Beginning in July, almost daily, my left knee began weakening suddenly. At night, the left leg frequently ached, grew stiff and wooden, and that foot would spasm. Other than the frequency, there was nothing unusual about this. My version of MS has been marked by manifestations that come and go. This time was different. By mid August, the knee suddenly became constantly painful causing me to contact the MS Neurology clinic, then when there was no immediate response, my PCP. She saw me immediately, said my knee was inflamed, ordered a blood draw checking for rheumatoid arthritis and sent me for an xray. The ray showed only mild arthritis and wear, perfectly normal for someone my age. Then, overnight, the pain went away as if it had never occurred. The occasional sudden weakness, spasticity and spasms also ceased. Usually, I am the last of the stoics: I don't complain, I don't expect to live without pain, I don't have a medicine cabinet stocked with pain relievers. I try to focus outside myself. But one night with this pain, I curled around that pain and whimpered. I didn't imagine it or exaggerate it.
Okay. It went away, leaving behind only a lingering question...what happened, what caused it? I don't want this to happen again so I asked for a referral to a very good, local physical therapist. I saw him yesterday. He agrees with me that there is nothing arthritic wrong with my knee: it has full range of motion, is very strong. He found that my left leg is slightly longer than my right, the foot drop is worse on the left than the right, and applauds my decision not to get a cortisone injection.
The treatment he suggests: water exercise, long walks on paths or sidewalks (both of which are available only at a 20 mile distance), and some balance exercises. We are starting with exercises to retrain my eye brain connection. After having me move my eyes without moving my head, he asked me to describe any feeling that occurred. Just a slight dizziness and a feeling when seated as if I might fall off a chair, and a slight change in my standing posture. So we start with eye exercises, and will add others next week. Despite being told the problem was arthritis (which is obvious in my gnarled and stiff fingers, but not painful) I've thought all along that this was neurological, now I have confirmation that there is a body brain miscommunication going on here. Sorry for the lengthy post, but as I complained about the knee, wanted to share how it is resolving.
Upset
Knee replacement surgey for an MS patient 
Update and Adventure Buddy!
Total knee replacement
