Back To The Emergency Department Of My Local Hospital For My Right Knee
[ Wednesday January 1st 2025 at 9:24 pm ]
About 5 weeks ago my right knee buckled (twisted, gave out) for a 4th time. Yesterday I felt like I was going to faint and vomit 5x. It has been bad for weeks but I've been so weak. Laying down wasn't working. Instead of waiting for appointments with my specialists I went to the local hospital emergency department for help.
When I arrived they sent me x-rays. They were read by the time it was my turn.
I spent 10 minutes with an emergency department doctor explaining what was wrong and only the relevant details. I had prepared a point form 1 page summary before going to the hospital so I could get real help.
Doctor #1 asked a second doctor to join him because of how serious this is, to try and figure out how they could actually help me and actually make a difference for me. Before coming to the room I was in they both looked at my knee x-rays again.
Then I got what has been the most thorough physical exam I've ever had in my adult life. The doctors bent, pushed and prodded me every way that is possible. I wish I was exaggerating. I'm not.
They have made 2 conclusions:
1. My right knee has worsened since it was imaged using ultrasound on December 4th 2024 to check all my tendon and ligaments. Over the past 4 weeks I've developed one of the ailments the ultrasound imaging report said wasn't present.
2. Since the pain is very specific and only able to be triggered in just a few ways compared to how my legs were manipulated by the doctors the probable cause is that I've developed a second tear in the cartilage that cushions the bones in the knee joint.
Then they wanted me to explain my concern of my artificial hip being replaced. This next hip surgery is #6 as an adult. I know what I'm in for. I physically can't do the baseline physiotherapy to get discharged from hospital courtesy of my right knee. Although a much better way of saying this is that I don't know what happens when a hip must absolutely be replaced where the patient can't complete a routine recovery. There must be serious motor vehicle accidents on highway 401 where multiple bones are fractured and there is no hope of a typical recovery from someone that is my age. I need to have another conversation with my hip surgeon.
Then I was asked what do I want to do about my right knee. I explained when this happened to my hip the emergency department doctor told me I needed the hip replaced. But then I got into surgeons thinking I was too young and they could save my left hip. I had 3 surgeries, each a year apart, just for it not to work. It was bone on bone in 2010 but the radiologist didn't correctly report this because there was so much wrong with my left hip. The obvious was overlooked. This didn't get discovered until 2012 when I made such a nuisance of myself that I was sent to a 91 year old surgeon who specialized in my hip disease. Either it was going to be mental illness or something was missed. This is when bone on bone was identified and it was no wonder I was making such a nuisance of myself. Having said this I then said I want to back a knee surgeon into a corner so badly that he will be acting recklessly if I am not offered knee replacement surgery right from the start.
I made an agreement that wasn't really a hard sell to the 2 doctors: I will get a complete physiotherapy assessment. We believe it will be a single appointment and that the knee is beyond physiotherapy. In turn the doctors are agreeing to do an updated MRI of my right knee to bolster my cause of backing a knee surgeon into a corner into getting the knee replaced.
I had an MRI of my left hip in May 2024. There was a 5 week wait. My local hospital is having staffing issues. So many people left the health care industry during the pandemic. I had a 5 week wait for my MRI in May 2024. This has now become 16 weeks over the past 7 months. For years my local hospital was the the #1 fastest MRI imaging provider for the entire Province of Ontario. They aren't there any more.
I have my pain management appointment on January 8th 2025. I have been given advice of what to use for pain to get me through to this appointment.
I'm also needing to have an appointment with my hip surgeon to discuss what happens now with my left artificial hip being replaced on account of my right knee. I don't mind having unpleasant conversations. I don't stray away from these when they are needed. But I am at my practical limits. I don't have anything more to offer. I've been dealing with mobility challenges for years. I've done what I can. I haven't given up on my life. The surgery to stop my dam left artificial hip from repeatedly injuring me needs to happen. The surgeon was willing to fast track this to early 2025 when I had my appointment on October 28th 2024. I now need to discuss with him the implications of my right knee joint on the recovery and have a plan in place for this.