He was very unhappy with stuff I was telling him, and he sent me for tests right then. I had a bunch of blood tests and xrays immediately (six of the damn big vials. Had to get two sticks, AND I need to go back tomorrow twice, for morning and evening hormone level tests. I was already fasting because I expected a fasting blood test). I also had an EKG, an O2 sat test and a couple others, right in the office.
The blood isn't back yet, but the doc is deadnuts sure I have either a thyroid problem, a testosterone deficiency, or both.
He's pretty sure I DON'T have diabetes, but he's testing for that as well (I AM overweight, and I have a family history on both sides).
The X-Rays ARE back, and they're bad. Way worse than we thought. I have basically no cartilage left in either knee, and the arthritis is advanced further than we thought. I may have no choice but bi-lateral TKR, which is what I've wanted to avoid.
So the doctor gave me a nice piece of paper, and I took it to a nice bureaucrat (Actually, she really was very nice), and now I have myself one of these:
After the blood gets back, he's going to give me some cortisone directly into the knees, possibly some steroid therapy, and likely testosterone and thyroxine supplementation.
After we get the rest of the test results back he's likely to give me a referral to an orthapedist, and an orthapedic surgeon.
The good news is, my EKG is great, my blood pressure is fine, and he's pretty sure I don't have diabetes.
