Knee Unloader Brace Measuring Appointment
[ Monday March 7th 2022 at 3:13 pm ]
The doctor I saw on February 24th has never heard of the particular style of knee meniscus cartilage tear in his entire career. This doesn't mean he isn't capable of helping me. He did the research needed. It is a really an unusual tear. In contrast the orthotist (brace specialist) I just saw is very familiar with it. The doctor in February explained the technical details of it to me. I asked the specialist to explain the practical part of it today. If I take everything this specialist said virtually nothing lands on the "pro" side of a "pro" verses "con" chart.
A knee unloader brace is only prescribed to buy time. It causes a type of knee arthritis found in people who are obese. It is inevitable that I will require knee joint replacement surgery. Of course this needs to be put in the context of the situation where the knee is basically useless at the time of prescribing the brace. However at best this restores the knee for a very limited lifeline of 3 to 5 years.
It was explained to me that the type of meniscus tear I have is typical for patients who are both tall and have bowed legs. I fit both criteria. My bowed legs comes from experimental medical treatment for my Legg Perthes disease in 1979 to 1981. I am not upset. Doctors means well. At least this begins to highlight a reason why a 91 year old retired orthopaedic surgeon told me my right knee would need replacing in June 2012.
There was more bad news: The way my knee buckled on December 14th 2021 stopping the regenerative medicine from working is indicative that there is other arthritis in the knee joint. It was my right knee cap that dislocated. If it dislocated to the left the MRI diagnosis explains it. But it dislocated to the right. For all practical purposes the MRI I had in January 2020 is out of date and unreliable. In fact an MRI of the knee in 2015 showed fraying cartilage that isn't diagnosed by the latest MRI. If fraying cartilage healed itself no one would struggle with arthritis. I don't believe the latest MRI is an accurate portrayal of my knee joint. Certainly it is an incomplete diagnosis.
There is another problem that has crept into this. On Thursday both of my knee joints were equally stiff. When I had my assessment for regenerative medicine in September 2021 I told the nurse it was worse on my right knee joint. It feels like the gap has closed. The doctor from February would like me to re-do the regenerative medicine. What he was proposing is that this knee brace would force my right knee joint to behave. A knee brace would prevent it from dislocating.
Additionally the doctor would administer the regenerative medicine treatment differently. He would put the needle containing the regenerative medicine fluid drawn from my body directly into the damaged cartilage. Based on the conversation I've just had with the orthotist I have a concern with this. If there is other arthritis present in my right knee joint it isn't going to be enough help just focusing on the identified tear.
I am not worried about pain from placing a needle into the identified damaged cartilage hurting. The use of local freezing would limit pain I'd experience. I am genuinely not concerned about this being painful medical treatment. However if my left knee joint has become this bad it also needs help. It is becoming untenable to not treat all that is wrong.
The problem with this style of medical treatment is that you don't have the same protection as if you are inside your mother's womb. My left knee could derail the treatment for my right knee. As well the reason why the tear occurred to begin with hasn't changed. There is no proposed attempt to straighten my bowed legs. I am unsure of how it would be unavoidable to have this happen to me again.
This is all beginning to have the same "smell" as what I endured with my left hip joint. I had a very rare and unique tear in my left hip joint. It was fixed with an operation. It tore again 54 weeks later. I was told in 2006 the hip joint would need to be replaced. Looking back I spent 7 years fighting for the inevitable hip replacement. This specialist I had the appointment with is a part time university professor. He is way up in the totem pole of Ontario's health care. I am seriously wondering if I should be asking him if he has any friends in the orthopaedic world that are compassionate to (relatively speaking) young adults needing knee replacement.
It is also important to ask the specialist on Monday if he has an opinion on my left knee joint. I am wondering if it is arthritis that is making it so bad or if it is the left knee "picking up the slack" that is causing it to become so stiff.
I have always wanted to know what is wrong. I am better off knowing. At least I can make a decision. I expect to get the knee brace on April 4th. I have an appointment with the doctor from February 24 on April 13th. I thought I'd try to seed doubt in the mind of the doctor. I need to know if there is more arthritis in my right knee joint that is undiagnosed. There is a week between getting the brace and the next appointment with the doctor that performed my regenerative medicine treatment.