Yesterday I had an appointment with the knee doctor. He examined me knee, moved it around, said it seemed to be working fine. But my x-rays show a new area of arthritis along the right side, and he suspects this patch of arthritis is what’s causing the pain. That doesn’t mean that there’s not a deeper problem (such as a new tear in the meniscus), but he thinks we should treat the arthritis first and see how that goes. So he gave me a cortisone shot. He said any exercise that doesn’t cause pain is OK to do. I can exercise the knee at home or go to physical therapy, whichever I prefer. If my symptoms don’t improve within three weeks, I should call him so that we can set up an MRI.
Meanwhile, since the cortisone shot, my knee feels a little weird, but there’s less pain. I’m glad that it feels better, but I’m concerned that I’m only 51 and I’ve already reached the cortisone-shot stage. That doesn’t bode well for the future. But at least the shot seems to be working. Cortisone shots don’t work for everyone.