Finally seeing a doctor about my leg tomorrow
 

I'm a bit disappointed...I wont get to see my regular doctor, Dr C1. He's totally booked today. :( and he's off tomorrow.

I have to see my second choice, Dr C2. (they have the same first name, Chris, and their last names both begin with the letter C too)

I havent seen Dr. C2 since just before I got diagnosed with MS. He's the one who got me calmed down about the possibility. Told me a few stories about his grandmother having MS. So, getting to see him again isnt that big of a disappointment, he's almost as cool as Dr. C1.

I fell 2 weeks ago today, and even tho I can now bend my knee, it hurts a lot more than it did two weeks ago. My entire right leg is one big ache, and most of the pain is centered right at the top of my fibula. Last night I didnt fall asleep until well after 4am because it hurt so bad. (1 baclofen, 600mg of ibuprofen and two tylenol didnt seem to help.)

This morning, I've had my knee feel like it's a lot unstable and the kneecap keeps feeling like it wants to slide off...and it's still hurting this morning. Last few mornings, it didnt feel too sore in the mornings, waited till evening to start really hurting.

This almost feels like the same kind of pain I felt when I broke both my arms when I was younger (not at the same time, thank goodness)

I dont think I broke anything, maybe I cracked something, but I dont think I fractured anything in my knee all the way thru. I also could have torn a ligament or something...I just want to have a doctor tell me if I did more damage than I thought I did when I first fell.

I'm just tired from the pain keeping me awake at night. I think it's aggravating some spasticity. I just want to make sure that's all it is. I guess they'll do an xray or two tomorrow. Hopefully there's nothing cracked or torn or knocked loose in there.

Good luck with the doc. I hear you about the not sleeping and wondering if you actually hurt it, or if it's just hurting *because*.

My hip does that, has been really bugging me, and I know I didn't do anything to it. But the doc wrote up an order for an x ray just to be sure.

Hope you get good news. Let us know, okay?

ps - I'm making a chocolate run. Need anything?

I really hope nothing is seriously wrong! The doctor is probably going to give you a hard time because you didn't go to the er. Hopefully he will give you something stronger for the pain. Not sleeping stinks. Yikes! My thoughts are with you.

Good Luck, let us know how it goes. :Good-Luck:

Good luck to you tomorrow, Erin. Are you sure it's your Fibula and not your Tibia? Your Tibia is the bone in the front of your leg, and the Fibula is the bowed bone in the back of your lower leg. I do hope you get some sleep tonight.

All the best,
Chris

Good luck tomorrow, Erin. I really hope it's nothing serious :hug:

good luck erin. i hope the dr finds the problem.

i wonder if icing it might help.
do you have a cane you could use for balance?

That's the thing, I did go to the ER the night I hurt it. They took an Xray and said that it was just sprained/strained.

I can bend the knee now, but I've got some seriously not-fun-at-all pain radiating thru my leg to the point where I cant sleep at night now. I've been paying attention to where the pain seems to be coming from and figured out it's the fibula (was thinking tibia because I forgot which bone was which down there until I wikipedia-ed it today)

I either hurt the fibula or did something to the meniscus in the knee...I have a lot of similar symptoms to my aunt's knee, she has a torn meniscus and is grinding bone-on-bone now. (hope that's not the case with me)

It's hurt all day today, just as much as it was last night when it wouldnt let me sleep. I just want to make sure it's not damaged any worse than I thought it was when the ER let me go 2 weeks ago after xraying me.

yeah, I've got a cane I've been using when I go shopping just in case I get smacked in the back of the head with vertigo. (had serious vertigo issues last summer)

People always look at me weird when I'm walking around with a cane, because half the time I'm just carrying it, and not limping or anything. People dont realize canes are useful for more than just having a limp or something wrong with the legs. They're good for helping you keep your balance if you have vertigo problems or balance issues.

Knee's are notoriously dodgy blighters! i hope it is gradually improving/ As for the comments about the cane and peoples lack of understanding, you are right- but at least they don't amke an assumption about you being drunk etc. One of the others i met at the Ms society PT was having a tough time, she had previously been close to an olympic standard ice skater and now had MS. Unfortunately less than 4 yrs after dx, she had quite severe ataxia but she was trying to resist using a can or walker. She was really upset because she had fallen and people had just walked around her, commenting on how disgusting it was that she drink so much! she has now come to terms with using the walker and not only has it decreased her risk of falling but its like it has legitimised her unsteady gait- it not pleasant that people are so ill informed but it is the nature of human beings- very quick to make snap judgements

Erin - waiting to hear from you. Hope it went okay and you got some answers and help.

Kebsa - you are so right. While I am not so crazy about the way some people stare at me "Why do you need a cane? You're so young...." Better that than thinking I drove to the store after 6 martinis.

Little do they know the cane is hollow and that's where I hide the martinis... J/K.

:D

When I first got the optic neuritis, and I was waiting for it to go away, I hated to go shopping. Because I'd be walking down an aisle, minding my own business, and someone would walk past me on my blind side while I was trying to turn that direction to go somewhere. I'd usually get a snippy attitude from people, saying that I was rude and cutting them off or something. I'd explain that I was blind in one eye at the moment and did not see them.

Boy, could you see the disbelief in their eyes. I'd get a response like "yeah, right." and they'd storm off on their self-important and entitled way, cussing under their breath about how rude I was.

I got to the point where I just let them assume that I was a total bwitch and tried to ignore them. Altho, it's kind of hard when they ram into you with their shopping cart and dont offer so much as an "excuse me".

My dad had the same problem when he had cataracts in one of his eyes (he's actually had them in both eyes) Some woman in a WalMart that's kind of in a bad part of town went off on him because she thought he bumped into her because somehow that either made him a racist, or that he was trying to cop a feel or something (please, she was scary looking) He also got the "yeah right" response from the lady when he explained he was blind in one eye.

I guess, people are rude because they dont understand and dont know your situation, and apparently dont believe it when you tell them you've got some "invisible" symptom that only you can tell you have. They just assume you're drunk or stoned, or that you're a jerk. If you try to correct their assumption, they get all defensive and nasty about it.

I guess it's something we MSers (and people with similar problems from other diseases) will have to put up with occasionally. It'd be nice to get people to not make assumptions that we're all drunk and stumble bunny-ing our way down the sidewalk just to get in their way.

Oh yeah, edited to add: Got back from the doctor's office. Got an xray (it was normal) and a nice Rx for some physical therapy. (I cant afford an MRI right now) Hopefully the PT will help the knee and I wont have to go for an MRI. I hate MRI's anyways, so anything to keep out from under the big, scary, noisy magnet...

Good luck ar rhe docs!

yeah, referred pain is quite interesting at times. I have low back pain, and it causes my hips to hurt (according to my neuro and my regular doctor) Right now I want to scream because it hurts...so the bad back, sore hips are not doing my newly worse knee (it was already bad when I hurt it)

Tonight I did something interesting. I was sitting on my bed, and I noticed my kneecap had slipped over to the side of my knee. (eww!) Not all the way over, but partially off the side of my knee. My kneecaps have always been floaters, but I've never had a kneecap float quite that far before. I think I'll be calling the PT place as soon as I get up in the morning.

I'm actually kind of excited about the PT, maybe they can suggest some good stretches for my back and hips that will help that pain go bye bye while they're helping me with my knee.

Hi Erin
I've been following (lurking) your trials with you injury. Having hurt myself recently. I'm with you about the PT. I'm going to take with me as much as I can to get the injuries healed and myself into better condition.

Sending wishes for the best recovery for you.

:hug: