As a preface, this is SOLELY for the 2 doctors I have met regarding my knees. The rest of the review for both these doctors is under my pictures, which have the page numbers at the top of the page to help with coherence in how the review is written.
So as a little background, I am currently undergoing chemotherapy, and have been for almost a year now. Both of the doctors I met with knew of this. I also have experienced chronic pain in my knees for as long as I can remember (yes, even in childhood). I had been experiencing more significant knee pain for roughly the past 2.5 years and have been searching for a diagnosis for both of them since that type of knee pain was different than my typical knee pain. Since undergoing chemotherapy, my knee pain has gotten to the point where it hurts to put any pressure on either of my knees, as well as when there is not any pressure on them (e.g., laying down, sitting down). I also have an extensive pain document where I have documented the different pains I have in my knees, when and where they are present, what I have tried for them, the outcome of those treatments, and what has or has not helped. I can't remember if I showed the first doctor this document, but I clearly remember sharing it with the second.
Okay, now for the review. The first doctor I met with, Dr. Jose Reyes, was nice and cordial at our first meeting. We made a follow-up appointment to see how I was doing in a few weeks, which got rescheduled to an earlier date based on the fact that I am pretty certain one of my kneecaps moved out of place since I could no longer crack it and it hurt 10x more than it did at the first appointment. My knees have extensive swelling in them, and the x-ray taken at the initial visit only showed mild arthritis. At the second visit I asked him if the level of pain and swelling in my knees was normal for the amount of arthritis I have. I do not remember ever getting an answer to this. Instead, what I remember from that visit, is him shaming me. He said I needed to do PT, or we could do a steroid shot (which has never worked for me and I've had multiple steroid shots in both knees), or there was an experimental shot (according to insurance) that was $600/knee (1 shot in each knee) that I'd have to pay out of pocket for but that may help. He also said the best thing for me was to lose weight and do PT. Okay, I get that extra weight can put excess pressure on joints. That makes sense. What doesn't make sense to me is telling a cancer patient to go on Ozempic "because it's been approved for obesity now." So why do I have a problem with that? 1. Because I don't want to take away medicine from those who are diabetic (not me). 2. Because I have been trying to lose weight (both successfully and unsuccessfully through MANY different means, including weight loss drugs, since I was 8- or 9-years old. 3. Because losing weight is not my primary goal right now and I am well aware of what I feel I want the next steps to be if I choose to want to lose weight. 4. Because health at every size needs to exist. 5. Because it takes time to lose weight (through ANY means, even surgery), and that doesn't help with my current level of pain.
I continually told him that, historically, PT has not helped me for various reasons. I also told him that for every 2 out of 3 weeks (my chemotherapy cycles run every 3 weeks), I have absolutely no energy, it is actually super unsafe for me to be around people or social settings because of how immunocompromised I am, and my pain levels are to the point that I can't even make my legs go straight because they are in so much pain. This is not to say that I will not engage in PT once I am finished with chemotherapy, but simply that I do not see how it is feasible to do it now. By the end of that visit he was very outwardly frustrated and irritated with me, at one point saying, "You're just saying no no no to everything!" So me, working in the mental health field, had more problems with this. Because frankly, when one thing does not work for your patient, you do not keep trying to force that thing on your patient. You work WITH your patient to try and figure out what CAN be done for them now, until other methods may be able to be explored.
And keep in mind, the ONLY information Dr. Reyes had on my knees was from the x-rays they did at the initial appointment, which only tends to show bone stuff. I have been dealing with enough medical issues for a good amount of my life (and I am only a young adult), that I was pretty certain there was more going on that just "mild arthritis." I absolutely left that appointment crying, and ended up staying in my car afterward for a good amount of time just crying and trying to process what had just occurred. read more