I do hope you are all having a good day/Thanksgiving. Here, it's been a week of gnarly. I felt a cold trying to get a toe-hold on Monday, but thought I might beat it with lots of water, Vitamin C, zinc, and rest, and went to bed early. Tuesday my car had a long appointment to get its suspension systems replaced, so a friend* picked me up and we had coffee and ran errands together. By the time my car was ready I was so tired, and SO COLD! I turned my seat and cabin heaters on high and was comfortable by the time I got home, but the house was cold (the fire had gone out the night before). I turned my electric blanket on high and pre-heat and crawled in to warm up again, and fell deeply asleep. Good thing I had set an alarm or I probably would have slept right through my MRI appointment. By then I wondered if I had a fever and was hoping to avoid any questions or temp-taking at the hospital which would have postponed my appointment, because I have another appointment on December 5 that hinges on the MRI results. Fortunately for me (and hopefully not unfortunately for anyone else) I skated through and got the MRIs. Again, I had to run the car heaters on full blast, and crawled back in bed when I got home. Besides being insufferably cold, my head was throbbing, my brain was muddled, and my skin was hypersensitive. I crawled out of bed after 10 pm to eat a grapefruit, couldn't taste it, and took a COVID test:
Wednesday morning Rick, who along with his secretary has been fighting a 'cold,' decided to test as well. Also positive. Of course. So much for our Thanksgiving plans.
My gnarly MRI results arrived on Wednesday. Extensive, complex tears in the menisci, full thickness articular cartilage loss, severe patellofemoral arthritis – in BOTH. I'm looking at total knee replacements . . . eventually. Symptoms are the reason to do TKRs, not test results, and right now I'm mostly functional with daily naproxen sodium. But that light at the end of the tunnel? It's a train. 🙄
I continue to look for those pretty/peaceful/positive images to share daily on IG/FB; I need that focus now more than ever. Here are the photos and captions posted since my last blogpost:
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| Shetlands are sometimes called "hill sheep, I have a subset – 'tree sheep.' |
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| One of the many things I like about 'our' town is its public art. This sculpture by Steve Tyree (who lives on the same hill as us) is in front of our hospital. |
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| It's Beautyberry season! |
Oh, and I've finished the first sleeve of my sweater! One sleeve left to go....
That's the gnarly news from . . .
18 comments:
Well crud (I said a worse word). I'm so sorry you have COVID. You sound pretty miserable. Will you try Paxlovid? Some say it helps and some say they have rebound from it. In either case, I hope you will be feeling better soon. A friend told me that the strain that is making the rounds now is really rough. Again, I'm sorry you've got it. Your knees . . . I'm also sorry that the MRI's confirmed what you likely suspected. I know it's not news that anyone ever wants to hear. Welcome to my world. I just went back and looked at my own MRI results. Lots of familiar words . . . You, thankfully, are not too chubby to get new knees (unlike me) when you are ready.
No Paxlovid for me; like I said, I had one really bad day and now it's tolerable. I plan to mask up and go to the agility trial on Sunday in which we're entered; it's possible it will be our last for quite some time. Starting tomorrow I'm going to start calling orthos; I'm looking for one who is willing to do both at the same time. One and done, instead of double the trouble (and recovery time).
Aw, I'm so sorry you're sick. Never fun and this time of year always seems especially inconvenient. The knee problem sounds pretty inconvenient as well. Dan needs the same done, but has really put off talking about it. I hope you find a surgeon you like and trust, and who is willing to work with you.
I think I'd rather be sick this time of year, Leigh, when the days are short and the wood fire is cozy. I have an appointment with an othopedist on Jan. 30 who is open to bilateral surgeries, so we shall see. I'm managing well enough right now that waiting seems the best policy; Rick doesn't see the point of waiting because he has seen me at my compromised worst and understands better the information in my MRI reports.
Sorry you are sick and Thanksgiving was affected. But glad you have better information about your knees. Take care.
I'm thankful to know that you were not terribly sick, and I hope you're feeling much better now. I've been keeping you and Rick in prayer, wince I found out you were both sick. I get the vaccine every year, so the one time I did have COVID, I only had a mild cough for one or two days.
You are the only one I've known who is willing to go for bilateral knee replacement. I took that option, too. I figured it was better to have just one go at it, rather than two. The first couple of days were tough, but I made it through.
I'm sorry you missed out on Thanksgiving celebrations. By next year you should be up and running, literallyl
I will be thinking of you and wishing you the very best.
I'm not a big 'gatherer,' Donna, so didn't mind a quiet Thanksgiving at home. My MIL, however, was very disappointed, though.
I've meant to get vaccinated, Jeanne; procrastination bites! I have another friend who got bilateral replacement 14 years ago. Makes sense to me!
I appreciate that, Marlane!
Something to find out from your ortho if you have sub patellar pain and almost no cartilage on the back of the patella: Does the replacement he uses include a pad at the back of the patella.
Not all of them do and it makes a world of difference when needed.
Good to know, Anonymous; I'll add it to my growing list of questions!
You've got a plateful, don't you? I'm praying for manageable pain for you until you can see your ortho guy.
A friend of mine has a porcelain vine that reminds me of your lovely Beauty Berry.
Your prayers are being answered, Mokihana; the discomfort has been mostly manageable. Never heard of porcelain vine; I'll have to look it up. Beautyberry is a rather scraggly shrub that needs annual cutting back.
Well, that really is tough news. Regarding the Covid - be very very careful with your decisions regarding Covid antivirals. Paxlovid has a very low problem rate and a very high success rate - of keeping you out of the hospital or suffering Long Covid. There is a window of time in which it should be taken however. First 5 days, I think, so if you wait too long it is less effective. Covid - however - can make you very sick - sick enough to hospitalize you with a higher mortality rate than the flu. And I have 2 friends who had lingering problems - for months - one of those friends lost her husband to Covid - and another doctor friend who got Covid twice. The first time he recovered. The second time he died. All these examples are of folks a little older than you. But next time (God I hope there isn’t a next time), don’t wait too long to test and don’t resist the idea of that antiviral.
Oh - one other thing - the sweater cuff is just stunning!!!
The first time I got Covid I enquired about Paxlovid, Elaine. At that time I was five days out and didn't feel too bad so the doctor didn't think it would be a good idea. Said the treatment was not without its own risks/side effects. So this time I decided to not even pursue it, as I was only sick one day (and I did test that very day).
Elaine, the designer of this sweater has so MANY exquisite patterns!
Well regarding the Paxlovid - I am not even sure if they are prescribing it for people your age. When I got it - it was limited to people over 65 or 70 - folks who have a higher risk of hospitalization and death due to age and to other conditions. My one friend and her husband had a doctor that didn’t prescribe the paxlovid and also didn’t believe in masks. They both got covid early on. She suffered with covid for 3 months - her husband got so bad he was hospitalized for pneumonia. Yes Paxlovid has side effects but in my last research only 6% of the population had problems and most of those were rebounds. Hospitalizations were near 0%. Still and all, you might still be young enough to recover on your own should you get hit again BUT at a minimum see if your insurer covers Paxlovid. When I took it - the 5 day course was $500. My insurer covered it in full. On day 2-3, when I began to notice a major improvement - I decided I would pay the $500 if I had to. It would be worth knowing it was a covered drug in advance of the illness. Covid isn’t going anywhere. It has mutated and is less deadly but it still kills more people than the flu. And if it doesn’t kill - there is long Covid to worry about. All ages can be impacted by long Covid. Just my thoughts and my personal experience and what I have researched.
Elaine, a friend of mine who is 70 WANTED Paxlovid and got a prescription. But when the pharmacist told her her total would be $1000 she declined; she just couldn't afford it. Thankfully, she recovered quickly and without complications. I just need to MAKE time to get vaccinated for flu AND Covid; I suspect the ortho doctors will recommend it strongly.
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