So before this Round began I had a niggling knee issue. The back of my left knee would swell and be tender and sore for no reason. I felt sometimes that bending my knee (for walking, stairs, sitting, standing up) could result in my knee giving way.
When I was a kid I had a set GP, he was seeing me since I was born and I saw him until I was about 20 when I moved out of the area, and also didn’t like his repeated suggestions of exercising more. Over the next 10 years I began to see a GP regularly then would move, get a new GP and start all over again. In hindsight I wish I had continued with my childhood GP so all my medical history could be in one place. Over time I found 2 GPs that I saw on a regular basis, one in Leichhardt which was always busy and up to 1.5 hours wait time some days, and the other in North Strathfield which was rarely longer than 30 min wait but was much further away.
When my knee began to hurt I saw me Gp who I will call Dr Know (because he had natural and knowledgable solutions for everything – even pressure points in the feet for migraines). I saw Dr Know and got referred for an xray & ultrasound. Neither showed anything! Curious and curiouser. My knee stopped being as tender and settled into just being randomly sore. I decided to continue with my 12WBT dreams and get into the program.
Round 3 began and I was doing my fitness tests for week 1 & then week 4 and trying to run laps at my local oval. The knee had settled down a little and was rarely throbbing – just uncomfortable so determined as I was I continued to train, and just had my boyfriend massage the knee at times and rub in Voltarin gel to alleviate the discomfort. When it began to play up again realised it would be better to avoid wait times and went back to North Strathfield Medical and saw my regular doctor there, who I will call Dr Funny. I like Dr Funny as he jokes and flirts with me and reassures me on the simplest and most cost effective ways to treat anything that ails me. He told me not to worry about my knee and that any diagnosis would be expensive, just to continue with my weight-loss & health journey and see a physiotherapist.
Around this time I was at work and my knee began to swell and become uncomfortable again. I saw a GP in the Hornsby area who I will call Dr Asshole (after moving recently I didn’t see my regular GP) who told me to lose weight and that I had arthritis in the knee… Now let me just be clear in saying that this doctor DID NOT EVEN LOOK AT/ TOUCH MY KNEE! He recommended a week of rest (no work) and weight loss (he didn’t weigh me either). After telling him he had given me the worst experience with a GP ever , I took the week of rest (using half my annual sick days) and began to feel a bit better.
I continued my search to track down the cause of my discomfort and did physio or massage when it was really inflamed. My boyfriend continued with the massage and Voltarin and I located a physiotherapist and began getting treatment. They were also at a loss for what it was. They gave me stretches and suggested seeing a Sports Physician, however when I contacted the one they referred he no longer took new patients.
So I put that on hold, using the physio to treat my pain and continued to train. When the throbbing next returned I traveled back to my old GP centre for advice – but instead of my regular GP -I saw a different GP in the centre – Dr Serious – and he reviewed by x-ray & ultrasound and referred me to get an MRI. He was knowledgable and inspired confidence – he may not be funny but he seemed effective. At $250 a pop I had a lot of hope to getting a diagnosis from this, although I saved up before getting it done.
I joined up at my local gym and got a PT that I am now seeing fortnightly but initially saw weekly. He set me up training on large muscle groups that would not aggravate my knee. Eventually I got the MRI scan and the results and went to the old GP office to get the results. Dr Serious who referred me for the MRi was not on that day so as I wanted to get the results on the weekend I opted to see my regular GP. Dr Funny read the diagnosis, and summarised that the report said I had Illiotibial Band Friction Syndrome, and that the results indicate a cortisone shot with dye would confirm the diagnosis as well as treat the issue. He then told me that it would be better to refer me to see a sports physician rather than going straight to cortisone/steroid shots.
Despite knowing Dr Funny can be a bit lax with the details, I trusted this and left with my referral. I had not thought to ask about how one would get cortisone shots or what would be involved, but instead felt reassured I had been given the best solution. Until I called to make an appointment and they advised it was $170-$200 as the sports physician is a specialist doctor. Dammit!! I called the doctors office to ask about the cortisone shot option but was advised to leave a message and they would get back to me. That was a week ago now.
It just goes to show that GPs can either be really good or really bad. My old favourite doctor, Dr Funny was cool – but ultimately not that helpful or good at outlining all possible options. He downplayed areas which were important for me to understand – and while seeing him was not unpleasant it resulted in needed several followups to get info not provided.
Dr Asshole is apparently renound in our area for being mean, rude and blunt with patients. I considered making a formal complaint to the advisory board, but in the end I just will never see him again. In fact this is why I still would rather drive 30 mins to my old GP office.
Dr Serious I have only seen that one time and I would be happy to continue seeing him if not for the 30 min drive and the fact that I would need to see Dr Funny while in the waiting room and risk offending him for no longer visiting.
Sigh the trials of being a patient.
Now I think I will get a local doctor, identify my options with treating/ further diagnosing the injury, going back to Physio now i have knowledge of the issue, and working with my PT to avoid aggravating it during training.
A 60 minute workout is only 4% of your day! No excuses!
82keystomymind 