I knew Liza Jane, and Cathie,
I knew in the beginning that I had the silicone. But there was NO way to get rid of it. The knees are now part of the bone. I probably also have silicone in one finger where they did a joint replacement years ago. I was told it was a "rubber" sleeve. I also had a hernia repair done 30 years ago. The hernia was in the C-section scar that I have. They put "plastic" mesh in it to hold it. So I'm probably full of the stuff. I just knew I had no way to get rid of the foreign material. If I had the knees removed, I'd have fused legs with no way to bend my knees. The finger would not be so much of a problem. But the knees simply can't be removed once they have grown into the bone.

I never knew there was this problem before the knees were done and I had no choice about the replacements. I was walking on horribly swollen, red and painful knees. On crutches much of the time, in bad pain all of the time. Emergency room trips frequently to drain the knees.

I had no choice. But I know now that I simply traded one type of pain for another. This would likely not have happened if I had not had the autoimmune problems before. Autoimmune issues in the body are very tricky things. They make the body reject anything that is foreign. But I never knew this.

I hope by posting this it will allert someone else of my problem.

I am sorry Liza Jane, that I never conceded that this was an issue. I wasn't as smart then as I am now. Many hours spent at a computer on medical issues since then. But at the time I also knew there was nothing I could do about it.

Billye