[Gerri]

Hi Dixie,

Congratulations on passing your 5 year mark. Sounds like you have a lot going on affecting your QOL. Unfortunately, it seems as if it will take some time to resolve everything and in the meantime you need to find ways to get through the day without so much pain. I too do not do well with pain meds and have yet to find one that works for me without making me feel horrible. Maybe the various specialists could communicate with each other and come up with a solution for you.

I am not qualified to give you any advice, but thought I would share my experience with you. I was a bit overweight prior to my dx and gained an additional 30lbs with treatment. After I was done with everything I decided to join Weight Watchers and with a lot of hard work dropped 65lbs. Even with the weight loss, my knees were causing me more and more pain, making it difficult to walk. Turns out I was 'bone on bone' in both knees with significant arthritis. Fortunately, I was ahead of the game with my weight loss so I was able to have knee replacement surgery done without too much delay. I had my right knee replaced in April of 2011, and my left knee six months later. I am thrilled to report that my knees feel great and the pain is completely gone. These were not easy surgeries and the recovery time was longer than I anticipated it would be. Physical therapy is grueling, but I truly believe I would not have recovered as nicely as I have without it. I am thrilled with the results, and for me, it was definitely worth it. I also had a shoulder issue (prior to my knee surgeries) that was resolved with PT. I doubt that my issues were caused by my bc treatment because my knees had been giving me problems for years prior to my dx.

I wish you luck in finding a solution for all the pain you are in. Hopefully, one (or all) of your specialists will find pain meds that work for you. You may even want to inquire about PT and/or acupuncture to see if you can get some relief without drugs since you have such an adverse reaction to pain meds. Keep working on the weight loss, it will help you in more ways than you can imagine.

Take good care,