Oh no, what a drag, hope you improve soon! Aging sucks, but not much we can do about it, it seems, lol.

My doctor isn't pushing for surgery. I want to avoid it too. We decided to give the 3 injections some time to work. So I have nothing to lose my tripling my dose of Glucosamine MSM and Chondroitin today and will give it a try. She is fine with that suggestion too. Thanks again for the advice. -charley

Charley, it's always great to hear from you, and with luck, I'll be able to sneak away from the Florida Keys next March and stop by for a visit on my way home. Do you still live at the same place and do you still have the same telephone number?

Gary

UPDATE: I've been to two orthopedic surgeons, and a GP, all of whom said "I do not recommend surgery. The bone spur is actually part of the tendon at this point and inoperable. If they were to try to remove the bone spur, there's a good chance that the tendon would end up being severed and there is no viable method of reattaching the tendon to the tibia. This would result in the total loss of use of my left leg. All three physicians said it's just something I'll have to learn to live with. Guess I'll mix up a fresh batch of Green Coconut Margarettas.

And if the day couldn't be any worse, I had to stop at the dentist on the way home, he ended up doing a root canal on an abscessed tooth, which broke off at the gum line just as the procedure was being finished. So, another procedure in in the works, a post and crown, which goes for about $1,000.

Gettin' old sure ain't fer whimps and sissies,

Gary

Gary get that boat in the water and go south young man and dont look back Hurry!

Well folks will tell you to cheer up, things could be worse, but I cheered up and sure enough, things got worse. Bah! Humbug! ;-)

Bill G

Gary - best of luck with the knee. Since a few people mentioned injections; I had put a separate note about my recent dealings with a pinched nerve in my neck (C7) which is affecting my left arm and hand. I just had a 1st injection; too early to know whether it's going to help. They are not pushing for surgery, unless other things don't work or help ...

Hope you can get your knee problem(s) resolved without having to go all the way to the surgical side of things - then again, maybe in some cases, that is the only answer to a literal, physical problem, if it can be surgically "fixed" or removed ...

Jim

Jim, because it's not a joint related issue, those injections will do no good whatsoever, and all three docs said they could make things a lot worse. They all said to avoid the injections, regardless of what anyone else may say. Knowing what I know about steroids and their nasty side effects, I think I'll heed their advice.

Surgical removal is out of the question. It is much too risky - Margarettas are the best medicine at this point. The doc I saw today said to be careful when walking and spend more time sailing than working. Yeah, right! Sure wish I could, but not yet. Got too damned many jobs on the books, as usual, but that will all change in 2015.

Gary

Jim,

Good luck with the injections. I've had (2) lamina surgeries, both with your symptoms. Nothing worked until they cleared the nerve. They should be able to tell from the MRI that's it's pinched. No injection is going to undo that - but I'm not a doctor.

Everybody take two aspirin, go to bed, and call me in the morning.