a cruel twist...

Everyone who knows my husband knows that he has horrible knees. You dont evenreally have to know him to know this, you just have to watch him walk. For years now, he has been living with the pain and being the 'tough guy'. He can't do it anymore. We made an apointment with the Dr who did Mom's knee replacement. Dr. Salin (aka...dr hottie-pants) is a very nice guy. Durring Charlie's first appt with him, he could deffinitely feel somethinns were not right, so ordered an MRI on both knees. The next day we went in and had it done. We were relieved to finally get to a point where they will finally be able to tell him what is wrong and what to do to get them fixed so he won't be in pain anymore. We wait for a few days and finally get a call from Dr' Salin's nurse. Turns out the MRI's were clean...as in they showed NOTHING wrong with his knees. My jaw dropped. I couldn't belive what she just told me. She tells me Dr Salin wants to have Charlie come in for cortizone injections b/c now more than likely the pain is caused by inflamation since nothing showed up on the MRI. I hesitate to call Charlie with the news because A. it wasn't the news we were hoping for, and B. my big bad burly manly man is reduced to a weepy sack of sap at the sight of needles. Reluctantly I call him and relay the news. I can hear the disappointment in his voice. He promised me that he was not making this up and it wasn't all in his head. Which I have never doubted in a million years. We make the appointment for the following Monday for the injections. We get in there and the Dr pretty much tells us he is baffled at the lack of anything on the MRI compared to the pain Charlie is experiencing. After many many questions and I dont know answers, it was time for the shots. My poor hubby. He was terrified! He practically hyperventillated right there on the bed. The Dr was very patient with him and we all remained light hearted. I love this kind of stuff so I watched with excitement... The shots are administered rather quickly. Immediately his right knee feels 100% better. He says its like he just got a brand new knee. The left one however, had no effect. Still as painful as ever. The Dr says give it a couple of hours for the numbing agent to work and a few days for the cortizone to work. Charlie calls me 3 hours later, still no change in his left knee and now his right knee is going back to being just as painful. By that evening, it was like nothing had been done at all. He came home and broke down. I feel awful for him. Being in pain for years, being told there is nothing worng, and the one thing that should 'fix' it did absolutely nothing. The next step is scoping the knees to find the problem. This sucks.