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Arthritis

Hi,
My husband (85 years old), has been diognised arthritis on both knees. He started having Hyalgan shots 2 years ago. The first set of shots helped him over a year without any pain. the second set lasted 6 months. While he was having it the third time, during the 3rd shot he started having unbearable pain on his right knee, the doctor who was giving the shots, started draining some fluid before she did the shots, short time after the fifth shot,on 23rd May 2004 one day I realized that his right calf was swollen,
Right away we went to the ER of the local hospital, They did ultrasound(doppler) , blood work he did not have a sign of blood clot or infection. Then we went to see an orthopedic surgeon, he wanted to convince him for a total knee replacement, But all I read/heard about it I was kind of scared, with his medical conditions. He is type 2 diabetic, had 3 strokes in the last 6 years, high blood pressure, and cholestrol problems, and his age was my concern, that such an operation would be hard for his recovery. We told the doctor if arthroscopic surgery would work, he did not say much but he scheduled him for that for June 18th.A week later his knee was swollen all the way down to his right foot. We went to see the doctor again right away,and he had another doppler(no blood clot) he said that it was ruptured baker's cyst. He told that he should wear anti embolism stocking and keep his feet elevated and told him to come back in 4 weeks.Few day before the calf started swelling, he fell off the cahir in the garden and told that he twisted his knee( He told me this much later than) . In the meantime I took him to another doctor, to get a second opinion, he also recommended total knee replacement.
It has been over 3 weeks that he has been wearing that stocking and keeping his feet elevated, the right calf is
still swollen, The swelling kind of went upwards towards the knee, There is a point kind of hard, and the calf is like there is a hard boiled egg placed in it.He is scheduled to see the doctor this Friday. How long does it take baker's cyst to go away? Is it wise for him to have a total knee surgery? How much arthroscopic surgery can help him?I really appreciat your reply...
Thanks a lot
Gul

Follow Ups:

• Re: Arthritis Gul Osegueda [370.4] 18:04:12 7/05/04 (0)
• Re: Arthritis (Archive in knee.) Walt Stoll [9.8] 07:00:25 7/05/04 (0)
• Re: Arthritis R. [2151.4] 00:32:22 7/05/04 (0)

In Reply to: Arthritis posted by Gul Osegueda [370.4] on July 04, 2004 at 22:52:29:

I've seen this on Dr. Mercola's site:

• Arthroscopic Surgery for Knee Osteoarthritis No More Effective Than Sham Surgery

In Reply to: Arthritis posted by Gul Osegueda [370.4] on July 04, 2004 at 22:52:29:

Hi, Gul.

When things are this far advanced your options are seriously curtailed. If only a more holistic approach had been used when he first started having symptoms instead of just "putting black tape over the warning lights (the Hyalgan) on his dashboard".

At this stage I think his only option is the total knee replacement IF he will enthusiastically participate in the absolutely necessary post-operative rehabilitation program.

Let us know how he does.

Walt

In Reply to: Arthritis posted by Gul Osegueda [370.4] on July 04, 2004 at 22:52:29:

Thanks a lot for replying, I will let you know if/when the has the surgery..
I truely appreciate your reply..
Gul Osegueda