My mother-in-law, who has osteoarthritis, had her second kneee replacement today. It went well and she is recuperating in the hospital. It was quite a different experience from when she had her first knee replacement several years ago. Technology has come so very far along.
I hope that it continues to speed along, and I hope researchers can develop a cure for arthritis. I would love to see fewer and fewer people's lives twisted around and warn down by this awful disease.
I am managing as well as can be expected these days. I am continuing to work long hours and am managing ok since I had the 2 cortisone shots recently. It's amazing how the cortizone aleviates my psoriasis as well as my arthritis.
I am concerned about how I am going to manage the arthritis walk in Novemer. I probably cannot walk the whole thing but I want to take Ted and Maitland with me just to try. I would love for lots of people to do the race for all of the arthritis sufferers in our family.
All for now.
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Monday, August 17, 2009
081709
I had a good day today even though my knees are throbbing quietly right now.
I had an appointment with my Rheumatologist this morning. I discussed with him the fact that my Hyalgan treatment was suddenly too costly. He is going to submit a few other brands of the same treatment to my insurance carrier and see if the cost is lower. He told me of how you have to submit each treatment and wait for a response. They won't just tell my doctor's staff which medicine is a better price for his patient. Hmmph.
So, in the meantime, he gave me cortisone injections in each knee. He used an ultrasound machine to guide him so it wouldn't hurt and also precisely place the injection where it was needed most. The injections didn't bother me all day until this evening when they started their quiet scream. At least this will only last tonight and maybe tomorrow for a while.
My doctor and I discussed exercise and weight loss. I have lost 10 pounds so far. He recommended I not start too rigorous of an exercise regimen until I lose another 15 or so pounds. This to not put added stress on my knees. I already work a lot of hours.
Then we discussed the future. I asked him what the status is of my knees. He feels that if we continue the current treatments, we can preserve my knees and avoid knee replacement. He also feels that medical advancements are coming quickly and that there would be lots of treatments in the future.
I wish we could rewind 20 or 30 years back and provide this kind of care for my mother and mother-in-law. They both suffer so needlessly and both should be very active right now. Hopefully things will begin to look up for both of them.
On a side note, I have not worked for the past 6 days. I took time off to spend with my daughter before school starts. I gave my body some needed rest before the fall work load begins. I also took some time to write to local as well as national politicians about the importance of health care reform and the importance of arthritis research and support for arthritis patients. I wrote to my local newspaper as well regarding the need for health care reform. Every little bit helps.
I had an appointment with my Rheumatologist this morning. I discussed with him the fact that my Hyalgan treatment was suddenly too costly. He is going to submit a few other brands of the same treatment to my insurance carrier and see if the cost is lower. He told me of how you have to submit each treatment and wait for a response. They won't just tell my doctor's staff which medicine is a better price for his patient. Hmmph.
So, in the meantime, he gave me cortisone injections in each knee. He used an ultrasound machine to guide him so it wouldn't hurt and also precisely place the injection where it was needed most. The injections didn't bother me all day until this evening when they started their quiet scream. At least this will only last tonight and maybe tomorrow for a while.
My doctor and I discussed exercise and weight loss. I have lost 10 pounds so far. He recommended I not start too rigorous of an exercise regimen until I lose another 15 or so pounds. This to not put added stress on my knees. I already work a lot of hours.
Then we discussed the future. I asked him what the status is of my knees. He feels that if we continue the current treatments, we can preserve my knees and avoid knee replacement. He also feels that medical advancements are coming quickly and that there would be lots of treatments in the future.
I wish we could rewind 20 or 30 years back and provide this kind of care for my mother and mother-in-law. They both suffer so needlessly and both should be very active right now. Hopefully things will begin to look up for both of them.
On a side note, I have not worked for the past 6 days. I took time off to spend with my daughter before school starts. I gave my body some needed rest before the fall work load begins. I also took some time to write to local as well as national politicians about the importance of health care reform and the importance of arthritis research and support for arthritis patients. I wrote to my local newspaper as well regarding the need for health care reform. Every little bit helps.
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
080409
Ok, I don't want to debate health care, but something needs to be done. I'm not sure I want the kind of health care that Canada has, but what we have has issues. We, in this free country, have access to outstanding healthcare, if you can pay for it.
I just got a call yesterday from my mail order pharmacy. The hyalgan that I last year paid a $30 copay to have injected in a series of 5 weekly shots, has now been increased a bit. The new copay is over $600.oo. No, it's not a typo. They said that my insurance coverage tweaked a bit from last year to this year.
I will forgo this treatment and ask my rheumatologist what we should try next. I do not like to take celebrex, as once prescribed to me, as it has too many side effects. I also get occasional headaches and celebrex limits what you can take for headaches. I found it rally didn't help much anyway.
I'll stick to my huge pile of daily vitamins, for now. I do have lots of pain after long days, but that will have to be for now.
I did write to my U.S. Congressman .
I just got a call yesterday from my mail order pharmacy. The hyalgan that I last year paid a $30 copay to have injected in a series of 5 weekly shots, has now been increased a bit. The new copay is over $600.oo. No, it's not a typo. They said that my insurance coverage tweaked a bit from last year to this year.
I will forgo this treatment and ask my rheumatologist what we should try next. I do not like to take celebrex, as once prescribed to me, as it has too many side effects. I also get occasional headaches and celebrex limits what you can take for headaches. I found it rally didn't help much anyway.
I'll stick to my huge pile of daily vitamins, for now. I do have lots of pain after long days, but that will have to be for now.
I did write to my U.S. Congressman .
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