Severe degenerative osteoarthritis.

[bunnies]

My orthopedic Dr. says that I have the worst case he's ever seen in anyone under 60. Except for this one guy, from Cambodia, who had it as a result of infectious TB in his bones. My Dr. treats the un-treatable from around the world, so his experience is uniquely vast. That said, Im sure you can imagine I was shocked to hear that I was the "worst".

Im already at the point where I need a joint replaced. The cartilage is gone, the joint fluid has seeped into my bones and I have numerous cysts, bone spurs, edema, effusions, blah blah blah. Thing is... because Im only 40 (just turned in March) I'm not a candidate for joint replacement. Maybe if it were something common like a knee or a hip they would consider doing the surgery despite my age. But somehow, some way, I managed to get this in my elbow (needs replacing) and my wrist (not that bad yet).

Apparently there is one surgeon at Mass General who could perform a procedure that *might* help. My arm is pretty much stuck at a right angle at this point & I guess they can try to restore some range of motion. But, not having insurance or any money pretty much takes that option off the table. They just arent prepared to treat cases like mine, he says. Even *he* doesnt do that surgery.

So tomorrow I'm trying an injection of hyaluronic acid to see if it might help with the pain. Its not FDA approved for the elbow so he's able to give it to me as a "sample". It'll still cost me several hundred dollars for the appt. You know, Dr.s like that arent cheap. But they were nice enough to allow me to pay $20 a month forever. Although, considering that this OA has also destroyed both my forearm tendons, Im not feeling very hopeful about the injection. Maybe its because the thought of a needle into my joint isnt one that gives me happy thoughts.

Tomorrow I should also learn the results of my rheumetoid test. He thinks I probably have that or lupus or some other such thing as an underlying cause of the OA. sigh. One time, years ago, I woke up with a knuckle the size of a golf ball that was red & painful for no reason. It stayed like that for almost a year but I never saw a Dr. (no isurance). He says thats one of the symptoms.

Do any of you have any experience with this kind of thing? Or any aspect of my situation? I'm feeling kinda like I'm the only one in the world and its a pretty lonely place to be.

Any insight at all would be extremely helpful. Thanks all.