The Magic Shot

Hello, hello! I finally had another follow-up appointment with Dr. Dye this morning. It was the first one in 6 weeks. My plan was to discuss my recent "break" from physical therapy and my current knee pain. He came in and said his usual, "OK, how are things?" I said, "Not so good." "Alright, talk to me," he said. I explained the shooting pain in my knee when I attempt a seated straight-leg lift. I also told him that my physical therapy isn't progressing since there is not much I can do without feeling pain at the front of my knee. Dr. Dye asked me to lie down on the exam table and did a few tests to check my knee/kneecap mobility and asked the usual, "Does this hurt? Does that hurt? Etc, etc." His conclusion was that I probably have a "frond" (think palm frond) of synovium that is catching and causing the pain. The synovial lining is quite sensitive with many nerve endings. I thought his diagnosis made sense since there have been times that my knee gets kind of stuck in one place, then something adjusts and I'm able to bend my leg properly. It's not exactly a pop, but something moves a bit to allow my knee more freedom of movement.

Dr. Dye's treatment was a steroid shot. Alex, my physical therapist, wondered if there was some latent inflammation in my knee that just needed a cortisone shot, or something along those lines, to finally calm down whatever was getting irritated. I was glad to hear Dr. Dye came up with her same thoughts without me telling him what she said. I'm not sure what kind of steroid he shot into my knee, but he said it should feel better by the weekend and could progress to further improvement over the next 2-3 weeks. Dr. Dye said some people with arthritis call this the "magic shot" and request it often since it makes their knees feel much better. The problem, he said, is that they go out and play tennis and hike, but don't realize they could be doing further damage their knees. Apparently, the steroid can soften the cartilage in the knee making the knee more susceptible to wear and tear. He told me not to go out an run a marathon. O... K... No problem!

So, how do I feel about all this? I'm learning to try my best to not think about it too much. Time will tell. Sure, I hope this shot will fix that extra-irritated spot under my knee cap and then I will be able to progress further in my healing. Alex said sometimes this type of shot just gives the knee the extra boost it needs to get better. I'm trying to stay positive, but at the same time, it feels a little like one additional last-ditch effort. I know from experience there is no "magic pill," or "shot" for that matter. Dr. Dye told me it's not uncommon for him to use this shot for his synovectomy patients so I'm not exceptionally worried that I may be in the low percentage of patients where the synovectomy didn't help. He did mention if a few tries at the steroid don't work, he may have to scope my knee again. Yikes... I cannot even fathom that idea right now. Dr. Dye only mentioned it in passing, so I'm going to let it go in one ear and out the other... There. It's gone.