In the Beginning – the True Story of How My Knees Turned Against Me and Joined the Other Side

My knees first began to ache when I was in college.  I was 32 at the time, so I was not your typical college student.  As a theatre arts major, I was taking a dance class which involved hundreds of pliés daily, I was in a production of Fiddler on the Roof and therefore rehearsing the hora dance which involves lots of demi-pliés (thank goodness I wasn't one of the bottle dancers!) and it seemed that all of my classes were on the 3rd floor (no elevators.)  I remember going to the campus clinic complaining about how my knees ached.  I was given Tylenol and sent on my merry way.
Fast forward one year.  Now I'm in a production of Ten Nights in a Barroom where I have to run up and down a small set of stairs multiple times and dance in a kick line.  The aching knees would keep me awake unless I slept in a knee brace.  I did not go to a doctor.
Made it through the next nine years relatively unscathed.  During that time, I traveled to England and walked up and down many stairs while using our BritRail pass, climbed to the head of the Statue of Liberty, hiked all over Disney World and several National Parks with only slight discomfort.  This changed when I went on a cruise  in 1991 where our cabin was in the bowels of the ship, and it was almost impossible to get an elevator without waiting for hours.  I went snorkeling on one of the excursions, and the wave action was so rough on my aching knees, I almost couldn't stand, much less get to the deep water for snorkeling.  By the time the cruise was over, I needed to see my first orthopedic surgeon.
The XRays confirmed that I had osteoarthritis in both my knees with the right considerably worse.  I remember the surgeon asking me, "How's your stomach?"  I'm the original Tex-Mex girl, so I said "Fine, I can eat anything and never have indigestion."  He gave me my first NSAIDS (Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs.)  I took them for a little bit, knees felt better.  Whenever I had a major twinge, I would take them again, and things got better.
I traveled to England and France with some students, and we walked up and down many a staircase.  Took NSAID, felt better, stopped taking NSAID.  This philosophy lasted for several years, but the time between taking NSAIDS became shorter and shorter.
Finally, in 1996, went to orthopedic surgeon with "this has got to stop."  He scheduled an arthroscopic surgery on my right knee.  They cleaned out underneath my kneecap which was full of lumps and bumps, and did the best they could with the joint.  I iced and elevated until I thought I could walk fairly well.  I remember driving to the store after I thought I was healed, and the knee hurt so badly that I just sat in the car and cried when I got home.  I called the OS, and then only then, did he recommend that I go into physical therapy.  PT hurt like the dickens, but it was the way to a healthier knee.
I did OK for a couple of years.  I was teaching technical theatre which required me to go up stairs and ladders with the occasional crawling around. I also spent a lot of time on the floor in my classes (therefore a lot of time getting up off the floor.)  In 1999, the left knee was not feeling the love, so had the arthroscopic on it.  Demanded physical therapy as soon as possible, so healing was much better this time.
Lost a lot of weight, which helped.  Started exercising regularly which helped and hurt as the knees did not like some of the exercises I wanted to do.  Even did a 5K which I discovered was about 2K too much.  Had a couple of cortisone shots in the next few years which really did nothing.  OS says nothing will help but total knee replacement.  I say that I'll hobble on, thank you very much.  Not ready for TKR at this time.  Taking so much ibuprofen that my stomach is now ruined and have to take Nexium for acid reflux.
In 2006,  my husband who was already retired and I (who took early retirement) sold our house, many of our belongings and took to the road full-time in an Airstream travel trailer.  We had a ball.  I did a lot of walking, knee pain was limited to getting up and down during this period.  Had some bad days, but more good than bad.  Kept taking the ibuprofen and Nexium.
Because I took early retirement, I was unable to get health insurance through my teacher pension.  I kept my COBRA, and figured that I would convert to a private policy before my COBRA ran out.  I filled out the forms, sent them in with my deposit, and imagine my surprise when they declined to cover me because of "pre-existing conditions."  Reason for denial - arthritis.  What person over 50 doesn't have some amount of arthritis?
Now, what do I do.  Can't get insurance unless I pay over $1,000 monthly to a high-risk pool.  That's for a high deductible which only covers me.  I can't afford that, so I decide to be very healthy.  I make sure that I do all the healthy maintenance check-ups and pay cash, always asking for a discount for cash.  I found the range of prices for some services to be amazing.  A mammogram ran from $250 to $750.  Guess which one I got?
Of course the pain in my knees continued to worsen during this time.  I took double the dose of generic naproxen (bought in large quantities at Sam's,) and dealt with it.  Finally in December 2009, my husband who health condition had been worsening over the years, finally received his 100% service-connected disability certification with the Veteran's Administration.  The best thing about this was that I would now be able to get health insurance through the VA, and even better, if we went to a VA hospital that participated in their in house initiative (not all did,) I could be treated there at no cost.
In 2010 after my left knee joined my right knee in the battle against me, I was finally able to go again to an orthopedic surgeon.  I went to one at the VA hospital in North Chicago, Illinois where my husband was already being treated.  I was afraid this was going to be the time that I would have to give in to total knee replacement, but the OS suggested that I try Hyaluronan Injections.  I read up on it, decided to give it a go, and had both knees injected.  What a miracle!  I could rise from a chair without painfully stretching my legs out first.  I could walk without feeling like one or both of my knees might give out without notice.  I was still taking the ibuprofen, but feeling soooo much better.  The shots can be repeated after six months, and about that time, I started feeling the old familiar pains again.  This time we were in Tucson, AZ and I had the second series of shots.  The immediate relief was there, but the staying power was not.  By the time I had the 3rd series In August 2011, I couldn't tell any difference even immediately, so the die was cast.  The only thing left for me was total knee replacement.
My husband was having some difficulty with his eyes as well as his other diabetic related problems, so we faced the fact that skipping around the country, and seeing different doctors was not doing his health any good.  We made the difficult decision to get off the road.  In make the location choice, his health was always upppermost in our minds, so locating close to the VA hospital in North Chicago made sense.  Our son and daughter-in-law had just bought a house in a delightful village south of Chicago which seemed perfect even if we did have a 70 mile one way trip to the doctor. So we bought a small house, sold the RV, and set out to get ourselves as healthy as possible.
My husband's eyes were first.  He was a high risk Type I diabetic with glaucoma and cataracts.  One his eyes were sorted out, then I could start the process for my knees.