hi hello i have recently diagnosed osteoarthritis & I'm about to have meniscus repair surgery & have been told to 'expect a knee replacement inside of ten years'
how do you manage the social expectations tied up with it? so many people have told me I'm too young for surgery and should get a second opinion. how do you convince people that surgery is necessary and vital, even at a young age? how do you convince yourself?
Oh my gosh I have no idea how long this has been in my inbox; I'm so sorry!
Osteoarthritis sucks. The social bias against young people having an invisible but crippling illness is a lot to deal with. Usually when people say "you're too young!" in a pitying way I respond with something like, "haha tell that to my bones!"
If it's a doctor saying so, I asked what tests I needed done and what my alternative route of treatment would be. It ended up being replacements after all.
But it sounds like you're most often getting genuine disbelief that you would need a replacement. I would tell them all the alternate routes I took, and show them proof of how much better a replacement will be for you. You could always get a second opinion if you want. I genuinely had photos of my x-rays on my phone to show people at one point.
Once it was officially scheduled, I had several pre-op appointments that were extensive Q&A sessions between myself and several different surgeons and orthopedists asking, "Are you sure? Are you SURE?" and talking about every single step of the process. That definitely helped with the self-conviction and assuring others that everyone was on the same page.
That being said, convincing myself wasn't too hard because I was in and out of a wheelchair by the time I got my knee replacements lined up. I knew I had to go through with it after exhausting all other paths. And I was right. And it was worth it.
Best of luck with everything. I'm sorry you have to go through this, but you'll come out the other side!
