Take care of yourself

I need a new knee, seriously. Walking my daughter down the aisle in 12 days and I'll likely be limping. The only time it doesn't really hurt is when I'm on my daily long walk, which strikes me as a bit weird. Some days it is just sore. Other days it hurts like a mother. I have zero interest in knee replacement surgery but fear I may be headed that way soon.

 

That sucks, Moddy. Ms. Ragu has two bad knees. One has very little cartilage, and more and more it limits what she can do. She ripped it apart skiing and the surgery in those days wasn't quite as good as what you can get now, so they left her with a ton of scar tissue. It has really been bothering her lately, and an orthopedist basically told her to suck it up, because if she gets knee replacement at her age, she is probably going to need to have it again when she is 70. They typically last about 20 years. The one upside of the knee replacement is that by all accounts it gives most people a GOOD 20 years. The recovery is a bitch, but from what I understand it is a life changer for a lot of people with severe arthritis or other knee problems.

 

I'm 62 Saturday so maybe I can save some money by getting a 10-year model. I don't have another 20 years

 

A friend suggested acupuncture for my ailing knee/leg - anyone? Needles freak me out but if it keeps me from a replacement, I'll deal. I really don't want to deal with a replacement.

 

I did it once, but not for any specific ailment. I was freaked out by it, but I had promised my better half I'd give it a try. For what it is worth, it didn't hurt more than a prick here or there. The needles are small and the guy doing it seemed good at what he was doing. It wasn't like a giant cortisone needle being jabbed into you or anything like that.

In my case, the goal was some nebulous, "reduce stress, sleep better" goal. It did absolutely nothing for me. But the needles themselves were no big deal -- much less of a big deal that I was afraid of.