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Friday
March 19, 2010 Since 1922 |
Would you believe we both got it?
By Wanda Orton
Contributor Published September 12, 2009 With my bandaged left leg on ice, propped up on a walker chair, I began to read Jim Finley's Tuesday column.
I had been to see my doctor that morning, trying to find out why the leg hurt like heck, all the time, day and night, boo hoo hoo. To paraphrase an old song, "Into each life some pain must fall...."
If I'd read Jim's column before going to the doctor, I might have been able to tell the doctor what was wrong before she told me.
When she informed me the problem is a Baker's Cyst, referring to a swelling behind my left knee, I could only ask, “What’s that?"
Truly, I had never heard of it before. "And why do they call it Baker's Cyst?" I prodded. "Is it because bakers have to stand a lot in the kitchen and therefore develop knee problems?"
The M.D. thought I was kidding but I wasn't. I really did wonder about bakers and bum knees. Why not? There's such a thing as Housemaid's Knee, a title inspired by crawling on knees while scrubbing floors.
Anyway, back to Jim's column. He's in the press box at a football game when ... bam! The left knee started giving him terrible pain, but unlike this suffering columnist, he knew what was ailing him. Apparently, he's been there, done that before. Jim knew his ol' Baker's Cyst was acting up.
His granddaughter, Katie Erikson, is a nurse and she insisted on him seeing a doctor friend at her workplace, Texas Orthopedic Hospital. And he will – this coming week.
Nurse Katie even mentioned the possibility of the cyst being surgically removed.
My doctor, at least for the time being, will continue to put me on ice and Ace bandages. A Baker's Cyst can be caused by arthritis or previous injuries, she said.Because I've never injured my left leg and I have arthritis, the cause of my problem is obvious.
The M.D. will check me again in about a week and see if I’m making progress. A Baker's Cyst will sometimes just go away in a few weeks with treatment and without surgery, she said. I'd like that.
Meanwhile I will be reading up on everything I can find on the subject of Baker's Cysts so if anyone asks, "What's that?" I hope to be able to tell them. I'm not able yet to maneuver around library shelves without holding onto them for dear life – crippled that I am -- so my medical research has to be done at home on the Internet. One of the best, most reliable sources is the Mayo Clinic Web site. I mean, if you can't trust the Mayo Clinic, who can you trust?
According to the Mayo Clinic Web site, I would be a likely candidate for the P.R.I.C.E. treatment. Those are the steps in treatment, standing for “protection, rest, ice, compression and elevation.”
The Mayo medical experts advise us "to protect the leg by using crutches to take the weight off the knee joint and to allow pain-free walking. Rest your leg. Ice the inflamed area. Compress your knee with a wrap. And elevate your leg when possible, especially at night."
I can do that.
Say, I feel better already.
Wanda Orton is a retired managing editor of The Baytown Sun.
Contributor Published September 12, 2009 With my bandaged left leg on ice, propped up on a walker chair, I began to read Jim Finley's Tuesday column.
I had been to see my doctor that morning, trying to find out why the leg hurt like heck, all the time, day and night, boo hoo hoo. To paraphrase an old song, "Into each life some pain must fall...."
If I'd read Jim's column before going to the doctor, I might have been able to tell the doctor what was wrong before she told me.
When she informed me the problem is a Baker's Cyst, referring to a swelling behind my left knee, I could only ask, “What’s that?"
Truly, I had never heard of it before. "And why do they call it Baker's Cyst?" I prodded. "Is it because bakers have to stand a lot in the kitchen and therefore develop knee problems?"
The M.D. thought I was kidding but I wasn't. I really did wonder about bakers and bum knees. Why not? There's such a thing as Housemaid's Knee, a title inspired by crawling on knees while scrubbing floors.
Anyway, back to Jim's column. He's in the press box at a football game when ... bam! The left knee started giving him terrible pain, but unlike this suffering columnist, he knew what was ailing him. Apparently, he's been there, done that before. Jim knew his ol' Baker's Cyst was acting up.
His granddaughter, Katie Erikson, is a nurse and she insisted on him seeing a doctor friend at her workplace, Texas Orthopedic Hospital. And he will – this coming week.
Nurse Katie even mentioned the possibility of the cyst being surgically removed.
My doctor, at least for the time being, will continue to put me on ice and Ace bandages. A Baker's Cyst can be caused by arthritis or previous injuries, she said.Because I've never injured my left leg and I have arthritis, the cause of my problem is obvious.
The M.D. will check me again in about a week and see if I’m making progress. A Baker's Cyst will sometimes just go away in a few weeks with treatment and without surgery, she said. I'd like that.
Meanwhile I will be reading up on everything I can find on the subject of Baker's Cysts so if anyone asks, "What's that?" I hope to be able to tell them. I'm not able yet to maneuver around library shelves without holding onto them for dear life – crippled that I am -- so my medical research has to be done at home on the Internet. One of the best, most reliable sources is the Mayo Clinic Web site. I mean, if you can't trust the Mayo Clinic, who can you trust?
According to the Mayo Clinic Web site, I would be a likely candidate for the P.R.I.C.E. treatment. Those are the steps in treatment, standing for “protection, rest, ice, compression and elevation.”
The Mayo medical experts advise us "to protect the leg by using crutches to take the weight off the knee joint and to allow pain-free walking. Rest your leg. Ice the inflamed area. Compress your knee with a wrap. And elevate your leg when possible, especially at night."
I can do that.
Say, I feel better already.
Wanda Orton is a retired managing editor of The Baytown Sun.