Fun at the Orthopedic office

[Marie5656]

Yesterday I started at a new ortho doctor, as my original one retired. Partly as my primary doctor wanted me to go, and partly to get a report for my disability claim. SO I got X-rays of my left shoulder and both knees. All are pretty bad off. Will need replacement of at least one of knees and the shoulder. The arthritis in my shoulder is so bad, there are times I can hardly lift it above shoulder level. And forget reaching for anything well at the drive through.
A new thing I learned is that these doctors now specialize. Meaning the one I saw yesterday does the upper body, and he had to refer me to a different doctor in the practice to do my knees. He wants me to do the knee replacement before the shoulder as I will need to use a walker or crutches for a while after knee surgery, and will be hard on a mending shoulder. Fine.
Welcome to old age and retirement.

 

[SeaBreeze]

Sorry to hear you have such pain with your arthritis Marie, I hope the replacements you decide to get in the future will give some relief. I did hear that doctors these days are trained for specific areas, not like the olden days where the family doc took care of everything...simpler times back then, will less options for relief like the modern knee replacements.

 

[Carla]

Sorry to hear that Marie. They best keep manufacturing those spare parts, especially hips and knees! The good news is they keep improving as well as their techniques. Years ago, we would be bedridden. I will eventually need hips, I have OA in both. That shoulder sounds quite painful, must be hard to sleep with it. Do you sleep on memory foam? I couldn't survive without it!