Hi,
I am 51 yers old and I weigh 200 pounds. Medication that I am on now unrelated to this has side affects of weight gain. I started out seeing my GP for knee pain in both knees. He started with x-rays and the conclusion was mild osteoarthritus and he sent me to Physical Therapy. I did pool therapy for 6 weeks and I thought that maybe this would be the answer. Nope didnt work. As time went on the pain was becoming worse. I went back to my GP and asked to see a Orthopedic Doctor that I thought would help me. I saw him and his impression of the x-rays were different. He said right away you need Partial Knee Replacement. He said that I then will have no pain. Then the bad news set in. He told me that I need to get my weight down to between 100 to 110. I could not believe it! Even in my teens I didn't weight that. And I was very active in sports. He said the the replacements would not last 5 years according to my weight. He gave me Diclofenac and said to come back in 6 months. I was very shocked.
I went home and things got worse. I fell a couple of times because my legs are getting weak and my left knee buckles out from under me. So after about 6 weeks I went back to the same Doctor I did loose 13 pounds in the meantime. He told me now you are not a canidate for by-pass surgery. WHAT! I dont want that and never expressed it. He gave me Tramadol and tylenol and sent me for and MRI and told me that he could not do anything. He said that I could go see a Doctor that specializes in Orthoscopic Surgery and he could maybe clean up the knees. So MRI done and at the new Doctor. He told me that i have too much arthritus and a torn Meniscus. He said that he was really not sure why the other Doctor sent me to him. "you need knee replacement" So he says there is nothing I can do. Well the end result was he just refered me back to the original Doctor who is not going to do anything.
The very next day I called and made an appointment with another Orthpedic Doctor that I was told on the phone he does knee surgery. I see him next week on Feb 10th. I am afraid for the outcome. I'm hoping for some sugestions on how to handle my appointment and get help. First, as far as weight is concerned, according to the arthritis foundation, every 10 pounds you lose takes 30 pounds of pressure off your knees. I've recently lost a great deal of weight and while I do need two knee replacements, I am getting around fairly okay with having lost 90-pounds. You would be doing yourself a favor if you got some weight off those knees.
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