Sunday, March 01, 2009
I am a very active 46 and have severe early osteoarthritis of the knee arising (viewed arthroscopically) from a sports injury, although little pain. My (well respected) orthopaedic surgeon tells me that I will need a replacement knee within 2 to 15 years, probably about 10, depending how much I am prepared to give up in terms of activities. Others, including another orthopaedic surgeon and several exeprienced physiotherapists tell me that such a prognosis is an excessively bold one to make. I realise that no-one has a crystal ball, that predicitions are very difficult to make but is there evidence, anecdotal or otherwise, to show that such a prognosis may be very wrong?
Hi Kate, I know I am a bit out of my depth here, not knowing very much about knees, but I will still comment!
Never, I mean NEVER believe a statement like that!
Just take it for what it is: based on this doctor's experience, this is what usually happens! It may, or it may not, work like that in your case.
Only, if you believe it will, probabilities are that it will! This is to do with the power of thought - I'm sure you've heard about the patient who was told he had cancer and 6 months to live - only, it was somebody else's diagnosis, the results having been mixed up - but after six months this person, later shown to have been in perfectly good health, just died. Only because he believed what he had been told. It is not just a story - it really happened, and not just once!
I myself was wrongly diagnosed with inflamed muscle attachments 16 years ago, and told I would have to live with the pain for the rest of my life. I was thought to be too young for osteoarthritis (only 40), which it really was, and was considered something of a hypochondriac, when trying to find out more. Finally, I accepted what I was told and settled down to a miserable life (the dumbest thing I ever did), until last spring, when I finally was correctly diagnosed. I am now happily operated, two hip replacements, which were necessary in my case, as it was so advanced, but might not have been necessary, had I had the correct diagnosis much earlier.
I wrote about this in my book, "Hips Attached!" (obtainable through lulu.com), which somehow acted as therapy for me.
My advice to you is: try to find out as much as you can, then apply it to your case. We are all individuals, and neither we ourselves, or our illnesses are exactly the same or benefit from the exact same treatment. Our bodies and minds are different, the problems with our joints are different, and our situations are different. We should all be aware of that, but most often, we are not. And medicine is not. Or rather, medicine is an approximative science, based on probabilities and generalisations, not the exact science we are led to believe. This automatically means there is always room for interpretation.
Who hasn't heard about people waking up from comas after many years, after doctors have pronounced their case as permanent? This only shows it can be very difficult to make this kind of prediction, and maybe doctors should be a bit more careful, doing so. AND to show we should never take this kind of prediction as gospel!
Keep searching and keep an open mind!
Madeleine