Synvisc??

[minkydog]

My DH is scheduled for his first Synvisc injection tomorrow. He has severe osteoarthritis just about everywhere, but his shoulder & knee are bone on bone and very painful. Probably from long-term steroid use (2 years at 20-30mg daily.) If he were healthy he would be getting a total knee replacement. HOwever, due to his severe heart/lung disease he is not just a poor candidate for surgery. He will not be having surgery EVER unless it is to save his life (and he might not live through it--scary!) He's already taking methotrexate, Mobic, and of course, steroids, so there is nothing else except a trial of Synvisc apparently.

Has anyone ever used this? Did you have good pain relief? His pain is really interfering with our lives. He's limping so badly and he can't raise his arm or lift with it. He can't walk with Christian anymore because Christian has to hold our arm when he walks (he's very off-balance.) He can't bathe Christian and is having trouble dressing him. More and more, things are falling to me and I'm struggling with him myself (Christian is man-sized, much taller than me.) We're both hoping the Synvisc injections will be helpful.

If you used Synvisc and did NOT have relief, what else did you try? I hate HATE to see DH in so much pain and I have to admit, I'm starting to get a little resentful of his disability(And I feel very guilty about that. It's not like he's just lazy; he really can't do certain things.)

 

[LuvOrlando]

My heart goes out to you. Caring for one person with special needs is hard, but losing your co-caregiver to health problems where you are placed in the position of potential caregiver for 2 men seems very heavy. I hope the injection helps but in the meantime, maybe you might want to ask for some help from either a Church (if you belong) or social services.

FYI, I know nothing about this particular shot but my FIL has had painkillers injected directly into his spine that were only supposed to last 6 months but that lasted much longer. My MIL just had an Anesthesiologist give her some kind of pain killing epidural in her hips to help with pain management and she has loved how well it is working for her, she is finally pain free. I don't know if these are all the same medications/treatments with different brand names or not but the whole idea seems effective.

Good luck

 

[shortbun]

No experience here. Just hoping it's a miracle drug!!

 

[savannahcat]

My mom has had the Synvisc injection with excellent results. She went from walking with a cane or walker to needing no assistive device at all - although it didn't happen immediately. I think she saw the best results at about 12 weeks out from the injection.

 

[minkydog]

I think they are going to do the three injection series over a period of 12 weeks. I really hope he starts getting relief soon because we're taking the camper down to Savannah for Spring Break April 5-8. I can do all the driving, set up and take down by myself so I'm not worried about that. But we anticipate doing some walking in Savannah and on the beach at Tybee Island and I don't want him to be miserable. We're going to visit a college too, but he plans to stay at the camper with Christian that day.

I just really don't want this to ruin our vacation. We haven't been able to go much of anywhere this year, what with the flooding last fall and various illness/injuries. I'd put him in a wheelchair, but we'll already have Christian in a wheelchair--there's no way he could walk the streets of Savannah. Hmmm, I may have to think on this. Maybe a cane would help.