A year ago I had both knees replaced, and just in the last couple of months I have virtually no knee pain. For the ten years before the operation the pain was sometimes so excruciating that I couldn't walk at all. When I could walk, if I had to hurry, like crossing the street, the pain could be so acute and sudden that it sapped my strength altogether. There were times I fell flat on my face. And I kept getting more and more bow-legged as the joints deteriorated. I was so self-concious that I couldn't bring myself to wear shorts - even my teenaged kids made fun of me.

So what did I do? I got a job as a blackjack dealer, which meant I was on my feet about six hours a day. I lived on Vicodin and other pain killers for four years. It was very difficult, especially considering my alcoholic past, to keep the Vicodin under control, but I did it. For the last two years I also kept feeling pain in my right hip. So I'm thinking great - both knees and a hip going out on me. I'm fucking falling apart!

Anyway, I got the surgery, both knees, a year ago, and I've worked hard to bring my strength back. It's amazing how hard it is to come back from atrophy like that - takes a year at least. But the hip kept hurting, driving me crazy. Saw my knee doc and told him I was worried about my hip. He did a few mechanical things and informed me that jmy hip was ok - it was sciatica, and that it was caused in my lower back. I should see a spine guy, which I did, and he sent me to physical therapy. All kinds of stretching and ab strength stuff for a couple of months. Nothing helped. The pain was crazy.

So back to the spine guy, who injected my back with cortisone two days ago - that was really fucking weird and scary. The pain's still there, but he did say it would be at least a week before I noticed any relief. I'm hopeful but frankly I'm not expecting much.