I hate to bore you with more details about my skeletal woes
and trips to the doctor, but after all, I am at that age where the topics of
conversations at happy hour are colonoscopies and gall bladder surgeries.
I’m a walker, and walking can be hazardous to your health. Most
of the time, I power walk, which is quite a feat (pardon the play on words)
when you have short, stubby little legs like I do. After one of my walks about
6 weeks ago, the back of my knee started to hurt. Then, as I was stepping down
from a stepladder, the nauseating pain riveted down the back of my calf.
Mentally preparing myself for the big one…knee surgery…I
visited orthopedic surgeon number one. After two wimpy x-rays, his prognosis
was a torn meniscus…no surgery…physical therapy. Ten minutes and $300 later,
along with his best guess, I was home icing my knee.
Orthopedic surgeon number two guessed bursitis. After a very
painful cortisone injection, a prescription for an anti-inflammatory, and more
physical therapy, I went home and wrapped a heating pad around my leg.
The cortisone shot did nothing except form a black, bruised
hole on my leg (where the Physical Therapist drew a happy face), and I might as
well swallow candy because the anti-inflammatory pills are worthless.
What I really want is an accurate diagnosis, and the ability
to walk, free of pain, without shuffling and dragging my leg like Frankenstein.
So I made my list of things to do today:
1. Wash the sheets
2. Go to Costco
3. Go to the Emergency Room for an MRI
Me: “I want an MRI on my knee, please.”
ER Nurse: “The Emergency Room doesn’t give MRI’s.”
Me: “But I had one last year when I had my emergency hernia surgery.”
ER Nurse: “You had a CAT Scan.”
Me: “Oh.”
After probably having a good chuckle with the nurse out in
the hallway, doctor number three told me it’s probably a torn meniscus, and I
will need surgery to repair it
ER Doctor: “In the meantime, here is a leg brace and
crutches until your doctor orders an MRI. Oh, and…continue your physical
therapy.”
So, back to square one – if only I could find a doctor who
will order an MRI for me because right now I can’t walk at all – and the
physical therapy is becoming hazardous to my health.
