My husband's knees

 My husband is in constant pain from his knees. He's been to an orthopedist, had cortisone shots (first time they helped for a month, next time they helped for 3 days), been to an acupuncturist (helped for a day), been through physical therapy (they recommended he have his knees replaced), and of course tried various pills, gels, foam rolling, accupressure mat, etc. etc. 

Living with constant pain affects everything. It affects my husband's mood and his performance at work. It impacts what we do (and where we go) on vacation. It affects what he can do around the house and yard (very little). It affects our household budget - we've had to outsource the yard work to a service and we are getting an estimate on getting some help around the house.

And it affects my mood. It's hard working a full time job and being primarily responsible for everything around the house - from walking the dogs (he can't), to doing all the shopping (the concrete floors in stores are killer for him), and of course I do the bulk of the housework. It's hard not to be resentful sometimes even though I know that none of this is his fault and he certainly would prefer things NOT be this way!

He is getting a second opinion today. He current ortho basically said "Once you get to the point that you can't work then we'll look at doing knee replacement." Um, no. Not an acceptable answer.

Anyway, that's a big thing going on in my life - and it's something we've been living with for well over a year now. 

Take care.