arthritis

I forgot to follow up with the funky knee. Last week I skipped the orthopedic surgeon and headed to my rheumatologist. This ended up being a really great decision for a number of reasons. My rheumatologist is incredibly conservative and never overbooked. Every appointment is timely and we’ve never been rushed.

Dr. Rheum gave my knee a check and suspected that I might have a torn meniscus (just like Dr. Google suspected). What he made very clear was that small tears to the meniscus can be treated with physical therapy and that although the laser surgery is effective with a quick recovery you do lose volume with the meniscus and someone with Rheumatoid Arthritis (me) should be very careful about that. It should be a last resort. Before sending me off for an MRI he said to me, “Think of an orthopedic surgeon as a man with a hammer. Sometimes men with hammers think everything is a nail.”

So off I went to get my MRI. I immediately fell asleep in the machine (I know, weird) and just a day later the doctor called.

Good news! The meniscus isn’t torn. Bad news, there’s a half inch cyst resting on top of the fibula. Good news! They respond well to physical therapy and ultrasound. Even better news! There’s no sign of arthritis in the knee. This is the best news of all.

I took my script for physical therapy and called the place where Jane recently had such great treatment and the receptionist put me on hold. She then picked up the phone to put me on hold again. When she asked me to hold a third time I asked if I should call back later, “Oh yes.” She gushed, “Tomorrow would be great.”

So… can anyone recommend a great physical therapist who thinks that the minutia like answering your phone actually matters?