Injection Update

Thought it was about time I gave you a little update on my Synvisc injections.

The good news?

I think they helped. They didn't make my knee stop hurting, but the hurt became bearable and I stopped limping. I adjusted my workout schedule so that I didn't run/walk two days in a row and I biked ... a lot ... in an effort to make my quads as strong as possible. Strong quads take pressure off my knees and that can't hurt.

They made my knee feel "full" ... as if there was too much fluid inside. And that fullness made it uncomfortable to keep my leg fully extended when I was sitting and made it all but impossible to lay on my stomach with my legs straight down. I have had to find a new way to sleep, too, in that I am no longer able to lay on my side, with my legs bent and "stacked" on top of the other. That right one is too full and it hurts to have touching the other one.

The bad news?

The Dean Clinic failed to send me to the "pre-qualification" desk before they gave me the series of three injections. So now we're battling over who is going to pay the $1500 for which they're billing me. My insurance is A-OK to pay, but they needed the pre-qual made. Dean, who has given me cortisone before with no pre-qual, didn't tell me these injections were very different animals.

I'm mad. They send me to the desk for the MRI. They send me to the desk when I have to make a PT appointment. But for whatever reason, they did not send me to the desk for these injections. As if I know the difference between this and Cortisone or a tetanus shot. I'm sure it will get worked out. It will just be a pain until then.

The next news?

I'm pretty confident that the injections are starting to "wear off" and I'm in need of another round. Which is why I'm anxious to get the insurance thing taken care of. Oh, and my PT said he was sure I wouldn't need a whole knee replacement, just a partial. I'm not sure he's the authority, but somehow a partial sounds better.