Oats Procedure
Hi, I just recently found this web site and decided to tell my story. I am a 43 year old former volunteer Emergency Medical Technician. In May of 1999, while working on the ambulance we were hit by a car while transporting a mother and newborn to the hospital. When the car hit the ambulance I was thrown forward forcefully. My knee took the brunt of that force. To this day the only thing I am grateful for is the fact that I did not injure the newborn who was about 5 minutes old at the time. Since the accident my life has changed drastically.
I've had one arthoscopy and two oats procedures on my left knee. I've had the gamut of prescription NSAIDS, Synsvisc and Hyalgan injections, countless steroid shots and thousands of hours of physical therapy. To date nothing has alleviated the pain in my left knee. To complicate matters, my right knee hurts just as much as my left knee. My last surgery was in April 2002. Prior to the surgery I was on crutches for months and now I have carpal tunnel syndrome on my right wrist. To top off everything, the way I walk has caused me to have lower back pain. I've had MRI's, X-rays and blood work.
The only relief I have from the pain is while I'm taking Oxycontin. I refuse to take anymore of that drug, because I'm afraid I will become addicted, so I now stay at home and try to deal with the pain as best as I can. I no longer work and have since lost my job. This is terribly cruel for someone who always wanted to work in the medical field and has always been a very active person. I even went to school to become a paramedic. Once I completed the year long course, I was told that I could never work in the field again.
At this point my OS and I are discussing knee replacement on my left knee and an Oats procedure on my right knee. Is there anyone out there who has had similar problems with their knees because of blunt force trauma? Please e-mail me with your comments. I would really like to know if there is any end in site to all this pain or am I doomed to suffer in this manner for the rest of my life?
From:
craftediva@hotmail.com
