Thursday, September 09, 2010

Icing Down My Knee




Last Friday an Orthopedic doctor (little d) spent a few minutes examining X-rays of my knee and telling me most of the pain was caused by arthritis. He twisted my good knee and then my bad one for almost a full minute. He then did a fine job of injecting my knee full of steroids; never felt the needle, so he was good at something. The steroid shot was supposed to alleviate pain for “up to three or four months”; try two, maybe three days.


He spent the rest of the time ridiculing and belittling me for not having regular medical check-ups as if I were a school boy sent to the office for disciplinary action. I wanted to give him a piece of my mind; the arrogant prick ( I softened my tone by calling him an arrogant prick; imagine what my original thought was). I know enough to keep my mouth shut; never argue with a fellow who has a needle.


I’m not complaining; this is what I’ve come to expect from the medical profession. Most of the time they get it right by the second or third attempt; why else would they call it a practice? Is it any wonder I haven’t scheduled regular examinations, a chance to fork over hard earned money and be insulted by  mediocre medical practitioners; the heck with that!


There’s a down side to all this; getting old requires more frequent trips to patch things up as they fall apart. I’ll have no choice but to listen patiently to some doctor wearing a white lab jacket explaining how I should have taken better care of my self.


Okay, now you can wish me a Happy Birthday. Sitting here with my knee iced down is getting to be the norm; if it doesn’t get better soon I’ll miss Spring Training with the Astros, again.

9 comments:

Starsplash said...

Beings of light such as yourself should get some sunshine on that offending knee.

Vitamin d is good for the bones and cartilage....

T. F. Stern said...

Ron, I could lose a few pounds and that might help; but I'm already maxed out on Glucosamine/Condroitin/MSM and advil.

I'm tempted to send this article off to Kelsey Seybold clinic; but that would only make things worse in the long run. I'll just avoid them as long as I can, going in only when I have no choice.

Starsplash said...

Hey did you see this article. I think the Democrats are now in the proceess of making every single possible mistake a party could make in relation to getting reelected.

http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2010/09/07/trash-police-invade-thanks-government-stimulus/

MathewK said...

"...never argue with a fellow who has a needle."

Good advice, needles and any other sharp objects.

Hope you feel better soon TF, and happy birth day.

T. F. Stern said...

MK, Looks like it will be this way for the "duration". Thanks for the birthday thought.

David said...

Get better, TF. No, no argument; just do it. *heh*

By now, my doctor has come to expect that I know more about my health conditions than she does (yes, a woman doctor--better than most male doctors I've known). At a recent checkup, she was a tad surprised that I'd self-diagnosed and treated my ACL injury, but when I'd gone through my methodology, cited sources and described the diagnostic procedures and treatment I'd performed and self-prescribed, she agreed once again that I'd done nothing more than she would have, apart from some tests using specialized (and exceedingly expensive) equipment she doesn't even have in her office, just tio rule out damage that might have been worse.

Ditto with other aspects of my health care. I really mostly go in to get "permission slips" for prescriptions or lab work I've already decided I need.

I'm not a doctor, but I'm moderately intelligent and I can (and do) read and know how to do research on topics of interest (including how to filter out stupid stuff by people who really don't know what they're talking about. Heck, I've even introduced this doctor to research papers she'd not yet had time to read that were pertinent to an issue I'd come in to get a "permission slip" for.

Teaching a doctor to listen sometimes hitting said doctor square between the eyes with facts from sources the doctor has to respect... enough times to make sure said doctor is leery of blowing smoke up your skirt/kilt.

T. F. Stern said...

David, I like the way you put, "getting permission slip" in order to obtain a prescription you can only obtain via a "dr". I'm faced with the reality of genetics; both my folks have had to have knee replacement surgery. That would tend to suggest a similar fate for me somewhere down the road of old age. Heaven help us, that line about dr's getting it after the second or third attempt is true as well.

David said...

TF, see this article:

http://www.cnn.com/2010/HEALTH/09/09/pinky.regeneration.surgery/index.html?hpt=C2

ANd do read on down to the foot of the article for the "Five lessons learned". Good stuff.

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