Wednesday, November 7, 2007

Tough Old Gal - That's Me

Here I sits a-waitin' on FedEx to deliver critters for the reef tanks. This promises to be a busy day. Not only do the critters have to acclimated to the reef but the 4 year old grandson will be here to help. Yep, this is a fun day. Cheryl, when the reef settles down after being disturbed I'll make more pictures and include them in a post.

I've had a few pity parties with you, my readers, about having flares. I realized (when asked) that I should tell you a flare of what. In 1991 I had a serious hip injury and lesser knee injury resulting from a fall. At the time it was debated whether or not to repair the hip with a steel plate or allow it to heal. I insisted on healing. I have never regretted that decision. It was a long process but the results were excellent. I had very little problem for several years then started to have periods of intense pain in the hip followed by pain and swelling in the knee. The diagnosis (from two specialists and my GP) is CPPD. Don't ask me to say it much less spell it. As I understand it, crystals form as a result of trauma resulting in arthritic flares. When the hip flares I tend to stress the previously injured knee which causes it to build fluid and feel like a hot wire is in the joint. Prednisone does wonders - not only for pain but especially for weight gain. (Which I definitely do NOT need.) Naproxen helps when everyday pains get above a certain level- those aren't as bad as a flare. Vioxx (spelling??) was a wonderful drug for me but, alas, it has been taken from the market. I'm a tough old gal and have a high pain threshold so the everyday thing is just an annoyance. Hip replacement has been mentioned but for me that's a choice of last resort. The flare is over for now thank goodness!!

Today's action is about to start. I need to roll up my sleeves and jump in. Later, friends.

5 comments:

Cheryl said...

You're very lucky to have flares and not chronic pain. That must have been one bad fall. I'm glad there's meds you can take for the pain. Hopefully it will be a long time between flares.

I hope today was fun!

Summer said...

Thank you for answering my question. Prednisone is fabulous but an evil drug for sure. I hope you're feeling much better.

Anonymous said...

My mother is between a rock and a hard place and I am beginning to lose hope. Her osteoarthritis is chronic and severe and the only thing that really works for her is prescription strength Naproxen. However, she is in stage 3 kidney disease and has been told she cannot take it anymore. Vicodin and other major pain killers don't do the trick. Am I right that there is no alternative? I"m feeling desparate to help her!

Mary said...

I wish I could give you a good answer but I can't. I had good luck with Viox (not sure of spelling anymore) but it was taken off the market. Now I just struggle along with Aleve. It's an over the counter drug but it, too, is not friendly to the kidneys.

Anonymous said...

Thank you so much for your response. You are very kind. I'm thinking that if she could try to get by with over the counter Naproxen or Alleve and then have the cortisone shot as often as possible, we could stave off dialysis.