Osteochondritis Dissecans parents: trust your instincts!

yes i agree.i got lucky i was 14 when diagnosed.had an op on my knee.i am now 38 and have just had same op done again.i am now one op away from a new knee joint as my knee is about 20 years older than the rest of my body.the good news is i have led a very normal life.this has not stopped me doing anything i wanted .life has just caught up with me now as it does with everyone.

I was 13 when diagnosed with OCD, my knee locked when I was at school and I could not straighten it. At the time I was taken into hospital and placed in traction for several months, I then had to wear calipers this happened alternatly to both knees. Not the greatest thing to happen in your teenage years! Over the years I have had many operations (starting before arthroscopy had been invented). My last surgery was 18 years ago. I am now 54 years of age, I guess I have not had the mild form of this disease, :cry: however, I have not let it rule my life, I have struggled through the pain at times, I have walked tall and straight many times with a great deal of effort. But now I have the pain, swelling etc which despite all is not improving (only if I rest) so I guess it is time to bite the bullet and get the knee replacements. I think my success for being able to cope with OCD this long is the fact that I have been lucky enough, up until this age, to have a body that maintains its weight on the low side for my height, however, age etc has caught up with me despite my mind staying at 17, which I think it wil forever. I see my surgeon tomorrow and we will discuss my options - thought in reality I have only one. On the bright side, I will be able to walk, sit, stand, climb stairs, roll over in bed pain free. I have never known what it is like to ski, ice skate, jump, kneel on my knees, and many other things that people do as they are growing up perhaps after surgery I may be able to do some or even just one of the things on my list of things I have not been able to do.

My advice, don' let the pain rule your life, get the help you need, plan ahead, all things are possible with a bit of planning. I have made it to this age on my own two knees, now it is time for a change. I would prefer to have stem cells injected into my knees and there by \"grow my own\" knee replacement, but that is for the future now I will have the regular type. You see at 54 I still want to be 17 and I guess at 64,74 and if I am lucky at 84 and I still want to walk on my own two legs with out aid from anyone. I want to do things that I never could, and in the future I want to play, run and jump with the grandchildren that I hope to have in the future. Look to the future, it does have its down but it also has its ups, and I wonder in 100 years medicine will make of the current knee replacements - unfortunately I will not be here to see it. But I am certainly going to get to grips with the pain of the surgery and then walk tall like everyone else. By the way my very first surgeon, who is now long dead, always said that there is no such thing as \"growing pains\"!!!!!

I cant agree more , my Dad had to threaten my GP and then pay for me to go private when he was still banging on about growing pains, i was in so much pain and i was 20yrs old. they found i had it real bad in both knees and ive had 10 operations on the left and 4 on the right, 2 of the operations on the left were to graph bone into the joint i had a hole the size of an egg. i know if my little girl starts to complain when she is a teenager ill be insisting on some xrays/mri scans.

i am 31 now and walk on crutches permenantly, one day ill bump into that GP and ill be giving him some growing pains