Man, am I MAD!!

It took a full hour past my appointment time (9:15 am) for the doctor to show up. I was pulling on my shoe to leave (10:30 am) when he finally opened the door and came into the exam room. Knowing what I know now, I wish that I had simply left and chalked this experience up to one I'd rather forget.

Last week, I went back to the ortho surgeon because the pain on the interior area of my knee is excruciating. I went through the whole fiery pain, swelling, heat/ice, elevated, stretching, pain killers routine and he assured me that it's the arthritis in my kneecap that's causing the problem. Thus, I made the appointment for an injection that immediately calms the swelling and dulls the pain. It made no impact on his consciousness when I said I don't have pain in my kneecap and put my fingers on the 4" of ouchie on the inside of my knee. I was assured that I'd notice the difference immediately after the injection -- and would be able to move on with my life. The definitive prescription was "wait and see" how I feel after the injection.

Today, I wanted him to define how long the "wait and see" process will take because for me, it's already been since last Thanksgiving. Yes, it hurt less for a few weeks after the torn meniscus was repaired (probably a result of the anesthesia and pain killers), but that pain on the interior area of my knee has increased in intensity significantly in the past couple of months. THAT is my concern, and THAT is what I've repeatedly expressed, to no avail. He simply does not listen!

When he finally came into my exam room, I asked the doctor if I could ask him a couple of questions, to which he replied, "sure, but let's talk while I give you the injection." Well, I explained, that's what I want to talk to you about: I'm not sure why I'm getting an injection for the arthritis in my kneecap when there is no pain and/or loss of function in my knee. Again pointing to the interior of my knee area, I said THIS is the only place that hurts, and it is not responding to the ice/heat, pain meds, etc. I also asked him to define the "wait and see" process, again telling him what I said last week: I was doing that for almost 8 weeks before calling to make an appointment. It isn't working. He used the magic doctor smile while he again told me to just "wait and see" because once he injected the cortisone, the pain would be gone. Okay; we'll see.

He didn't bother to give me the numbing shot, but went straight for the hurts like hell shot. Then, he directed me to sit up and start moving my knee, which I did. When he asked how it felt, I said, okay, so he told me to get off the table and walk on it. When my feet hit the floor, the stabbing pain in the interior of my right knee made it buckle. He smiled that sickly smug smile of his and changed direction so fast my head was swimming.

Believe it or not, he said, "I told you it isn't the arthritis: you've pulled a ligament or torn cartilege! The injection isn't going to touch ligament pain!" He added that the cortisone shot is diagnostic in that if the pain persists, we know it isn't the arthritis. He then launched into the description of the knee versus the ligaments and cartilege that hold the knee in place. He told me that my whole knee area is now numb, so if I'm still feeling the pain in that region, then it's definitely not arthritis, but either the ligaments or cartilege causing the problem -- as if that was his suspicious all along.

WHAT THE HELL? Was he making this up as he went along? Where the hell did all of this come from?

I'm sure my jaw dropped as I tried to process what he had just said. I remember asking him why he insisted on giving me the injection for the arthritis if he knew that was not causing the pain, but he reiterated the "diagnostic" use of the steroid, to which I replied that an MRI could also have determined that. I also told him that I've repeatedly asked him if anything else could have been causing this specific pain and he repeatedly has told me no -- it's the arthritis. I was confused by his sudden change of direction and at a loss to know what to do next because he just contradicted everything he's said to me during the past 3 appointments.

He was furious. He stalked out of his office and demanded that his office girl give him an "instructional prescription," and then began schooling me on the difference between a torn meniscus and a torn ligament/cartilege. He went on and on, then told me the only way to heal a ligament/cartilege is to continue with the heat/ice, elevating, pain pill routine and to go to PT 3 times a week. I asked him why he's waited this long to add this diagnosis to the mix: I could have been in PT for the last 4 months and been past this constant debilitating pain. He didn't answer me. He assured me that it takes time, but this kind of injury usually heals on its own, which it obviously is NOT going to do in my case -- and that's all I care about. The best part: the diagnosis on the PT prescription is for "tendonitis," which is yet another new element to the medical issues. He never mentioned tendons, so how the hell can I have tendonitis? And isn't there a huge difference between a torn ligament/cartilege and tendonitis? Yeah, that's what I thought, too. When I asked him again, in front of witnesses, why this is the first time I'm hearing that there is an issue involving the ligament (or cartilege) causing my pain, he informed the whole office that he's been doing this for 30 years--and wanted to know how long I've been doing knees.

You have to be f-king kidding me: are we 5 years old and seeing whose pee-pee is bigger? He's supposed to be the ortho surgeon, so ... be the surgeon. He blew this from the git-go, and being an arrogant ass is not going to change that. The more he ranted and raved, the quieter I got. He tossed the prescription for knowledge at me, then shoved a referral for physical therapy at his PA, told him to fill it in and he'd sign it, then stalked off to his next appointment, tossing over his shoulder the comment that he'll see me again in a month.

"Nope," I replied, "that isn't going to happen. I've already called another surgeon for a consultation and have no further need of your services."

I cannot believe anything this doctor says to me, so I'm done talking. Yes, I now have an unnecessary injection of steroids in my system, but because I have arthritis pretty much from head to toe, I'll feel better for a couple of weeks: no harm, no foul. Meanwhile, I'm going to see another ortho surgeon, one who not only specializes in knees, but has invented the state-of-the art knee replacement currently in vogue. I want to keep the knees I have, not replace them, so my goal is get an informed opinion from another surgeon, one who authorizes an updated MRI and bases our conversation on that evidence, not on a guess based on 30 years of doing knees. Back to square one in some respects, but the ortho did fix the torn meniscus.

UPDATING It has been 2 hours since the injection, and the pain on the inside of my right knee is just as strong as it ever was: the injection had absolutely no effect at all!! Way to go, doc.