Good News

My last post painted a rather dire picture of the future.  All that has changed.  First, our driving trip to Las Vegas was such a success that we are now planning a driving trip to Denver and Phoenix in late September.  Ron had tons of energy, and although we used a wheel chair in the casino all the time, it worked well and was easy.  We discovered that driving and having all our equipment handy in the car to be much easier than flying and having to ship a walker, rent a wheel upon arrival, and deal with having to get into our kids cars, all SUV's.  We will solve all that with a driving trip, and we can't wait to go.

Second, I saw Dr. Bugbee last week.  He's the orthopedist who operated on my left knee four years ago.  After reviewing my x-rays he agreed that I did have osteoarthritis and if the pain was severe, surgery would be necessary, but he said that if I could control the pain with cortisone injections I should do that.  I had a cortisone shot in my right knee on June 4, and over seven weeks later, I am still pain free.  I feel fantastic and relieved that for now, there is no knee replacement in my future.  I can have a shot every three months if necessary, but I may be lucky and may go much longer without pain.  In any event, it reminds me NOT to jump to conclusions until I have all the facts.  I will keep playing pickleball, golf, walking and boogie boarding as long as my knees allow.