January 2, 2009 

Ever get up in the morning and feel a dull ache in your knees? I know I do, or did, before I started using the conservative treatments that I now teach in my LITTLE GREEN BOOK FOR ELIMINATING KNEE PAIN  http://drbillsclinic.com/eliminate_knee_pain.html
 
The REASON for the ache is usually some form of joint inflammation. This sensitizes these nerve endings so they respond to the atmospheric pressure. That’s why they ache more in damp weather (when the barometer falls).
 
The most common cause of knee pain that I saw in my years of orthopaedic practice was a degenerative disease of the kneecap called chondromalacia patellae.
 
Chondromalacia patellae is a Greek term for “soft cartilage of the kneecap.” If you have pain when you kneel, squat, climb stairs, run, jump, or even when you sit with your knees bent for long periods, the odds are good that the cause is CMP.
 
I’m very familiar with this, as I have it myself.
 
This disease is often progressive and the softening gradually evolves into shredding of the smooth cartilage surface, so it breaks up like “crabmeat.” This is the cause of crunching and grinding that you feel when the knee is bent under load, as when climbing stairs or getting off a chair or toilet.
 
So, what to do?
 
If you have pain in front of your knee, the first thing to do is avoid those activities and positions that seem to cause the pain. 
 
I know this seems ridiculously basic, but you would be amazed at how many people make themselves much worse, by continuing to do what caused their problems to start with. 
 
Next, try to keep your knee straight. This applies much less pressure on the kneecap, and thus, gives it a chance to heal.
 
In the days to come, I’ll give you more information on this condition and teach you what you can do to relieve your pain. But if you want the full story, run on over to my web site and grab a copy of DR. BILL’S LITTLE GREEN BOOK FOR ELIMINATING KNEE PAIN, right now, at   http://drbillsclinic.com/eliminate_knee_pain.html 

Well, that’s all for now. But I’ll be back soon with more on knee pain and some tips to help you get rid of it.
 
Yours for a pain-free tomorrow,
 
Dr. Bill
 
P.S. For DR. BILL’S LITTLE GREEN BOOK ON ELIMINATING KNEE PAIN, a concise, but complete handbook on the root causes and the various options for treating knee pain, go to http://drbillsclinic.com/eliminate_knee_pain.html
 
P.P.S. For DR. BILL’S PAIN-FREE PROGRAM: EXERCISES TO PREVENT OR ELIMINATE KNEE PAIN, please go to
 http://drbillsclinic.com/exercise_eliminate.html
 
P.P.P.S. For conventional and alternative treatments and exercises to relieve knee pain without surgery click on http://drbillsclinic.com/avoid_knee_surgery.html
 
P.P.P.P.S. For the giant, comprehensive ADVANCED MASTERS’ COURSE: HOW TO ELIMINATE KNEE PAIN–ONCE & FOR ALL!, everything you need to know on causes and solutions for knee pain and the complete exercise program, too, go to
 http://drbillsclinic.com/advanced_masters.html
 
FREE BONUS CD with any order: THE HEALING POWER OF POSITIVE PAIN PERCEPTION
 
Copyright, 2009 by William Thomas Stillwell, MD, FACS
All rights reserved

January 1, 2009

Good morning! I just crawled out of bed and did my deep breathing and my exercises. I had my single glass of annual champagne, to toast the New Year at midnight, and watched the brand new Waterford Crystal Ball drop at One Times Square, with my bride.
 
Here’s hoping 2009 will be the start of better times for all of us. I wish you and those you hold dear the very best of health, happiness and prosperity for the year ahead.
 
For those of you who took part in my New Year’s Eve Sale–Thank you and Congratulations. As you know, I don’t do the HALF OFF thing very often.
 
But guess what? I checked on the site this morning and my webmaster is apparently still asleep–the code ( which is 2008, NOT 2009, but 2008 ) is STILL WORKING!
 
Now, I have NO IDEA when he’s going to wake up and shut this down. But if you go over to http://drbillsclinic.com RIGHT NOW, you can still get the HALF OFF SALE PRICES, until he does take it down. 
 
No kidding. I have no idea why it’s still working. It was supposed to end at midnight. But, hey, if the code still works for you, I’ll honor it.
 
But if you order later and it doesn’t work, DON’T come crying to me or sending me hard luck emails. If the code is inactive, you waited too long and you pay full price. You should have ordered last night!
 
So, again– HALF PRICE SALE IS STILL ON–until the webmaster takes it down ONLY. CODE is 2008 (NOT 2009) to get the discount.
 
And a Happy New Year to us all!
 
Yours for a pain-free tomorrow,
 
Dr. Bill

P.S. For DR. BILL’S LITTLE GREEN BOOK ON ELIMINATING KNEE PAIN, a concise, but complete handbook on the root causes and the various options for treating knee pain, go to http://drbillsclinic.com/eliminate_knee_pain.html
 
P.P.S. For DR. BILL’S PAIN-FREE PROGRAM: EXERCISES TO PREVENT OR ELIMINATE KNEE PAIN, please go to
 http://drbillsclinic.com/exercise_eliminate.html
 
P.P.P.S. For conventional and alternative treatments and exercises to relieve knee pain without surgery click on http://drbillsclinic.com/avoid_knee_surgery.html
 
P.P.P.P.S. For the giant, comprehensive ADVANCED MASTERS’ COURSE: HOW TO ELIMINATE KNEE PAIN–ONCE & FOR ALL!, everything you need to know on causes and solutions for knee pain and the complete exercise program, too, go to
 http://drbillsclinic.com/advanced_masters.html
 
FREE BONUS CD with any order: THE HEALING POWER OF POSITIVE PAIN PERCEPTION
 
Copyright, 2009 by William Thomas Stillwell, MD, FACS
All rights reserved

December 31, 2008

Well, here we are at last at the end of another year.  And what a year it’s been. But tomorrow is another day, and the start of a brand new year, full of hope and promise.
 
So, one last time, for the sake of auld lang syne, I’m running a HALF PRICE SALE on EVERYTHING at Dr. Bill’s Clinic: http://drbillsclinic.com
 
24 hours ONLY–and, like the old year, it’s gone.
 
When the clock strikes midnight, and we usher in 2009, it’s over. No extensions.
 
So head on over to http://drbillsclinic.com  choose your items and take advantage of my last HALF PRICE SALE OF 2008!
 
And have a Happy, Healthy and Prosperous New Year!
 
With all best wishes for 2009, I remain
 
Yours for a pain-free tomorrow,
 
Dr. Bill

December 29, 2008 

During the second half of my surgical internship, I was assigned to the VA Hospital in Richmond. At that time, and it probably hasn’t changed, everyone wanted to go to the VA because you got to do surgeries that were way beyond your usual fare. As an intern, I got to do surgeries that I normally wouldn’t be given to do for at least another two years, or so, at the regular hospitals. 
 
When you think about it, that’s really unfair to the vets. I mean, here are guys that have sacrificed for their country and here they’re being used as guinea pigs for some young punks looking to learn surgery. But, of course, at that time, all I cared about was doing more surgery. The fairness of the situation never even entered my mind–that’s just the way things were.
 
Anyway, one of the patients on my ward was a guy who had been operated on by every house officer who had rotated through that surgical service since he had been admitted over three years before. The guy was an old man, a real basket case. 
 
He couldn’t even eat because he had NO intestines left. He was fed through a vein, by I.V. hyperalimentation–a very fancy term for total parenteral (by vein) nutrition. Every few weeks or months, he would develop some complication or another that required another surgery. There was hardly anything left of him, but he kept on chuggin’ along, educating generations of interns.
 
Then, one of the residents told me how he came to be like this and my blood just froze. You see, he originally came in for a “minor surgery.” He was just supposed to have a simple bunionectomy. But, hard luck guy that he proved to be, it got infected.
 
So he got a second surgery to drain the infection. And I.V. antibiotics, of course. But, the surgical site turned into osteomyelitis–bone infection. And of course, this required another surgery.
 
Then, he needed a toe amputation. Then another. Then, his veins clotted up, so he needed a central I.V. line, for long term antibiotics. Which also got infected and needed removal. And a new central line. Then, one day, he got horrible stomach pains, which required a full work up. Turns out he had now developed a real problem: mesenteric embolism — a shower of clots that blocked off the arteries which feed the intestines. Without blood, the intestines literally die and develop gangrene. Which requires their removal. Naturally, you try to leave what you think will live and only remove the dead or dying tissues.
 
But the same thing happened again. And again. Each time, taking more and more of the man’s intestines, until finally, he had nothing left. By the time I showed up, he was The “Phantom” of the V.A.–a shell of his former self–quite literally.
 
And then he got really sick and resistant to the antibiotics. Turns out he had developed a subphrenic abcess (a big infected collection of pus, under the liver) and it was my job to take him to the OR and drain this mess. Which I did. If that didn’t gross me out, nothing ever would again.
 
Well, he rallied, but eventually it was just too much for the poor man. He died. Finally at peace. I came upon him one morning, while making rounds, already cold. And I also noted that he had perfect vital signs charted, right up until 8AM, when I found him. Hmmmmm…Guess the VA night nurses were too busy with other things to notice that this patient had passed on. 
 
I was sent to the autopsy, to learn what had finally gotten him. And I was shocked to see that when they opened him up, there was almost nothing left–he was like a used up, empty shell. Cause of death? Organ failure–take your pick. Poor guy. No one deserves this.
 
And I reflected, not for the first or last time, that our bodies were merely machines, shells driven by an animating spirit and that whatever made us “us,” the soul, if you will, was long gone from him. 
 
The horror of all this is that it started with a “minor surgery,” a “simple procedure.” And like that poem, “For Want of a Nail, the Kingdom Was Lost,” one thing led to another, and another, until the final, pathetic denouement.
 
Lessons learned here? 1. Ain’t no such thing as a “minor surgery” (only minor surgeons). 2. “One never knows, do one?” 3. Murphy is always waiting. 4. Whenever possible, avoid surgery…and you avoid its complications.
 
And after a lifetime in the OR, I’ve distilled the lessons I’ve learned in my newest healing program, HOW TO AVOID KNEE SURGERY, which you can get here at   http://drbillsclinic.com/avoid_knee_surgery.html
 
Think you need surgery if you have a torn meniscus?  Maybe you do. But then again, maybe some of the tips I teach you in this program can relieve your pain, but keep you out of the O.R. See for yourself, at  http://drbillsclinic.com/avoid_knee_surgery.html
 
Til next time, my friend, be well.
 
Yours for a pain-free tomorrow,
 
Dr. Bill
 
P.S. For DR. BILL’S LITTLE GREEN BOOK ON ELIMINATING KNEE PAIN, a concise, but complete handbook on the root causes and the various options for treating knee pain, go to http://drbillsclinic.com/eliminate_knee_pain.html
 
P.P.S. For DR. BILL’S PAIN-FREE PROGRAM: EXERCISES TO PREVENT OR ELIMINATE KNEE PAIN, please go to
 http://drbillsclinic.com/exercise_eliminate.html
 
P.P.P.S. For the giant, comprehensive ADVANCED MASTERS’ COURSE: HOW TO ELIMINATE KNEE PAIN–ONCE & FOR ALL!, everything you need to know on causes and solutions for knee pain and the complete exercise program, too, go to
 http://drbillsclinic.com/advanced_masters.html
 
FREE BONUS CD with any order: THE HEALING POWER OF POSITIVE PAIN PERCEPTION
 
Copyright, 2008 by William Thomas Stillwell, MD
All rights reserved