to see an orthopedic dr. I probably would of been fired then cause if I had gone to
see the dr. everytime the knee hurt, I'd of missed a lot of work. So, I kept on pushing and gritting my teeth just to get thru the day at work. I should
have also sued my employer for the accident also, and if I had known then
what I know now I would of. So I went for 9 years without having treatments
to "slow" down the affects of oa. I thought oa was something "older" people
got. And it wasn't until last summer that I got online and started reading
about the symptoms of arthritis that I knew. I saw a dr. then and the damage was already done. He gave me an injection of the
strongest stereoid there, he said. It immediately made it worse! Had he done
the mri first he would have known it would be ineffective. Two weeks after, I called the nurse to ask what had they done to me. I was actually doing somewhat better before the shot than afterwards. It was prednisone. I continued to deteriorate until I could barely move, I was falling all over the place my knee was buckling so bad. Pain pills got me thru the days. So I quit my job and am still unemployed. This dr. wouldn't do a knee-replacement because of my age. Said I needed to prolong it. Sorry but I disagree with him. It should be up to the patient. I have NO quality of life
right now. The fact is, I hurt just as much sitting down as I do any other time. That's the worse thing about severe oa. It's all the same- standing, sitting, laying down. There is no relief. My pain pills do nothing for the pain, they just kind of make me mellow so I don't care.
So hopefully this summer, I'll find a dr. that thinks I should have some decent quality of life now. It is now that I need to work and be productive. Retirement is a long way off. I think the patient should not be treated more
like a human being. Not like a bad experiment that can't be fixed for another 10-15 years. Thanks for listening to my rantings......... I personally don't know anyone who knows or understands what I'm going thru, and I do feel
better to talk about it. So thank you. :)