Not doing the Cortizone Injection

A few weeks ago I mentioned that I'm supposed to get a cortizone injection in my left hip at VA. It was supposed to happen on the 15th of this month. BUT my old lungs (COPD) decided to flare up and I ended up back in the hospital last Saturday (week ago) and on Monday I decided to have some chest pain that was followed by a heart cath & them putting me on blood thinners again so that wiped out the injection till I'm off the thinner. In talking with the Dr. (she's a cutie too)she tells me, the same that a lot of you guys did, that the injection is only a mask for the pain at best and she feels that in 6 months get me off the thinners and do the replacement. Dog Gone it this getting old sure isn't what I envisioned when I was younger. I thought it would be golf, vacations, and a lot of relaxation. Shoot, I never was any good at golf , didn't really enjoy the vacation that we took and never learned how to relax anyway LOL. Keith

Too many fellows our age have worked their bodies hard their entire life. Now we are getting older that wear and tear is starting to show. Not too many deck jockeys have the troubles that many of us have.

But You know, we'd never have it any other way, the satisfaction of work is all most of us know, we're just too independent LOL

Well, desk jockeys have a different set of miseries, they endure it daily while chained to a desk.

Hello all! I am in my eighties and have had a pretty healthy life until the last month. No real big problems, just those minor dings that interfere with normal activities. JD, I did those hard work jobs and those ones where I just used my brain and I do not think anyone of those occupations brought on poor health. In my opinion the biggest indicator of future health and longevity is genetics. If your parents lived long healthy lives then you will have a better chance of the same results.

Just be thankful for modern health care and those who choose to spend their lives healing others. Keith, be thankful that your Doctor chose medicine and not a career as a show girl. Just saying.

I have no desire at all to play golf. Never have. I like where I live. Yes it gets cold in the winter, and right now we are getting snow, but going south for the winter is not appealing in the least bit. I'll just stay right here where my toys are, and try to work on some kind of a constructive project every day. I work until I'm tired, or start to hurt, and then call it a day. Tomorrow is another day, and if tomorrow never comes, it doesn't matter.

I agree, sound like a bowl of rice crispies getting in and out of car.

Desk jockeys develop physiological problems that usually require life-time medication. The side effects that go with it never go away either. After decades of inactivity, they lose the ability to do much of anything athletic/physical. Not many of them are able to tolerate the time and pain it takes to "get back in shape" and their hearts and lungs are usually the primary limiting factors. There are no guarantees, but joint replacement after a lifetime of hard work will usually do a world of good.

The good news is you still noticed the Dr. was a cutie.
Good luck with your health problems. I can also testify that its tuff getting old. We gotta keep moving forward though and do the best we can with what we got to work with.

"the satisfaction of work is all most of us know".

That is my golf and vacation and cruises and all that. A Saturday morning fishing trip was always fun. Made one trip to Jamaica for a week and hated it. When the kids were growing up for vacations we went to "grannies" who had a place on a big lake. We were into water related things then and that was a lot of fun but otherwise........

I agree on genetics. Folks with heavy Arthritis in the genes have it tough. My family was lucky, but others around me have it really bad, not just the pain but the deformations and all. Heart problems follow that line too.

One thing I think we failed to realize over the period of our lives was our treatment of our joints. I did the company thing during the days and farmed at other times over the last 40 years and both had their problems. One of my worst instances was my left knee gave out from getting into a sedan improperly....you open the door, pivoting on the ball of your left foot, you swing your right leg into the car as you are squatting so that your head will clear the door sill as you are bending your left knee while turning to the left on the ball of your left foot....... I got an Orthopedic Surgeon to give me one "replacement cartilage" joint injection which together with getting rid of the sedan and getting a truck to enter (no stooping and twisting) solved my problem.

My sweetie got her bad left hip and leg from kicking square bales up and onto a hay wagon (she's 5'2) plus her bad Arthritis in her hands and feet. The magnets and copper have helped that a lot......they work!

Sorry about all your going thru. If you can get the hip replacements you need to go with it. Mom had both hips replaced at 88 years old and she is now 100, almost 101 and gets around better than I do.

Sorry to hear of your troubles. Im nearly 40 now and Im starting to learn the meaning behind the statement "Youth is wasted on the young"!

Hey Kieth, I guess you weren't feeling well when you went in the clinic and then took a turn for the nurse! ha!
Ed Will Oliver BC

Like I tell people who ask, retirement is great, getting older sucks. But, better than the alternative. Paul

My knees are bad, sciatica gave me real trouble all summer and fall. Messed up my pheasant hunting really bad. BUT, I can get up in the morning when I feel like it, drink a few cups of coffee, make breakfast if I feel like it. Take my handful of pills of course, but , I enjoy not having to go down to the shop, punch the clock, listen to everyone p and moaning all day. Not all bad.

GETTING old is good, but BEING old sucks. That's been my experience anyway.

That's the way I feel about it although I like going back now and then to see some of the guys, but mostly because I enjoy leaving when I want to.

I agree with your Dr. Was having trouble with my right knee and agreed to a cortizone shot. THAT ONE HURT and said never again. shortly after that they scoped my knee and found relief for 6 1/2 years. Dr. kept bugging me to get it replaced and here I am two weeks into recovery and will tell him to replace the second one as soon as possible.

you never know how a cortisone shot will work on you--had trouble with my left knee--doc took xrays and said i needed a replacement--elected to have a cortisone shot and have been pain free for 4 years now

I had one in an injured shoulder and it's been good for over 20 years.

(quoted from post at 08:34:26 02/08/17) I agree, sound like a bowl of rice crispies getting in and out of car.

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Well put! :lol:

Retirement is great, only wish I had retired the day I graduated college instead of working for 31 years before I retired.

Grand kids are great too, only wish I could have had grand kids without having kids. But that doesn't work.

I use to get cortizone shots in my wrist. After a couple times I started quizzing the Doc. more and he told me they give cortizone shots when they don't know what the problem is, and eventually the joint will break done. I quit the shots.