Please Post Often

[losetocruise]

Originally Posted by cookiecate

Hi Khesan,
I take glucosamine and chondratine, fish oil, and green lipped mussel. I have read loads about glucosamine and it can only really work if it has cartlidge to build on. I take it not for my knees but the other joints, hopefully to prevent the total loss as I have with my knees.

As losetocruise points out every pound we lose reduces the strain by a whopping 40lbs so what you have done has really been great.

I know each week I feel better but my heart goes out to you many congratualtions on the weight you have lost. I bet you enjoy going to the supermarket which a great many people will take for granted and even complain about.

Good luck

I am embarrassed to say, but that was a typo. It is only 4 pounds of stress per one pound of loss.But still significant since 10 pound loss would really be 40 pounds of stress removed!

[cookiecate]

losetocruise, that is a bit of a relief actually cos if it had been 40lbs I should feel more pain free than I am. I still think as you say that it is still significant as that means I have 80lbs stress removed and that makes me very happy.

[khesan]

Thanks guys......That is very helpful about the glucosomine so if the cartlidge is gone which mine is and it is just bone on bone then I guess it will be a waste of money to take them. I forgot to mention earlier that I have morphine for when the pain gets too much but I try not to take them as they make me a bit dopy lol more then usual!
I know that this WOE is doing me good I am diabetic and so far have come off my insulin and have cut my meds in half my blood sugars are really excellent now and like I said before I can do little things now that before were impossable. Also I lost most of the weight by starving myself....yes I know lol and the last 6.5 thru atkins in 3 weeks.
There are a lot of people who are a lot worse off then me so I thank god everyday that I can do something to improve my health and I have that chance. I know that I can never go back to eating carbs like I was or I will have to go back on my insulin and all the other bad meds I was talking. It's a no brainer really.
Hugs

[cookiecate]

I have an appointment at the Orthopaedic Clinic on Monday 7th July. I don't know quite what I am hoping for. Maybe they will put me on there list for some new knees now I have started to lose weight. I was told I needed to lose about 10% which means I have another 8lbs to go. Two years ago I never thought it was possible to lose any weight at all. Thank goodness I started this WOE thank goodness.

[chinadoll]

I still have some cartilage in my knees, but my ortho guy has told me that arthritis is a sure thing. I do find that walking daily lessens my pain. Also I take the glucosamine/chondroitin daily. I didn't really believe it would work, but now if I forget it for several days in a row I notice the soreness coming back. So, I don't forget anymore! lol Also I think this WOE kind of acts as an anti-inflammatory diet. We aren't eating a lot of the processed stuff that causes our bodies to react negatively. At least I hope so.

[cookiecate]

Kept my appointment with the orthopaedic surgeon today. They x-rayed my knees again and said that the loss of weight had helped and that if I could promise to lose another 15lbs in three months then he will fit me with some new knees.

Now comes the worry. I have met people who this operation has not worked for. Complications have set in and sometimes the new joint doesn't make them walk any easier, one lady told me that the nerves in her leg had been trapped and her whole leg now felt numb and she didn't find it any easier to walk.

Another lady told me that she had several infections after the operation which made her so ill that she wished she had never had the op.

Anyway I am going to lose those 15lbs and see how I feel then.

[losetocruise]

Both my mom and mother in law had knee replacement surgery for both knees. their recovery was a world apart.

My mom went to a first class joint replacement center for the surgery. She had both done at the same time. she did the therapy faithfully and now walks fantastically with no pain. She also lost a lot of weight before the surgery, so the strain was off thenew joints berfore she started.

My mother in law had her surgery done in what I can only call a local band aid hospital. She felt till from flu after the first surgery and refused thereapy for several days. She did some therapy after the surgery but that knee has never been the way it should be. She had the second knee done, same hospital but did more comprehensive thereapy. That knee is much better but not like my moms.

I think thereapy is one of the key things, losing the weight first and picking a good hospital. neither had any problems with infection and I have known several other people who had this odne and swear it was the best thing they ever did.

I do know it is a difficult and painful surgery. But apparently well worth it.

[cookiecate]

That is excellent thank your for that. I totally agree and want to do it just like your mum, losing the weight before and doing the therapy after the operation.

I also believe it is easy to listen to people who did not work either before or after the procedure and blaming everything and everyone else for the failure to feel 100% as your mother obviously does.

Can I ask how old your mum is? They say that sixty is a little young to have knee replacements as they only last about 15 years so it is better until you are older.

[losetocruise]

My mom is 79 now, will be 80 this year. My mother in law is a year younger. But both had their surgeries around the age of 65. I understand the newer knees last longer, so they are not as restrictive about your age. My husband is 58 and is getting a new knee after Christmas due to a work injury coupled with Arthritis

[cookiecate]

Bless em both. I think a great deal depends on how you feel, and I am positive that new knees is what I need to make me feel better, there really isn't anything worse to make you feel bad about yourself than not being able to just get around normally. Thank you for your inspirational mums.