October 19, 2004

32 mL of fluid. This

32 mL of fluid. This is what my rheumatologist drained off my right knee today.

Tomorrow I get on a plane for Savannah, GA to attend my brother's wedding. My right knee had been on-again, off-again for the last week or so but this morning is was just too painful and swollen. I called my doctor’s office:

"This is Renee Nicholson. I hate to bother you, but I'm supposed to fly to Savannah, Georgia tomorrow for my brother's wedding and my knee is swelling. It's about the size of a grapefruit. I was calling to see if there is anything I can do or take to help with that."

I finished the call with my return number and hung up. I thought, "Wow, this is going to be something." Maybe I'd just have to lug my knee around town and limp about at the wedding. "Hi, I'm Renee, and I'm a little gimpy." At least it would be conversation.

Kathy, my doctor's nurse, called back and got me in for a 3 pm appointment. I love my doctor's office for this reason. They always seem to be able to help me in a pinch. I think this is something rare among doctor's offices.

When I got in the examination room, one look from my rheumatologist and we knew it was needle time.

"You haven't taken up any new hobbies like Roller Blading or Soccer, have you?" Dr. Hedrick always knows how to get a smile out of me even when he has to stick a needle in my joint and suck out the bad stuff.

Ironically, my friend Tim recently broke his collar bone and some ribs playing soccer. We had just talked about it earlier this morning.

Propped up on the exam table I pushed my pant leg up way over my knee (the joy of wide leg pants!). Under my knee, the nurse put a pillow with a towel taped over it. Then is the preparation for the needle to go into my knee – rusty colored stuff smeared on my skin, then clear stuff, then the stuff that is so freezing cold that it tickles.

The worst of it is when the needle first enters. I know that if I get past that part, the rest is down hill. But the fluid coming off is a weird mixture of pain and relief. As it comes off, it's like muscle soreness or stiffness or spasms but the joint eases and relaxes as the pressure is released. 32 mL is the most I've ever had drained.

After the fluid is drawn I get a quick injection of cortisone.

Considering the build up of the whole thing in my mind, it seems a little anticlimactic to only have a band-aid over the area where the needles poked into the joint. It seems like such a to-do when it is happening, but the evidence afterward is small. The relief, however, is fantastic. At first the knee is shaky and I have to watch the amount I do and just sit and relax a while. But then it is easier to move around, even easier to sit and relax.

Tomorrow I will get on a plan for Savannah as if none of this even happened. I hope my brother appreciates it though – his sister being mobile for his wedding. I've got a prescription of prednisone, just in case, and a shot of Enbrel in the morning (I'm so thankful for small, subcutaneous needles – how easy in comparison).

Anyway, I'll be on a mini-hiatus until I return from Savannah.

But, when I return, I'll let you know if I make it to the Clary Cafe of Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil fame!

Posted by renee | Filed under:

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