hi I am new here

thanks Liz...I am seeing my ortho today and I can honestly say that I have been feeling better the past few days. But when I do alot of walking, it's not as easy.

We will probably be walking in paris instead of riding. I am finding that even the bike at the PT's bothers me.

I was diagnosed with chondromalacia about 6 weeks ago. Prior to that, I had some pain in the knees especially when getting up in the morning and getting up from sitting too long. I admit I thought it was just getting older and needing to lose a few pounds (I am not extremely overweight but could stand to lose a few) More pain than usual caused me to visit an ortho dr who gave me an injection of cortisone(which worked) and a scrip for PT. I have gone 1-2 times a week for about 5 weeks now. I do the exercises at home and really expected to feel much better than I do. Even with good sneakers and a knee wrap i still have pain when I walk. My question is for those who have been in this situation, how long does it take to really start feeling better? Going up and down the stairs doesn't hurt anymore but walking, especially on hard surfaces is a killer.
To top it off, I am going to Paris in 3 weeks and was looking forward to plenty of sightseeing which involves WALKING!!! My pt says I am stressing too much, that I will be fine. I will see my ortho dr before I go. I already asked her if she thought surgery was an option for me. She said she didn' t think I would need it. Now I am wondering about this. About 8 years ago the same ortho office treated me for a slight meniscal tear, vioxx and a knee wrap, no physical therapy. It took awhile but eventually I felt better, and forgot all about it.

Does anyone have any idea about what I am experiencing? Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.