Consider the knee in all its extremely poor engineering

I had a steroid shot to my knee last week, to help me cope with the pain and swelling from my torn meniscus while Kaiser San Francisco covers its eyes and ears and goes "la la la we can't hear you" when I tell them I need surgery on my knee.

At first the shot made everything much worse, which I now find out is called  a "cortisone flare," but of which my health care provider did not warn me... par for the course at Kaiser, which I  believe is trying to kill me with crappy care.

However, once that was over, my knee felt better than it has in ages, so I decided to very cautiously see if I could, you know, use it. I went to my gym this morning, and swam for 15 minutes or so, and then did another 15 on the treadmill, no incline, very very low speed. I mean, I was careful.

Before the shot, I'd had to stop swimming because even the pressure of the water moving against my knee was painful. That, at least, was not a problem today, but climbing in and out of the pool was very, very hard. They have a wheelchair hoist but no steps or ramp on this pool -- just ladders, even in the children's end of the pool. I don't see any way around this obstacle. Swimming = good, getting in and out of pool = impossible.

The treadmill is not as "springy" as I remembered it as being, so I'm going to give it another chance while wearing my fugly but bouncy Z-Coil shoes. Because I have to turn this around, for both my mental and physical health. I need to have the mental energy to fight with Kaiser to get care, I need to work, I need to get back on track with my workouts and weight loss. I've come way, way too far to go backwards, but god, this is hard.

It really is.

Comments

[Vicky]

I don't it probably doesn't compare, but I had a frozen shoulder last year and there were a few times I sobbed over the pain. Insurance company refused to pay for more than 12 sessions of PT unless I had surgery, even though my doctor and orthopedist both thought I wouldn't need surgery if I continued PT. In the end, I got neither: I was sent off with a cortisone shot, and it helped a lot. But it still took almost a year for the shoulder to function at about 90%. I can't imagine how much worse a knee must be, since I could at least severely limit the use of the arm. Legs are both pretty necessary.

I'm sorry it's so hard right now for you.

[Mara57]

I hear you, Christie. I am grateful every day that my ins. company paid for PT for me earlier this year, that helped me overcome pain that was keeping me from just doing simple walking for exercise. In my lifelong struggle with my weight and body image, I find injury to be one of the most difficult challenges to overcome (behind only my mind and its little games). I can be on a great roll, making progress and feeling motivated, and then BAM! some injury intrudes. It's virtually impossible for me to not get depressed and give up.

Right now I am doing water aerobics, stationary cycle, weights, and walking as my basic fitness plan. At this point I have some pain but nothing that prevents the movement I need to do those things.

I know it's hard for you, and I give you kudos for getting out there today to try and see what you can do, and how it feels. Best of luck.