PVNS in the knee, pain in the hip

 I have learned that I overcompensate for my PVNS knee as a habit.  This causes me to put extra effort on my left hip so that I don't put too much weight or effort on my right knee.  This causes extra wear on the left hip and I sure feel it if I do not use a cane when walking long distances or hiking.  I usually stay away from exercising with any kind of impact.  Riding a bicycle or swimming is my comfort zone.  Extensive walking can be done with a cane but I will get into a mobility scooter if I need to.  Even when people assume I'm able bodied because I'm in shape.  Or at least I was before covid hit and my gym shut down.  I regressed back to not getting the exercise I need on a daily basis and eating my feelings about it.  I've gained about 15 pounds.  I'm 5'8" and my ideal weight is 145lbs.  I'm ok at 155lbs even.  Last week I was at 163lbs and that was too much for me.  I can't fit into my clothes any longer and I'm not about to buy a new wardrobe.  I just have to find something that works to start moving this knee again or my hip is going to pay for it later along with my waistline.  

The pain in my hip was excruciating after going on a "walk" with a friend recently.  She led me to believe we would be walking a loop that I assumed would be a mile or so and take us about an hour.   She suddenly announced that we could head back any time.  I was not excited about her lack of telling me she changed her mind about the route and ended up taking a 3 hour hike rather than a simple walk around a few blocks or so.  I could barely walk the rest of the day or the next day for that matter.  I took a bath in Epsom salts in order to extract the pain in my hip.  It worked and I'm back to being pain free.

I also know that if I keep walking past the hip pain, eventually I develop foot pain in my right foot to compensate for the left hip pain.  It's a chain reaction of uncomfortable movement.  And I know that as I get older it will become more prevalent in my daily movements.  Already I feel like it's hard to get up out of a seating position.  And that is purely because of my lack of exercise for the past 8 months.

Pain Relief For PVNS

Where is time going?  It all has blended together and I have found myself becoming sedentary.
I allowed myself to stop doing the routine things that were maintaining my knee from becoming prevalent with symptoms including pain.  I went from riding a bicycle 6+ miles several times a week and yoga daily to nothing. 

I also have used a topical mix of frankensense and coconut oil infused with cannabis.  Whether it's woowoo or actually works, I'm convinced it does.  I haven't been as diligent to apply it daily.  I'm feeling all of the effects of my lack of motivation to care for my knee properly while there is a pandemic shutting down my normal routine.  

The bridge that gives my neighborhood of $100,000 access to downtown has crippled my mobility further.  Effectively shutting us off from being able to have easy access to the city.  The traffic isn't worth the commute.  The perfect storm of working from home, and not having easy access to my office, eliminates the routine of leaving the house on most days. 

My knee is feeling the effects of my lack of activity.  Recently I invested in exercise equipment to use at home.  A yoga studio space, a small trampoline, and a bicycle attachment that I can ride a stationary bicycle indoors.  The bicycle attachment is loud and vibrates the entire house.  I haven't quite got into a new routine with that.  And quite honestly there is so much political unrest that it is truly not safe to go anywhere.  There were a few dead bodies left on the beach a few miles from my house recently.  So I'm terrified to go on a real bicycle ride in the neighborhood.  I would be horrified if my bicycle broke while I'm miles from home.  Probably an irrational fear to carry, but since it has happened I can't deny that I worry it could happen again.  I've become a recluse.  It is what it is. 

I'm focused on giving my knee more care and attention so that I can stop thinking about amputation and what it would be like to have some cool 3D printed bionic leg replacement that had compartments for my stuff and LED screens that I could have cool designs on.  If I have to think about something about my knee, I want it to be epic.  That way I can stay consistent in my denial that I have anything wrong with me.  

I should also be able to shed the 10lbs I have gained since March if I can find a new routine.

Oh, what does all of this have to do with pain relief?  EXERCISE!  I know for a fact that if you do not keep moving your joint that is effected by PVNS, you will suffer.  I'm going to keep talking about this because it is so important.  I didn't realize how much time has passed since I last posted.  3 months has passed since I wrote something.  And it was also about how important the exercise is.  Try to do something daily.  Low impact of course.

Keep Moving!

With the closures of the gyms, parks, and general exercise that I'm used to, I have become less active.  I usually go to the gym between 3 to 5 days a week and ride a stationary bicycle or swim in the pool for at least 25 minutes on top of doing yoga for at least 20 minutes every day.  However, with the current COVID-19 Pandemic, my usual ways of exercising have gone away.  It's too cold to swim in the local waters and I am not ready to ride my bicycle because it needs a tune up and I don't want to risk it breaking down if I just jump on it after not riding it for over a year.  And it's generally scary to go outside.  It's full of folks that are not trying to cover their faces or congregating in groups.  There are also more criminals since the jails are letting people out early.  People scare me.

The immobility caught up with me and after working in my yard, not doing much other than mowing my lawn and pruning trees from the ground, my knee started swelling.  Out of nowhere it just started swelling up.   It didn't seem to stop and it became so painful I couldn't walk properly.  I spent about 3 days elevating and icing.  I spent 5 days in a compression sock.  Finally my leg works again but I wouldn't call it normal.

I have turned to eating foods that help with inflammation.  Salmon, olives, muscles, and shiitake mushrooms.   I probably need to omit more things like bread that I really have a hard time not eating those things.  It is giving me the comfort I need while I'm isolated.  I rather think it's my sugar addiction that is telling me that bread makes me feel better. 

I've tried to find more ways to stay active and most of all, move my knee.  I have considered buying a mechanism to turn my bicycle into a stationary bike at home but the expense can't be justified since it's springtime.  I'm also not excited about riding in the rain, I have not ventured out to ride until it stops raining.  I'm a wimp about the weather.   So, instead I am trying to stretch my knee more with my yoga poses and I have taken up the hula hoop.

Suspended Animation

During this amazing time in history with the worldwide pandemic of Covid-19 the world has had to embrace something resembling the slow living movement.  However, it rather does closely resemble a suspended animation of people living but not their normal lives.  A massive adjustment to live a new normal is being thrust upon humanity.  It is a time to learn to listen.  To be silent.  To adjust.  To change.  To adapt.

It has been a reminder for me to do everything slowly.  Enjoying each moment and finding the gratitude in the small things.  PVNS forced me into a slower lifestyle and I embraced it.  I took every opportunity to do things slower.  Eating, breathing, deciding, moving.  Everything.  It's exciting to find new things to practice doing slower.

I do feel there are more health benefits to living slower.  I don't suffer the same as other PVNS sufferers.  I do not live in pain. I have diffused PVNS in my right knee and I have a bit of swelling which I do assume to be attributed to the inflammation caused by not always eating the right things.  I do feel that the consciousness of being slow has even slowed down the return of my PVNS since my last surgery nearly 2 years ago. 

And although there is much suffering in the world currently, I find gratitude in the time I have to be slow.  I hope that during this difficult time, people find the gratitude in what they have in this life.  This is a wonderful time to reflect on what truly is important in life.  Despite things in the world not being wonderful at all.  I hope you find simple gratitude during any time of your life.

I'm In Control Of My PVNS

I finally got a post op appointment with my surgeon almost 2 years from my last surgery on April 9, 2018.  I was told after my surgery that I would be losing my insurance and that a post op appointment would cost me at least $500 out of pocket to see my surgeon who would just tell me what I already knew.  My swelling is still present, I need ice and compression.  Blah blah blah... Yep, ok doctor.   So I saved the money and still am not icing and compressing. 

I'm not on the diet I should be.  But.  I told the surgeon and the intake doctor that I seem to be having success with frankincense oil.  The intake doctor asked me what that was and tilted her head at me.  I was shocked she had never heard of it.  Wasn't it a big deal for some kings to give it to Jesus?   I had heard years ago that a few people had discovered that it had actually shrunk their tumors.  I started adding it to coconut oil and slathering it on.  The more I put it on the better I feel.  I told the surgeon that maybe it's mental like a placebo but it seems to be working.  And the proof is because I used it more between my last two surgeries than my first two.  He said he noticed there was significantly less diffused from the second surgery when I wasn't applying it at all.  And both surgeries were done in the same amount of time as the third,  one and a half years apart. 

There may be something to the frankincense.  I have also started adding it to CBD/THC infused coconut oil.  That seems to help with the pain too because I very rarely have pain.  I get a tight feeling and catching sometimes.  I find that happens when I'm not staying on top of applying it daily. 

Steps For Care

In the United States of America we have to have insurance to pay for our health care.  Or we pay out of pocket.  There is an interesting thing that happens when you don't have insurance, some providers (doctor offices) charge less.  Some don't.   If there is any federal or state assistance with healthcare, I have noticed a level of discrimination since the assisted insurance does not typically pay for the full bill.  And they use this as excuse to charge astronomical rates.  Most providers are charging around $500 for a visit.  $500 an hour is a pretty sweet deal.   But it depends of what kind of visit.  If you say a well check, that might be a $300 visit as opposed to a physical check which can jump to that $500 charge.

If a patient has insurance they must follow the steps to get the care they need unless they wait and go to the emergency room at a hospital.  And the insurance company can easily say, "Oh you went to the wrong hospital, we don't cover that one.  You will need to pay the bill yourself."  A tragedy many don't realize until after the mistake of using the "wrong" hospital for emergency care.

When the patient goes to their chosen primary doctor who typically works out of clinic they can determine the next step.  If there is imaging needed the doctor typically sends the patient to another location to get imaging.  If they need a specialist, that specialist could be 20 miles away.  Either way, it must start with the primary who might charge a minuscule co-pay for around $10, maybe $20.

The specialist office may take a bigger cut.  Co-pay of $45.  It all depends on the insurance.  Did I mention the deductible?  This all comes out of the patients pocket until the deductible is reached, which can be around $1000 or more.  This system is not necessarily the way all insurance companies run things since employers usually pitch in for their employees care and may have variations of different deductibles and co-pays for their insurance plans which may be modified to accommodate the employers who are allowing their employees to have a plan or choose a plan.

It is a cumbersome process.  A long cry from when doctors would pay house visits to the sick.  

CBD Revised

When I first started applying a topical CBD extract I used something I bought over the counter at a dispensary.   However, it did not indicate how much CBD was in the product.  Many products claiming to include CBD have been tested negative for any CBD so I'm now skeptical of anything that is sold by anyone not specifically dispensing cannabis products and without proper labeling.

I met a farmer who manufactures a Coconut Oil based product that includes CBD and THC.  I mix it with frankincense.  I have attempted to apply it to my knee at least once a day.  There are times when I feel like my PVNS is returning but then after applying my "knee sauce" I stop feeling the tightness, shooting pains, and difficulty bending the knee. 

I do believe from what my doctor told me that the CBD does have a benefit to reducing pain and Frankincense for keeping the PVNS from growing.  My last surgery was April 9, 2018 and so far I'm having no real issues other than walking poorly from overcompensation but I'm working on physical therapy to correct my gait.  

Next month I plan to get a follow up MRI to see what is really going on.