I'm afraid my knee is going to require surgery. Doc gave a cortizone shot in the knee last month. It didn't help.
Sorry to hear that, Sheldon. Hope not but I'm sure you know what you're feeling. I'm assuming you'll put it off to when you are usually less active, like in winter.
I've been less active for quite awhile because of the pain in my knee. I want to get it fixed if possible.
In 2005, Doc gave me a cortisone shot in my right hip. I had Degenerative Bone Disease in it, with literally no cartridge left and I was walking with a limp. Unfortunately, like yourself, the shot didn't work and I wound up having a hip replacement done. At the time, I had a full-time job, was out of work for 12 weeks, but was able to still get my full pay every two weeks (PTO and Short-Term State Disability). Am very glad I went with the surgery, but like both of my rotator cuff surgeries, PT sure hurt at times. Have some arthritis in that hip area now, and if I stand or walk too much on it, it will start "talking" to me (some pain).
Good luck with the knee, and if it turns out that you have to have the surgery, I hope that it goes well, and helps the knee. It is good that you are looking into it during the fall, since it will take a while to heal, and winter is as good a time as any to have to be laying around and healing. When my doctor sent me to see the specialist for my knee, he said that normally, they would do a knee replacement because of the advanced arthritis, and other problems with the knee. However, because i had that blood clot in my legs last fall (that settled in my lungs); he said that they could not do that kind of an operation with my knee. I have had several bad knee injuries, plus the broken leg which makes that leg shorter than the other one, and it was also a little bit crooked after the doctor put it back together as well as he could, under the circumstances. There were too many broken and shredded pieces of bone for him to make it fit back together right; so that knee has had a lot of extra strain on it. Anyway, the best he could tell me was to exercise it and try to build up the muscles that hold the knee in place and strengthen those muscles. I found exercises that I can do in the water that help my knee, and I have been doing those regularly for the last several months, and I have really noticed the improvement. The nice thing about doing the exercises in the water, is that I can do it without putting any weight on the knee itself, although the knee-bending exercise can also be done sitting in the chair.
I wish you well with it, Sheldon. On the positive side, they have gotten very good with the replacement surgeries.
@Sheldon Scott, I hope it's not the knee cap that is the problem. I have heard of a surgery to replace the knee cap with metal called titanium, I think. Our former president Erap had that operation some decades back and he looks okay a few months after the surgery. What gave him the pain was not the surgery itself but the cost of the surgery. This reminds me of my complaints lately about painful knees when I wake up. Our suspicion is the dinner, a type of food that is giving me pain. But the pain is not consistently appearing so we are still on the lookout for the reason of that pain.
I think I've stated this already somewhere on here but when I volunteered at St Agnes Hospital in the surgery waiting room, I could see all the surgeries for that day on the computer and what they were for, when they started, finished etc. the icon used for the start of surgery was a knife, lol. Anyway, the most common surgery was on the knees and they all seemed successful from what I could overhear the dr telling the family when it was over. Of course, time would tell and I didn't know how the people were after but they all survived and the dr always gave a thumbs up report.
That is too bad Sheldon. They do have some minimally invasive surgeries now where they just replace the part of the knee that really needs replacing. Maybe if you get a second opinion you may find that you need only a portion of the knee replaced. I wish you luck, it could be a long haul, but the results may end up being worth it. This is a surgery that you should get if you need it.
It looks like it will take total knee replacement. My doctor made an appointment for me with the same surgeon who did his wife's knees. He checked to find the best around for his wife's surgery so I feel good about it.