need some information on blue spots

[Guest guest]

Hi, everybody,

I have been getting little blue spots on my feet. I'm not worried about how

they look--my feet have never been a turn on to anyone who ever saw them.

The spots look a little like tiny veins around my toes. The ones further up

my foot look like I dripped some droplets of weak, blue watercolor onto

dusty skin. A doctor saw them yesterday and said they aren't varicose veins

and he didn't know what they are. I think some of you will know, so tell

me, please. I don't mind having them.

Another thing. I've been avoiding my Kaiser HMO this year because my

co-pays when up. My monthly premium went from $240 to 290. Yesterday I saw

the doctor. He drew liquid off my knee (that's the one that was injured and

has it's second knee transplant). There was blood in the aspirated fluid he

drew. There were four vials sent to the labs for testing. I had both hips

and the knees ex-rayed. I was charged for the office visit, 4 labs, and 3

ex-rays. It came to $120. I had to pay on the spot or else they would have

added $10 for a bookkeeping fee. A year ago the same procedures cost me

$10.

It freaked me out. I got really scared. I'll get Medicare in 3 and a half

years. The doctor says I have only 50 of the hip cartilage left but he

doesn't want to operate just yet. Good! I don't ever want another

operation after all I've been through. Wore out one hip already and am on

the second. I got the knee replaced and then he had to take the thing out

and put in another - and yesterday's films show the knee isn't seating

properly. We think it is because I stretched out my knee muscles when I was

a kid. My mom used to get a kick out of me being " double jointed " . It was

so hard to please her so I sat that way on the floor a lot. If we had

company she'd get me to get on the floor to show how I could sit.

They called it double jointed because it looked like I had extra knee joints

when I sat with my butt and knees on the floor and my feet off to the

side.What was happening was a permanent stretching of my knee supports.

It could have been fixed surgically at one time but it makes no sense now

because my hip is going anyway. Even if the knee muscles got fixed it

wouldn't help me walk that much better.

It's funny how this health stuff is playing out. RA hasn't caused the knee

and hip problems. The hips are bad because the ball and cup do not fit

together and this is causing premature erosion. I lost the right knee

because I let my HMO stall too long and by the time they did what was a

minor surgery, meniscus repair, it was too late to save my knee. The doctor

said the stretched knee support would have ruined the knees even without the

tear but my left knee works great. I am careful with it though. I expect I

will be alert to my footsteps until I die. That's better than being dead,

so, so what?

I have a little deformity in my hands but they only hurt if a flare comes

along. I don't get much of that after being on minocycline since 11/98..

My left ankle gets stiff for weeks or months at a time but it only hurts

then when I walk. I can accommodate that. I was in a car wreck when I was

13 and wasn't taken to the doctor for the fracture. LOL I tell people I

was raised in the woods by wolves. My home like was much worse than that

with beatings and all forms of abuse.

I am glad to be alive.

I quit driving my car because it made my upper limbs hurt too badly. It had

no power steering and I didn't have the power to wrestle with the steering

wheel without been laid up for days after a jaunt around my little town. I

was housebound for a few years, with only trips to the doctor with all the

other problems.

Last month I bought an electric scooter for $1,300. It is a refurbished

Amigo with a six month warranty. I have named it Harriet, after Harriet

Tubman who guided slaves to the north to freedom.

Now I always have somewhere to sit down so that lets me do a lot of stuff

away from home. I ride the buses with it and I go in stores, cafes and

public buildings. I can hook up with my town's bus and the Tri-Met bus to

go all over three counties. I am having so much fun!! I " tricked " it out

with side mirrors, a flag, reflective strips, flashing, red blinkers front

and back and now a headlamp so I can ride at night. I can go all over my

little town.

I'm working to get better handicapped access and will meet with Public Works

next week. I've gotten Lift service hours and the level of services

improved over the last year. I was trained in community based social work

and now here is something close to home that I can do.

I have mourned the loss of some things but then I have replaced those things

with new activities. I have replaced some friends with new friends. I'm

getting to know my neighbors now that I can get to them. LOL There were

some neighbors who thought my house was vacant because there was no

activity.

Best to all,

in Oregon