OCD Journey

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I have had knee pain since I was 10 years old.  I was told it was everything from "growing pains" to "Osgood-Schlatters" to (my favorite) "it's all in your head."  I quit playing soccer because I couldn't deal with the pain.  During my senior year of high-school, I finally could not walk or move my knee.  I was diagnosed with OCD of the lateral femoral condyle by a local doctor who had just gone to a conference about this rare condition.  I consider myself very lucky that she found it.

 

My mother, being a nurse, knew to do her research to find the best options.  I went to NYU Hospital for Joint Disease in New York City for treatment under Dr. Rose and Dr. Menche.  The fixation failed, as the bony fragment shattered.  My cartilage was harvested and I had an autologous chondrocyte transplant after Genzyme cloned my cartilage from the first surgery.  Each surgery was one year apart.  About 6 years later, I ended up with  knee arthroscopy, as the surgical site never healed properly and was flaking off into my joint.  

 

I promise, my whole story is not gloom and doom.  I have since become a physical therapist, in part because of my experience with this disease.  I feel my experience has helped me better relate to my patients, especially those with chronic pain.  I have the gift of being able to predict the weather (there's usually a two-day window where I feel the rain/snow).  I know I am biding my time until I am old enough to have a knee replacement.  However, I am able to squat, exercise (low impact only), and (most importantly) play with my 5 year-old son.  I consider myself very lucky that I was finally diagnosed and had a wonderful group of doctors who did the best they could with what they had.  I still have to visit the orthopedist every so often for a cortisone injection to quiet the beast, but I am one lucky lady.