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Hi OP, sounds like you had a job end with little time to gradually accustom yourself to the idea of retirement! Many of us thought and planned for a long time, and while you have some good plans for the broad outline of a retirement life, now you need to fill in the details. Others have suggested volunteer work or a new hobby. Perhaps you could make a list of the things you miss most about working. Socialization? Feeling needed and useful? Accomplishment in completing a tough job? Public recognition? Personal development? Then once you have a handle on what's missing in your life, you can asssess what are the best ways to get that back, including volunteer work or a hobby. How will your physical limitations impact your choices? Perhaps you might want to delay, relax and mull over your options for a year if a knee replacement is in your near future. Your options might expand and change if your knee issue is resolved.
You sound a bit stunned and bewildered at the changes in your life. Give yourself time to adjust, to explore, to come to terms. This might be a time to go gentle.
One last suggestion - many of us do spend more time on our own once we are retired. Sort out whether you are confusing aloneness with boredom. Finding yourself happy, content and pleased with your own company can be one of the great developments in retirement.
I have new onset of Osteoarthritis in my L knee. My knee is always painful, and I've been using a cane to get around. Stairs are difficult. Per the MRI, my miniscus and other ligaments are not torn; and my knee problems do not indicate surgery is needed. My doctor gave me percocet and a cortizone shot and it hasn't helped the pain.
Last Thursday, in desperation, I decided to try Osteo Biflex--Triple Strength. So far, I have short periods where the pain is minimal. Has anyone tried Osteo Biflex; what were your results?
No orthopedic surgeon is going to do a knee replacement on a knee that still has cartilage unless there's some other issue.
Opioids are not effective for knee pain. And (IMO) your doctor should have held off on the cortisone shot; you can only get so many so you want to save the cortisone shots for when the pain is much worse.
What you need is physical therapy to strengthen the muscles around the knee. Go back to your doctor and tell him to prescribe it. Once you've started PT, do the home exercises. Knee pain is not something you can just take a pill for. It requires a multi-prong approach.
My left knee is pretty messed up. I have a torn meniscus, trochlear groove damage, a popliteal cyst, chrondromalacia and a bunch of other stuff. My left knee is pain-free. I have no pain because instead of taking "supps" I follow the recommendations of the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons:
1. Rest. Get lots of rest.
2. Lose weight if you're overweight.
3. Use either ice or heat on your knee. Heat works for me, so I take a long soak in the Jacuzzi every night.
4. Use acetaminophen or an NSAID. I take one Advil twice a day for inflammation.
5. Physical therapy, both with a therapist and at home. Strengthens the muscle around the knee and makes the tissue more supple.
You've admitted you have all the time in the world. There's no reason why you can't follow this regimen or one similar instead of sitting around feeling sorry for yourself.
Sheesh, how many people wished we had your problems!
So because she has money and was also able to retire early (though forced), she is not supposed to have other life problems?
Having a lot of money and being able to retire early are extraordinary things of good fortune, yes.
(unless one really enjoys one's job, and depends on the job for social interaction, personal satisfaction, and a sense of purpose & accomplishment)
But a couple of other problems are bothering the OP - social isolation and lack of physical mobility.
Social isolation is not as easily solved at all as some believe who glibly suggest Meet-up groups, a book club, and a photography club (suggested & repeated over & over & over) for examples. Sometimes Meet-up groups do not pan out in one's geographic area and for lots of different reasons, and a book club or photography club (or other clubs that interest a person) might not exist in one's area or might not have a compatible group of people. And not everyone feels comfortable attending church to meet people.
A world cruise might be okay. Not sure. If it's the same group of people for the entire world cruise - not sure. Plus how much of each town & city does one really experience? I'm not into cruises at all - they seem awful to me - but maybe a world cruise takes on different positive attributes.
Last edited by matisse12; 06-12-2017 at 10:27 PM..
Here's my situation:
I find my self with a nice 3 story townhome too big for me that is mortgage free (worth 420K), filled with my possessions and collections I love, and few friends. I have saved 1.5 mill in retirement and non retirement savings. I traveled extensively internationally on vacation from July to February, and now I have nothing to do. In February, I developed L. Knee pain which has worsened into painful osteoarthritis. I now limp and sometimes need a cane to walk.
A 3-level house is not exactly the ideal home for someone with knee problems.
Fix one or the other, or both.
"No orthopedic surgeon is going to do a knee replacement on a knee that still has cartilage unless there's some other issue."
I don't think that is completely accurate. One can still have some cartilage left and get knee replacement surgery - especially if there is intense pain and lack of mobility - and especially if it is osteoarthritis.
"No orthopedic surgeon is going to do a knee replacement on a knee that still has cartilage unless there's some other issue."
I don't think that is completely accurate. One can still have some cartilage left and get knee replacement surgery - especially if there is intense pain and lack of mobility - and especially if it is osteoarthritis.
Well, that's what my orthopod told me.
Given that surgeons like to do surgery, he seemed remarkably uninterested in slicing me open.
Given that surgeons like to do surgery, he seemed remarkably uninterested in slicing me open.
I agree with you. I work in VA healthcare and the protocol here for knee pain is first the patient is evaluated by their primary care provider. The PCP orders x-rays, NSAID medications if the patient can take them, then a referral is made for a course of PT to further address pain and mobility issues. If the patient fails PT and NSAID pain management then at that point the orthopedic surgeon will see them. The orthopedic surgeon usually first offers a cortisone injection or a series of Synvisc injections which action is to lubricate the joint to improve mobility and reduce pain. If this all fails, and depending on the condition of the knee joint then surgery is discussed.
Age 58 is on the young side for consideration for knee replacement surgery because artificial knee joints do not last forever, so the younger the person is when they have the surgery done there is a good chance a 2nd replacement will need to be done over the course of their lives. With so many moving parts in the knee and these parts age like the rest of the body, for this reason a 2nd replacement done 20 years later may not be as successful as the original one done at an earlier age and the patient can end up in worse shape than they were previously.
You do not use the word 'cartilage' in your post, Nightengale212. I do not disagree with anything you said in your post #28. But you do not mention how much cartilage is remaining in the knee of the patients, as shown in x-rays.
When cartilage is significantly gone, all the physical therapy and NSAID's (ibuprofen) in the world are not going to help much, if at all.
And just because patients at the Veteran's Administration medical facility do not get to see an orthopedic surgeon at first, that does not apply to all of us who are not veterans and do not go to the VA. We get to see an orthopedic surgeon right away.
All of us with severe knee pain due to osteoarthritis (which means a significant lack of cartilage in the knee) - not due to a torn meniscus and not due to any type of tear in the knee - have all mostly had cortisone and Synvisc injections. They stop working after a while or work briefly.
As an aside, not related to osteoarthritis, studies have shown if a person has just a meniscus tear or other type of tear in the knee, letting it alone will very often have the same outcome as surgery to repair the tear. (repairing the tear, not knee replacement) That does not mean that surgery to repair the tear is not sometimes necessary or warranted with a torn meniscus; it depends on the degree of the tear.
As for FluffytheWonderCat, you describe having a torn meniscus & a cyst etc, rather than having a severe loss of cartilage.....if that's the case, your situation would not warrant a knee replacement. Severe lack of cartilage is what warrants a knee replacement. And a torn meniscus does not always warrant surgery to repair the tear.
The OP has osteoarthritis pain in her knee, not a torn meniscus. (from what she said)
Last edited by matisse12; 06-13-2017 at 03:32 AM..
STOP feeling sorry for yourself, and get the knee fixed. Get off your "pity pot".
I am 53, have been on Social Security Disability for 13 years, and have returned to work part time {24 hours per week}, quite frankly because I DON'T have your kind of money and need to work.
I have several medical conditions {23 to be exact}, am a walking pharmacy {18 medications to run this body}, and have had 20 surgeries to fix things on/in my body. I have a mental illness, not just "down in the dumps" like you are. I will have the 21st surgery this fall. And, I doubt it will be my last. I get around with a cane ALL the time, wear a knee brace, a back brace and have had handicapped license plates and the hang tag for 8 years. I have degenerative disc disease, a degenerating spine, severe arthritis in EVERY bone/joint in my body, have a tear in the labral lining of the socket of my hip, the ligaments in my right knee are torn {not bad enough for surgery, but bad enough some days I cannot walk on it}, am bi-polar with S.A.D. {Seasonal Affective Disorder}, just to name a few.
I've had my stomach/esophagus repaired, a double inguinal hernia repair, I have screws/pins and plates in my neck and spine, both shoulders fixed, both wrists fixed, my gallbladder had to go, leaving me with pancreatitis, am diabetic, just to name a few.
I cannot travel the world, I can barely walk the grocery store sometimes. AND I don't have your kind of money, I have spent all my retirement and savings on medical co-pays.
I have been as low as HOMELESS when I had severe medical issues and had gone through all my retirement and couldn't work. I've been on welfare after that while applying for SSDI 3 times, being denied a total of 5 times, before I saw the Administrative Law Judge, who had an 8" thick file of my medical conditions all amassed for him. it was only then I got approved.
I have be burned out of house and home do to electrical fire, losing all my possessions, and have been "home invaded" {they break in while you are home, threaten you with knife or gun and beat you over the head and steal your valuables!}.
I have returned to work, because my SSDI no longer pays the bills, and I have some working years left. I work every other day and need to day off in between to recouperate from working the 8 hours the day before.
I am in CONSTANT pain, whether sitting, standing, walking or lying down. Some days it is to greater degree, some to lesser degree. I have narcotic prescriptions, get epidural injections and radio frequency ablation every 8 weeks to HELP, but not eliminate, the pain. Rain, and cold wet snowy days I am in agony, with little relief. Because I am NOT 65 yet, I cannot get help with Snow shoveling and lawn cutting, so I must do it.
So, Baby, stop being a baby and get out and join some senior's groups, take a senior's vacation.
And YES, sell the contents you don't want , even the collections you favor as you are a slave to those "things", and downsize to a nice small condo, where all is taken care of for you. OR two condos, one in Canada, and one in AZ.
DO get your knee replaced, in the USA if need be, you can afford to pay outright for it if need be, or with citizenship you should be able to buy health insurance here.
Do travel some, you, after the sale of your home, will easily have about $2 million dollars.
I only could wish I had THAT sort of money, even at age 70! But, for me it is too late, I will have to struggle, try to save and invest well to try to add to my SS, which is why I am working now.
Best of luck, but really, you have $$$ in the bank, a nice valuable home, have world traveled, and seems to me, except for a bum knee and some self-imposed depression, are really VERY WELL off.
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My knee is always painful, and I've been using a cane to get around. Stairs are difficult. Per the MRI, my miniscus and other ligaments are not torn; and my knee problems do not indicate surgery is needed. My doctor gave me percocet and a cortizone shot and it hasn't helped the pain.
