The General Chat Thread (2016-2022)

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It is beleive that it is one of 2 things. A torn ligament (MCL) or gout. I'm believed to have gout in my left big toe.

I can get MRIs without issue on my insurance but because I now have a neutral stimulator, I have to be careful about which mri machines I can go into. When I speak to my doctor (not my normal one, but the one my hubby sees) on Monday (30th) we'll see how it is and what he wants to do next. My normal Dr is not available until 8th Dec. I guess she's working Christmas this year and is taking 2 weeks off now instead.

If it is an MCL injury, then treatment is rest and a brace. So basically what I'm doing now. Guess the housework will have to wait! :D

Cooking I can manage by sitting on a padded bar stool to a large extent. Otherwise hubby will just have to cook. He's out for the next 2 days which means other than the standard chooks stuff and cooking, I can easily get plenty of rest. I just very him to carry everything outside for me so I can sit out on the veranda. Though not today because it was 11°C when he left and is still only 13°C now some 2 hrs later! Guessing today mighty not be warm enough to sit out. If I don't use it at all, and keep it warm, it doesn't hurt too much plus I've got some stronger painkillers (stronger than morphine) left over from my op back in September which I've been taking 1 or 2 a day to take the edge off when it gets too much. I've about 5 days left of them. The morphine is also belong though not as much, so if I can cope, I'm taking that for it and my normal pain.

If I make even less sense than normal, let me know please!
 
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Backbay said:
Has anyone mentioned torn meniscus? I had similar symptoms about a month ago. Woke up in middle of night crying because of pain. Could not walk on it the next morning. Off to ortho dr. And X-ray showed nothing. Dr. thought it was probably was a torn meniscus however, that would need an MRI to prove out. My insurance won't automatically approve MRI until other options are exhausted.
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I have a damaged meniscus in my left knee. It only hurts when doing something like climbing stairs. I get a cortisone shot in the knee, and do some exercises. That seems to keep it reasonable.

CD
 
caseydog said:
I have a damaged meniscus in my left knee. It only hurts when doing something like climbing stairs. I get a cortisone shot in the knee, and do some exercises. That seems to keep it reasonable.

CD
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Lol, there was a good trotter here 10 years ago called meniscus, lol, I never clicked until now on the name. :)

Russ
 
caseydog said:
I have a damaged meniscus in my left knee. It only hurts when doing something like climbing stairs. I get a cortisone shot in the knee, and do some exercises. That seems to keep it reasonable.

CD
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Yep, the Dr. gave me a shot of cortisone and gave a set of exercise to do. I will say the cortisone did provide great relief from the pain. It has been about 4 weeks since the shot and I can feel little tinges of pain again - nothing I can’t live with it.
 
mjd said:
SatNavSaysStraightOn, here is a video on how to identify if it's a torn meniscus (as Backbay mentions). I started with a torn meniscus in my right knee. I was still limping and in pain after two arthroscopic surgeries. It took five years (between the initial injury and joint replacement) but I finally got a knee replacement.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V1c2s6X1Q6g

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PA1IgaJhx4o


I hope your injury healing isn't going to be a long haul.
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my doctor did a pretty good assessment and found a very sore points both on the inside of the joint where the MCL ligament attaches to the bone. It was also hot and swollen at that point.
I watched the and video and none of the 'home' tests tested positive for cartlidge issues. Plus this didn't came on suddenly. I've torn the cartlidge in my hip so know the feeling. I have end stage Osteoarthritis in both hips with a complete cartilige tear in the left hip. This is different.
I think it maybe the result of using my custom orthotics in my new trainers. They are needed and very comfortable on my left side and at first were on the right hand foot but as I did more and move the right knee and ankle both started causing issues. I removed the orthotics because the arch on my right foot was getting very sore. The trainers are shop fitted via 3d modelling etc and showed when walking in bare feet that I needed the arch support (no surprise, I knew that because I've had orthotics for over 20 years now. ) So I carried on after a few days resting my knee and we're now at this point. I feared OA because of my long term/ all my life issues with my knees and with the diagnosis 12 months ago in my hips. But even I can tell from the X-ray that the knee is clear of OA and that the gaps are all excellent and consistent which they would not be with cartlidge damage of any kind. I've also none of the cysts in the bones that cause cartlidge damage.
This is my partially paralysed leg and one of the things I have said ever since my back went leaving it more than 80% paralysed was that it was unstable, unsteady and prone to giving way on me. Unstable and unsteady are signs of ligament and tendon damage or weakness. I have hyper mobility syndrome which is that my ligaments and tendons did not tighten properly after birth. It is a condition that gymnasts often have and whilst not one, I have always had the flexibility of one. Likely as not this is a ligament issue. It would not be the first time. I spent 15 years with my left wrist dislocating 20-30 times a day due to ligament damage after a minor fall led we to beleive that it was just sprained. Lower lambs are ususally more badly affected than upper limbs and when it comes to ankle injuries, I've pretty much done everything possible to them hence the custom orthotics and living life wearing high ankle boots to hold my leg bones in place correctly over my ankles.

I expect I'll end up with an MRI form next Monday when I speak to him again. Then I'll have to Start the hunt for a suitable MRI machine now that I have a medical implant on my spine.
 
!8 years ago my right tibia pushed the patella out of the way and smashed into the femur cup. What made it worse was I was late for an appointment so I got my driver to pull my leg as I pushed the patella back. I then stood up and fell down again. Brian drove me to emergency. They wanted me to wait 5 days for a specialist orthopedic surgeon to return from holiday. I managed 3 days and signed out. The leg was in a removable splint. They tried to scare me with " if you knock it the next time we see you will be to amputate". My boys came with one of the tail lift lorries and a prop wheelchair from Phoenix Nights. Marina made an out patients appointment to see the surgeon a week later. He was a good guy and ex rugby player. He wanted to replace the knee but warned me that the lift of a replacement knee is ten years and that to take it out and put a new one in when I was 62 yrs would be dicey. He added the longer I can put up with the pain the better. I cant be bothered to have it done now. I have adapted and do not feel much pain. I hate being controlled by anything including my knee.
51260
 
Hemulen said:
Seconded. Right after I've got to know all the gizmos and settings of a new phone, the battery or the display/screen starts to monkey around and the repairment/spare part costs a zillion (or is not available) - so off I go and buy a new phone. The data secondments/transfers (from an old phone/cloud service to a new one), updates, apps, synchros, backups and malfunctions make me sick - and I hate messing around with phone calls; sliding them into view and keeping up with all the interleaves/tabs (while e.g. using an app or sending a pdf simultaneously) with my crooked RA fingers. In addition my eyesight is deteriorating so I have to have my glasses handy. Grr. I grew up with Commodore 64's and disc dialling phones. This hectic technological flow and advancement is intriguing and partly very convenient - but drives me crazy too.
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So sorry to hear your reumathoid arthritis makes it hard to use the screen 🥺 I have clumsy hands and this new phone has a very short bezel and my fingers are all over the screen touching where they shouldn't! These technological advances are convenient especially for software manufacturers who made us need things we don't need so they can mine our data for their own purposes!
 
LissaC said:
Got myself a new smartphone that arrived yesterday. I may be a millennial but smartphones are one thing I just can't wrap my mind around, I don't get this concept of a phone that connects to the internet and lets you watch movies and take high definition photos but completely sucks at basic tasks like making phone calls and sending text messages! I had to watch a video tutorial to learn how to turn the cellphone off and back on, because the off button turns on the Google assistant! I don't want the google assistant! And my text messages were mixed with my facebook messages and I couldn't configure the text messages app! And since I got the phone yesterday it already had 6 software updates and had to be charged 2 times! How come a new phone needs so many software updates??? And I bet the first time I drop it to the floor it will crack. I need Google apps on my phone because of my job and I do like using social media on my phone otherwise I would never have a smartphone I prefer an old school phone with a battery that lasts a week, and that doesn't crack if you accidentally throw it out the window of the 4th floor. But this is what we're stuck with nowadays!
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Millennials 😏
 
SatNavSaysStraightOn said:
my doctor did a pretty good assessment and found a very sore points both on the inside of the joint where the MCL ligament attaches to the bone. It was also hot and swollen at that point.
I watched the and video and none of the 'home' tests tested positive for cartlidge issues. Plus this didn't came on suddenly. I've torn the cartlidge in my hip so know the feeling. I have end stage Osteoarthritis in both hips with a complete cartilige tear in the left hip. This is different.
I think it maybe the result of using my custom orthotics in my new trainers. They are needed and very comfortable on my left side and at first were on the right hand foot but as I did more and move the right knee and ankle both started causing issues. I removed the orthotics because the arch on my right foot was getting very sore. The trainers are shop fitted via 3d modelling etc and showed when walking in bare feet that I needed the arch support (no surprise, I knew that because I've had orthotics for over 20 years now. ) So I carried on after a few days resting my knee and we're now at this point. I feared OA because of my long term/ all my life issues with my knees and with the diagnosis 12 months ago in my hips. But even I can tell from the X-ray that the knee is clear of OA and that the gaps are all excellent and consistent which they would not be with cartlidge damage of any kind. I've also none of the cysts in the bones that cause cartlidge damage.
This is my partially paralysed leg and one of the things I have said ever since my back went leaving it more than 80% paralysed was that it was unstable, unsteady and prone to giving way on me. Unstable and unsteady are signs of ligament and tendon damage or weakness. I have hyper mobility syndrome which is that my ligaments and tendons did not tighten properly after birth. It is a condition that gymnasts often have and whilst not one, I have always had the flexibility of one. Likely as not this is a ligament issue. It would not be the first time. I spent 15 years with my left wrist dislocating 20-30 times a day due to ligament damage after a minor fall led we to beleive that it was just sprained. Lower lambs are ususally more badly affected than upper limbs and when it comes to ankle injuries, I've pretty much done everything possible to them hence the custom orthotics and living life wearing high ankle boots to hold my leg bones in place correctly over my ankles.

I expect I'll end up with an MRI form next Monday when I speak to him again. Then I'll have to Start the hunt for a suitable MRI machine now that I have a medical implant on my spine.
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I am so sorry you are going through all this. I am in pain every day but I know why. I think not knowing is more annoying because we know something is wrong but nobody can tell us why.

What kind of MRI are you thinking about? I ask because I have a full knee replacement but didn't need a different type of MRI machine earlier this year when doctors thought I broke my back (another nasty fall).

I hope you won't have any trouble finding the type of scan you need. I'm sending you positive and healing energy this won't be an uphill battle and you'll get some definitive answers and treatment plan soon.
 
mjd said:
What kind of MRI are you thinking about? I ask because I have a full knee replacement but didn't need a different type of MRI machine earlier this year when doctors thought I broke my back (another nasty fall).
Click to expand...

Back in September I had a medical device implanted onto my spine called a Neuro stimulator. It's to deal with the chronic pain in my lower back. Because it is more than just an implant, it's a computer based implant that I control with a dedicated app on a dedicated iPod that connects to it via Bluetooth, I can't now use any MRI machine. It has to be a very modern, state of the art one, a 1.5 tesslar machine. Older MRI machines can not cope with the medical device without damaging either it or me. There are electrodes going from the battery and circuitry that controls it to my spine where they sit parallel to my spinal cord. Using the iPod i can also change settings and even give the device firmware updates if needed. The app has dedicated settings for airplanes, surgery and MRI machines as well as changing the settings etc.

This is the device I have. I went with the non-rechargeable battery in the end simply because had the possibility of going through an MRI machine under certain conditions. The rechargeable battery version although a smaller battery, can not yet go through an MRI machine. Proclaim™ Elite Recharge-Free SCS System | Abbott Neuromodulation
 
Well oh well...I went to the doc on 18 August and weighed in at 201lbs. Later got a call that my diabetes indicator (A1C) had risen and they wanted me to start diabetes meds. I was diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes in 2001.

I didn't like that and knew that I'd been a bad boy diet-wise, so I got a three month reprieve to better my food choices and drop a little weight, which usually brings my A1C back in line.

I had my followup this morning, blood draw to find out my A1C, so it'll be a few days before I find out about that, but I'm happy to report I lost...drumroll please...15lbs in three months. Yay me!

I'm trying to think the last time I weighed 186...maybe 2005?
 
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