Last month I went to my orthopedic doctor because 3 years ago I had total knee replacement surgery on both my knees because of arthritis and I have started having pain and swelling in my left knee. When I would walk sometimes I would end up twisting my knee and I would be in agony for about a minute and then my knee would swell up more than it already is and would be extremely sore. Within a few days I seemed to be twisting my knee more and more often and it was very difficult for me to walk even with a cane.
Then I started getting sharp pains in my hip and I thought it was because of the twisting of my knee. The doctor took x-rays and then sent me for an MRI and then the next day he sent me for another test. When I went back to his office he told me that I do have bone cancer and that it is incurable but can be put into remission for years depending on what stage it is.
Doctor told me to start using a walker and was then setting up a series of tests. I have no clue how many more tests need to be done yet, but I have not had the bone marrow scan (or whatever it is) that tells them what stage I have. I then started having back pains and I thought it was because of using the walker but now I am not sure because the back pain is gone and I now have pain in my other hip. I have been basically crying myself to sleep because when I lay down, I cannot find a comfortable position to sleep. I have even tried a hospital bed that the head and foot move up or down but that hasn't helped at all. I have pain pills the doctor gave me but they also make me sleepy....until I lay down and then I have to lay there and wait until I finally go to sleep.
I have been trying to go to work but it is so hard. By the time I get to the office I am already exhausted (I am also anemic) but once I have sat down for a while a lot of the tired feeling goes away. As long as I don't walk around the office too much I am not as tired, but after 4 hours of work all I want to do is lay down. Sometimes it is such a struggle to just get in my car and get home. I no longer go grocery shopping, browsing in stores or anything else that I like to do. I am so tired that I can't even cook a meal for family when they come over and I miss that a lot.
How do you deal with the pain? My pain is constant and the relief from the pain killers is for such a short time. Is there something that I can do to help relieve some of the pain and/or tiredness?
I wish that I could retire and not have to deal with trying to go to work every day but I am only 58 so I have a long time yet before I can retire.
I know this is long and probably doesn't make much sense, but it is 1:00 a.m. and I am in pain, tired and ready for bed but after trying to go to bed at 11:00 and not being able to sleep, I am going to have to start nodding off before I try and go back to bed.
Anyone with any suggestions for me to try while waiting for the rest of my tests?
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