Same Subject, Different Day

[ladysprite]

Why is it that a man using a cane can look distinguished and sophisticated, while a woman using a cane just looks old?

I know, it's high time that I wrote about something other than my poor, abused knee in here. Unfortunately, I am rapidly learning that chronic discomfort, however mild, does an amazing job of keeping one from focusing on anything else for any significant length of time. This went a long way, for example, to making Arisia incredibly less pleasant than it would have been otherwise. I still managed to enjoy a few of the panels I was on, and I even sang in the filk room, all on my own (well, at the request of a good friend) - in that case, the discomfort actually helped distract me to keep the panic to a minimum - and got some decent social time with friends I don't see often enough, once the pain meds kicked in. Without the health problems, it would have been a spectacular con. As it was, though, I spent way too much effort trying to keep my crankiness and discomfort to a minimum.

According to the ER doctor I saw today after an icy driveway sent me slip-sliding from 'my knee is unhappy' to 'my knee hates me, the world, and any angle past ten degrees,' I have patellar tendonitis. This apparently has no cause, no signs beyond stern ouchiness, and no treatment but rest and horse-choking doses of pain meds. And since the first isn't an option, I am now hobbling around with a cane and with strict orders that, if I'm going to be obstinate enough to 1) continue to work and 2) live in a house with stairs, I can darn well spend every waking hour that's not at work on my butt with a heating pad wrapped around my leg. For the next week, at least.

This is not my idea of fun. In general, sitting still is not my idea of fun. Bopping around the kitchen and walking to the library and running up and down the stairs to get the seventeen random items I've forgotten at any point in time and playing DDR are much closer to fun than being sedentary could ever be. But since the next option, if rest and advil don't help, is crutches, prescription drugs, and an MRI, I'm doing my best to oblige.

I've been still for two and a half hours now, unless you count coming upstairs to use my computer. And wandering back and forth across the living room to double-check my schedule for tomorrow.

It's going to be a long week...

Comments

[janetmiles.livejournal.com]

Unfortunately, I am rapidly learning that chronic discomfort, however mild, does an amazing job of keeping one from focusing on anything else for any significant length of time.

Oh, heck yes. I'm sorry you're finding that out personally.

I hope your knee heals up as soon as it can.

[kitanzi.livejournal.com]

I know it sucks, and I know how chronic pain saps everything - but really, the doctor's not telling you that just to be a pain. I tried to ignore my shoulder for MONTHS, and even after talking to the doctor tried to change my life as little as possible. I wound up with surgery, after ten months of increasing chronic pain, for a bone spur that really could have been managed with therapy and rest if I had listened properly to the doctor and taken the rest and treatment properly instead of skimping and calling it good enough back when I had the chance. Honestly, you don't want to wind up going that route, and it could evolve that way. I know it sucks, I'm sure you hate it, you're much more active than I am, but imagine being completely unable to use it without severe pain. I'm not trying to preach, I'm just trying to advise from my own unfortunate experience, which I regret.

[wren13.livejournal.com]

You could make more 'hugs' - I am sitting in my unheated office quite comfortably wrapped in this wonderful warm confection of warm, thinking healing thoughts at you.

We must get together soon, preferably to do something sedentary (like gaming? Are you busy Saturday night?) Email me.

[jtdiii.livejournal.com]

Part of the problem is what you wear with the cane and the type of cane you use. Think Stylish men's wear for your clothing, in a pinch black slacks and a jacket. Then go shopping for a sexy cane, preferably something with an ornate ball in silver with a black shaft.

The other problem is how women walk with a cane. Make certain the cane is the right length or even a bit too long for you. Then pull your shoulders back and look at the world proudly while hobbling down the street. If you are hunched over you look like the stereotypical old woman. No one looks good hunched over and too many women's canes seem to do that. A cane that is the right length forces you to stand upright and assume good posture.

I have seen one woman pull off a cane with panache, she always dressed well and her posture was impecable. She also had an attitude that said no mater how much she might need the cane, the 1/2 ice spike in the end and her strong right arm would solve any dispute in her favor. :)

[ladyqkat.livejournal.com]

Having to use a cane myself, I agree with [Unknown site tag]. Make sure the cane is the correct height for you. If necessary, get one at a medical supply store that will assist you or make sure the pharmacy knows how to check with your height, arm length and stride. Yes, your stride is shortened when 'hobbling', but everyone has a different stride.

It seems easier to walk hunched over a cane, but it is really bad for both your posture and what is hurting. Goodspeed on healing.

[gmkieran.livejournal.com]

As it happens, I have two lovely canes almost perfectly matching the description above, though they are a deep mahogany, rather than black. Want me to ship you one? My uncle, from whom i inherited them, was slightly taller than you, so they'd probably come into the "a bit too long" category, but not much.

*hugs* Feel better soon, DrBeckyfriend!!!

[pagawne.livejournal.com]

Hugs and a cup of tea offered. Poor darling. Heal quickly.

[johnpalmer.livejournal.com]

One thing to consider is telling your doctor if you're willing to do physical therapy. Some doctors won't recommend it you don't ask. They just assume you want drugs and rest.

[wcg.livejournal.com]

Here's hoping you heal soon.

[leanne-opaskar.livejournal.com]

I recently had a bout of shoulder bursitis, and I think maybe mainlining glucosamine and chondroitin would help you out. It certainly helped me -- instead of the two-weeks-to-a-month recovery time, I was well within a week, and immediately back in goal! They're supposed to be very very good for repairing joints and other such damage. I also used MSM cream as a topical pain relief/muscle relaxant, and that worked well too, but that's more for muscle pain. I'm not sure how much it will help you, but it might be worth a shot, particularly if you've put a lot of stress on the surrounding muscles.

[starcat-jewel.livejournal.com]

Assuming that your first question wasn't rhetorical: for the same reason that grey hair on a man is "distinguished", while grey hair on a woman is "old and ugly". Cultural sexism leaves men with a much wider range of acceptable options for appearance -- you'll never see a woman as old as Sean Connery being widely hailed as "sexiest actor on screen"!

That said, jtdiii's comment about making sure your cane doesn't make you hunch over is also valid, both for health and appearance reasons.

I had to use a cane for several months after the Really Awful Wreck when I was in college. What I recall bothering me the most was the reduction in my ability to put on a burst of speed when necessary; I nearly got squashed when I stupidly tried to negotiate a gap in traffic that I would have been able to cross easily pre-wreck. At least I only made that error once!

[braider.livejournal.com]

I dunno. My great aunt who uses a cane looks distinguished. You know the wave-the-silver-handled-cane-and-keep-everybody-in-line type of great aunts? The ones with sparkling eyes and mischievous senses of humor? Yeah, that seems to be her.

[tafkad.livejournal.com]

1. Ow! ::hug::! Get well soon, I hope!

2. From "teenager with a vetinary degree" to "old woman". Bummer. Here's hoping you go back to the first one soon.

3. There are some really good temporary thermal wraps out there. They attach to the affected area with a mild adhesive, and you can walk around. For sedentary times, sure the heating pad will work, but at the office, you might as well have some of those handy. They've done wonders for my back, at times.

[keshwyn]

My sympathies. I'm going through the same thing, only I'm mostly recovered (it's taken me close to two months because I was Stupid About It), and my variant was "don't do anything interesting with your right hand." The ibuprofin really helped in my case (hopefully it's doing similar things with you) but mostly it was just not typing on weekends. :/

I hope you're able to stay off your knee as much as possible, so that it heals up quickly and you can go back to bouncing. (It doesn't seem quite like you without the bounce.)

[dagibbs.livejournal.com]

*big hugs*

It was wonderful to see you, and spend time with you at Arisia. It had been far too long. And thank you for the little bit of dancing you did manage, it was a great pleasure.

[ladymondegreen.livejournal.com]

I'm glad we got some time together at the convention. I'm sorry to hear that your knee is persisting in giving you pain.

As for ideas to keep you sitting still, how about trying to write? I love the way you put words together, and I look forward to your journal entries. See what comes to you. It might be a good way to keep off your knee.

*many hugs and a wish for a better cane*
LMG

[mindways]

...an icy driveway sent me slip-sliding from 'my knee is unhappy' to 'my knee hates me, the world, and any angle past ten degrees,...'

Yeowch. *wince* *big hugs*

[vettecat.livejournal.com]

Ah... my problem was tendonitis, too. Nasty stuff. You don't realize how much you use your knee until it starts hurting. But on the positive side, a steady regimen of Advil did help, once enough of it built up in my system. If you are able to pamper your knee for a while it should heal much more quickly. (I also developed a method of walking up and down stairs one stair at a time, not bending the sore knee, for several days. Felt like an idiot but I think not putting stress on it helped.)

[eclecticmagpie.livejournal.com]

Hey, kiddo.

One of the problems with our healthcare "system", aside from the fact that HMOs are a product of the antichristo (a false artist who wraps gigantic yellow ribbons around Central Park while singing country-western songs) is that there is a lot of balkanization. How this applies to you: go see a Physical Therapist. They may or may not be able to help you, but except under extreme conditions, an orthopaedist won't refer you to one.

I had a fairly good orthpaedist who referred me to a spinal surgeon for spinal surgery in response to some pain I was having in my neck -- the spinal surgeon referred me to a physiatrist (who, I believe, only works with neck and spine issues, not with shoulders or knees), who in turn prescribed PT. When I got to the PT, they worked on my knees and shoulders as well as my neck and spine.

Practicioners of Sports Medicine can also be helpful.

Good luck. I'm not familiar with the particular knee problem you have; my advice is on general principles.