Looking 4 personal experiences with "bone fusions"

[karenasue]

First off - I would definately get a 2nd and 3rd opinion. Never ever go with only one. Surgeons get paid to bill - the more they bill the more they get paid.

Orthopedics all have different resources/thoughts/options. Go with the one you feel most comfortable with.

I'm not sure if a bone fusion is what I"d call a bone graft or not. The first time I had a bone graft to help a crushed elbow with no bone left (only small pieces) fuse together I opted to go to a bone bank. It didn't take. So, I had another surgery using my own bone; a small chip or 2 taken from top of my hip. The area where the bone chip was taken hurt more and was a longer recovery than the surgery to put it in my elbow area.

That small area at the top of my hip is still numb; now 7-8 years later.

My boss is in China right now and had a tremendous shoulder pain start somehow someway. He's had 2 sessions of acupuncture in the past 3 days and says it feels better already. Should I ever have an ailment where I thought acupuncture would be a viable option I'd certainly try it.

[jrojeff]

Have you tried a Glucosamine sulfate supplement? I have a family member with bad knees and he swears by it. He has been able to put off total knee replacement for over a year now and walks with out pain.

[freeeye]

have high threshold of pain

This is obvious. You hang out with us

Figs is the person to ask the most questions of..
She's in a chair and she has the right attitude.

[Figs]

shortsassybc, the pain is what wears all of us down eventually. I've discovered that when I am the most exhausted from hurting is when I make the worst decisions. Probably because I don't really have the energy to focus the way that I should.

Would a knee unloading brace work to help with the pain? These are relatively new and I know a couple of people with them that swear by them.

Here's a link to an article that has a relatively understandable description:

http://osteoarthritis.about.com/od/knee ... _brace.htm

I try not to link to the medical journal articles. Mostly because the anatomy of the knee is complex and just understanding how all the "parts" fit together is necessary to really understand what they are writing about. Well, that and the fact that most of the people who write journal articles desperately need lessons in how to write complex ideas understandably from writers like Sarah.

I don't love being in a wheelchair. I do love the fact that it decreases some of my pain and allows me to spend my energy on stuff I love instead of having nothing left at the end of the day to actually live my life with. I save the few steps that I have for the stuff that can only be done with me upright and the wheelchair actually helps me have more steps than I would without it.

There is also an excellent blog post about the "spoon theory" of living with chronic pain. It mostly helps to explain to other people what it is like to live with chronic pain. Just living our normal lives takes much, much more energy when you have to deal with chronic pain too. Here's a link to the article:

http://www.butyoudontlooksick.com/artic ... serandino/

I wish I had better answers! Hope that medical science progresses enough that they can find something that works for you.

I generally keep an eye out for medical articles from Japan (they invented arthroscopic knee surgery) and Europe (better system for approving new surgeries) for my medical stuff. The totally profit driven medicine here in the USA tends to not always work the best for us patients.

[rabihorcada]

That spoon theory really hits home with me. Thanks for spreading that explanation as it gives me lots to think about.