Having had MS for 16 years now, I have reluctantly started wearing compression stockings all of the time about a year ago. I couldn’t stand to wear them in the months before my surgery because it was too warm. But without them, I get elephant legs because I do not have sufficient blood flow. They are extremely difficult to put on but I do not know that first hand because my Mom puts them on for me.
The last pair I had died; they just stretched out over time so when I ordered my second pair, I ordered black ones instead of the beige ones so I didn’t feel like an old lady wearing them. So currently, I just have one pair of stockings. I order them from a medical supply store and insurance does not cover them so at $90 a pop, I just have one. Obviously, they need to get washed occasionally. OK, it’s kind of often.
Last night, before my mom left and before I went to bed, she pulled them off and told me she would wash them and bring them back in the morning. I really didn’t think it would make a difference being without them overnight. I was wrong. I got into bed a little after midnight and was excited to sleep in because of daylight savings time. But, that was not the case.
I was awakened a little bit after five to a throb and a pinch in my legs. The throb was in both of my legs. From my thighs all the way to my toes. The pinch was in the medial side of my right knee. Exactly where the tendonitis is. It’s been over a year since my knee has been in pain. Excruciating pain. The pain that wakes me up from sleep. If it wasn’t my meniscus, it’s my medial tendons.
I couldn’t wait for my Mom to come over this morning with my stockings to make my legs feel better! Putting my stockings on helped with the throb and I hope that pinch is remedied soon when I see Dr. Moore. It’s only now, after my injury, that I realize how many parts to the knee there are because so many of them have hurt and still hurt.